More Fun with Waves Lab

Same principles as my previous Waves Lab.

Part 3: Interference of Transverse Waves

1) If the two wave pulses are on the same side of the spring, what happens when the two waves meet in the middle of the spring?  Describe in words and drawings.

The two waves hit each other in the center of the spring, and then seem to pass through each other and continue without much of a delay.  However, the waves appear to bounce off each other slightly at contact, but then continue on their path.

2) If the two wave pulses are on opposite sides of the spring, describe in words and drawings what happens when they meet in the middle of the spring.

Not much of a change from step 1.  The waves hit in the middle and have a very slight pause and the wave amplitude shifts for a bit, but then returns back to the prior state and continues to the end of the spring.

Part 4: Periodic Transverse Waves

3) Vary the rate at which you vibrate your hand; in other words, try shaking your hand back and forth slowly and then more quickly. How does the length of the waves that you produce depend on how fast you are vibrating your hand?  Describe.

The rate of the vibration does in fact affect the length of the waves.  Josh and I did three different speeds of vibrations to see how it affected the wave lengths.

- When we shook the spring slowly, only one-two long waves appeared before hitting the end of the spring.

- When we shook the spring at average or "medium" speed, four-five waves showed total before hitting the end of the spring.

- When we shook the spring quickly and rapidly, as much as eight small waves appeared along the spring before reaching the end. 

So the speed that we vibrate our hand definitely has an effect on the length of waves.  The faster the vibration, the shorter the waves.

4) Does the speed at which the wave travels down the spring depend on how fast you are vibrating your hand?

The speed that you vibrate your hand should not affect the speed of the wave.  We could test this by seeing how long it would take for a wave to travel a complete period (to there and back).  So we did a slow vibration and recorded some times, then did the same for quick vibrations.

Slow vibration - 

1st Trial - 1.83 sec

2nd Trial - 1.89 sec

3rd Trial - 1.86 sec

Average - 1.86 sec

Quick vibration -

1st Trial -1.78 sec

2nd Trial - 1.92 sec

3rd Trial - 1.85 sec

Average - 1.85 sec

As you can see, the average times for the completion of a period were almost equivalent.  Therefore, the speed of the vibration doesn't affect the speed of the wave.

Part 5: Standing Waves

1) Record the time it takes to complete ten cycles.  Calculate the frequency, period, wavelength, and speed of the wave.

One large wave -

1st Trial - 13.78 sec

2nd Trial - 13.63 sec

3rd Trial - 17.36 sec

Average - 14.95 sec

Average speed - 

(12x10)/14.95 = 8.03 m/s

Period - 

14.95/10 = 1.495 seconds

Frequency - 

1/1.495 = .6689 Hz

Wave Length

Six meters (one large wave)

2) Change the rate of your vibrations until you can see two "humps" in the wave.

Record the time it takes for the wave to complete ten cycles.  Calculate the frequency, period, wavelength, and speed of the wave.

Two waves (humps): 

1st Trial - 9.08 sec

2nd Trial - 9.60 sec

3rd Trial - 9.44 sec

Average - 9.37 sec

Period:

9.37/10 = .937 sec

Frequency:

1/.937 = 1.067 Hz

Wave Length:

About three meters

3) Three humps

Record the time it takes for the wave to complete ten cycles. Calculate the frequency, period, wavelength, and speed of the wave.

Three waves (humps):

1st Trial: 5.35 sec

2nd Trial: 6.47 sec

3rd Trial: 5.76 sec

Average: 5.89 sec

Period:

5.89/10 = .589 sec

Frequency:

1/ .589 = 1.7 Hz

Wave length:

Around two meters

BB: Living Somebody Else's Dream

Why am I trying to become what I don't want to be?  What am I doing in an office, making a contemptuous, begging fool of myself, when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am" (Miller 105).

                Most students at Singapore American School can relate to this quote from Biff.  Growing up in affluent families, having successful parents and grandparents, and attending a high-ranked prestigious high school puts a lot of pressure on each of us.  We all have parents who demand we try our best in all of our activities, school and non-school related.  We're often pushed into AP classes that we aren't actually interested in, so that the Ivy League schools we apply to are more impressed.  Why do people even strive to attend Ivy Leagues anyway?  In Mr. Hallam's Finance class, we did a project on the rewards and consequences of attending an Ivy League university.  We found that graduating from an Ivy League school isn't the automatic pass into a high-salary career like we seem to think, but it's the work ethic and drivenness that really matters.  Students who applied to Ivy League schools and were accepted but didn't attend, actually ended up doing just as well or even better financially than those who did go.  Another thing, I believe that some students at this school think the big reward is getting into the Ivy League school, and then it's just a golden brick road from there.  When really, the work load and pressure is even greater there than at SAS, which I'm sure not many students would want.  So here is where we go back to Biff's quote, why are we all trying to become something we don't want to be?  According to this website, https://www.cco.purdue.edu/Student/major.shtml, 50% of students switch their major before graduation.  This is proof that too many students are picking majors that they aren't interested in, but maybe they were pressured to pick.  

