Monday, November 18, 2013

Better Understanding of Motion Maps

The issue revolving around motion maps on my last blog post and class discussion has been somewhat resolved. I add "somewhat" to that sentence because this is my interpretation of the meaning. My interpretation derives from the discussion done in class and could differ from another student present during our class conversation. What I took from the whole thing is that the dots represent where the object is at a specific time interval. My understanding of motion maps were clear until I stepped foot into Physics class that morning. People were bringing up questions I never even thought about. My understanding became blurred due to all the questions. It became confusing but I finally came up to a final definition for the dots on motion maps. Let's look back to the worksheet shown on the previous post and analyze some problems.
The two problems may have a similarity, which is that their lines are linear, but not on the same position on the velocity vs. time graph. Their motion maps are not at all similar. What Do They Mean on the Motion Maps? The first and second motion maps mean exactly what the explanation on top of the motion maps reads. Motion Map Meanings: 1) The object is moving away from the reference point in a positive direction at a constant/steady speed. 2)The object is standing still. What I've learned: Velocity vs. time graphs do not have slopes

Monday, November 11, 2013

Motion Maps????

  Motion maps was the hot topic in Battaglia's 1A class. We are still in the process of figuring out what the dots really represent.

Do the dots mean......
Position/distance
Direction
Duration/time

My thoughts- the dots mean.....
Duration/time
Direction
Speed

In the next class period I will be able to inform the bloggers reading this post what the class' concensus  on what the dots represent.
My only knowledge of motion maps is shown below.

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Worksheet discussion

  Welcome back to Wonders of Physics!!! On my previous physics class we discussed a worksheet that was assigned a couple days before this class. Our discussion focused mainly on question D.

Question D) Are there velocities equal at any time? How do you know?

Original answer: their velocities are equal at the 5 second mark.

Correct Answer: their velocities are never equal. On the graph, it states that the two cyclists are passing each other on the 5 second mark, but they do not have the same velocity.

Steps to figuring  out the answer:

1) Define velocity.
Velocity: speed in a given/certain direction

2) Answer the first part of the question. Are their velocities equal at any time?
No, their velocities are never equal.   

3) Answer the second question. How do you know?
Since this is a position vs. time graph we can infer that the slope of this graph is velocity. The two lines on the graph do not have the same slope, so they do not have the same velocity.

What did I learn?

Position vs Time graph= velocity slope
Velocity: Speed in a certain direction.