The Pipe Xylophone

 For the PROMISE project we had to build either a string instrument (guitar, ukelele, or electric guitar) or a percussion instrument (xylophone, piano). We had to create a prototype made of cardboard so that we would know the exact dimensions of our instrument. Another thing we had to make was a concept poster which described our instrument and the many things we had to learn in order to build it.

 As I said above, I had to first create a cardboard prototype of my xylophone. I had look up xylophone designs first in order to make it. When I had a good design I changed it to make it my own and to also work for my kind of xylophone, which is made of copper pipes instead of bars made of wood. I had to make the pipes and for that I just curled a piece of cardboard around a pipe I found in the classroom and taped it together so that it would hold the circular shape.

 Once the prototype was finished we had to wait until Mele bought the materials to build the instruments. When we had all the materials Mele taught us the formula to figure out the length of the pipe. We had to do the equation 8 times for each different note. Then while I was figuring the lengths and cutting the pipe my partner was building the frame for the xylophone. After we had everything cut and ready we assembled the xylophone with wood glue because it would dry fast and it would make a really strong bond. We put foam beneath where the pipes were sitting to make the sound resonate.

 I learned a lot of things in this project, I learned how waves travel, the different kinds of waves, how to build a xylophone, a lot of really good things that could help me out later in life. A real world connection I made between something I learned, the Doppler Effect, and my life is that now I actually pay attention to when a Doppler Effect happens, and I also know how it happens and why.

 A huge challenge me and my partner faced was that the pipes from our xylophone kept sliding off the resonating foam which meant we couldn't play it. The way we fixed this was that we had to make little bars out of popsicle sticks to make supports so that it wouldn't fall off anymore. We did this very last minute so it wasn't as good as we would've hoped. Something I would do different would be to paint the popsicle sticks so that everything would like nice and clean and even. But aside from that, I'd do everything the same. I think this will really help me later in life because I want to be a physicist and learning all of this physics early on will save me some time later on.

Evelyn Glennie: Shows How To Listen

Something I will always remember about her performance is how she could play with 4 mallets at a time and be able to separate them to play two notes that harmonize with one another. I also liked how she was able to actually feel the vibrations because she was deaf.


When she was playing her music what the people heard was affected by where they were seated. If a person was sitting below the marimba, they would hear a lot better than say someone right on top of the marimba.


What she meant by everyone experiences music in their own way was that she experiences music via the vibrations whereas someone else can experience it via the ear because they can hear. Others may experience it if they have really good hearing they'd hear all the tones and the depth to the music. 

2010 Technology

The article talks about all the new electric cars that will be releasing in 2010. It also talks about going green with cars and the faces of 2010, which mentions people who are expected to produce some big things in this upcoming year.

I think the big deal about this topic is going green. We should all care about going green and changing the vehicles that move us in order to accomodate the changing environment. By creating new green vehicles we could help with the pollution that regular gas powered cars produce.

They plan to release a lot of new electric cars for 2010 and also to develop many new green technologies.

The biggest obstacle of these new cars are the prices. They are really pricy cars and I don't think that many people would actually want to spend that much for a car if the car that they have is working fine. I think that with the recession it will have a bumpy start but after people figure out that they actually have to change something to create a better environment for future generations.

2010 Entertainment

The topic I read was about how entertainment television is not going to be limited simply to your TV. They also talk about very anticipated movie and game releases like Tron Legacy and Iron Man 2, and also the games Brink and Starcraft II.

I think the big deal about this topic is that since now many people are often on the go, they want to carry things from home with them on the road. But of course they aren't going to carry their 40in TV screens with them everywhere. I think that this will help the economy because this seems like something everyone could really use and also the prices aren't very expensive for the TV services. I care because honestly, I want to watch TV wherever I am.

Throughout the 2010 year there will be new releases that will expand the world of entertainment. Some include cellphones with TV access, TV antennas that hook up to your laptop and also portable TVs. Cellphones that were made previous to the TV access will have an antenna of their own to watch TV wherever.

I think the only obstacle is that it could be coming at a wrong time with the economy but I think that this is only a minor setback and it probably won't get in the way of this product's success.

Semester Goals for Mysics

My first goal for Mysics is to pay more attention in class. The first step I can take to do this is to turn off my phone whenever I go into class and put anything away that could distract me.

My second goal is to ask for help when I need it because most of the times I just don't ask for help. I could take the first step towards this by asking people around me for help and then asking the teacher if they didn't help me.

My final goal is to study for quizzes more because I usually don't study at all for quizzes and sometimes it reflects negatively on my grade. I think I can do this by studying the night before the quiz for at least one hour.

The Origin of Zero

I read this article about the Origin of Zero and I think that this is very interesting, I was especially shocked when it said that in Greece, the number zero made a late appearance. You'd think that whoever had begun math would've been the one to make this discovery. I guess that whoever had displayed this sign first would be the one to receive some credit, however I don't think we'll ever really know. I believe that if you invent the concept it's pretty much you that creates it, but if the concept was established before the person, then whoever had recorded that created it. The world probably figured out this concept the same way rumors travel today. It's like a very, very, sloooww moving text message that was forwarded to the whole world.

The Locker Problem

Out of all of the 1000 lockers there are only 31 open. These 31 are all perfect squares, a perfect square is when you multiply a number by itself (4 x 4, 6 x 6, ect) and the result you get is a perfect square root. The ones that aren’t perfect squares such as (1 x 3, 4 x 5, ect) are the ones that are closed; this is because they have an odd number of factors; because of this, if they were originally closed they’ll just revert to their original position (Open, Closed, Open, Closed). The reason why the perfect squares are open is because they have an odd amount of factors. Because they have an odd amount of factors they will change their state to the opposite state (O, C, O). Also, another way to solve this problem is by using a pattern. The pattern is to skip by even numbers so, there's one open and you skip two, then there's one more open, then you skip four and another one is open and so on. I think that this way works better because it's easier than finding all perfect squares.

Order of Operation

I.N.

Solve:
1. (2 x 5) + 7 - 9 =
2. (3 - 4) + (10 x 14) =

Add parenthesis:
3. 5 + 6 - 3 x 2 - 1 = 17

answers:
1. 8
2. 139
3. (5 + 6) - 3 x 2 - 1 = 17

What is Math? What is Physics?

What is math?

Math is a really fun subject that is characterized as being 'difficult'. I don't see what's so difficult about a ton of numbers, it's really fun to think of it as your money so that way you'll really want to solve the problem correctly. I can solve math mentally very easily, but showing my work is what I struggle on. This year, I'm hoping that I'll be able to make it seem as easy as it's been the past years.

What is physics?

Physics is everything that surrounds us. Without physics we wouldn't know what we'd be doing. Of course, the cavemen figured out what to do when nothing but hunting mattered; but in this world, I think it'd be extremely difficult to survive without the very important principles of physics. I'm thrilled to be taking physics (mysics, rather) this year because I think it'd be interesting to learn what makes the world tick and how a lot of things work.

Go mysics!