Fiziks Too

Just trying to help the world, one project at a time.

[fizikstoo-blog]

The Magic of the Swings

The swings employ a major physics topic, pendulum/circular motion. The force applied by the person on the swing, or the person pushing, is around the axle of the top bar of the swingset. The side bars are for support, and take some of the tension from the person swinging back and forth, pulling the bars. The swing ropes or chains take a lot of the tension too, requiring them to be very strong. Another major force is the centripetal (centrifugal?) force that is keeping the person on the swing in motion, with a little help of course.

[fizikstoo-blog]

Trebuchet Stats

Some attributes of the trebuchet that I believe can be changed to improve the performance of the catapault are the weight that is propelling it, the thickness of the throwing arm, and the height of the arm. The weight that is the main piece of any trebuchet should be heavy, to give greater momentum, but not too heavy that the arm bends or breaks.  The thickness of the throwing arm should be fairly thin, at least at the end with the sling, so that the arm can be moving as fast as possible when throwing the object. This thinness of the arm, however, would impact the weight that the counterweight can be, since the arm has to be able to firmly hold it in place. Finally, the height of the arm, where the counterweight is falling from, is very important because it allows the weight to gain more momentum and the arm will release the object faster.

[fizikstoo-blog]

A rube goldberg machine done right

[fizikstoo-blog]

The Aluminum Titanic

Creating boats out of aluminum was an interesting lesson in distribution of weight, buoyancy, and engineering. The idea of making a small piece of aluminum hold almost 6 dominoes floating on the surface of water is astounding, but obviously not impossible. Getting right into the physics on the first day was also a good experience. No messing around on the first day, just get right into it.