Physics Joke
Q: What do you get if you divide the cirucmference of a jack-o-lantern by its diameter?A: Pumpkin Pi!
ePortfolio Assignment #1-Reflective Writing
During the first quarter of physics I learned a lot. I especially learned a lot since I haven’t taken any kind of physics class before this. We learned about motion, time, gravity, forces, light and other things. However, the most interesting thing to me was definitely about light, the speed of light, and time. Some examples of these that interested me were the concept of time dilation and “the twin paradox.”
Time dilation is essentially stating that all time is relative to your frame of reference. On earth, time passes at a rate of 24 hours a day (and that wont change because the earth revolves and rotates at a constant speed), but if you traveled at or near the speed of light then time would slow down to you and time wouldn’t effect you. This is mainly because time does not affect light and things that travel at or near the speed of light; it still takes time for these things to reach their destination though. Even though time doesn’t effect light or things near the speed of light it still takes time for those things to reach their destinations and this is because so far there has never been discovered any type of instantaneous transportation so it still takes time. My opinion is that instantaneous movement will not be discovered and used in a very long time. However, the speed of light may be utilized by mankind much sooner.
Another thing that interested me was an example of time dilation. It’s an experiment that is commonly referred to as “the twin paradox.” “The twin paradox” goes like this, say we had two twins and one of them went deep-space exploring and traveling in a ship while the other twin stayed on the earth. If the traveling twin went at or near the speed of light then time would slow down and it wouldn’t affect the spaceship or him. This would cause a lot more time to pass on the earth than on the spaceship, in fact the spaceship probably wouldn’t even experience time and it wouldn’t age at all. Therefore when the traveling twin returned to the earth he would be younger than the earth twin because less time affected the traveling twin. The difference in age would depend on how long the traveling twin was gone and how fast he went. All of this is assuming that it wouldn’t take an extremely long time to reach the speed of light.
These things were the most interesting to me for several reasons. One reason is that I hope some day it will be possible for us to travel at the speed of light. This is important because it could be used in a variety of ways and some could even better mankind in many different ways. For instance, we could travel through more space and it would take less time. This would mean that more of space would open up to us and we could learn many new things. Another reason this could be important is because we could use it to extend people’s lives and give them more time to live. Especially if they were diagnosed with cancer or some other disease, then we could just have them travel at the speed of light so they could live longer and experience more life and more freedom. This could also give them more time to spend with their family. Traveling at the speed of light would also greatly increase technology because people could have more time to study certain subjects in their areas of expertise. However, none of this may happen in my lifetime, but that would be way cool if it did.
ePortfolio Assignment #2-Scientist Research
During the history of the earth there have been countless people that have lived on it, are living on it, and will live on it. Throughout these countless number of people there have been many brilliant minds. Some of these geniuses are: Pythagoras, Galileo, Isaac Newton, and Albert Einstein. These four scientists made great discoveries that benefited mankind and will affect them forever. However, I have chosen to discuss Einstein in more depth because I feel that he has made greater contributions and impacted my time more than the others. This does not mean that the other scientists aren’t as equally important.
Einstein’s theories solved centuries-old problems in physics and rocked even non-physicists' view of the world. Einstein had a marvelous year in 1905, during the year he published many of his important papers. Three of them specifically were momentous and they were about: particles in motion (even if they aren’t seen), photoelectric effect (a strange property of light), and his theory of special relativity. The paper about motion in particles explains more specifically about motion in particles that are suspended in liquid. He created a mathematical formula to explain these particle’s movements by the invisible movements of the liquid’s molecules. The photoelectric effect explains the release of electrons when light hits metal and when plants/solar cells convert light into electricity. The theory of special relativity was very important. It explains what happens as objects move relative to other objects. It also explains that time, weight, and mass aren’t constant because they become compressed at high speeds, but the speed of light remains the same. This occurs because Einstein proved E=mc2. It is because of these researches that he won the Nobel Prize in 1921.
Einstein also helped invent things. People call him the “the father of the atomic bomb” but this is not entirely true. They say this because he wrote a letter to Franklin Delano Roosevelt (the president at the time), during WWII, encouraging FDR to create an atomic bomb because Einstein knew that the Germans were trying as well. They also say this because his equation of energy equals mass times the speed of light squared was heavily used in the process of building the atomic bomb. Among other things that he invented was a refrigerator that used heat to for running the cooling system and it also had no moveable parts. He invented the refrigerator with a former student. It was patented on 11/11/1930. Their goal was to improve home refrigeration technology. News of an accident was caused by a fridge’s seal breaking, this was the main reason they wanted to improve the refrigerator (especially in the area of safety).
Today, the practical applications of Einstein's theories include the development of the television, remote control devices, automatic door openers, lasers, and DVD-players. Einstein was also recognized as TIME magazine's "Person of the Century" in 1999. Einstein's intellect, united his strong passion for social justice and dedication to pacifism, left the world with endless knowledge and ground-breaking moral leadership. Einstein was obviously a genius and his intelligence was far superior to most people. I use all of the above devices and therefore am grateful for Einstein’s discoveries and believe that of the four scientists he has had the greatest impact upon me and had more important contributions.
