Blog Post Week 3

 

1. The big question addressed in lab, and a description of what you did.

The big question that we addressed in lab was what affects a rider's speed down the slide. We came up with a list of different factors that affect the speed down a slide. After coming up with a list, in our groups, we tested one of these factors. My group decided to test how the slope of the slide impacts the speed of a rider. We rolled the car down the stick and found the average speed of five different slope points. 

2. A description of what you learned in Thursday's lecture.

Velocity is different from speed, it describes how fast and in what direction different to speed. We can represent forces as arrows (vectors). Absent air drag, all falling objects accelerate at the same rate. Gravity pulls on you more the more mass you have. We also learned about forces and how these impact riders down a slide, in which weight didn’t actually have much of an impact when tested in lab. 

3. Answer questions about the weekly textbook reading:

1. What did you learn?

I learned that friction is what makes an object in motion stop. “Friction holds back the motion of a sliding object or resistance to motion of one object moving relative to another.” I didn’t know that friction was the specific reason why an object in motion stops. 

2. What was most helpful?

One thing that was helpful was the different interactives. I am a hands-on learner, so it was good to be able to do this within the reading to learn more about the different definitions and motion. It was helpful to have a visual example going along with the different terms. 

3. What do you need more information on?

One thing I need more information about is making objects move without touching them. This was briefly touched on at the end of the article. Especially when thinking about electrostatic forces. This is an unfamiliar concept to me, and I would like to learn more information about it. 

4. What questions/concerns/comments do you have?

One question I have is about helium, because it brings balloons up, but then as time goes on it deflates. What is causing it to deflate?