Physics is taught by Ms. Chase and is taught through PowerPoint presentations followed by exciting new problem that allow us to apply our skills. So far, we have explored topics such as projectiles, kinematics, momentum, energy, dynamics, and more.
During our unit on 2D projectiles, we were given a fun problem to work on, which is called the “2D Rocket Problem”. Essentially, the rocket is launched into the air at a specified angle and the engine burns for a certain amount of time. In addition, we are also given the acceleration of the rocket while the engine is burning. This step makes up the first stage of the problem. During the next stage, the engine stops and the rocket keeps going in a projectile motion until it reaches a specified distance below the maximum height. Then, the rocket will open its parachute and it will fall vertically at a specified speed. Also during this time, a wind is pushing the rocket to the west at a specified speed. To solve this problem, I pulled information from each step to solve the following step. Ultimately, I was able to solve the displacement from the original location. To see the original prompt, click here. To see my work, click here.
As part of our unit on Dynamics, we had the opportunity to create our own experiment that related to Dynamics. We had to use the equations that we learned from our unit on dynamics to create an experiment that should validate those equations in some way. My group decided to pose the question of how the mass of a cardboard box being pulled along by a cart affects the cart's acceleration. To do so, we added weights to the carboard box and graphed it linearly. Our last step was to determine percent error in our experiment and decide what may have led to that error. To learn more about the experiment, click here.