The less wise of a group of monks, after hearing the equation x-x0=v0xt and rushing away from the physics lecture, thought that if they gave building blocks a simple push they would continue moving …
Springs – Kinetic Energy & Potential Energy
If you pull on a spring like a slinky it’s going to be pretty easy to stretch it, but if the spring is something more like that from a car’s suspension, it will be more difficult– the difficulty in …
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Air resistance and Levels of Detail in Physics
Somewhat similarly to friction, air resistance also acts as a retarding force. The real world is not the same as idealized beginning physics situations; for example, projectiles will not follow the …
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Momentum and Momentum’s SI Units
There is something in physics that does not have a special name like a Newton or a Joule. It is momentum and can be expressed as mass multiplied by velocity (kg*m/s). Like energy and matter, …
Tension Free Body Diagram
If a vine is hung over a tree branch in the forest and two monkeys are hanging on both ends then the tension in the vine will be equal throughout the whole rope, since if it wasn't the vine would snap …
Changing Coordinate Systems to Make Problems Easier
One day a physicist comes across a perplexed student in the library. It seems that the student had only learned to place his axes with the positive y axis going up and the positive x axis going to …
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