Week 3 Blog

 1. This week during lab we had to test whether a variable affects how fast something will go down a slide. Our group chose to text different weights for our experiment. We had 3 different balls that were all different weights, but were the same size and shape. This was so that the different weights would all go down the slide without any unfair advantages such as dents. We found that the results were closer than we originally thought they would be and so it made it hard to come up with a clear conclusion. Things such as timing and error of our phones might have been a factor. Another factor we thought of was reaction time for people to click start on the timer. Another thing we talked about was how the object slowly gained speed as it went down the slide. 

2. During lecture on Thursday we talked about a few big ideas. These ideas include force, friction, and gravity. For each idea we talked about what it was and why it is important or what impact it has on items. Our knowledge was shown through conversations for each idea as well as the formative assessments we took on why things fall as well as friction. 

3. This weeks reading talked about the relationship between force and motion, highlighting concepts such as Newton’s laws of motion, friction, gravity, and how different forces interact with objects to cause or resist movement. I learned how force affects acceleration, velocity, and inertia, and gained a clearer understanding of concepts like net force and balanced/unbalanced forces. The thing that was most helpful for me was the breakdown of Newton’s laws and their practical applications in real-world scenarios was probably the most helpful aspect. Visual aids, diagrams, or examples may have clarified how forces cause objects to start or stop moving and how mass and acceleration are related. However, something I could've gotten more information on is how frictional forces work in different environments or on more complex examples of combined forces. A question could be how these force concepts are measured or demonstrated in various engineering or technological applications, such as in vehicle safety or sports. One concern might be ensuring the application of these physics principles in problem-solving scenarios or understanding how to calculate force vectors more confidently.