To end this summer, my family and I took our family vacation on the Big Island at the Mauna Lani Resort and Spa. My 10 year old sister golfs, so in order to let her practice my parents took my sister, brother, and I to the keiki course at the resort. Looking back at our practice game, I realized that the course of the ball could be tracked using vectors. The ball on the tee would represent the origin and start of the vector. My siblings and I gave the ball an initial horizontal and vertical velocity as our clubs hit the ball off the tee. The vector the ball creates from the tee to its peak in the air represents the vector of the ball, and the initial horizontal velocity represents the x-component while the initial vertical velocity represents the y-component. Using this I could calculate the overall velocity of the ball by taking the square-root of the x-component squared plus the y-component squared. Knowing this would allow me to control the distance my ball would travel based on how long it is in the air. I could also calculate the trajectory of the ball, or the angle the ball creates with the ground by taking the tangent inverse of the y-component over the x-component. Had I known this when we were playing golf that day on the Big Island, I might have been able to beat my sister :PMonday, September 20, 2010
Blog Two: A "Physical" Summer Vacation
To end this summer, my family and I took our family vacation on the Big Island at the Mauna Lani Resort and Spa. My 10 year old sister golfs, so in order to let her practice my parents took my sister, brother, and I to the keiki course at the resort. Looking back at our practice game, I realized that the course of the ball could be tracked using vectors. The ball on the tee would represent the origin and start of the vector. My siblings and I gave the ball an initial horizontal and vertical velocity as our clubs hit the ball off the tee. The vector the ball creates from the tee to its peak in the air represents the vector of the ball, and the initial horizontal velocity represents the x-component while the initial vertical velocity represents the y-component. Using this I could calculate the overall velocity of the ball by taking the square-root of the x-component squared plus the y-component squared. Knowing this would allow me to control the distance my ball would travel based on how long it is in the air. I could also calculate the trajectory of the ball, or the angle the ball creates with the ground by taking the tangent inverse of the y-component over the x-component. Had I known this when we were playing golf that day on the Big Island, I might have been able to beat my sister :P
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I liked how you recognized and explained the physics relationship with golf. Also, I didn't know there a thing such as a keiki course haha
ReplyDeleteKhaydan (:
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog. It was super interesting how you incorporated all of the concepts that we have been learning regarding vectors.
Your blog is really good at explain physic concept in details and in explaining how physic can help improve your golf game. I hope that you'll beat your sister the next time you play against her.
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