In the distance, my sister and I are clinging for dear life to rubber donut-shaped floatation devices being dragged along at a high velocity by a motor boat on lake in southern Sri Lanka. The boat pulling us has established our net force in that direction and so, our subsequent acceleration is also in that direction. Newton's Second Law and equation acceleration = net force/ mass provides evidence for great net force. The net force is large enough to produce a large acceleration despite large masses. Perhaps if I knew the physics of the activity then, I would have been less scared. But as I did not, I cannot recommend the experience. The ordeal was heart attack-inducing.

The oil lamp on my dresser is at equilibrium. But though it is at equilibrium, there are forces acting upon it. The earth is pulling the lamp down and, in accordance with Newton's Third Law, the lamp is pulling the earth up. The lamp is pushing the box down and the box is pushing the lamp up. The air is pushing the lamp left and the lamp is pushing the air right, and so on and so forth. How can a lamp be at equilibrium with all these invisible forces at play, you ask? Well, because the forces acting on lamp are equal and opposite. Furthermore, even as the lamp pulls the earth up, to use a popular example, the earth's mass is so enormous than when plugged into the equation acceleration= net force/ mass, the division of the net force by so huge a number results in an acceleration so small it is negligent. What a pity. That is for lamp.

Where my little sister would be without a fan to cool her oven-like bedroom? Only God knows. Further proof that magnets are indeed the key to modern living. Magnets enable the conversion of electric energy into mechanical energy. As Christian Oersted and Andre-Marie Ampere discovered, there is a fundamental connection between magnetism and electricity. They discovered, that a current-carrying wire physically moves in the presence of a permanent magnet when there is a varying magnetic field (in this case the moving electrons of the current). This basic configuration of a magnet and current carrying wire is a rudimentary motor and that is the essentials of the essential fan.

Objects in mirror are closer than they appear!

Objects in mirror are closer than they appear. This a phrase often seen in rear-view mirrors. The mirror's surface is convex, meaning that they give a wider field of view than a flat reflecting surface would give. This optical effect allows a driver to see more of what's behind the vehicle than would otherwise be seen, with the caveat that the things seen appear smaller than they would normally. When the rays from a object hit a convex mirror they reflect off the surface of the mirror. If these reflected rays were to be extended behind the mirror, they would combine at a single point to form an image. This image is formed where the rays emanating from the object appear to intersect behind the mirror. The image you see is formed behind the mirror not in front of it. Convex mirrors form images that are smaller than the object itself. Now, we can say that the image seen in the passenger side rear view mirror is: smaller than it normally would be, is behind the mirror, and that the farther away a object is the smaller it appears to be. Taking all of this into account, one should always head check.

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!