LAST BLOGGGGGGGGG!

I can't believe it. I must make this blog epic! I hope my pictures make sense, or else this whole blog will be a failure. Here we go!

I have three different concepts to talk about. Friday was dance showcase (which I hope everyone went to), and gravity was not on my side. All my costumes were strapless (wraps and dresses), so if I were to step on the bottom of them (which I did a lot) and fall, that would have been very very embarrassing. The dances were pretty fast paced, also allowing gravity to do its thang. But whatever. I also chanted, which involved striking a dead gourd with my hand and the ground. Along with force, sound waves were emitted from said gourd, which were amplified by its hollow structure. OH and I pulled a girl's hair. Tension was apparently involved so I could drag her across the stage, and increased and decreased as I tugged and released.

When I got home, I remembered to take pictures of my "native" hair, both before and after brushing it (which oddly enough, the 'after' hair eerily resembled my hair pre-straightening perm), which made me have to choose between my nice looking but cruddy camera and my silver, old, but very reliable other camera. As you can see, I used the silver one. As we all know, cameras employ lenses to take an object and make an image within its memory bank for reference later. The aperture opens and closes to let in light, which changes the brightness as intensity changes. To focus, a lens moves until the image is within the camera. Any different, and the image would be blurred.

And finally, as I realized I'm probably too jiggly for prom, I played with a resistance band to attempt to get my arms in shape. Which I know is A) impossible to do in 1 week and B)impossible unless I do some massive cardio. P90X much? Anyway, it's kinda like a spring. As the band stretches, a force is created directed towards the equilibrium point. The force from my arms override it, but the larger the "tension," the larger the restoring force until I release the band or relax it. My lack of strength means a small tension is hard for me to overcome with my own force, so the band is barely stretched. XD

Well, that's all, folks. Thirty-something weeks of head-bashing, tantrum inducing, greatest times of our high school lives. You all knew it was coming, you just couldn't accept it. I hope these quotes will invoke--as Mr. Takayesu would say--WONDERFUL memories about Phys B. I know some quotes aren't the same as memory serves, but it has the same effect.

"You keep accelerating! So that's why it hurts when you fall off a building." ~doc!

"Just google it." ~Bobby

"Doc, why'd you stop the lecture?" "I got a pain in my ass" "GREG, WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!" ~MGS and doc!

*Greg returns to his seat after making sure there's no quiz* "THAT'S why I hate this period" ~doc!

"Why is graphite a good piston?" "It's self-lubricating!" ~doc! and Calvin

"Where do you want to see a wide-angle?" "A window?" ~doc! and Dylan

(Talking about the pool and snorkel experiment) "You can hear them gasping for air. *makes the noise* *laughs*" ~doc!

"See the test charge? *lets it go* Oop. *lets it go again* Oop." ~doc!

"We should move Hawaii to the equator." ~MGS

"How did you get to the cookies? I hid them!" ~doc!

"Aren't you glad Greg's not graduating this year so you can have him for Physics C, doc?" ~MGS

"Same hose!" ~Our class

"Why are you guys (Dani, Steph, MGS) working with those guys (Bobby and Calvin)!?!?!" ~doc!

"What are you doing?" "I'm stretching." "Oh, I thought you were waving." *Calvin waves* "Hi. *doc! waves back*" ~doc! and Calvin

"Are Ashley and Ian an item?" "No, Ashley has a boyfriend..." "They're always beating each other up..." ~doc! and Danielle

And of course, the Physics videos, which can be seen on Kaela's and Steph's profiles.

Sorry we couldn't make you that giant Jeopardy board, doc. But you know we love you so very much! I'm so glad all of us shared our experiences with you. Even though I'll have you next year, it's still very bittersweet to part so quickly. I hope you liked my last blog, doc. And good luck to everyone on the exam! And to finish off with my weekly blogs, I must always say:

Yay for so many memories! Yay for all our work paying off! Boo for the last blog ever. Thanks for everything, guys.

I'll never become a vegetarian...

Meat in general is way too good. I'm probably one of the reasons for global warming, since cows add lots of greenhouse gases in the air, and I'm promoting the constant breeding of these walking steaks. But whatever! I'm still going to eat them!

So yesterday, my parents and I went to Chinatown to order a lei for prom. After that, we wandered through the place gathering choke amounts of food for the week. I'm not the only one of my family spending more on food than anything else. :P Anyway, we bought 3 Kona crabs because my parents wanted me to experience the happiness that arises from eating such a huge crustacean. They were HUGE; the biggest one was as big as my head. That was mine. :D

Those are two halves to two different crabs. You can see the size difference. A lot of force had to be used to split these mammoths in half, involving a large knife that has more surface area than normal. Which means using a machete (which my father wielded with much experience). Torque was also applied to separate the meaty legs from the body. The crab cracker also used torque to destroy those legs to give me the delicious bounty that was trapped within them. And of course, the more I ate, entropy became larger and larger until...


