Unit 2 Blog Reflection

Unit 2 was a unit that presented may contradictions to the way i previously viewed falling objects and projectiles. The main overlying theme of this unit is Newton's Second Law, which is acceleration=net force/mass. The unit started of talking about free falling objects, or objects falling by the force of gravity alone with no air resistance. It is important to remember that a free falling object must start from rest and when an object is in free fall the force of gravity (which is 10 or 9.8 to be more specific) is its acceleration. Two equations can be associated with free fall and they are the distance or how far equation (distance=(1/2)gravityxtime squared) and the velocity or how fast equation (velocity=gravityxtime).  Next we moved on to objects falling with are resistance. These objects have to things they must take into account, the force of the air and the force on the falling object. Instead of always being a constant acceleration, like in free fall the accelerations vary. We can find the acceleration by using the formula acceleration=Fweight - Fair/mass. Also, there is something called terminal velocity, where the Fweight and Fair are equal, the velocity stays constant, and there is no acceleration. So what happens when you throw an object upward? It must come down right? So we use the same equations we have for free falling objects to help us calculate the distance and velocity of the object as it rises. Remember that on this case the acceleration of the object will be negative ten meters per second squared. Lastly, we learned about projectiles, which is basically an object being launched at an angle. We must take into account the vertical and horizontal velocity in this situation, so the velocity of the object will never reach zero (unless it hits the ground). Horizontal velocity remains constant, while vertical velocity uses the sam principles as a free falling object, so the same equations can be applied. One thing that was difficult for me to understand is how to find the distance an object that has been thrown up travels. Because, I knew you could not use the distance formula due to the fact that it did not begin at rest. Eventually, I was able to grasp the concept that an object going up must come down and when it falls down it starts from rest. So, you must calculate that distance and it will be equal to the distance the object traveled up. Some of the projectile problems require a lot of problem solving skills. With the horizontal and vertical velocities, it makes it possible to apply pathagorean's theory. However, I believe I did very well in my problem solving and seemed to always come up with an answer at least.  Everytime you drop something or something falls off of your desk these principles are being used and since I have a better understanding of them I know exactly what's going on. Also, when you shoot a basketball it is a projectile. Maybe, I can calculate the proper velocity and distance to shoot it with in order to make the shot everytime.