Thursday, August 30, 2012
Hovercraft Mayhem
Although I was unable to participate in the hovercraft ride I was surprised by the reaction that it had on my class mates. When the hovercraft was first displayed I found it hard to believe that a leaf blower, a piece of wood, and some plastic was going to prove how newton’s first law of motion works. I was surprised by the amount of noise the hovercraft emitted but was also surprised to see the hover craft work! The hovercraft really allows you to experience newton’s first law of motion first hand. Newton’s first law of motion is that ‘every object continues in a state of rest or uniform speed in a straight line unless acted on by a nonzero net force’. The hovercraft echoed this theory since it neutralized friction by hovering above the ground. This allowed the hovercraft to stay in uniform speed. The hovercraft will neither accelerate in a positive or negative direction without an outside force being added on the hovercraft. This is much different than items such as sleds, or skateboards. During this experiment I learned that when the hovercraft was in motion there was a net force of zero. I also learned that at this stage the hovercraft is in a state of equilibrium. When the hovercraft is pushed into motion by another force, it accelerates and has a net force acting on the hovercraft. This also means that the hovercraft is not in equilibrium until the force is not pushing the hovercraft. Acceleration depends on a force acting on the object. During the lab it became apparent that some individuals were harder to stop than other members. This is due to their mass. An individual with more mass will be more difficult to set into motion that an individual has a smaller mass. It was easier to put a student with a smaller mass into motion than a student with a larger mass.
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I'm sorry that you were unable to participate in the lab :( Hopefully when your knee is better you will get that opportunity. I had the same thought as you when I first saw the hovercraft. I was expecting some elaborate device that would take us five feet up in the air, not a piece of wood attached to a leaf blower. We also had the same reaction about the noise it made. You had to scream to anyone standing a foot away from you! I never thought about the reactions we had until you mentioned something. It must have been funny to see our faces after we got to ride on the hovercraft. I know it was a really weird experience for me. The one thing I would add to your post is that not only does mass affect inertia, but also speed the force in which someone is pushed. That's why I was harder to stop than most; because Anna gave me a much firmer push than anyone else.
ReplyDeleteThat was a great report on how that hovercraft worked even though you didn't have the chance to do it yourself! There are some pros and cons I want to point out. First of all, I enjoyed reading the part that you explained the relation between the way a hovercraft works and human body works. You wouldn't have been able to do that if you did not know exactly how the hovercraft operates. However, it seemed like you should have been more organized in writing this lab which is something that you expect some other person, for example a teacher to see and judge how much of work and effort you put into the experiment. It was a bit hard for me to fully understand everything you wanted to say as topics changed from one to another. Nevertheless, I could really tell that you worked hard to catch up on what you had missed because you were able to explain why something could happen and how. Overall, good work!
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