11P Science

So today there were another couple of equations, both of them for calculating the amount of energy something has. The units are Joules (J) Kinetic energy or E(k) is working out how much energy a moving object has. Potential energy is how much energy is stored in a high object – like the energy in the water of a dam, or something lifted off the earth.Potential energy is E(p)=m.g.h   So the higher you lift something the more energy it has. The larger the object you lift the more energy it has. g is for gravity, which remains a constant on this earth and you will be told g=10m.s-2. Try it with some simple numbers eg m=4g, g=10m.s-2,  and h=12m, and then double the mass to 8g. Try doubling the height to 24m… When they went to the moon gravity was less. But imagine (or calculate) the effect of going to Jupiter where gravity =40m.s-2 The homework was to finish the question given in class and do Question Four of page 81 in your green book…The class question was: A metal weight (2700g) in the gymnasium was left on a shelf 2m above the floor. It falls. It takes 0.8secs to fall (me bad, thanks for noticing Gavin)How much energy did it have on the shelf?How fast was it going when it hit the ground?What was its acceleration?With what force did it hit the ground?

I was just cruising in itunes (as you do when you could be marking instead!) and found this – I haven’t listened to one myself, but no doubt they are interesting (to biologists) http://askabiologist.asu.edu/ 

If you don’t leave a comment I have no idea if anyone is reading this – and no it doesn’t have to be all about homework!!!

If you grab your green textbook and turn to page 77, you’ll see our new friend the formula for acceleration, and below that the distance-time graph. Note that over the page is a comment that the area under a graph will give you the distance travelled – we will have to cover that in class. You may have covered it in maths (but I’ll pretend you haven’t and teach it anyway).

Try question one on page 78. Note that you have to convert the units for a). There will almost certainly be at least one question at the end of the year on converting units – its one of those doddle questions they put in for easy ‘A’s.  Always double check these ones if you are arithmetically challenged like me. It’s far too easy to put the decimal point in the wrong place!

For d) when they say use the graph, what they really mean is use the numbers on the graph – you do this with maths, getting the numbers from the picture. They want to know you know how to read a graph, and do not tie yourself in knots trying to figure a new way to figure out v=d/t.

 Calculating deceleration is the same as calculating acceleration but you’ll get a NEGATIVE number.

Let me know how you get on….

Its really important now you know some stuff about chemistry and biology that you don’t forget it before the end of the year when you have the exam. To help with that I suggest you do fifteen minutes of science each day – with a day off each week. Use a timer (like on your phone) and work Really Hard for those fifteen minutes. That means no texting, no music, no toilet stops, in fact No Excuses for 15 minutes. And don’t worry if you don’t get much done in those fifteen minutes, because you are not doing 10 questions, you are doing 15 minutes. And we can do anything for 15 minutes! If you do this every day you will have one and half hours of solid work done every week.

Can I also suggest you spread the love round the subject – do bio one night, then chem, then physics. After all, that means you have a good chance of doing well in all three rather than just the one(s) you like.

 Try pages 37 Q1, and let me know how you get on. Easy? or which question did you find hard. The answers are at the back of the book, but there is nothing to learn from copying them out. Find out what you know, then mark your work.

On this site I plan to give you information, do some practise questions and we can talk about the right answers, and why they are right… but the most important part is actually the comments section – this gives you a chance to ask questions which can be answered by me or by Anyone Who Knows! I can post links here to useful sites and so can you – we can help each other. If you don’t use it, I will just remove it.

 If you want to comment, just click on the comments link below. There is a comment in the post above, if you want to read it click on the 1 comment link (or the number might have changed!)

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