              We can all learn a lot from Biff.  Biff isn't afraid to admit that he doesn't know what he wants in life.  For example, on page 81, Biff says, "I realized what I ridiculous lie my whole life has been," and on page 5, Linda says about Biff, "He's finding himself, Willy."  Biff does know for certain that he doesn't want an office job though.  Biff has been able to look past his father's materialistic dreams for him and search around for a purpose in life.  Unlike Biff, our school community has only grown up in a wealthy environment, and we're afraid to venture into a lower class of living, even if that means giving up our dreams.  Why is it that there are way more people from SAS who major in investment banking, finance, and international business than there are people learning to becomes vets, farmers, or teachers?  Are you really going to argue that the students here have just been dying to become a hedge fund manager their whole life?  Here is a one last question to think about: If money wasn't an object, what would you want to be in life?  

Death of a Salesman: Golden Quote #2

"But I was with the firm when your father used to carry you in here in his arms" (Miller 59).

         This quote from Willy to his boss Howard occurs while Howard is in the process of firing Willy.  Willy was very close and had a lot of respect for Howard's father, who used to be Willy's boss.  Willy has never liked or been close to Howard, and now he is trying to prove to him why he still deserves a spot in the firm.  Ultimately, Willy fails to convince Howard of why he deserves a spot, and is let go from the firm.

          This quote is meaningful to me because it makes me realize how unfair the business world can be.  Willy, who has "put thirty-four years into this firm,"has obviously worked much longer and harder than his boss.  Howard only got to the place he currently sits by mere luck; his father was the boss.  That's where there is a slight flaw in the American Dream.  I believe you can work yourself up from a very low economic position through drivenness and hard work, but there will always be advantages for others.  Take my two friends for example.  Friend 1, we'll call him, has a father who grew up in a mid-income family and graduated from Dartmouth University.  Friend 2, has a British father who grew up in a high-class family, and graduated from a mid-level university in the UK.  Friend 2's father joined his father's company, but only had a small title when he joined.  He worked hard and finally got boosted up to the head of the company, where his father once stood.  Friend 1, who's father worked extremely hard to graduate from Dartmouth, is now a position under Friend 2's father in the same company.  Yes, Friend 2's dad did work hard to get to his position, but without his birth advantage, he never would have beaten out Friend 1's dad.  

        Although that was a bit confusing example, the main idea is that hard work is extremely important for success, but advantages that come through your family and connections can help tremendously.  I feel bad for Willy.  Everyone reader will agree that he deserves a spot in the firm, especially since he's in personal financial trouble.  I guess that's why this book is a tragedy.  

          

Intro to Waves Lab

For this experiment, we used a spring and a stopwatch.

We started out with the spring stretched around six meters.

Part 1:

For this part, I placed my left hand about 50 centimeters up the spring while my right hand held the end back.  I then pulled my left hand back until it was close to my right, and let go. 

1) Describe in words and drawings what you see after releasing the spring.

It's hard to describe the motion in the spring, since it is unlike anything that occurs in everyday life.  It was if a current, that started from my left hand pulling back the loaded spring, traveled down to my partner's end of the spring, and then came right back.  The way I could tell a current was traveling was by the change in color that traveled down the spring (the change in color came from the loss of light when the spring cords touched).  

2) What happened to the wave when it reached the other end of the spring?

It was if the wave or current bounced off the other end and came right back towards me.  After the "bounce," the wave slowed down, but remained at a constant speed until it hit my end of the spring.  So the wave travels the same speed down the spring, until it hits the end, where it loses velocity.  The wave seemed to disappear after bouncing off my end.

Part 2:

For this part, while my right hand held the end of the spring, my left hand held the spring about 50 centimeters down.  I quickly moved that hand sharply out to the right about 30 centimeters and brought it right back.

3) Describe in words and drawings what you see after releasing the spring.

It looked like a wave, just like part 1, but this time it was much more visible.  This was due to the fact that the wave moved down the spring while that part of the spring stayed out to the right all the way down.  You can picture it by imaging an egg traveling down a snake's neck.  You can see the outline of the egg stretching the skin.  So that first sharp turn of the spring at the beginning traveled down to the end.

4) Describe in words and drawings what happens to the waves when it reaches the other end of the spring.

When the wave hit the other end of the spring, the egg-looking part of the spring changed sides, so now the outward current that was traveling towards me was on the other side than before.  The moving wave was smaller too; it didn't go out the full 30 centimeters.  Each time the wave hit an end, it would switch sides and shrink a bit.  The wave kept going until it's second time hitting my side, where it seemed to disappear.

