Marimo Massages II

Update: I now have pictures of my Marimo!

The goldfish bowl makes them look bigger

But they're actually pretty dinky. This one I'm holding is Zoro, the bigger one.

Aerial view, for those birds out there.

Close-up


And a random note for those physicists out there.
Due to the shape of the bowl and the marimo, and the extremely small size of the marimo, they actually float around in the bowl when I touch it. I think it's akin to how, if you put a goldfish in a narrrow glass, the fish will sink to the bottom.

The physics of eating a burrito: Work edition (image-heavy post)

So, in physics today.....

There were some educational demonstrations about the nature of work (W=∫F•dx), using a massive burrito.
Thus inspired by the demonstration, Hawk and Quail (accompanied once again by brananaman) set off to find an authentic taqueria so as to obtain a "real" burrito.
The taqueria was found, and this esteemed establishment found itself the site of many a physics experiment on this evening.

And so, armed with 2 massive burritos and twine, Hawk and Quail set off to demonstrate the physics of eating burritos like real men. Except for the minor fact that they were not, in fact, men.

(massive burrito 1)


Hawk provides an explanation and basic demonstration of the "lifter" method of burrito consumption.


Quail demonstrating basic (or lifter) method of burrito eating. In this scenario, the work done on the burrito is equal to the distance between Quail's mouth and the table (approximately .3 meters) multiplied by the force exerted on the burrito, which ideally is equal to the weight of the burrito, (mg) which was approximately 40 N, so the work is approximately 12 Joules


Quail + Burrito


Hawk + Burrito


Hawk + Quail + 2(burrito)


Hawk and Quail demonstrating the "pendulum" method of eating a burrito. Similar to the "Batman" problem encountered in the homework. The burrito is suspended from a string and then is brought up along the circular path until it intersects with the mouth of the consumer. This method of burrito consumption was deemed inefficient for daily use, even though the burrito was easier to consume, because of difficulty in constructing the burrito harness.

Unfortunately, the ramp method was not able to be used due to technical difficulties (namely a lack of ramp).

The rest of the evening was spent cavorting around the streets in the dead of night around gas stations and trailer parks and Jamba Juice.

A Breath of Fresh Air

Sitting on top of a rickety, lichen-infested wooden structure. Underneath, traffic whooshes by, middle-schoolers wearing Heelys stomp past, and a Russian accent commands a child to stop climbing poles and go home so his sibling can "go poo-poo."

This is the top of the world. Rising above our troubles with parents and school and college apps, we are seated on the pinnacle of our high school lives.

But we had to stand on a recycle bin to get up there. Oh, the ignominy.

After these two weeks of hard work and disappointing results, we birds on our lofty perch ranted and laughed and chirped and squawked to our heart's content. Who needs Starbucks or movie theater tickets when public parks provide the best release from daily concerns?

Swinging on squeaky swings slung 2 feet above the ground. Feeling the wind in my hair. Experiencing the thrill and immediate fear of flying straight into darkness as I close my eyes and whoosh higher and higher...

Then calculate velocity at the lowest point if "a 40.0 kg child swings in a swing supported by two chains, each 3.00 m long and the tension in each chain at the lowest point is 350 N" (Physics for Scientists and Engineers, 173).

Release is great, but it's time to get back to work.