An Extensive Physics Blog: A Midterm Post-Mortem on Concept Physics and Life and an expose of a Physics illiterate on Physics in the World

Thoughts on Physics
Why are we required to take physics? What benefits does it provide to those who see physics as an unimportant component to the progression and fulfillment of their lives? Like many who have posted this before me, I could say that Concept Physics provides me with a more thorough and less ignorant view of physics related concepts in the surrounding world. It does. Concept Physics really does open up Physics for those who are sufficiently less scientifically and mathematically inclined. Mr. Kohara does an excellent job of making the subject more tantalizing to those whose palates react adversely to the effects of scientific understanding.
The honest truth however, is that despite having an enthusiastic teacher, I don't take physics as seriously as I should. This is evident through my failing quiz, test, homework and blog scores. It's probably because I don't value science as much as I do other subjects such as English or History. At Iolani, classes, especially AP courses, tend to be very demanding. We are literally buried under assignments and the time-consuming burdens of studying for countless quizzes and tests.
This is due to structure. Iolani tends to be very linear and textbook oriented in their approach towards learning. The majority of the Iolani workload is very book oriented and causes hands-on approaches to learning to suffer. A big part of the reason non-linear approaches to learning are at a disadvantage is because of the value Iolani places on numbers. Success at Iolani is usually gauged by percents and deciles rather than a real understanding of the subject. Students are so caught up in "making the grade" and not always in what they are learning. As a result, hands-on approaches to learning suffer because it often does not contribute directly to a percentage grade or deciles. Students just don't seem to take non-linear learning as seriously and this puts Iolani students at a disadvantage.
Concept Physics has been the most non linear, hands-on class I've taken so far, aside from Writing for Media. We did video journalism in that class, something that differed from the normal papers that students are used to writing. Many students passed off the videos as being something simple, unimportant, but also fun. However, as any journalist will tell you, making a news video is not easy. There are hours of footage to edit through, sound and audio bytes that need to be fixed, quotes that need to be attributed, and more. However, because the video wasn't a paper, students put less effort and placed less importance on the assignment. Some of the videos came out really crappy.
I think Conceptual Physics is suffering from a similar fate. Though the labs and class activities may seem lax to some, I don't think they are any less important than the learning that is accomplished through vigorous use of textbooks and quizzes seen in other classes. Concepts Physics has allowed me to get my hands dirty and analyze how the mechanics work for myself. But this deviates from the type of learning we are used to, and results in students placing less effort and devotion to that class. It's an Iolani syndrome.
I became one of those students this year. I wrote off Concept Physics as an unimportant class. By doing this, I gave in to the Iolanian system of understanding for the sake of a successful grade. Although I had been learning about physics for the past quarter, I hadn't been paying attention. Like a drone, I have been mindlessly trying to memorize and understand for the sake of doing well, but not for the sake of learning physics. My goal for the rest of the quarter, and for the quarters to come, is to not write off this class as unimportant just because it is a differently structured and conceptual physics class.
I think there is a difference between succeeding in this class with an A and succeeding in this class with an understanding. I sincerely hope that I can leave this class with a greater appreciation and understanding for Physics but that won't be possible until I can enter the class, and Iolani, with the correct mindset. But yeah, aside from that Physics has been fun.

I don't really have a suitable picture for this blog post, so I'll leave you with a promotional track from an obscure band from deep within America's indie rock scene. It kind of represents how I'm feeling about physics right now. And it might be a little different from what you're used to listening to. It is indie, after all.

Over the Pond - The Album Leaf


Magnets and Refrigerators
Pretty much every household in the United States is bound to have magnets on them. As Americans, we tend to like to post junk to the place we get our food.

Why?

My house happens to be no different. There are tons of magnets on my fridge, but a certain one caught my eye. Probably because there was a coupon for steak behind it.
But there is a considerable amount of physics involved in these removable, junk holding placeholders that we take for granted. Now, I don't know much about refrigerator magnets, but I can carelessly deduce a few things about them from observation.
1) Everyone knows that the rule with magnets is that like charges repel and opposites attract. This brought up a few questions concerning refrigerator magnets. If refrigerator magnets can be attached from any angle or side, what is the charge on the fridge? Is the door of the fridge positive or negative? Perhaps the door is just a piece of metal, such as Iron, that magnets can attach to. This would explain why both the supposed north and south poles of my horseshoe kitchen magnet can stay attached to the fridge.
2) The horseshoe magnet's charge can hold a steak coupon to my refrigerator door, but since the north and south poles are so close to each other, they must cancel out.
3) This horseshoe magnet is about as close to owning a horse than I will ever get in my entire life.

Meet Charlotte
Well, today you get to meet Charlotte. I met Charlotte at a music store in Pearlridge and have been in love with her ever since. Well, mostly. Over the past year, I have neglected to spend time with Charlotte, my lovely GSA60. She sits in my room, all alone, lonely, sitting in the corner while her beautiful factory blue paint starts to dull and collect dust. It's really a shame because Charlotte neck feels wonderful. I'd take it over a strat or les paul any day.
It really is all Elizabeth's fault. See Elizabeth is a Martin 0018, and although she is acoustic, she is very very attractive. However, she differs from Charlotte in several ways. When I pluck one of Elizabeth's strings, the strings vibrate and the sound waves from that string are amplified through Elizabeth's hollow body. However, when I pluck one of Charlotte's strings, the string vibrates and that vibration is sensed by the electric pickups on Charlotte's body. Charlotte has a solid body, not a hollow body like Elizabeth. She is electric. She is also magnetic. The pickups are magnetized which I'm guessing means there's some kind of field around there that helps absorb the signals from the string and turn them into electrical signals. Because of this, Charlotte can sing anything from a distorted moan to a clear clean note. Depending on what kind of box I attach her to. Wow, writing this physics blog has enticed me to spend more time with Charlotte!