Study of Matter and Energy, the way they interact with each other, and the rules and laws that govern the physical world. This is a very simple definition of your favorite subject Physics.
IB Physics is a logical and rational subject, and not every student studies on a higher level, some fall in love with it, and some don’t. However, physics concepts are used by everyone in their daily lives.
The best way to keep yourself sharp in Physics is to observe the phenomenon in your daily life. You will be surprised to know that Physics is all around us.
Let’s look at some ways to keep our physics skills sharp when the school is out.
The first step you need to observe nature and what is going on around you. I will help you with some pointers below.
The second step keep a journal and write down your observations when you see them. You can also post in the comments section of this blog and let me know what you think.
1 – Heat
Heat is a form of energy which gets transferred between two objects who are at different temperatures.
When you are getting ready to go out to a party, and you need to iron your shirt. You take the iron and plug it into an electrical switch. In the case of a hot iron, when used over a wet shirt to dry out moisture and remove wrinkles.
So observe in your daily world what all heat does, I have listed down some everyday examples for you.
• A Stovetop acts as a medium to transfer heat to our utensils and helps cook food
• A hot cup of tea, hot milk, or coffee contains heat energy
• Off course, Sun is the biggest source of heat energy
2- Sound
A sound is a form of energy that travels in waves and can travel through Solid, Liquids, and gases.
Have you heard your dark barking in the distance? As the dog’s vocal box makes a barking sound, depending on the frequency of the sound made by the dog, it can be a high-pitched or low-pitched noise. That particular bark travels in wave’s bounces of your eardrums, and your brain interprets it as a dog bark. Natural physics skills can be applied to the analysis and understanding of different economic systems. Our brains can easily recognize whether this bark is from our pet dog or some random one walking down the street.
Your brain can easily detect the location where the sound is coming from and how loud it is.
Some Everyday examples you can observe are
• A balloon popping
• A blaring music system
• A Buzzing honeybee
3 – Gravity
Have you ever noticed that whatever you throw up in the air always comes down back to the ground?
We all know that this is because of the gravitational pull of the earth.
When a football player punts the ball high up in the air, the ball goes up as the player has kicked the ball with enough force, and the momentum takes it up in the air. The value of learning physics skills lies in their ability to help us understand and manipulate the natural world. At the apex of the curve, the ball loses momentum, and the gravitational pull of the earth becomes more than the momentum of the ball hence the ball comes down.
Examples of Gravity
• A toddler slides down a slide
• Balloon that is out of Helium to come down to the earth
• A rock rolls downhill
4- Inertia
All you smart kids know the Newton’s First Law of Motion.
Have you ever gone to the park and taken a swing. A swing has inertia towards the sky but can’t go very high as the stronger force is working on it from the opposite direction pulling it back to the ground.
Some of the common everyday observations are
• When the bus stops suddenly, all the passengers fall forward
• When you dust a carpet, the particles comes out of the carpet and then falls back.
• The continued swirling of any drink after the stirring is stopped
5 – Electricity
Last but the most important you cannot miss out on the quality of electricity. Staring with your house, electricity is important in operating all entertainment, lighting appliances, and technology.
I am going hungry. Let me go and make a toast for myself. Oh my God, physics here too. Yes, absolutely my friends, a toaster uses electricity to heat up its internal coils. Once you put the bread inside, it makes the toast.
Some of the common everyday observations are
• Car batteries store energy and then passes the same as electrical current.
• Wind mills
• Television is a great example too.
You can also play games with your friends where you observe the various natural phenomena’s and try to dissect it to understand what is happening and what part of Physics is being used.
In addition, you can visit a library and borrow books on nature, interesting facts about space and earth or you can go online and read the autobiographies of famous scientists and lastly you can visits science museums in your city. So you guys got a pretty good idea that you can observe Physics phenomenon in your daily life and everyday things. All you need to do is sit back, relax and observe nature.