As you can see, I decimated my crab. Or half of it, at least. The other half is calling to me from within the fridge, waiting to be my lunch. Let's call this the last supper, since this week is the beginning of HELL. Monday: AP Phys multiple choice and Showcase rehearsal. Tuesday:AP Spanish and another rehearsal. Wednesday: yet another rehearsal. Thursday: AP Physics free response and you guessed it: another long rehearsal. Friday is Showcase! Too bad this schedule means I won't get home until 8 at the earliest. Which also means more hours I'll have to spend awake to finish homework. All-nighters much? To quote Mr. Bickel, it's going to be "FUN FUN FUN!" Good luck guys. I'm sure we all need it.

Yay for delicious, delicious crab! BOO for AP/Showcase aka hell week!

(Don't you love the partially naked plumeria? This is without, by the way. You'll understand as you read this through.)

Gasoline fumes and weird glass cleaner smells are currently residing in my household. Hooray! T_T My dad was mowing the lawn, then cleaning the patio table, and since there are windows galore, my house gets the brunt of everything. But that's not what this blog is about, unfortunately.

So I went outside this morning and the sun started hitting my eyes. I just woke up, and even small quantities of light made my eyes water, so you can imagine the amount of squinting and walking around with my eyes closed. (I know it became cloudy all of a sudden; stupid nature hating on me...) Instead of running blindly through my backyard and probably killing myself on the stereotypical Filipino flowers (the ones with the super spiky stems), I went back inside, took a random pair of sunglasses, and went outside. It wasn't a super significant difference, but it helped.
How so? Well, the sun emits waves in all sorts of planes (which is possible since we're not in Flatland). The sunglasses have small slits that only let waves of a certain plane in, and keep all others out. In this way, just a small portion of the overall light gets transmitted to the eyes, blocking unnecessary brightness. Unfortunately, they weren't polarized to my liking, so instead of having everything super dark, everything just seemed just a little darker (it doesn't show it on here, though...). That's what you get for cheap athletic sunglasses...Oh, well.

One more week til hell, guys. Keep studying! I'm such a hypocrite, but I'm hoping my mind will finally realize the importance of not failing...Hopefully...

Yay for last week of small kine freedom! Boo for APs coming up...NEXT WEEK?!??

All I have to show from this weekend is an increase of fat

So I've been lazy and not using a camera this week, so this pic is created from my handy-dandy webcam. This weekend has been completely exhausting, in a good way. Fair, Pearl Harbor, pool party; all good. Pearl Harbor was interesting and claustrophobic, especially in the submarine. Those people that get assigned to submarines must have a great mental stability, because even the thought of sleeping on the bunks except for the top sent me into a small rush of fear. At the fair, I spent less of my scrip playing games like I used to do, and more to sample the food there, especially the ones at Le Gourmet. Nice to know that my parents' money is going to me stuffing my face for the winter...-_- Anyway...

What did any of that rant have to do with physics? First off, at Pearl Harbor, there was a giant film of oil by the Arizona Memorial, from a mix of the ferry oil and the oil stuck within the warship that could never be fully removed. This created a thin film of interference, which in turn made for a colorful refraction-like surface on the low-tide water. During my malasada shift, speed could never stay constant due to the slow cooking-time and the lack-of-ready-dough. Even when there was enough dough and four fryers, demand greatly exceeded the current supply, causing a negative acceleration of us whipping out malasadas. Thin-film intereference was present in the bubbles used at the party, as was pressure in the water guns and the sound waves emanating from the speakers which were on for the entire time.

Sorry if my blogs have been lacking lately. I have no real excuse other than that of pure exhaustion from the course of the last few weeks. Just a couple more before a little of my stresses can be relieved, but until then, life won't be that happy. Let's see how we're doing next week...

Yay for three-day weekends! Boo for not enough recovery time! Yay for friends hanging out with me for more time than what we spend at school!

"...No one would care at all. " That's how I feel about my blogs...

AP exams are getting closer, guys, and there's nothing we can do to stop it...*sigh* It's only been a couple weeks into the quarter, but it feels like it's been months. Good thing it hasn't, because a lot of my grades are circling the drain right now. Ugh. Anyway...

