Annual "Fastest Plastic" Southwest Tour!

WOW! What a great turn out we had earlier today. I was absolutely amazed to see the attention to detail and effort that went into building these mini plastic death-machines! Great work everyone...

The morning began with two general warm up races and unfortunately the winner of one heat was difficult to decide (see photo above). Shortly afterwards, teams challenged each other to some good old-fashion bracket style racing. After 10 or so races, an overall winner was declared. While Team Inglorious B's took home the honor of "Fastest Plastic", with their homebrewed 24VDC KFX700 quad, Team Murdered Black was close on their bumper. I had to laugh when the Dukes of Hazard Team began begging the judges for a restart because of technical issues with the General Lee.

Make no mistake, the competition was fierce!

After a short trash talking session and cheering for drivers and their vehicles, an Endurance Race was soon under way. Miss. Church managed to wrap her team's PowerWheels around a pole and Team Ballin' (I think that was their name) caused a small pile up on the north straightaway. I missed who won this event because I was too busy trying to process all the chaos out on the track.

The Demolition Derby proved to be the most entertaining:

- One team unleashed their secret weapon - a water cannon. Note: Water and Zunes don't mix!

- Appartently a certain somebody (We'll call him, Mr. M) forgot the rule about keeping his hands to himself.

- Team Batman let me bump their ipod tunes to get everyone's adereline pumping.
- The driver for Team Big Jake ended up on the ground with several people parked on top of his body.

-Team Barbie Princess showed off their mad wheelie skills.

(Please email me with your memories of the chaos and I'll post them here)

The photographer from the West Valley View said he would have the photos from today's event on his website this afternoon, but something must have come up. If anyone happens to find the photos online, please send me an email on where to look.

Sorry about all the strange formatting on his post,,, I'm done fighting with the software for tonight! :) see you soon!

Be sure to check out the Student Photos Page for all my digital picts...

Take care,

Mr. Schmadeke

Class Update

I hope everyone is having a relaxing Labor Day weekend and enjoying time with family and friends.

Mr. Schmadeke here with yet another physics class update!

The West Valley View Newspaper will be out next week to snap some photos of students in action and to check out our PowerWheels and Wall projects. Honor’s Physics Students: Remember to check with friends, family, neighbors and on Craigslist for free (out of order) PowerWheels. I’m looking forward to the drag race around the E-Hallway! I had to laugh on Friday because one group totally disassembled their entire PowerWheel. Remember, we’re just rewiring them, not stretching them into six-seater, roll-cage, long travel suspension, 60mph golf carts. Although, the addition of 12V neon lights below the chassis would be cool…

Honor’s Physics
While students may argue otherwise, it was a blast watching certain honors physics students pull their hair out and struggle through figuring out the quantitative side of magnetic forces.

Two quick points:

A) When a charge moves in an electric field, the field does “work” on it, which introduces the concept of potential, or the work done on the charge (W). If you divide work by the magnitude of the charge (q) (work per Coulomb), one can arrive at this: V=W/q

B) Electric motors usually have permanent magnets built into them (Thanks Xavier!), and the fields they create cut through electric coils that rotate. The coils are the objects that turn in an electric motor, which works because the force on the electric coil generates a torque.

I think the Boston question (#4) on the alternative assignment drove most students crazy.

The magnetic field in Boston, Massachusetts has a horizontal component to the north of 0.18 x 10¯4 T and a vertical component of 0.52 x 10¯4 T straight downward. a) What is the magnitude and direction of Earth’s magnetic field in Boston? b) If a 2.0-m-long household wire is carrying a current of 15 A in a direction perpendicular to the field, what is the magnitude of the magnetic force experienced by the wire?

Remember to always argue your point! Many of you just “accepted” my vague responses as fact and immediately sat down and stopped thinking for yourself. I encourage each of you to put up an argument when appropriate. http://www.wikihow.com/Argue-With-Teachers

Conceptual Physics
The Walls of Doom have taken shape and are ready for wiring. I’ve been tremendously impressed with how sturdy the projects are turning out. Have you thought about how your team will run the wires to incorporate the two outlets, switch and light? If you haven’t already googled it, now might be a great time to do so! I was wondering if it might be a good idea to switch to metal boxes instead of the blue plastic ones… Your thoughts? I’ve checked out a few How-To Electricity books from the public library and will have them available on Tuesday for reference.

Two thumbs up for the great work in keeping things on the “safe” side. I appreciate you wearing the hearing and eye protection and for practicing the safety tips we discussed in class.


Take care,
Mr. Schmadeke

Classroom Reminders

:::::::::: PHYSICS CLASS REMINDERS ::::::::::::

Honors Physics – Twitchy Project due tomorrow (Tuesday, August 25th) by the end of class. Feel free to stop by during lunch to work on your project if you are behind.

Conceptual Physics – Modified Toy Project due tomorrow at the beginning of class. Be sure you complete the project write up as discussed during class today.

Both Classes – Current event #2 (with mindmap) is due Friday, August 28th. Science progress reports will be distributed to all students on this day as well. Students earning a grade below “average” (D or F) are required to have their parent/s or guardian/s sign off on the report.

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Be sure to check out this site: http://www.schmadeke.myphotoalbum.com/ for recently updated classroom photos. I’m considering password protecting it to limit who can see what we’re up to. While you can purchase the photos directly off the site, the main idea here is to use it as a viewing tool. I just set it up and would appreciate any feedback or suggestions you may have.

Keep up the great work!

Take care,

Mr. Schmadeke