Stephanie+M.

=__Stephanie M's Physics Page__= include component="comments" page="Stephanie M." limit="10"

__Reflections__
This article discusses how the incoming radiation from the sun is demonstrated through different wave lengths and is when coming through the atmoshpere is partially absorbed by atmospheric molecule. The part that is not absorbed warms the earth's surface and is emitted radiation reflected back toward the earth, warming it even more. Greenhouse gases are used to keep the earth at a constant ans comfortable temperature and are considered all of the absorbing gases. Greenhouse gases help to resist extreme fluxuations in temperature that would end chances of life on earth. The climate is balanced when its incoming and outcoming expenditures are balanced, a.k.a. the incoming sun and the outgoing radiation from the earth.
 * Climate Agents**

The article __Scientific Imagination__ adresses the challenges faced when trying to describe and comprehend things that are invisible. The author of this article describes different instances under which people attempt to understand things and concepts that can not be seen, the author stresses the importance of being aware that when a person visualizes what they consider to be the truth must also be consistent with the laws of physics. Lastly the author also mentions the beauty that can be appreciated in the things we cannot see.
 * Scientific Imagination**

The basic principles of energy and the laws of thermodynamics tie in very closely to each other. For example energy is always conserved and it will go from more useful forms to less useful forms. The first law of thermodynamics states that energy cannot be created or destroyed so even tho it can change forms the total amount stays the same. The second law states that when Hartford Physics - Stephanie M.energy is converted it will go from a more concentrated form to a less concentrated form but it limits the amount of energy that can be used for work. All of these elements have had a role to the labs we have worked on throughout class. These labs include: collisions of carts, mechanical equivalent, energy on a ramp, roller coaster and calorimetry. During the collisions of carts lab this applies because potential energy was converted to kinetic energy when the carts collided. However some energy was lost, meaning that it could not be used to perform work, it was converted to heat energy etc. Throughout the energy on a ramp lab the laws of thermodynamics were applied when more useful forms of energy were converted to less useful forms of energy. This occurred when the cart and the ball went down the ramp; gravitational potential energy and rotational energy were converted to kinetic energy. The same applies for the roller coaster lab in that energy was converted from more concentrated forms to less concentrated forms as the cart moved throughout the track. Lastly, during the calorimetry lab the law of thermodynamics was applied in that heat energy was converted into lees useful forms when it went to objects with lower separate energies.
 * Energy Throughout Labs**

Temperature is a quantity that tells how hot or cold something is compared to its standard, in a sense it is a measurement of heat. It is proportional to the average kinetic energy along a straight or curved path, however temperature is not a measure of the total kinetic energy of all the molecules in a substance. Heat is the energy that transfers from one object to another because of a temperature difference between them. Heat flows according to average molecular kinetic energy differences, it always flows from hotter substances to cooler substances. All three of these (heat, kinetic energy and temperature) are related in that how much temperature or average kinetic energy an object has determines how much heat will be given off.
 * Kinetic Energy, Heat and Temperature**

Energy can be broken down into many parts some of which include work, kinetic energy, potential energy, and the law of conservation of energy. Work is a concept for the quantity of force multiplied by distance, thereby work is all dependent upon the application of a force and the movement of something by that force. When you do work on something you are forcing it to move against the influence of an opposing force. Potential energy is energy that is stored and is ready to be released and when it is released it becomes kinetic energy which is energy in motion. The kinetic energy of an object is dependent upon the mass and speed of the object. The law of conservation of energy sums up the conversion between potential energy and kinetic energy, according to this law energy cannot be created or destroyed. It can be transformed from one form to another, but the amount of energy does not change.
 * Energy Reflection; September 27, 2009**

All of the previously discussed terms can be connected to each other, they all have an effect on the other or lead into each other. One classic example of this is rock being flung from a sling shot. There is work done to pull back the sling and once the sling is pulled back it has potential energy. This potential energy becomes kinetic energy as soon as the sling is released and the law of conservation of energy proves that even though the form of energy was changed when the sling was released the total is still the same.

