s pepperchin

The equation for an ellipse is [math]\frac{(x-x_0)^2}{b^2}+\frac{(y-y_0)^2}{a^2}=1[/math] where [math]x_0[/math] and [math]y_0[/math] is the center of the ellipse. the values for a and b determine the lengths of the axis.

There must be some way to figure it out. Copernicus figured out that the orbit is an ellipse and the eccentricities of the orbits have been calculated. I'm not quit sure how it s done though.

No, it is for position. Look at the units they all work and if you work out the problem you get the right answer. I would show you how I got it but I think that everyone should try it without seeing the process before I post the steps I used.

I solved this problem the way Atheist said. I used the equations: Position_Speeder(time) = [math](13.88 m)+(38.88 \frac{m}{s}) t[/math] Position_Police(time) = [math](25 \frac{m}{s}) t+\frac{1}{2}(2.00 \frac{m}{s^2})t^2[/math] these equations are set up so that t=0 is when the police man begins accelerating, so after you set these equal to each other and solve for t you need to add one second for the second it took the police man to react.

Remember that since momentum is force times velocity we can increase the momentum by increasing mass or velocity in this situation we are increasing the mass and decreasing the velocity, however we are doing it in such a way that the momentum still goes up. Another thing you want to remember when you build your catapult is that when the arm reaches the stop arm it could flip the whole thing over. So make sure you have a base which will keep it upright.

Try Six Easy Pieces by Richard Feynman it is a pretty good book.

I say this a lot but I would suggest starting by studying physics, this will give you a background that you could use when you choose one of these areas that you are interested in and it may give you some insight into somethings that you had not previously considered.

The escape velocity of the earth is the same for any mass so would the bullet be going faster than that escape velocity long enough to escape earth's gravity? Obviously thie answer to this is that the bullet doesn't maintatin the velocity long enough because if it was then there would no tbe stories about people who get hit in the head by stray bullets that have been fired into the air. The easiest physics problem for path of the bullet would need just the mass and initial velocity of the bullet to solve, A more realistic problem would need the mass, initial velocity, coefficient of drag, cross sectional area of the bullet, position on the Earth from which the bullet was fired, etc....

one thing that you need to remember aboaut light is that it doesn't travel out in a straight line. electromagnetic radiation is given off by an object at a certain rate but it also has an energy density. the energy density is usually looked at in terms of energy per square meter. The reason for this is that light travels from the sphere in a direction that is perpendicular to the surface. At the beginning when the first photon leaves there is a photon leaving in every direction we will say that the energy density is X J/m^2 and the equation for the surface area of a sphere is 4 Pi r^2, this means that the total energy emitted from a star of radius R is X*4 Pi R^2. This must be taken into consideration along with the expansion of the universe.

the issue is not the weight of the air above the water it is a question of the pressure. If you could change the gas trapped at the top of the straw to something else then the water would shift so that the pressure on the top and bottem was the same. For a rough estimate you could use the ideal gas law to estimate the change in pressure for changing the gas. And you would be able to figure out how far the column would move.

What are you planning to do witha degree in Astronomy? If I were you I would consider Astrophysics or Cosmology. But you should let us know what your career plans are and maybe we can give you more insight.

From what I can figure the earth's orbit is an ellipse because the sun is moving through space. It is like if you did that experiment with the mass on a string, but replace the string with a rubber band. Then start running while the mass spins. I think that you would get an ellipse. I've never sat down to do the math behind it, but it just always made sense to me. As far as issues of spin and the Earth falling into the Sun, I am pretty sure that conservation of momentum (linear and angular) and energy play a big part in that.

The principle behind why the liquid stays in the glass is because of pressure. The explanation of why pressure holds it there is because any amount of water leaving the glass would creat a vacuum at the bottom of the glass. This vacuum would have lower pressure than the air outside and that is not possible. The reason the water will flow when you lift the glass is that the area over which the air pressure is applied becomes great enough that at some point an air bubble gets inside and rises to the bottom of the glass.

If the particle is falling into the black hole it would be accelerating and not in an inertial frame.

I have a B.S. Physics and am about to begin a masters in education. I plan to get a PhD at some point. I am also interested in computer programming.

I agree with the you to a point. I worked full time while I was also a full time student and so I had a C average. I understand that that would suggest that I was not the best student but the fact that I worked at both full time does show that I have a good work ethic. The tutoring job that I have currently asked me to demonstrate how I would explain math problems to students.

I am going to begin teaching high school Physics next fall and I am trying to develope a curriculum for my class which is lab based. I am looking for ideas that will keep the students interested and are interactive, in all areas of high school physics. Any ideas from other educators or students would be appreciated.

I think that if you are interested in forms of energy you should start out with a physics degree. That will give you time to learn the physics you will need and help point you in the direction you end up going. Any research into new forms of energy will require a Masters or PhD and it is at that point you can choose an area of focus.

What are you researching exactly? Are you collecting quantitaive or qualitative Data?

the speed of light,c, is the speed of light in a vacuum. I could slow light down to 3000 m/s simply by passing it through a medium with an appropriate index of refraction. [math]n=\frac{c}{v}[/math] so, for light to be slowed down to 3000 m/s we would need the index of refraction of [math]n=3*10^5[/math]. If there is a medium with an index that large I don't know but it doesn't seem like that big of a deal. If however the idea is how would this would chane the world or relativity, I would say that changing c would only work if we changed the length of a meter because everything we observe must still be true. If we assume that what we would observe would change by decreasing the value of the speed of light this would result in the creation of more black holes like insane alien said.

you should consult your physics book on those two bold parts and see what it says. The info given is enough to figure it out with being given the answer.

This question is why physics makes a point to distinguish between mass and weight.

Random number tables.