Week 8 Reflection

During this week we learned about component and resultant forces and we went even more in depth with force diagrams.  We learned that component forces are the ones that make up the whole or resultant forces.  We also learned more about accurately drawing force diagrams.  We started to include newtons and kilograms in our diagrams.

I know that to demonstrate component and resultant forces we had a big, circular wooden board and we hung strings with weights off of the sides.  When the string was lined up at certain degrees, such as north and east, we know that the direction that it will fall will be northeast.  The component forces, north and east, will produce the resultant force of northeast. 

We also learned what center of mass was.  To demonstrate center of mass, we had people stand up and show that they could bend over and pick up a chair or a pencil with no trouble at all.  Then we had them lean against the wall and show that they can't do anything to balance their center of mass because the wall is stopping them.  Another interesting demonstration was we had four people sit on chairs and lay on each others laps.  Then, we took away the chairs and they all balanced each other out.  It was because their center of masses were all balanced on each other.   

Overall, this week was pretty productive.  I get what center of mass is but I still need to learn more about it because I just know what it is, I can't really apply it to anything yet.  Component forces and resultant forces were pretty easy to get and again with the demonstrations and visuals, it was easy to grasp.