Unit 2: Kinematics

During unit 2 of physics, we studied kinematics, or the study of motion. The question we were asked at the start of the unit was "are you moving?" The only way to answer the question was with another one: "relative to what?" All motion is relative. A car could be traveling 30 mph in one direction (relative to the ground) and another car could be traveling the same speed in the opposite direction, but relative to each other it appears to one as if the other is traveling at 60 mph while they stayed still.

It's all a matter of perspective.

We learned the between scalar and vector quantities. Scalar is a quantity that has magnitude while a vector is a value that has both magnitude and direction (oh yeah!). An example of this would be, if a scalar quantity is 10 steps, a vector quantity would be 10 steps north. Scalar is measured in distance (meters) and vector is measured in displacement (also in meters). Distance in physics can simply be defined as how far. Displacement is defined as distance with direction.

The lab we did in class was called the Physics Olympics. Timed, people would run, hop, and balance binders across a span of 50 meters. Since I hid at the 50 meter line and didn't actually participate in anything, here's a picture of a stopwatch because it's relevant.

http://preprofessionalmusings.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/ist2_6685580-stop-watch.jpg