5) Does the size of the wave change as it travels along the spring?  Describe both its amplitude and its wavelength.

As the wave traveled down the spring, the wavelength remained constant.  However, whenever it hit an end, the wavelength would slow a bit.  So a change in wavelength only occurred after hitting an end.  The amplitude also didn't change until after hitting an end.  The amplitude returned to equilibrium after hitting my side for the second time.

Part 3:

For this part, we did the same procedure as part 2, but used a stopwatch to see how long it took for the wave to return to my end of the spring.

6) How long did it take for the wave pulse to traveled from one end to the other and back?

I did three trials.  They came to be 1.75, 1.74, and 1.78 seconds.  So the pulse was traveling at around 6.85 m/s.

7) Do you think changing the amplitude of the wave will change its velocity?  Try it.

A change in amplitude ended up having no effect on the velocity.  If I pulled the spring out 50 cm instead of 30 cm, or 20 cm instead of 30, the time to return to my end of the spring was almost the same every time.

8) Do you think changing the wavelength will change its velocity? Try it.

The wavelength is represented by how fast the pulse travels down the spring.  We experimented by varying the speed in which I pulled out the spring to the side.  This also had no effect on the time it took for the pulse to return to my end.

9) Do you think stretching or shortening the length of the spring will change its velocity?  Try it.

This did have an effect on the velocity.  When we shortened the length of the spring to about four meters, we found the speed by doing distance/time or (m/s).  Since the wave had to travel down and back, the distance was eight meters.  The time it took for the wave to return to me took around 1.6 seconds after three trials.  So (8m/1.6s) = 5 m/s.  If you look up at part 6), the speed for six meters was about 1.75 m/s.  We found the speed through the same process when the spring was stretched nine meters, and the speed came out to be 9.5 m/s.  As you can see, lengthening the spring increases the velocity.  This is due to increasing tension in the spring.

Blog 1.5

One thing I noticed from the film but not the book is how during Charley and Willy's game of cards, Willy cheated by looking at Charley's cards.  To me, this shows what type of person Willy is.  Willy respects his brother, Ben, who clearly did some sketchy stuff to earn a lot of money in Africa.  It's as if Willy lives by the rule, "The end justifies the means."

Death of a Salesman: Golden Quote #1

"I lost weight, Pop, you notice? (Miller 35)

               In today's world, there are many different ways in which children try to get attention.  Some receive it through throwing tantrums, others by whining.  But some children try to earn their parents' attention by doing well at something, or by impressing them.  In Happy's case, he tried getting his father's attention by losing weight.

Three times during Act One, Happy asks his father this question (top).  Each time, there is no response; the scene either ends or a new character enters.  All of these quotes were ones from past memories though, during one of Willy's reminiscences.  The reader knows that now Happy is both physically very fit and very favorable with women, so his weight was a problem of the past.  But Arthur Miller was surely trying to make a point, having Happy ask the question three times.  My take on it is that Happy has always been "number two" or "an afterthought" in his father's mind.  The first-born son, Biff, seems to take up all of Willy's attention and thought.  It's as if Willy is trying to relive his life through his son Biff.  To be fair, Willy doesn't completely ignore his second son Happy, it's clear that he loves them both very much and wants them to be successful.  But all of Happy's life, he has listened to his father talk about Biff as if he's some type of god.  Typically when this happens in today's world, the "ignored" child might get angry and may act rashly in order to gain attention.  Happy doesn't seem to mind though.  He talks highly of his older brother and agrees with his father whenever Willy praises Biff.  It'll be interesting to see if Happy's reaction to his brother's glamor in his father's eyes changes.

               If you define success as having lots of money and a good job, then Happy became much more successful than Biff.  While Biff goes around the West earning small jobs at various cattle ranches, Happy has a comfortable job in New York City where he earns a respectable wage.  Maybe the reason for this is because during Biff's childhood, he didn't really need to prove anything to anybody.  Everybody loved his personality and he was very popular with the girls in school, so he didn't see why he would need to work hard in order to be successful.  Happy, on the other hand, didn't receive the constant praise, so he probably worked harder than Biff in order to make a bigger name for himself.  This is why it's not always a good thing to have such an easy childhood.  You might take it for granted, like Biff did, and regret it later in life.

The Single Greatest Thing About America is...

“The single greatest thing about America is… Aunt Jemima.” Not only is Aunt Jemima delicious maple syrup that Americans love to throw on almost all breakfast foods, but the picture on the bottle represents the stereotypical warm-hearted grandmother that is a significant figure in Americans’ lives. America needs an Aunt Jemima to feed them Grandma’s delicious homemade goodies.  Aunt Jemima is a way to keep eating grandma’s goods your entire life