larger than life

We're learning about how things are magnified, so I put up these pictures of this bottle up. They're both taken from the same distance, so the characters on the bottle definitely get larger because of the glass. Because the characters get larger, the glass can't be acting as a diverging lens, because those only create smaller images. And as a concave lens, the letters must be within one focal length of the glass because that is the only time the image gets bigger and stays upright. However, because it is within one focal length, the image is only virtual (it can't be produced onto a screen). Light doesn't go through the lens and merge at one spot, but the eyes work it out so that the image can still be seen. Appearances are definitely deceiving.

difference between Painting and Physics

In painting, red, blue, and yellow are supposed to be the primary colors that are mixed to make other colors, but this is not true in physics. In physics, cyan, yellow, and magenta are what make up all the different colors. By substitution, these colors not only produce the painting primary colors, but others as well. It's a hard concept to accept, but after some thought, I realized it is true. Although the painting primary colors are taught to kids and people in art classes, it is highly unlikely that they will only use red, blue, and yellow paint for their artwork. Instead there are colors such as pthalo blue or payne's grey, colors that would be very difficult (if not impossible) to make with only the painting primary colors. Even printers only have cyan, magenta, and yellow ink, but can produce all sorts of colors, so the painting primary colors must be fake. However, it's hard to think about how we use the cones in our eyes to help us see colors when mixing, which is probably why the painting primary colors are the more popular of the two.

am i hearing things?

My dad just bought headphones as a gift for my grandmother and I didn't really think about them. However, I heard this irritating high pitched squeal one morning, but when I asked my parents if they heard the noise they said they couldn't hear anything. When I found out the noise was coming from the headphones I told my dad and he thought I was messing with him because he couldn't hear anything. Apparently the frequency of the noise is too high for either of my parents to hear anymore. Like we learned in class, humans can have a hearing range from 20 Hz to 2000 Hz, but it varies from person to person. Once a frequency is outside of a person's range, they no longer hear it. However, since I can hear it, my grandmother's dog probably can, too.

wave action

Ocean waves have the same characteristics as the waves we are learning about right now. The velocity of a wave stays constant, even when frequency or wavelength changes. Ocean waves are both transverse and longitudinal waves because particles on the wave move both perpendicularly and parallel to the direction of the wave. They also pass through one another. Ocean waves are example of waves that are easier to understand than sound waves, because they can actually be seen and observed. An example of wave observation would be when people pick opihi. They count the big waves, which normally come in threes, and then go down to pick during the lull that comes right after the last wave. The pickers still have to watch the waves, but the frequency and pattern of the waves stays relatively constant. I'm not really sure why they come in threes though.

Sound waves

During spring break, a bunch of us went to waikiki for karaoke and although I didn't know much about the subject at the time, there were a lot of sound waves. Higher voices have a higher frequency. However, because frequency is equal to the reciprocal of the period of the wave, higher voices have smaller periods. Even when frequency changes, it does not affect the speed of the sound wave. This is because speed=frequency x wave length and frequency and wave length have an inverse relationship. This is why two people can be singing a duet at different frequencies, but their voices will be heard by others at the same time. So there really is physics even in singing.

Overload...

Well, it's been awhile since we've talked about these things, but I just found what I think is the circuit breaker for my apartment. At first I thought they were fuses, but they don't seem to have anything that is easily replaced and the switches go on and off. These switches turn off when the current going through the wires is too high. This is to protect the house from possible fires that could occur when too much current goes through a wire and burns it up. There are many switches because each one is in charge of the current flowing to a different area. I think this means that the system is in a parallel because that way one switch going off won't affect the rest. (Luckily, we've only had to use the circuit breaker once from what I can remember.)

wonders on a refrigerator

Well this lesson we're learning about magnets, which is something I never thought I would be able to relate to physics. In fact, before this chapter, I never even thought about why magnets are able to hold photos down by sticking onto things such as a refrigerator. The magnet has a north pole and a south pole (which are the front and back sides of it) and each pole is attracted to its opposite. This is what allows magnets to stick together at times. However, magnets can also stick to certain materials (such as metals) even when the objects are not magnetized. However, just like in the lab, there is a certain place where the two poles meet that does not allow for other object to be attracted. This place makes it easier to distinguish between magnets and objects that can stick to magnets. It's kind of funny how just going for a late night snack can remind me of physics.