The REAL Reason the Ocean is Blue

I once believed that the ocean is blue because it reflects the sky. This is NOT true. The ocean is blue because it absorbs low frequency electromagnetic waves like infrared and red light waves. Green light and blue light, however, are reflected back and collectively making cyan. Thus, the brilliant and vibrant color of the sea is connected to the concepts and theories we learn in physics class. Who would have thought?

The sunset behind me and Kelly is orange. Usually, light entering the atmosphere encounters particles of gases and violet/blue light is scattered by them. This is why the sky is blue. But when the sun is setting, the light encounters more particles of air because it is further away from us. At this point mid-frequency light waves are scattered as well and so during sunset, the sky appears orange and red, low frequency visible electromagnetic waves.

Living on an island in the tropics has guaranteed each of us experience with the ocean. This is one such experience for me. Though I did know that the ocean was colored in the manner that it is because it reflects the sky previous to Concept Physics, that it had the ability to absorb infrared and low intensity electromagnetic waves I did not know. I did not previously realize this because one usually goes to the beach and in the water to cool off. That the ocean actually absorbs the heat from the energy of electromagnetic waves and still be cooler than the air in the atmosphere is testament to its enormous volume. Yay, ocean!

A Mid-Quarter Evaluation

In terms of my performance, this quarter in Concept Physics has been terrible. I struggled in Chemistry all of last year and still never averaged my abysmal Concept Physics grade. I accept full responsibility for this. Never before have I taken a class, acquired adequate knowledge of the concepts and done badly because of an inability to organize and pull through. As Brandon said in his blog, I think part of the reason I didn't give Concept Physics as much priority as other classes because it doesn't conform toIolani's traditional model of learning. I always look forward to Concept Physics and yet homework for this class often got pushed back because of other classes and I didn't put in the adequate effort into reviewing for tests. Because of the relaxed atmosphere I didn't show the class as much respect it deserved. I knew, that unlike in AP European History, if I did badly in something I wouldn't be called out on it in front of the entire class. That kind of thinking is unacceptable. For the remainder of the quarter I will do my best to respect and ensure the relaxed atmosphere's future by doing my homework and being more diligent about turning things in on time. I picked the Modest Mouse album cover because Modest Mouse is my favorite band and I listen to them anytime I need to pull myself out of a funk.

The fan in my sister's room uses an electric motor in order to move air and cool the room. Motors are the result of a unique interaction between a magnet and wire carrying current and their ability to produce physical motion. A permanent magnet produces a magnetic field in a region where a loop of wire is mounted to turn. Any current in the loop has one direction in the upper side of the loop and the opposite direction in the lower side. If the upper side of the loop is forced to the left by the magnetic field, the lower side is forced to the right. In a motor the current is reversed during each half revolution by means of stationary contacts on the shaft. In this way, the current in the loop alternates so that the forces on the upper and lower regions do not change directions as the loop rotates. Motors are the basis for modern technology. Yay, magnets!

Magnetized Scissors

When I was working on my mixed media project, the pins I was using were frequently attracted to my scissors. The blades of the scissors were ferromagnetic meaning that the scissors contained domains, or microscopic clusters of aligned electrons. Through the cutting motion, the domains within my scissors had become aligned and thus the scissors became magnetized. The magnetized scissors then attracted the ferromagnetic pins.

I think Concept Physics provides me with an opportunity to learn more about the world around me without the burden of cumbersome calculation. Basic concepts and manifestations of natural laws are presented in a manner that increases my understanding of the natural world and this is key component of learning science. My goal this quarter is to improve my journal grades and lab grades. I also hope to get all my assignments in on time. Not doing my best on those three things affected me adversely last quarter and this quarter I hope to prevent those adverse affects on my grade. I hope to continue doing well on quizzes and hope to improve my test grades my creating a more effective study method. I think last quarter I put an appropriate amount of time and effort into Concept Physics and this quarter I hope to increase my grade and understanding by putting in more time and effort.

During my summers in Sri Lanka, the sight of a large fruit bat electrocuted on the power line was not uncommon. Fruit bats in Sri Lanka, when compared to fruit bats in other parts of the world, are of an unusually large size. These bats often attempt to land on the power line in order to sleep but end up getting electrocuted because the tip of their wing touches another line. When their wing touches another power line, a voltage difference is established and the bat becomes the circuit for coulombs carrying 230 joules to travel through (the voltage in Sri Lanka is 230). However despite the hundreds of bats that die, there are still bats who manage to land on the power line without touching another and they sleep the night without danger. Only when a voltage difference is established is landing on a power line fatal.

My friend sent me this cartoon, among others, by email. The cartoonist depicts a scene between one worker and his fellow. One worker is disturbed because the vibrations of the other worker's leg is traveling through the ground and forcing his desk to vibrate. The forced vibration matches the natural frequency of his desk (or the frequency at which the object wants to vibrate) and thus the desk vibrates even harder. This is called resonance. That the shaking of one of the worker's leg could travel through the ground and cause the other's desk vibrate is a little far-fetched in my opinion. The joke of the cartoon is that instead of asking for the his co-worker to stop shaking his leg, the worker suggests instead that his co-worker change the frequency at which he shakes his leg so to match the natural frequency of the desk of yet another co-worker. If such is the case, resonance would occurs and if a drink were on the forcefully vibrating desk it would spill and thus the worker would have succeeded in frustrating his rival apparent.

When I was in France, there was a massive storm during my last week there and lightning struck the tree in the neighbor's yard. Lightning is charging by induction. Friction in the clouds make the cloud polarized into a positive top region and a negative bottom region. When the cloud is polarized, the earth too becomes polarized; the negative charge at the bottom of the cloud induces a positive charge at the surgace of the ground below. Lighting is when a transfer of electrons between the clouds and the ground occurs.

Journal 1

A wave is a disturbance that repeats regularly in space and time and is transmitted progressively from one place to the next with no net transport of matter. In this wave, the speaker playing music is transmitting soundwaves. The cup in front of it was just filled to the brim with water. When I turned the volume louder, I noticed ripples appearing in the cup of water. Soundwaves are longitudinal, meaning that the motion of the particles is parallel to the direction of the wave. The volume of the stereo was high enough to be emitting waves of larger amplitude. These waves passed through the air, through the paper cup and through the water. This disturbance caused ripples, or waves, in the water. These waves were transverse, meaning that the matter was moving perpendicular to the movement of the waves. Though the water came close to falling over the edge periodically, it would always return to resting position. This is not only an indication of water cohesion but also the characteristic of wave motion that the matter is not transported but the energy.