Blog 6: Water Slide Fun

This past weekend, I was going through some old photos because I was helping my mom transfer all our files from our old computer to our new one. I came across this picture of me on this waterslide at the old Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park. I realized all the physics going on in this picture. My weight is pulling me down to the slide and there is a normal force from the slide is pushing back on me, but the two forces aren't equal because I am a slide, so the forces affect me at an angle. Also I am doing work and there is change in energy.

At the very top of the slide, when I was waiting for the lifeguard to say that we could slide down, I only had potential energy. I could've calculated my potential energy by multiplying my mass by gravity and the height of the slide. At the base of the slide my energy was entirely kinetic and it was equal to my potential energy at the top of the slide. Also even though I was on a mat and there was water flowing down, there was still some friction that helps determine how much work I was doing. Or I could have calculated my change of potential energy or kinetic energy to find my work.

Blog 5: Momentum in Volleyball

This past week when I was at my club volleyball practice I was thinking of all the momentum involved in the game. If the hitters get a good set, they try to hit the ball with the most momentum they can while still being accurate. The passers in the back row, tries to control the momentum of the hitter's hit by digging the ball. Sometimes if there is too much momentum on the ball, the passer can't control the momentum and guide the ball to the setter, this results in a shank. Also the blockers try to totally stop the momentum of the ball so it goes back to the opponent's side of the net. Or they slow down the momentum of the hit by touching the block, which makes it easier to pass the ball. Every time the ball is contacted a collision occurs.

As a libero, or a defensive specialist, I constantly have to dig the hitter's hit. If the ball is coming at a fast pace I strive for the collision of the ball and my arms to be inelastic, so the momentum would be conserved, but the kinetic energy wouldn't be conserved. If the kinetic energy isn't conserved, with my dig, I would be able to slow down the ball and guide it to the setter.