Areli Galvez

September 22, 2015

Angular Momentum
Purpose
To understand the concept of angular momentum and how it is applied.
Materials
Top, Yo-Yo, Penny, Thumbtack.
Procedures/Data and Results:
1. Practice spinning a top in:
a. Clockwise direction.
i. What is the direction of angular momentum?
1. Angular motion is going in.

b. Counter-clockwise direction.
i. What is the direction of angular momentum?
1. Angular motion is going out.

c. Explain, in terms of angular momentum, why a rapidly spinning top does not
topple easily, even when it is disturbed.
i. The top keeps spinning because it has angular momentum and the
gravitational force on the top cannot exert sufficient torque to change that
angular momentum.
2. Practice spinning a yo-yo.
a. Spring on the left.
i. What is the direction of angular momentum?
1. Angular motion is:
Going down going up

3. Practice spinning a penny in:

a. Clockwise direction.

Areli Galvez

b. Counter-clockwise direction.

c. How can you keep a penny standing on its edge in a stable manner? Try it.
Explain. (A stationary penny can be made to stand on its edge but is unstable.)
i. One must give the penny enough angular momentum in order to keep it
standing on its edge in a stable manner.
Conclusion:
In order to understand the concept of angular momentum and how it is applied we had to spin a
top, yo-yo and penny on its axis clockwise and counter-clockwise. We were able to see how
angular momentum is conserved in the absence of externally applied torque.
Questions:
1. How does a quarterback prevent the football from tumbling when throwing a pass?
a. In order to keep the football from tumbling when throwing a pass, a quarterback
must throw the football with a spin providing it angular momentum. If the ball
was to be thrown straight then it would tumble and fall due to equilibrium.
2. Explain why bicycles do not topple while in motion. [Hint: consider the angular
momentum of the wheels]
a. Bicycles do not topple while in motion because angular momentum allows it to
have equilibrium.
3. Why does a tether ball speed up as it winds itself on the post? Why do skaters pull in their
limbs when they wish to spin fast?
a. The tether ball speeds up as it winds itself on the post because its radius
decreases. The smaller the radius, the faster is spins which is why a skater pulls in
their limbs when they wish to spin fast; they want to obtain a smaller radius.

Areli Galvez

September 24, 2015

Atmospheric Pressure
Purpose
To investigate how the role of the pressure of the atmosphere is manifested in everyday
phenomena.
Materials
Pie-pan, candle, beaker, tray, paper towel, matches.
Procedures/Data and Results:
1. Fill a pie-pan half way with water.
2. With a match light the candle. Put wax on the tray in order to get candle to stick. Blow
out the flame.
3. Place the candle with the tray in the middle of the pie-pan and with a match light it up.
4. Slowly cover the candle with the beaker.
5. Observe the flame and water level inside the beaker.
a. Why does the flame go out?
i. The fire burned out the oxygen. The temperature and pressure of the gas
changed. The temperature, pressure change and lack of oxygen.
b. As the flame goes out, what happens to the temperature and the pressure of the
gas inside?
i. Temperature rises and the pressure equalizes and goes down.
c. What is forcing the water level to rise in the beaker?
i. The lack of oxygen and the small amount of pressure there is.
d. When the water stopped rising, how does the pressure at the bottom of the beaker
compare to that of the rest of the water at the same time?
i. The pressure makes the water become higher inside the beaker than the
water outside the beaker.
6. Spread a large piece of news paper flat on the table.
7. Grab the paper at the middle of the paper with your two fingers and quickly lift the paper
off the table.
8. Now fold the paper many times to a size about 9 square inches (3 x 3) and place it flat on
the table.
9. Lift the paper in the like manner as before.
a. Which paper was harder to lift quickly? Explain the physical reason.
i. The smaller the paper became, the harder it was to lift quickly because it
caught less air becoming air resistant.
Conclusion:
We were able to understand how the weight of the atmosphere presses on things, realizing that
this pressure acts on us from all directions, reason why we are not always conscious of its
influences.

Areli Galvez

Questions:
1. The front and back sides of a person has an area of 900 square inches each side. What is
the total force of the atmosphere pressing on this person from the front side? Explain why
our bodies are not crushed by the pressure of the atmosphere.
a. 900 x 14.7 = 13,230
13,230 x 2 = 26,460
The inside of our body has more pressure (air) than the outside.
2. To reduce the glare of the sun, mylar films are often installed on the windows. No
adhesives are needed in the installation. What keeps the film firmly attached to the
window?
a. Atmospheric pressure keeps it attached by pushing on it since the film is so light,
lighter than air.

