Physics, Monday, Class #5, Period 4
Anyone who was paying attention might notice that Sam looked considerably more rested and relaxed this week. They'd probably also notice a few mini pool tables set up on the desks. "Good afternoon, and welcome to what I hope will be an informative class. Today we'll be discussing Isaac Newton's laws of motion, getting ever closer to our goal of exploring relativity after midterms, which I'm sure you're all waiting for with baited breath."
She was kidding, mostly.
"There are three basic laws of motion, according to Newton, who used them to describe the acceleration of massive particles. The first is that of inertia, which is basically that an object, once in motion, will stay in motion until acted upon by an outside force. Or, if you throw a baseball in a zero gravity and no friction situation, like in outer space, it will just keep going until the end of time, or until it hit something, whichever comes first. The second law gets more into computations of dynamics." She wrote several equations on the board. "They all boil down, basically, to F=ma, where F, or the force exerted upon an object, is equal to the product of the mass of the object, or M times the acceleration of the object, or A. Time can also be a factor, but we'll get into that later in the semester. The third law is also something you've probably heard before--for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."
"Basically, if you transfer energy to an object at rest by hitting it, it will then move in another direction at a certain rate of speed, based upon such variables as your aim, point of contact, and the power used to hit it."
"We'll get into laws of planetary motion next week, so please read those handouts. For the rest of class, I'd like you to pair up with another student, and play a few games of pool. What works, what doesn't? Why doesn't it work? I'd like a one-page write-up of your experiences for next week. Does anyone have any questions?"
She was kidding, mostly.
"There are three basic laws of motion, according to Newton, who used them to describe the acceleration of massive particles. The first is that of inertia, which is basically that an object, once in motion, will stay in motion until acted upon by an outside force. Or, if you throw a baseball in a zero gravity and no friction situation, like in outer space, it will just keep going until the end of time, or until it hit something, whichever comes first. The second law gets more into computations of dynamics." She wrote several equations on the board. "They all boil down, basically, to F=ma, where F, or the force exerted upon an object, is equal to the product of the mass of the object, or M times the acceleration of the object, or A. Time can also be a factor, but we'll get into that later in the semester. The third law is also something you've probably heard before--for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."
"Basically, if you transfer energy to an object at rest by hitting it, it will then move in another direction at a certain rate of speed, based upon such variables as your aim, point of contact, and the power used to hit it."
"We'll get into laws of planetary motion next week, so please read those handouts. For the rest of class, I'd like you to pair up with another student, and play a few games of pool. What works, what doesn't? Why doesn't it work? I'd like a one-page write-up of your experiences for next week. Does anyone have any questions?"