The way that I have always viewed systems has been rather simple, for me a system was anything that worked with other things to produce or benefit something else. To a physicist a system is any considerable object that interacts with others. Compared to my definition a physicist's definition is definitely more broad and could include a lot more things, which I prefer more than my own. Systems however can be classified into two categories, isolated/closed system or an open system. In an open system mass and energy may enter or leave where as in a closed system no mass may enter or leave. Unlike an open system, a closed system allows the conservation of mass and the conservation of momentum to be preserved. In a closed system mass can not leave or enter this preserves the conservation of mass because the mass is not changing. The law of Conservation of momentum states that in the absence of an external force, the momentum of a system remains unchanged. Therefor a closed system will preserve this law because the external forces are eliminated. The lab that we have been working on the past couple days throughout class ties in pretty nicely to the discussions we have had on the scientific method. There are a lot of things that we have worked on during the lab that are similar to the steps taken during the scientific method and there are some things that we have discussed about scientific method that really did not fit into this lab. By designing and testing a clock we followed a lot of the steps used in the scientific method. For example my partner and I first made a prediction of what was going to affect the speed of our clock and from there came up with experiments that tested that. We made observations, collected data, identified patterns and made more predictions in order to improve our clock. All of these steps are a part of the scientific method and we followed them until our clack was keeping track of time accurately. Although we did use many of the steps from the scientific method there were also some that we did not use. My partner and I did not create a hypothesis because this type of experiment was one that was more trial and error versus testing one idea. Also my partner and I did not extend the experiment into the stages of making laws or theories. The process my partner and I went through was very similar to that of the scientific method, mostly because it was a cycle. We never really had ordered steps that we went through, we were always predicting, testing, observing, and predicting again. We went through some steps multiple times which I think is very similar to the scientific method.
 * Systems Reflection; September 20, 2009**
 * Clock Lab; September 13, 2009**

The packets On Scientific Method and Scientific Method both express different ideas of how the scientific method actually works. The packet that was read over the weekend (Scientific Method) described the method as more of a cycle that each scientist uses while investigating an idea scientifically. This particular author suggested that every scientist follows these steps and also that the steps do not have to be done in order to complete the scientific method. Eventually all of the steps are completed through the experiment. The packet that was read tonight on the scientific method (On Scientific Method) showed a different opinion on how the method worked. This particular author did not seem to think that scientists used these steps when performing an experiment, rather that each scientist does what is necessary to answer the question at hand. Also this author believes that personal belief should not interfere with the scientific method where as the other author thought the opposite. Overall I believe that each author believes that there is a method that is followed but how closely it is followed varies among author. I personally agree more with the ideas in the first packet, Scientific Method.
 * On Scientific Method vs. Scientific Method; August 31, 2009**

After reading this packet on the Scientific Method I definitely have a better understanding of what it is and how it works. I have always viewed the process as steps you take when testing a hypothesis, but now I see it as more of a cycle which the author clearly describes.The author breaks the scientific method down into five parts, preconceptions, identifying patterns, hypothesis, prediction, and observations experiments and data. No matter where you start in the scientific method you eventually hit all five parts, which makes it more like a cycle versus ordered steps that you follow. The scientific method is definitely very useful, it adds order to chaos without it experiments would be unorganized and very hard to duplicate. This authors viewpoint of the scientific method gave me a new way to look at the process and I have to say that I agree with the points that are made.
 * Scientific Method; August 30, 2009**


 * ==Reflection on Topic; Date Published== ||
 * Other than using a Facebook this is the first online page that i have worked with. I have done plenty of research on computers before but I haven't done anything like this, but I think it will be interesting to work with this sight during Physics. Outside of school i have acces to a computer with internet that can be used whenever necessary. I think that using wikispaces will be very valuable as a class tool, mostly because it is easier to stay organized with it because it cuts down on paper. ||

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