EASY AND DIFFICULT
Throughout this course, one concept that I found easy to understand would be uniform circular motion (UCM). This is mainly because of my prior experience to such in Grade 10, and my overall study habits at this point of the quarter. Going into further detail, as I realized that the various topics in General Physics 1 require utmost attention to detail to properly solve problems, I made sure to apply these while studying UCM.
Looking back at it now, I think that it is important to learn the concept of UCM, as such teaches us how various factors can affect one’s circular motion, while also explaining different phenomenon in real-life situations. An example of these situations would be going on one of the rides in an amusement park, such as a swing carousel. As someone who constantly rode these as a kid, I did not really understand why I felt a “thrill” when the carousel would turn. However, through learning about UCM, I realized that the “thrilling” feeling comes as a result of centripetal force.
Along with UCM, I also found the concept of impulse and momentum to be easy to understand. Similar to UCM, this is also due to my previous experiences with such back in Grade 10, and my overall attitude at the point of the quarter. To be more specific, I made sure to have more confidence in myself, and also take breaks so that I do not get burnt out.
With regards to how the concept of impulse and momentum is integral, this is because such a concept shows us how factors such as the time of contact can affect the force that is exerted on either us, or on something else. To give an example, the presence of air bags in a car lessens the overall force exerted on us, if ever we were to get into a vehicular accident. Such can be said, as air bags prolong the time that it takes for a driver or passenger to hit the dashboard of the car, upon being launched forward in a car accident. This decreases the force we experience, while also preventing us from getting severely injured.
One concept that was difficult to learn would be unbalanced forces. This is because there were a lot of factors to take note of when solving problems with unbalanced forces, and doing so also involved numerous mathematical equations. However, in order to do better, I made sure to remain calm, and really take the time to process the information being given to us in the practice problems or FAREMs, as to efficiently find out which forces are being applied in the given situation, and what equations are needed to solve for the required values.
After going through the course, one question that I would like to know more about would be the various ways as to how other mathematical concepts from Trigonometry or even Calculus can be applied in the General Physics course. This is because I wish to further understand how both science and math can be connected in different ways.