Moises Casilla

Elementary Physics
April 21, 2017

Application of Physics

At the beginning of the semester, we were assigned the task by our instructor
of compiling 12 entries explaining some of the concepts we learned in class and
their application in our daily lives. Each one of these entries explains a different
concept in a simple way; my intent was that if I showed any of my friends, it would
be easier for them to understand than if they were reading the concept straight out
of a book. The entries were made on a weekly basis giving us enough time to select
a concept and find an everyday application. Below are the entries I submitted
during the semester and my reflection.

Application #1

During the first week of class in chapter 1, we learned about Newton's first
law, the law of inertia. I decided to use as an example an everyday event that I
experience every morning, and I'm sure many other do as well. Every morning
after serving my coffee or tea and adding sugar Istir it until the sugar dissolvesand
the I stop but the swirling motion continues due to inertia, if it wasn't because of
outside forces that same movement would never stop and would carry on as long as
it is not being acted on by another force. It is really interesting how a simple
everyday thing can be a great way of explaining the law of inertia.

Application #2

We learned about Newton's 2nd law in class, which states that the acceleration
of an object as produced by a net force is directly proportional to the magnitude of
the net force, in the same direction as the net force and inversely proportional to
the mass of the object. We can experience this when you go to the supermarket,
pushing an empty cart requires less force than pushing a full cart because the full
cart has a greater mass than an empty cart.

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 Application #3

We learned in class about Newton's third law of motion which states that for
every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. In light of the super bowl I
would like to use the example of a football, if a mean friend threw a football at
your face and you pushed it away in a different direction with your hands you
would feel pain after, this is becausewhen two objects interact with each other, each
exerts equal and opposite forces on each other.

Application #4

We learned about momentum in class; I happened to know about momentum

before taking the class because I was a baseball player as a kid. As a baseball player,
I was always told to follow through with my swing while striking the ball, by doing
this the time during the collision increases which results in the ball leaving the bat
with more velocity or simply faster.

Application #5

A few weeks ago in class, we learned about rotational speed and angular
momentum. The best life example of this would be figure skating when the skater
brings in her arms and legs and increases speed to a great extent. This is the result
of conservation of angular momentum, the skater reduces her rotational inertia by
bringing her arms and legs in, and the speed of her rotation has to increase to
maintain a constant angular momentum.

Application #6

We learned about kinetic energy in class which is the energy that a body has
by being in motion. Kinetic energyis directly proportional to the mass of the
object and the square of its velocity. For example, A person skiing going down hill
has lots of kinetic energy because of their mass and high velocity.

Application #7

We learned about gravity in class which is defined as the force that attracts a
body toward the center of the earth. There are many examples of gravity in
everyday life, the simplest example, in my opinion, is throwing a ball up in there
and then watching the ball coming down. This occurs because gravity is pulling the

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ball toward the center of the earth, it is simple but a force necessary for our
existence when you look at the big picture.

Application #8

We learned in class about the different phases of the four states of matter and
the changes that they can go through. As an example, I would like to refer to the
process of condensation and show how it can happen in everyday life. If you havea
cold soda on a hot day, the can sweats because water molecules in the air as vapor
hits the colder surface of the can turn into liquid water.

Application #9

We learned in class aboutheat transfer and temperature, almost everything

you see in everyday life experiences some sort of heat transfer at some point. For
my example I would like to use boiling water, the heat passes from the burner into
the pot to the water at the bottom. Then, this hot water rises and cooler water
moves down to replace it, causing a circular motion. It is important to understand
the first law of thermodynamics, heat flows from hot objects to colder ones.

Application #10

We learned in class about voltage and its effects. I had an awful experience
when I traveled to Argentina since I almost entirely blew up the battery on my
phone. I had no idea that the electric service in Argentina was 220 volts like most
European countries so I plugged my phone in and it started getting really hot fast
which is when I knew something was wrong. It could have been easily avoided if I
had taken this class and understood how voltage works and its effects. Next time I
travel to Argentina or any other country I will check their electric service voltage to
make sure I'm prepared with an adapter.

Application #11

We've been learning in class about light and discussing the topic for about two
weeks now. One of the things we learned about was reflection, as I was in class, I
thought of a very simple example of this in everyday life. The example is simply
looking in a mirror like everyone probably does at some point during the day,the
positioning of objects in the mirror is a reflection of the objects in the real world.

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 Application #12

We learned about electromagnetic waves in class. A great everyday example

for electromagnetic waves is microwave radiation, and the radiation is absorbed by
water molecules which heat up and cooks the food while killing bacteria.

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 Reflection
As the semester comes to an end, I find myself not only happy that I took this
class but also grateful for our instructor in the sense that this term paper was a way
for me to understand and see physics in a different way. The paper was an outlet
for me to think about physics outside of the classroom and understand how it can
affect everyday things that I didnt eve realize before. It goes without saying that
physics are extremely important in the world, they provide us with fundamental
knowledge that is critical for the evolution of technology and humans as an
intelligent species. By taking this class, I have expanded and refreshed the
knowledge I had previously acquired in high school by discussing and presenting
different topics every week, always keeping us engaged with quizzes and interactive
examples. I would recommend anyone to take this class as it is a great way of
introducing anyone to the world of physics, but it is also a good starting point for
those pursuing more advanced studies in science or even engineering degrees. Im
attending college with the intent of obtaining a degree in business, however, this
class made me doubt my decision as I found a new interest in the world of science
and my curiosity just kept me wanting to learn more. When you look at history, the
people we remember the most and admired are usually scientists and not only that,
but they are also the ones that came up with inventions and discoveries that have
allowed humanity to evolve at this rate, especially in the technology sector. Even if I
decide to obtain a business major I will continue to pursue and obtain new
knowledge in the scientific fields as I find so interesting and important for our
society, this paper showed how physics are applied in everyday life and I'm sure I
will be able to find an application of physics in the world of business.

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