Hobos! Really? I'm so serious. We might not realize it, but physics is a HUGE factor in our everyday lives. Let's look at all at the top reasons why we need physics in our lives to avoid a life of a homeless vagabond. Starting with number ten....
10) We would have no clue what Newton's laws were.
Newton was a great guy. He came up with some pretty important physics concepts that we discussed in class. The three big laws we discussed where Newton's first, second, and third law of motion. Let's get started. Newton's first law of motion was the very first concept we talked about. This law says that every object continues in a state of rest or of uniform speed in a straight line unless acted on by a nonzero net force. The first las is also called the law of Inertia. Inertia is just the tendency of something to resist motion. So, if an object is at rest, it wants to stay at rest. Likewise, if an object is moving, it wants to continue moving. Pretty simple.
Moving on, we talked about Newton's second law. This law says that force is proportional to acceleration. Therefore if the force increases, the acceleration increases and vice versa. Another component to this law is that acceleration is inversely proportional to the mass. Therefore, it there is a large mass, there will be a small acceleration and vice versa. The final equation to represent this law is acceleration equals the force divided by the mass (a=f/m).
Finally, we learned about Newton's third law. This law states that for every action there will be an equal and opposite reaction. Therefore, if I push against the wall, the wal pushes against me. It's pretty straight forward. But if we didn't know anything about this, we wouldn't know the basic facts of life and would therefore have to revert to the life of a hobo.
9)We wouldn't know why magnets and paper clips stick together.
I feel like I've always wanted to know why this happens, but just never have. Physics class has answered some of my biggest questions ever! So first off, every object is made up of domains which are clusters of electrons moving together. These domains are completely random. So starting off, we know that initially the domains in the paper clip are random. The magnet has a magnetic field around it. When this magnet comes close to the paper clip, the domains of the paper clip will align to match the magnetic field of the magnet. The paper clip now has a north and south pole. We know that opposite poles attract. Therefore, the north pole of the paper clip is attracted to the south pole of the magnet; thus the two items stick together. This is a pretty simple concept that we need to know about in life. If we didn't know about this then we would become primitive people and would need to set up a hobo camp away from physics.
8)We wouldn't know about motors in a car
If you're anything like me, you've always thought that motors were something insanely complicated and only an engineer could possibly understand anything about them. WRONG! I know what a motor is and even made one myself. Crazy I know! There are some basic things that are needed for a motor to work; these items are a current carrying wire and a magnet. When I made my motor, I wound the wire into a loop. Ultimately, the current carrying wire felt a force in the magnetic field from the magnet. This force the loop feels will cause a torque. This torque will cause a spin and this can be turned into a car, fan, or even a blender. Personally, I vote for the blender. But if we didn't have motors than we wouldn't have cars and we would have no means of transportation. Thus, we would back pack everywhere and live life as a hobo.
7)We wouldn't know how an ice skater is able to spin much faster when they tucks their body in.
Let's be honest, we have all at some point watched figure skating when there was nothing better on television. Isn't it crazy how when they tuck their body in they go much faster? Well, physics actually explains this. It has to do with rotational inertia. Rotational inertia is just the property of an object to resist change in spin. This also depends on where the mass is primarily located. Another way to explain this is it depends on how far the mass is from the axis of rotation. So, initially, when the ice skater extends their legs out, the mass is away from the axis of rotation. This means that there will be a greater rotational inertia. If there is a greater rotational inertia, it also means that there will be less rotational velocity. However, when the ice skater tucks their body in, their mass is closer to the axis of rotation. This means that there is less rotational inertia and more rotational velocity; thus the skater moves much faster. Hobos don't know about ice skaters though so if we didn't know about this we would be hobos.
6)We wouldn't know what work really is
Personally, I've always thought work was just some job that adults went to every day. In reality, work is a lot more than just that. It is actually a really important physics term. Work is when you exert a force on an object over some distance. The equation to represent this is work multiplied by distance. The one catch is that the force and distance must be parallel to each other. If they are not, then no work will be done. There is also no work done if the object does not move. But if we didn't know this, all paths lead to the hobo life.
5)We would constantly need new coffee cups because they would keep falling off the roof of our cars
We've definitely all experienced that time when we forget that we put our cup on the car and then when we drive off and it is lost forever. This is actually all because of Newton's first law and inertia. Initially, both the car and the cup are at rest. When the car starts up, it begins to move. Newton's 1st law says that an object at rest wants to stay at rest. Therefore, the cup will want to remain at rest when the car starts. As the car moves, the coffee cup will slide out from under the car and will fall to the ground. But if we didn't even have coffee cups then we would be hobos. This is the truth.
