Unit Blog Reflection

In this unit I learned something special. With the inclusion of great information about velocity, acceleration, and inertia, I have learned how to reroute my brain to think about what I am  trying to answer instead of just jumping into the question. I also learned about velocity and how it is the speed of an object including the direction and how speed is just how fast something goes (direction doesn’t matter). I also learned about acceleration and that acceleration could be decreasing but the speed could still be getting faster.

I find it very difficult to remember the formulas. I am studying them really hard for my test because they are frustrating. I also had trouble understanding the difference between velocity and speed. One other thing I had an issue with is that of acceleration. I didn’t understand that something could still gain speed but have a decreasing acceleration.

I am still having issues with the formulas but I am working very hard to remember them. With velocity and speed I just repeated that direction of motion is a huge part of velocity and not that of speed. Acceleration was the easiest to understand after I worked on it. Pictures really helped. A ramp that was very steep but flattened towards the bottom helped me understand how something could increase in speed but decrease in acceleration immediately.

I see my problem-solving skills and effort as very high. I think I try my hardest to understand everything that is going on and be any help that I can to others. My self-confidence in physics has definitely grown since Ive started the class. I feel so much better about answering questions instead of sitting and waiting for an answer. I feel like I can do any physics problem that I have learned with ease at this point. I have no problem at all with communicating. My spoken word is obviously strong because I am loud. I love to help out and debate about correct answers and be told when I am wrong about physics. My written word isn’t as strong but I feel like it is strong enough to have a positive influence on the class. I also love group work so collaborations are always easy.  So far my groups have always finished with great quality and pretty quick timing, too.  I look forward to more group work down the road because it is not only fun, but I know I understand things easier when I have a partner to help me out. I have done all homework except one. I was confused about the assignment, didn’t check my unit sheet, and was not able to complete the homework. Besides that I know no more homework assignments will be missed. My blog posts are always on time and are good quality and have a sense of really deep thought and understanding.
My goal for the next unit is to ask right away if I am having trouble understanding content. Another goal I have is I would like to have no missed homework or assignments. I will achieve these goals by giving my best effort and working as hard as I can. Also I will achieve these goals with the help of my amazing physics teacher.

There are many things that one can connect physics too. For example, a car in cruise control is at constant speed and velocity. Once that car turns though the velocity is no longer constant but the speed is. Newton’s first law states that an object at rest wants to stay at rest unless acted on by an outside force. Well we all know the truck bed scenario. A trucker leaves their coffee on the open truck bed. When they pull away the coffee falls straight to the floor. The coffee wanted to stay at rest and that is why it fell out the truck. Another example of physics in real life is free fall. If you are in free fall the maximum acceleration is 10m/s². This is the force of gravity and the maximum natural acceleration that can be achieved.