So to relieve some stress, I listen to music. Mainly from Youtube, but sometimes I bust out my small collection of CDs and listen to songs I used to love so much. I still like them, but it's interesting to see how my taste in music changed over the years. It's also interesting that one year I'm listening to Beyonce, and the next I'm OBSESSED with My Chemical Romance and AFI. Too bad I don't have any CDs of my newer obsessions, or my wall would be COVERED in Korean and Japanese stuff. Hehe, I guess that'll wait for college life.

Here's the front of one of my AFI CDs (Crash Love). I really love their song, "Beautiful Thieves" from this album, although lots of people hate how the band changed for this CD. It's slightly reflective due to the smooth nature of both the paint job and the disc itself.Here's the more Physics-relevant back. We studied slits last section, and how the fringe pattern still remains even with many slits. The CD is showing my reflection rather than the other side because the CD on the other side is covered with the design. It also makes it easier to notice when scratches form, which would disrupt the slits and (when left too long to become deeper) make the data inscribed unreadable. The slits also cause prism effect on parts of the CD because the light would be refracted differently depending on where the light hit. That's basically how players can read the info on the CD.

This week is Family Fair! Four real days, guys. Unless you count Pearl Harbor as one, too. T_T One last test for Phys, too, so get studying!

Yay for the malasadas soon to be in my mouth! Boo for heavily weighted scores!

I put sunscreen, but I tan a lot anyway...useless...

Why is it that one friend always bleaches, one always burns, and one doesn't tan at all? I guess we all respond to sun differently even though we all live on this Vitamin D-enriched rock in the middle of nowhere.

Enjoy this picture of me and Steph displaying our Shaka riding skills and lung capacity~

So to celebrate a friend's birthday, going to the beach was in order. Unfortunately, nobody (but me) likes the feeling of sand between their foot and their slipper, so the water park served as a chlorine-filled alternative. Within that short 5 hours, we managed to ride all the rides. A few rides multiple times. I still feel the effects of swinging back and forth on the Tornado and the Ragin' River (which is a great substitute for the now-dead Cliffhanger). I guess I rode a bit too much...

Anyway, what does this have to do with physics? SO MUCH. Going down slides brings in gravity, so if there wasn't any twists and turns to decelerate us, many many rides would cause us to go down screamingly fast and fall out onto the unforgiving cement. At the same time, the water on the slides provides low friction so that we can actually start moving with it. Unfortunately, there was no way to have still water at any point so I couldn't test out any refraction or double slit properties. Wavelengths were obviously there, being the water and all that.

Good Friday was great. Saturday (as many Juniors and Physics students observed) was not. Hopefully it'll get better...

Yay for the waterpark! Boo for broken servers and English in general!

El palacio del hielo

...also known as Ice Palace. Sorry, I don't have any pictures for it but just bear with me. Just picture that ice cube all over the ground, then you got the gist of it.

So today, me and some friends went there for funzies. The first thing I noticed was the ice. It wasn't just ice, there was also water. The temperature of that mix was 0 degrees, but the continuous entrance and movement of people's bodies did not help to get the water back to its frozen state. No change in temperature means no change in energy. Not including the ice and water that gets displaced by skates.

The second thing I noticed was the skates. The shoes themselves are built so the only way you could get completely off balance is if you eat it on the ice. Or your leg breaks above the shoe (which I don't think you'd get to that point, but whatever). So despite the potential energy, there is almost no allowance for torque in the shoe. The metal skate gives little friction so gliding on ice would be easy, if sliding wasn't already a given on watery ice. The only thing is the points of support are below the center of gravity, and since I can't skate at all, I had a difficult time keeping the center in a position that wouldn't cause me to topple over.

I know I should be taking risks, but I've had bad memories of Ice Palace that won't allow me to shake off my controlled, careful, and slow skating. That's okay; at least it shows me that although I'm not good at any sport, I can at least be a lot more competent in sports that are related to living in a non-snowy place...I guess...

Yay for living it up during spring break!

Paradise Cove Fun...O_o

My brother just left for Chicago T_T. I won't see him 'till May (hopefully). I'm gonna miss the weeklong no-leftover-dinners/lunches :P. So last weekend, to celebrate my birthday and my brother's spring break with his friend, we went to a luau at Paradise Cove (by Ko'olina). We had a couple of hours to kill, so we wandered around trying all the "ancient Hawaiian" games and activities. One of the activities was swinging around poi balls since they were used as weapons, and now as entertainment. Needless to say, we failed. Horribly.

What does this have to do with Physics? Well, first off, there was tension in the ropes due to the weight of the balls. When we (attempted) to swing them in a circle, there was an acceleration directed radially inward. Since it was in a vertical circle, gravity also took its toll, making it slow down as the ball when upwards and quickening its speed when it went downwards. It wasn't helpful that we had to try with two balls in the same hand, going in opposite directions. Darn you, gravity, and probably a dozen other factors that caused me to be pummeled by those things every five seconds.