4)We wouldn't know how a credit card machine works
I've always thought that credit card machines worked because of magic and unfortunately that is far from the truth. Credit card machines work because of a process called electromagnetic induction. Basically, electromagnetic induction is when you induce current by changing the magnetic filed in some loops of wire. So based on this we know that we need both loops of wire and magnets for this to happen. In the credit card machine, there is a loop of wire. In the strip on the credit card, there is a series of magnets. As the credi card moves through the wire, it changes the magnetic field of the loop. This change in the magnetic field induces a current in the wire. This current acts as a signal, and tells the computer what your credit card number is. And even though this isn't magic, it's still pretty cool. But if we couldn't access our accounts, we would have no money, and therefore we would be hobos.
3)We wouldn't know why the circuit breaker trips
In life we have been annoyed by a circuit breaker tripping at least once. And while it might be annoying, it is actually very important. Our houses are wired in something called parallel which is just a parallel circuit. A parallel circuit will produce more current as more appliances are plugged in. That's why we can plug any number of things into an outlet and the power will not change between all the objects. However, this can also be dangerous and could cause an electrical fire. A fuse is added to the wiring to avoid this. A fuse is just a little glass container with a piece of wire in it. When the system overheats, the wire in the fuse will heat up and break. Since the wire is broken, the circuit is not complete anymore and no current will flow to the objects. Thus, the electronics will temporarily shut off as the system tries to cool down. If we had no clue about this then our houses would burn down, and then we would have to become hobos.
2)We wouldn't truly know about the north and south pole and therefore santa could never bring us presents
So the north and south poles aren't just places but actually have to do with magnets. In a magnet, the net direction will make a forward and backward and these become the north and south poles. The magnetic field within the magnet will go from south to north and the magnetic field around the magnet will go from north to south. And what is really interesting is that our geographical north is not actually the real north. This means that our north and south pole should be switched. But what really confuses me is whether or not santa lives in the geographical north pole or the magnetic north pole? And if santa is in our life than we would only have one thing to do: become hobos.
1) We would have no clue which horse in the carousel would go faster than the rest
Carousels are possible one of the best inventions known to man, and the best part is there is physics behind it! But before we get into this, we need to know about two different speeds, rotational speed and tangential speed. Rotational speed is the revolutions per minute. Tangential speed (aka linear speed) is the distance covered per time. So in a carousel, the rotational speeds will always be the same for everyone, no matter what horse you are on. However, the tangential speed will be faster for the people on the outside of the carousel because they have more distance to cover in less amount of time. Weird huh? So if you want to have a faster tangential speed, pick a horse on the outside of the carousel, and think about physics! But if we didn't know about carousels we would not only be hobos, but we would be sad hobos!
10) We would have no clue what Newton's laws were.
Newton was a great guy. He came up with some pretty important physics concepts that we discussed in class. The three big laws we discussed where Newton's first, second, and third law of motion. Let's get started. Newton's first law of motion was the very first concept we talked about. This law says that every object continues in a state of rest or of uniform speed in a straight line unless acted on by a nonzero net force. The first las is also called the law of Inertia. Inertia is just the tendency of something to resist motion. So, if an object is at rest, it wants to stay at rest. Likewise, if an object is moving, it wants to continue moving. Pretty simple.
Moving on, we talked about Newton's second law. This law says that force is proportional to acceleration. Therefore if the force increases, the acceleration increases and vice versa. Another component to this law is that acceleration is inversely proportional to the mass. Therefore, it there is a large mass, there will be a small acceleration and vice versa. The final equation to represent this law is acceleration equals the force divided by the mass (a=f/m).
Finally, we learned about Newton's third law. This law states that for every action there will be an equal and opposite reaction. Therefore, if I push against the wall, the wal pushes against me. It's pretty straight forward. But if we didn't know anything about this, we wouldn't know the basic facts of life and would therefore have to revert to the life of a hobo.
9)We wouldn't know why magnets and paper clips stick together.
I feel like I've always wanted to know why this happens, but just never have. Physics class has answered some of my biggest questions ever! So first off, every object is made up of domains which are clusters of electrons moving together. These domains are completely random. So starting off, we know that initially the domains in the paper clip are random. The magnet has a magnetic field around it. When this magnet comes close to the paper clip, the domains of the paper clip will align to match the magnetic field of the magnet. The paper clip now has a north and south pole. We know that opposite poles attract. Therefore, the north pole of the paper clip is attracted to the south pole of the magnet; thus the two items stick together. This is a pretty simple concept that we need to know about in life. If we didn't know about this then we would become primitive people and would need to set up a hobo camp away from physics.
8)We wouldn't know about motors in a car
If you're anything like me, you've always thought that motors were something insanely complicated and only an engineer could possibly understand anything about them. WRONG! I know what a motor is and even made one myself. Crazy I know! There are some basic things that are needed for a motor to work; these items are a current carrying wire and a magnet. When I made my motor, I wound the wire into a loop. Ultimately, the current carrying wire felt a force in the magnetic field from the magnet. This force the loop feels will cause a torque. This torque will cause a spin and this can be turned into a car, fan, or even a blender. Personally, I vote for the blender. But if we didn't have motors than we wouldn't have cars and we would have no means of transportation. Thus, we would back pack everywhere and live life as a hobo.
