Phx *Physics help needed--pretty, pretty, please!!!*

women, physics, taerial, and now PMS!

*runs for the mountains*

 

Okay, I have now had my laugh for the day

And just for the record... JD is also involved w/ a girl who does calculus for fun So, he's surrounded by smart women who can kick his butt

 

Oh, and did I mention his Mom is a science teacher?

 

*cough*refrains from commenting

my mom doesn't like physics though...she only teaches that b/c she has to...just not that many jobs for biology teachers in kansas.

 

Only a little more time w/ the blue, JD... And then you can make comments again

 

edit: nm, lol.

the blue will soon be gone...

 

I just failed my second reading quiz.

*sarcasm* This class is off to a great start...

EDIT: I don't get it. He stood in front of the class and said, "If you do your homework and reading quizzes, you can get a C in the course." The first homework quiz wasn't walk in the park easy, but the one question I missed I know I missed because the question was phrased funny. The second quiz I ****** up because it was asking me concept questions (what is relative velocity?) that don't have a simple definition given in the book and I don't see how I'm supposed to know that before he explains it (hah, hah) in class. ********************************************
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The icing on the cake is that for the first reading quiz, you could take as much time as you needed; basically, if you wanted to read the question, then read the part in the book that's related to it, then answer, you could in theory. Now my teacher decides to add an hour time limit on the quiz, which if it was a simple quiz to show whether or not you read the chapter that'd be fine but it wasn't.

 

Deep breathing, Lady Jedi...deep breathing...

I just emailed my answers to your first round of questions. Feel free to add conceptual questions.

Relative velocity: how fast something is going related to a stated reference point. For example, I see you going by in a car at 55 mph. Relative to me as I stand on a curb, you are going 55 mph. To you, you are motionless relative to the car, because you and the car are going at the same rate. So, relative to the car, your relative velocity would be 0 mph.

vrel = v(object 1) - v(object 2)

Hope this helps!

 

Ouch. Sorry to hear the reading quiz didn't go well. What other sort of stuff did he ask? If we can figure out the types of things he's likely to ask, perhaps we can predict what you need to focus on for future quizzes.

It sounds like you're at beginning physics? *ponder* I know that at some point while doing my lower division classes I started writing up guides on how to do basic problem types. (ie, "Here is this type of sterotypical problem. Here is how you approach solving it. Here is an example.) I don't think I did it this early on, but I can check once I'm back in Calif and have found my missing binders. If you're interested, I can photocopy relevent notes to send you.

 

*ponder* Or maybe I did that for math class...?

 

How goes the physics class?

 

dustchick: Your email was helpful. Thank you.

Taeriel: Yep, I'm in beginning physics. If you can find your notes with examples, I would be more than happy to pay for copying & shipping fees.

As for how goes the physics class, it's gotten better : Yesterday I went down to the LEC (Learning Enhancement Center) and found a study group of people from my class and they helped me a lot (and the guy who was helping me was also pretty cute so that was really nice ). The study group meets about 2-3 times a week, so I should be able to get help from them (though I'm probably still going to email/post questions since there were still questions that no one really knew how to do).

Tuesday's physics class was a little strange because the teacher *gasp* slowed down and explained things. I found out today (where the teacher again [face_shocked] slowed down and explained things and people asked questions and he responded [face_shocked] [face_shocked]) that almost or over half the class had dropped out, and that the department head of the life sciences department was well aware that half or more of the physics class had dropped. Hmmm...

After getting help through email and in person and getting a B on my second homework, I'm starting to feel a little better about physics now. Hopefully my teacher will continue to actually explain things (he even went over some basic trig which I'm sure it irked him ).

While I'm not a big fan of the online homework, after the due date for the homework is up the solutions with explanations are available which will be helpful for studying for tests (at least I think so; I'll know for sure after the 23rd which is my first physics test...eep).

 

Let me know if you need more assistance. I'm happy to help. Glad to hear that the lectures are going better.

 

Well...

The good news is that the study group has been very helpful. I'm actually passing the homework, yay.

The bad news is I just failed my second reading quiz in a row (so that's three now). I have the chapter, I have a "Let's Review Physics" book, and I still can't answer his multiple choice questions correctly. The only thing I can think to do now is to go to tutoring on Tuesdays and find out how they did on the reading quizzes, but I didn't want to do that because I wanted to be able to do something by myself and not be constanting leeching off other people. Apparently though I can't.


Here's the quiz:
Question 1 Multiple Choice 10 points
What type of quantities are momentum and energy?
Momentum and energy are both vectors.
Momentum and energy are both vectors.
Momentum is a scalar, energy is a vector.
Momentum is a vector, energy is a scalar.

Question 2 Multiple Choice 10 points
What is the difference between impulse and momentum?
Impulse is defined for a process, momentum is a property of the system.
Momentum is defined for a process, impulse is a property of the system.
Both momentum and impulse are properties of the system.
Both momentum and impulse are only defined for processes.

Question 3 Multiple Choice 10 points
When is the momentum of a system conserved?
When the net force has no component in the direction of momentum.
When there are no net forces acting on the system.
When the net force acting on the system is constant.
When the net force acting on the system does not create acceleration.

Question 4 Multiple Choice 10 points
Which of momentum, total energy and kinetic energy are conserved in
collisions between particles?
All of them.
Momentum and total energy, but not always kinetic energy.
Kinetic energy only.
Kinetic energy only.

Question 5 Multiple Choice 10 points
Where is the center of mass of two particles of unequal masses?
It can be located anywhere, more information is needed to determine
the position.
It is located along the line joining their positions but closer to
the smaller mass.
It is located along the line joining their positions but closer to
the larger mass.
It is located at the midpoint of the line joining their positions.


Here's the ones I got wrong and the answers:
Question 2 Multiple Choice
What is the difference between impulse and momentum?
Your Answer: Both momentum and impulse are only defined for processes.

Question 4 Multiple Choice
Which of momentum, total energy and kinetic energy are conserved in collisions between particles?
Your Answer: All of them.

Question 5 Multiple Choice
Where is the center of mass of two particles of unequal masses?
Your Answer: It is located along the line joining their positions but closer to the larger mass.


I sent the professor an email about the last two (4 because he had the same choice twice adn 5 because my answer is practically a sentence right out of the textbook). But, hey I could just be a physics idiot even after reading the chapter.

 

I FEEL YOUR PAIN!!!

I'm in physics right now too, and I hate it! Maybe I would understand it if the teacher actually taught, but no, that's a little too much to ask. I was in regular physics, but my teacher made me move up to accelerated after the first unit. But the only reason why I knew what was going on in the first unit was because I was doing the same thing (velocity, acceleration) in calc. So my friend and I just sit there and do the best we can. Good luck!


*SB*

 

Maybe I would understand it if the teacher actually taught, but no, that's a little too much to ask.

*flashes back to high school*

DON'T DO THAT ASH!!!

Physics is evil. Physics teachers who don't teach and look like Master Splinter are even more evil.