Recent content by chillpenguin

Whoops I figured it out! I should be using a water density of 1000 kg/m^3!

Homework Statement A plastic tube has a cross-sectional area of 5.00 cm^2. The tube is shaped sort of like a "U". The left arm is filled with water until the right arm of length 0.800 m is full of water. The right arm is then sealed with a cap that won't pop off until a force of 9.8 N is...

Oh I see... The more you learn about physics, the more you realize you don't understand the half of it!

After learning about special relativity, and the behavior of light, I do not understand why light is not able to reach any distance instantly. Doesn't time stop at the speed of light? So if no time is passing, yet light is moving, wouldn't that mean that light is traveling infinitely fast...

Well the part where I graphed y to correspond to the acceleration, a, and x to correspond to the quantity m1/(m1 + m2) was for estimating g without taking into consideration friction. g was the slope of that line. My lab instructions asked me to do that, and the b value was so small it was...

Was I right to assume that whatever equation I use, g will be the slope and f will be the y-intercept?

I can't see what would give me g and f. I tried graphing (m1 + m2)a vs. m1 but that's the same thing I already did. I must be missing something.

Here is a nice image that demonstrates the 2 mass system. http://clas.sa.ucsb.edu/staff/alex/physics6a/challengeproblems_files/image007.gif

Homework Statement I am working on the analysis portion of a lab. The experiment was dropping varying masses connected to a cart by a string and pulley. The cart's mass was constant in each trial, but the hanging mass was increased each trial. We were measuring the acceleration of the cart...

I hope my instructor doesn't dock me points for taking a shortcut haha

Thank you for your response. Before you replied I thought of something. Tell me if it's a valid argument. Since the graph of this parametric is symmetrical, and both my points are on either the y or x axis, wouldn't the center of the osculating circle be on the x or y axis? So I could just...

Homework Statement The ellipse has equations x = 2cos(t) and y = 3sin(t) where 0 <= t <= 2*pi The problem asked me to calculate the curvature at points (2,0) and (0,3). I did that, but now the problem asks what the equation of the osculating circle is at each of those points. I know the...

I would rather ask a more general question then the specific homework question... Basically I am wondering how to calculate the acceleration of a hanging mass that is attached to another mass on a flat surface. Picture a mass on a table. This mass is attached to a string, which is hooked onto a...