Areli Galvez

September 29, 2015

Bernoullis Principle
Purpose
To study the effect of fluid motion and the pressure it exerts.
Materials
Frisbee.
Procedures/Data and Results:
1. Throw the Frisbee.
a. What force keeps the Frisbee airborne?
i. Lift keeps the Frisbee airborne.
2. Throw the Frisbee upside down.
a. Why does it behave differently?
i. It behaves differently because the lift is going down; it has a higher
pressure on top and lower at the bottom.
3. Throw the Frisbee without a spin.
a. Why is the spin important?
i. Spin is important because it helps keep the Frisbee balanced.
4. Throw a boomerang.
a. What force is keeping a boomerang airborne?
i. The boomerang has a aerodynamic lift which helps keep the boomerang
airborne.
5. Prepare a strip of paper. Hold one end of the strip between the thumb and index finger
and gently blow above the paper.
a. How does the paper respond? Explain the physical reason.
i. The paper lifts up because the lift is going up; it has a lower pressure on
top and higher pressure in the bottom.
Conclusion:
We threw a Frisbee in order to see how low kinetic energy implies high pressure, and the bottom
of the airfoil feels a stronger pressure directed upward than the weaker downward pressure at the
top, the airfoil experiences a net upward force from the pressure (a lift).
Lift

Foil

Finish
Faster
Lower
Pressure

Areli Galvez

Questions:
1. Baseballs are frequently thrown with a spin causing the ball to curve. The spinning ball
has a layer of air dragged along spinning with the ball. In the following (Fig. 10.2), note
that air flow at the bottom is opposed by spinning layer and is slow, while the opposite
happens at the top. Which way is the ball going to curve? Why?
a. Lift is going up.

2. Explain, in the terms of the Bernoulli principle, why umbrellas are easily flipped over on
windy days.
a. Lift is going up.

3. Houses are destroyed by strong winds. What is causing them to explode?

a. Lift is going up and down; pressure inside the house and outside are not equalized
reason why houses are destroyed by strong winds.

October 1, 2015

Areli Galvez

Sound Sources
Purpose
To identify the source of vibration producing a sound.
Materials
Two bottles, two small pieces of plastic drinking straw.
Procedures/Data and Results:
1. Blow across the mouth of an empty bottle and generate a sound. Compare the pitches of
sound as you change the volume of air in the bottle by partially filling it with water.
a. What is vibrating?
i. Air is vibrating.
b. What is the primary source of the sound?
i. The primary source of sound is vibration.
c. Describe how the pitch changes as you change the air in the bottle.
i. The bigger the area of the bottle the more space air has to more around
causing a lower pitch; the smaller the area of the bottle, the less space air
has to move around causing a higher pitch.
2. Now generate the sound by tapping the bottle with a light object as you fill it with water.
3. Flatten one end of the straw. Snip off a tiny piece from each of the square corner of the
straw so that the ends can vibrate freely like a reed. Blow into the straw and generate a
sound. Do not press on the reed part of the straw as you blow.
a. Describe how the pitch is related to the length of the straw.
i. Since the straw was too small, it created no sound.
Conclusion:
We blew into two bottles in order to identify how the area can determine how fast or slow
vibrations occur when creating sound; with and without water.
Questions:
1. What is vibrating as the primary source of sound in the following instruments? Piano,
drum, violin and clarinet.
a. The strings of a piano, drum, and clarinet are the source of sound (vibrating).
2. Write a general observation regarding the relation between the size of a sound source and
the pitch it produces. Use an example.
a. The bigger the area, the lower the pitch will be. The smaller the area, the higher
the pitch.
Smaller areaBigger Area

3. The pitch of a woodwind instrument is controlled by the holes. What is changing about
the instrument when different holes are covered up?

Areli Galvez

a. If the holes further away from the mouth are covered, the r the pitch will be
higher. If the holes closer to the mouth are covered, the lower the pitch will be.

October 6, 2015

Areli Galvez

Sound Transmission
Purpose
To demonstrate how sound travels in different media.
Materials
Set of fishing wire cup phones and a set of copper wire cup phones (two paper cups, fishing line
and copper wire each about 5 meters long, thin plastic sheets and a toothpick).
Procedures/Data and Results:
1. Communicate with your partner on cooper wire phone (keep the line taut).
a. Is the voice coming through loud and clear?
i. The voice coming from the cup phone echoes, sounds far.
2. Communicate with your partner on fishing wire phone (keep the line taut).
a. Is the voice coming through loud and clear?
i. The voice coming through is loud and clear.
3. Now slacken the line and talk (keep the line taut).
a. Can you hear your partner loud and clear?
i. No, no sound was heard.
b. Explain the effect of the tension in the line on the transmission of sound.
i. Since the vibration travels from the cup
toothpickwiretoothpickcup; the string must be taut in order for the
vibration to be able to travel from one side to next.
4. Make a party line by tying one or more string phones to the middle of the line.
Conclusion:
In order to see how sound travels faster though any medium that is elastic enough to vibrate, we
talked on paper cups made with cooper wire (echoed), fishing wire (sound was clear) and string
(did not work).
Questions:
1. Explain in detail how the sound is transmitted and reproduced in the string phone. Also,
explain the difference (if any) in quality of the transmitted sound between the fishing line
and the wire.
a. Vibration travels from the cup toothpickwiretoothpickcup; the string
must be taut in order for the vibration to be able to travel from one side to next.
The sound created by the cooper wire sounds further away and echoes while the
fishing wire sounds clearly without any echoes.
2. Explain why a slackened line does not transmit sound.
a. A slacken line does not transmit sound because the vibrations are long along the
way (stops vibrating).
3. In which medium, air, water or steel, does sound travel the fastest and slower?
a. Sound travels faster through things with high elasticity so sound travels fatster
through steel and slower through air because steel is solid so particles as closer
together while particles in air are spread out making it harder for sound to travel.