Saturday, December 5, 2009

Fig Newton's first Law questions

This is what I learned about inertia: Inertia involves two conditions of equilibrium. The first is Translational equilibrium. A body is in this equilibrium when its vector sum is equal to zero. This means that Sigma Fx = 0 and Sigma Fy = 0. The next condition of equilibrium is Rotational equilibrium. An object is in this when the sum of the forces and torques acting on it are zero or
Sigma t = 0.

What I have found difficult about what I have studied is trying to remember what I learned in class and use it on the homework. During the first night after I learned something in class I find it hard to understand the homework the way I did in class. However, after practicing how to do the problem I can do them more easily.

My problem solving skills have significantly increased since the beginning of the inertia unit. This is partly because I could understand the previous unit very well where as in the inertia problems I had to seek help from friends and practice a lot to get a secure understanding over the material. Through this frequent practice I began to increase my problem solving skills. My strength in my problem solving skills would probably be figuring out the equation to use while my weak point might be my FBD's.

A connection I can make with what we have studied and the real world is skateboarding. A traditional board has two trucks about 6 inches from each end. Using my weight and rotational equilibrium I can find the force exerted by each truck.

3 comments:

  1. Excellent reflection!

    Can you elaborate a little more on the application please? So you are able to find forces and how is this helpful? In other words, what do you do with the information?

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  2. Hey! This is great, and good detail. I was just going to say to explain your application a little more as Mrs. Gende said. Also, Im not sure everyone is familiar with skateboarding so maybe explain the trucks a little better.

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  3. Your application is related to Rotational Equilibrium that involves torques not to Newton's First Law.

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