Final Project
The Physics of the Incredibles
Our Goal
For the final project of the year, my class was tasked with applying physics to a subject of our choosing. My group landed on finding the physics surrounding different scenes in the Disney Pixar movie, The Incredibles. Each character in the movie has a unique set of super powers that we analyzed and evaluated the specifics of. We utilized several of the different skills obtained through units from this year, including forces, energy, kinematics, and harmonic motion.
Content
Velocity: The rate at which something moves in a certain direction. Velocity is found through the equation v=d/t. The units are meters per second (m/s). In our project, we used this equation to find Dash's velocity at top speeds.
Acceleration: The rate of change of velocity. Acceleration is calculated by dividing the change of velocity by the change of time: a = v/t. The units are meters per second squared (m/s2).
Free fall: The state of an object who is only being affected by the force of gravity. The acceleration of a freefalling object is-9.8m/s2.
Forces: A force is an outside influence that can change an objects direction/course. The units are in Newtons (N). We analyzed several of the forces exerted by the superheros in our final project. For example, the force the each of Mr. Incredible's arms needed to exert to lift the car overhead.
Newton's Laws of Motion: The 1st law states that an object in motion will stay in motion and an object in rest at rest unless acted upon by an outside force. The 2nd law defines the force equation F=ma. The 3rd law dictates that for every force in nature there is an opposite force equal in magnitude.
Circular Motion: A movement of an object along the circumference of a circle or rotation along a circular path.
Friction: A contact force between systems that opposes the motion or attempted motion between them. Friction depends on the texture of the surfaces in contact and how rough they are, as well as the normal force of the moving object. F=μN
Air Resistance: Force opposing motion caused by air, AKA drag. It is calculated by the equation FD=½ ρv2CDA. We used air resistance when calculating values for Mrs. Incredibles' parachute.
Tension: Force exerted via a rope, string, chain, or cable. We calculated the force of tension on the vine that Dash swung from for our project. Tension is calculated with the equation T=ma+mg.
Block and Tackle: An arrangement of ropes and pulleys that help relieve some force from the load for the addition of distance. They are useful to move large objects using less force.
Reflection
During my time in AP Physics this year, I succeeded in staying focused for each unit and doing the work so that I could understand each new concept as it came to me. The material of this year was for the most part new to me, considering my first encounter with physics was only one semester online due to COVID and the subject matter never really stuck with me. Even so, I completed all of my work conscientiously and made it a priority to take this class seriously, knowing how challenging it would be. This led me to maintain a high grade in the class and complete high quality projects. Additionally, I communicated well in this class and asked questions when I was unsure on any given aspect of the course. This benefited me as I went along the year with confidence in my work. A result of this was genuine curiosity in the material and its application to my life outside of class. Physics gave me an interesting new perspective on how the moving world around me functions, along with the skills to find actual results.
Some of the skills I will continue to work on are presenting my work clearly and doing smaller chunks of my work at one time. To present more clearly, I can fully think out the logistics of my projects and plan what points I want to hit when reading out my work. This will elevate my own learning and understanding, as well as those listening to my presentations because they will be able to follow my thought process easier. Additionally, my future goal is to get started on my work a bit sooner than I did this year, because often I found myself doing hours of homework on one night when the loads easily could've been spread over multiple days. The benefit to this will be a more consistent sleep schedule and better work with the supplemental time. In the future, I can set aside time each night to complete some amount of work to prevent the build up.