7)We wouldn't know how an ice skater is able to spin much faster when they tucks their body in.
Let's be honest, we have all at some point watched figure skating when there was nothing better on television. Isn't it crazy how when they tuck their body in they go much faster? Well, physics actually explains this. It has to do with rotational inertia. Rotational inertia is just the property of an object to resist change in spin. This also depends on where the mass is primarily located. Another way to explain this is it depends on how far the mass is from the axis of rotation. So, initially, when the ice skater extends their legs out, the mass is away from the axis of rotation. This means that there will be a greater rotational inertia. If there is a greater rotational inertia, it also means that there will be less rotational velocity. However, when the ice skater tucks their body in, their mass is closer to the axis of rotation. This means that there is less rotational inertia and more rotational velocity; thus the skater moves much faster. Hobos don't know about ice skaters though so if we didn't know about this we would be hobos.
6)We wouldn't know what work really is
Personally, I've always thought work was just some job that adults went to every day. In reality, work is a lot more than just that. It is actually a really important physics term. Work is when you exert a force on an object over some distance. The equation to represent this is work multiplied by distance. The one catch is that the force and distance must be parallel to each other. If they are not, then no work will be done. There is also no work done if the object does not move. But if we didn't know this, all paths lead to the hobo life.
5)We would constantly need new coffee cups because they would keep falling off the roof of our cars
We've definitely all experienced that time when we forget that we put our cup on the car and then when we drive off and it is lost forever. This is actually all because of Newton's first law and inertia. Initially, both the car and the cup are at rest. When the car starts up, it begins to move. Newton's 1st law says that an object at rest wants to stay at rest. Therefore, the cup will want to remain at rest when the car starts. As the car moves, the coffee cup will slide out from under the car and will fall to the ground. But if we didn't even have coffee cups then we would be hobos. This is the truth.
4)We wouldn't know how a credit card machine works
I've always thought that credit card machines worked because of magic and unfortunately that is far from the truth. Credit card machines work because of a process called electromagnetic induction. Basically, electromagnetic induction is when you induce current by changing the magnetic filed in some loops of wire. So based on this we know that we need both loops of wire and magnets for this to happen. In the credit card machine, there is a loop of wire. In the strip on the credit card, there is a series of magnets. As the credi card moves through the wire, it changes the magnetic field of the loop. This change in the magnetic field induces a current in the wire. This current acts as a signal, and tells the computer what your credit card number is. And even though this isn't magic, it's still pretty cool. But if we couldn't access our accounts, we would have no money, and therefore we would be hobos.
3)We wouldn't know why the circuit breaker trips
In life we have been annoyed by a circuit breaker tripping at least once. And while it might be annoying, it is actually very important. Our houses are wired in something called parallel which is just a parallel circuit. A parallel circuit will produce more current as more appliances are plugged in. That's why we can plug any number of things into an outlet and the power will not change between all the objects. However, this can also be dangerous and could cause an electrical fire. A fuse is added to the wiring to avoid this. A fuse is just a little glass container with a piece of wire in it. When the system overheats, the wire in the fuse will heat up and break. Since the wire is broken, the circuit is not complete anymore and no current will flow to the objects. Thus, the electronics will temporarily shut off as the system tries to cool down. If we had no clue about this then our houses would burn down, and then we would have to become hobos.
2)We wouldn't truly know about the north and south pole and therefore santa could never bring us presents
So the north and south poles aren't just places but actually have to do with magnets. In a magnet, the net direction will make a forward and backward and these become the north and south poles. The magnetic field within the magnet will go from south to north and the magnetic field around the magnet will go from north to south. And what is really interesting is that our geographical north is not actually the real north. This means that our north and south pole should be switched. But what really confuses me is whether or not santa lives in the geographical north pole or the magnetic north pole? And if santa is in our life than we would only have one thing to do: become hobos.
1) We would have no clue which horse in the carousel would go faster than the rest
Carousels are possible one of the best inventions known to man, and the best part is there is physics behind it! But before we get into this, we need to know about two different speeds, rotational speed and tangential speed. Rotational speed is the revolutions per minute. Tangential speed (aka linear speed) is the distance covered per time. So in a carousel, the rotational speeds will always be the same for everyone, no matter what horse you are on. However, the tangential speed will be faster for the people on the outside of the carousel because they have more distance to cover in less amount of time. Weird huh? So if you want to have a faster tangential speed, pick a horse on the outside of the carousel, and think about physics! But if we didn't know about carousels we would not only be hobos, but we would be sad hobos!
