Maddie Otero
Balancing Act
Physics Room : April 2019
The pennies in this photo are demonstrating a sort of balancing act that allows for some of the pennies to hang off the edge of the table and for the stack to maintain its position. This act is possible due to its center of mass. The center of mass of an object is the point where the weighted relative position of the distributed mass sums to zero, in other words, where the entire mass of the object is being concentrated. In this photo, the pennies' center of mass is on the table, allowing for some of the pennies to hang over the edge of the table while the pile remains in-tact.
Mirror, Mirror
Seattle, Washington : July 2018
The reflection of the landscape is able to be produced on the water's surface due to the law of reflection. The law of reflection states that when a ray of light or radar pulse is reflected on a smooth surface then the angle of reflection is equal to the angle on incidence, allowing the incident ray, the reflected ray, and the normal to the water's surface to all be in the same plane.
Wave Cloud
Nantucket, Mass : August 2017
The wave cloud is formed by atmospheric internal waves when stable air flows over a tall land feature such as a mountain range or a hill. An air mass travels through the wave, creating a pattern of uplift and descent. If enough moisture is found in the air, the clouds will be formed at the cooled crests of the waves. The descending part of the waves will evaporate due to adiabatic heating in the atmosphere; this creates the clouded and clear bands of cloud.
