Science and stuff

A formula of force

tenakha — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:19:56 +0000

There is one totally important formula when it comes to forces,

F = ma

That’s all there is, but everything revolves around that formula. “F” is the total (net) force, “m” is the object’s mass, and “a” is the acceleration that occurs. As a sentence, “The net force applied to the object equals the mass of the object multiplied by the amount of its acceleration.” The net force acting on the soccer ball is equal to the mass of the soccer ball multiplied by its change in velocity each second (its acceleration). Do you remember the wind gently blowing on the soccer ball? The force acting on the ball was very small because the mass of air was very small. Small masses generally exert small forces, which generally result in small accelerations (changes in motion).

Further info here:

http://www.physics4kids.com/files/motion_force.html

blood

tenakha — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:48:39 +0000

Red cells (erythrocytes). These make blood a red colour. One drop of blood contains about five million red cells. Red cells contain a chemical called haemoglobin. This binds to oxygen, and takes oxygen from the lungs to all parts of the body.

drawing – can you try drawing this?!

tenakha — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:01:02 +0000

I can’t draw this very well – can you? Please try – all three of you.

Simultaneous equations

tenakha — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 10:19:59 +0000

A simple example:

3x + y = 10 equation 1

2x + y = 7 equation 2

STEP 1 – We subtract equation 2 from equation 1 (so we eliminate the y’s)

a) 3x -2x = x, b) y-y=0, c) 10-7 = 3 and we are left with:

x = 3

STEP 2 – we SUBSTITUE the value of x (which is 3) into equation 2 as follows:

2x + y = 7

2*3 + y = 7

6 + y = 7

(-6) y = 7-6

y = 1

The Hydrogen Atom

tenakha — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:03:15 +0000

The element Hydrogen is the simplest and most abundant element in the universe. The most common form consists of only one proton and one electron. The atomic mass of Hydrogen is 1.

Momentum

tenakha — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 11:29:31 +0000

Momentum

Momentum = mass x velocity

the equation is:

P = mv

Remember the units of mass and velocity:

Units of mass: Kg

Units of velocity: m/s

Thus the units of momentum are:

Kg m / s

Newtons cradle is a good example of the principle of “conservation of momentum”:

Mass and weight

tenakha — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 10:51:02 +0000

Weight and Mass

What’s the difference between weight and mass?

As long as you stay on Earth, the difference is more philosophical than practical.

Uh…what do you mean by that?

Well, mass is a measurement of how much matter is in an object; weight is a measurement of how hard gravity is pulling on that object. Your mass is the same wherever you are–on Earth, on the moon, floating in space–because the amount of stuff you’re made of doesn’t change. But your weight depends on how much gravity is acting on you at the moment; you’d weigh less on the moon than on Earth, and in interstellar space you’d weigh almost nothing at all.

But if you stay on Earth, gravity is always the same, so it really doesn’t matter whether you talk about weight or mass.

That’s right…but scientists still like to be careful about distinguishing between the two. If you talk about the mass of an atom–as I will do from now on–you’re always talking about the same thing; if you talk about its weight, what you mean depends on where the atom is.

Here is a graphical example. The mass stays the same, but weight can change.