Physics Blog #8 Bigger is not always better

I was running out of ideas to do my physics blog when I saw this amazing scene outside. Theoretically, if buildings did not have lightning rods, it would be better to be a small building, as show in the picture. 

The bigger and taller buildings (that I pointed out) would be more prone to lightning strikes because they are closer to the polarized, negatively charged underside of clouds that want to be neutral (which explains why in the times before lightning rods, tall buildings were more frequently hit). So it would be better to be a small building because you are shielded by the bigger ones.

Luckily, somebody invented lightning rods, which prevent big buildings from being shocked. When lightning strikes, it hits the lightning rod and is harmlessly conducted into the ground by a wire.

I also found this funny cartoon that made me laugh a lot because i love physics.

(Late) Blog Torque!

This is a pool cleaner that we use at my house. I realized that the equation for torque, t=fr, applied to it.

In order to increase the amount of torque exerted I could lengthen my lever arm. For instance, the farther away my grip from the net, the more torque I have.

I could also increase my torque by increasing the force at which I swing the pool cleaner with.

Finally, I could also make the angle of my lever arm more perpendicular to the wrench, which would result in a larger r and therefore a larger F.

The moment of inertia concept also applies to the cleaner. If I grasp the cleaner closer to the netting, my moment of inertia would be smaller because my r or l is smaller. This also means that it would be harder to start or stop the pool cleaner.

(Late) Blog Static Equilibrium Light

This light demonstrates static equilibrium.  The combined tension in the two rods must be equal to the downward force of the lights and the wooden support. The resulting equation would look like:

T1sintheta+T2sintheta=mglight1+mglight2+mgwood

We can also know that because the light is at equilibrium, the net torque is 0. To find the net torque, we can use the equation Tccw (counter clockwise) -Tcw (clockwise)=T=0.

To solve the problem, you could use either end as the fulcrum. For instance, if the left side (when looking at the picture) was used as the fulcrum, than the equation would be:

T2y(r)=mglight1(r)+mglight2(r)+mgwood(r)

After finding T2y you could then find T1y.