Physics in the Ala Wai

This week, I didn't really notice anything that had to do with the physics we've been learning recently. Luckily, when I went for a run earlier this week, I did notice that there was more than just trash in the Ala Wai; there was some physics in there as well. When I looked over the bridge and into the water, I saw two ducks swimming together. Behind the ducks was a bow wave. Bow waves are waves that are "v" shaped and can be formed by ducks, like what I saw, or even boats and ships.

Static Electricity

We've recently been learning about static electricity. There are three different ways for an object to obtain a charge. The first is by friction. This occurs when two materials rub together and one of the materials wants to hold elctrons more than the other. The second way to charge and object is by contact. The is when there is one charged object and one neutral object. The neutral object obtains some charge when the charged object comes into contact with the neutral one. Charging by contact only occurs with conductors, not insulators. The third way is charging by induction. A neutral object can become charged without having physical contact with a charged object. As we learned, static electricity is found in dry places. After doing some laundry, i noticed that my clothes stuck to each other and I could sometimes hear the static electricity when i pulled them apart. Static electricity takes place in the dryer not only because its a dry place, but also because of the friction. The clothes become charged because of the friction.