OCT 2010 - Why do Astronauts Feel Weightless in Space?

There is indeed gravity in space. When an astronaut is floating in space, s/he is effectively falling towards the strongest center of gravity around them (generally, the earth). However, the velocity of him or her is large enough to where they can keep orbiting around said center of gravity, This creates a perpetual feeling of weightlessness.

On Earth, we can see this when something falls.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GitLVLkp6Kg&feature=related

The above video shows two things: 1) That someone has a little too much free time, and 2) that in relativity to the skateboarder, while in the air, the skateboard is in effect weightless, much like an astronaut in space, only on a much smaller scale.

Acceleration

Acceleration is the change velocity over a period of time.

For instance, when a car is at rest and the driver presses the pedal, the car accelerates forward -- it's velocity has changed from 0 to however many miles per hour in whatever direction he is headed. Every time that car makes even the slightest of turns, stops, or reverses, its velocity has changed, and, therefore, it has accelerated (or negatively accelerated, in the case of going backwards or stopping).

September 2010 Distance Homework

My house is about 19.8 miles away from Parish. We leave every day around seven, and arrive by 7:45. It generally takes about 40 minutes to get from our house to Parish.

This means that our average speed is 29.7 miles per hour, which is approximately 796 meters/minute. I figured this out by:

AVG. SPEED = DISTANCE/TIME (v = x/t)

x = 19.8 miles

t = 40 minutes

v = ?

19.8 miles ÷ 40 minutes = 0.495 miles/minute

x 60 minutes per hour = 29.7 miles/per hour

29.7 MPH = ? meters/per hour

1 Mile ≈ 1609 meters

1609 m x 29.7 mi = 47,787 m

47,787 m ÷ 60 mins = 796 m / minute

47787 x 1 1/3 =

September 2010 Pendulum Lab

HYPOTHESIS: The longer the length of the pendulum, the longer the time it takes to swing through the air.

METHODOLOGY: A pendulum was attached to the ceiling at approximately 2 yards length. Our group held the pendulum back and let go, then counted the amount of time it took to complete three complete swings. We then divided that number by three to get the mean time it took for one swing. This was repeated seven times. We recorded this data onto pieces of paper and transposed them here.

GRAPH: Above

CONCLUSION: Our conclusion is that the longer the string, the longer the time it takes to complete a full swing. The graph shows that the length of the string has a positive correlation to the time it took to swing.