Physics
Center of Gravity
Lab Type: Inquiry

Name Kayla Kermode
Chapters 10
Date 12/19/2007

Purpose: Find center of gravity of a wooden dowel

Equipment: wooden dowel


Procedure:

1. Hold the dowel in your hand
2. try to balance the dowel
3. adjust your hand position until the dowel is perfectly balanced

Center of Gravity Lab

1. I cannot stand up without leaning forward when my feet are out from under my chair.

2. I cannont stand on my toes with my toes against the wall. I can do it away from any wall or stationary object or by a filing cabinet.

3. I cannot touch my toes without falling over when my heels are against the wall. It is because I would need to lean backwards in order to do this excersise, but the wall prevents this.

Determining a Spring Constant

today, we had to do another gizmo, this time about springs. we had to put various weights on a spring and see how it effected the spring. After that, we had to take the graphs and put them into this blog. in the first one, we used a looser spring, which stretched more while in the 2nd, we used spring 3, a tighter one that didn't stretch as much. my prediction that the trial with both C and D would continue to line up with the rest of the trials was correct on the spring number 3 trial.

Physics Links

Heres some physics links...

http://www.learner.org/interactives/parkphysics/
http://www.sandlotscience.com/
http://www.physicscentral.com/
http://www.miamisci.org/af/sln/index.html

Shoot the Monkey Gizmo

I aimed my cannon at 30 degrees with an initial velocity of 20m/s and the monkey successfully caught the banana.

The best technique is to aim the cannon at the monkey and guess and check for the initial velocity.

If the cannon is pointed directly at the monkey at the start of the simulation, then the gravitational pull on both the monkey and the banana will compensate and the monkey will cathch the banana every time.

Applied Science in Action

I found this article about applied science. NASA figured out a way to make a silicon chip that can operate in 600 degrees Celsius heat (1,112 degrees F). Before, most chips could only withstand 350 degree C heat. This chip will be used in everything from the ships going to hot climates like Mars, to commercial industries such as automotives, defense, and energy. To learn more about this "Super-Chip", check out http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/19316

Scientific Method

The scientific method is a way to gain, organize and apply info that you have collected. You can use the scientific method when trying to prove that "College graduates have a higher IQ than high school drop outs", but not when you are trying to prove "the Great Books are the most informative books that exist"