Sorry that this week's blog is so lame. I'm currently baking and my English grade depends on it.
Yay for chocolate cake! Boo for it failing on me!!!

"As a kid, we used to see a rainbow and go, 'OH MY GOD!'"

Dr. Webb Brit Lit people, you know what I'm talking about for my title. Hehe.

So on Friday, my brother and his friend came over from Chicago for their spring break (so early T_T). The first thing I saw them do when I came home-other than pass out on the couches-was go outside and look at the rainbows. I think his friend never saw a rainbow before, or at least not as intense, because he went out and shot lots of pictures of it. It kind of reminded me of that Romantic poem we studied in Brit Lit how the author gets excited whenever he sees a rainbow. Now all I look forward to is seeing the rainbow and yelling out "REFRACTION!"

Not really, but in my head I shout it out. We just learned in our reading how rainbows are formed as light hits the droplets of waters, which allows a sort of prism effect. But it's not like we see an endless amount of rainbows, one for each droplet. Since the droplets provide a different medium from the air, refraction occurs. Unfortunately, there is also a total internal reflection due to light hitting the droplets at a certain angle, so each color of the spectrum of light starts refracting at different angles. That way, when we see the prism effect, only rays at a certain angle hit us instead of all of them so we see a giant rainbow (or two) instead of a mess of color.

Yay for rainbows! Boo for it drizzling right now so rainbows can't be seen!

More Magnets!!!

But before I talk about it, great job, musical people! Despite some audio problems, that was amazing! I really liked the balance of comedy and drama, and Dr. Webb's cameo appearance (falsetto voice and all). Anyway...

Using the magnets from last week, I put them in a line and stuck them onto the metallic part of the cabinet in my bathroom, then I took one of the stray magnets and tried to put it on. To my dismay, the entire line of magnets moved towards the wall rather than the magnet in my fingers attracting to them. The poles were opposite, and since the force of my hand was greater than the magnetic force of the magnets on the cabinet, they gave way.

I also tried to attach metallic things together (ignore the shower curtain the the background. Don't ask). Even though the magnet wasn't touching the second bobby pin, the magnet made the first pin gain an electric field of its own, albeit much weaker than the magnet's one. That's why when I tried to attach a third pin to the second, the field was too weak to support the weight of the third. It could also be because the magnetic conductivity of the pins were low.

This week is gonna be fun. In both the sarcastic and positive sense of the word. It's extended schedule, guys. And I think we juniors have meetings both days. Greaaaaaat.

Yay for registration/CPR/class meetings/tests all week/holy crap there's only three weeks left in the quarter!

Super magnet...cutting off circulation...

So in my bathroom for some reason, there is a bunch of super magnets stuck to a shelf. My 2nd oldest brother used them for a Physics experiment a couple of years back when he was in high school a couple years back. He had a lot, so there are a lot of his excess in the bathroom. When I say super, I mean SUPER. It was nearly impossible to separate a pair of them, and if a piece of your skin is in between them right before they attach to each other, prepare for pain. I was very tempted to try to stick them on my mouth when I had braces, and even now with my teeth implants, but the force of the magnet would have been too great, causing the braces to bend, and my implants to destroy my gums/jaw as they attract to the magnet.

(Pardon the upside-downness. Me being left handed did not help me when I was using the camera.)

Usually, whenever I have a couple magnets, I try to put one on one side of my hand and a second on the other side, hoping their magnetic properties would keep them there. Sadly, the majority of those magnets were really weak, so they just fell to the ground. Good thing I didn't have any electronics around when I played with them, or they'd die. The super magnets were different; their magnetic field was strong enough to overcome the displacement of my fleshy hand and stay there. It was so freaky; when I moved one magnet, the other would move like how, as a kid, I saw people moving paper clips across a piece of paper. Even when I had a weaker magnet paired with the colossal beast, the magnets had no trouble staying.

Yay for magnetism! I'm scared because my hand is still feeling the magnets squishing it together...At least they weren't strong enough to break through my hand...

Sorry, this'll be a lame blog.

The super bowl is taking up a lot of my time (the advertisements are super funny!). So I guess since I've been sitting in front of the tv for a while, might as well blog about it.

Sorry, this won't be as witty as I would like it to be, but the football is calling for me...

So I was watching the half time show starring The Who (which I didn't know they were the ones who sung the theme to all the CSI shows...Don't shoot me, fans!). Their awesome light show with the epileptic lights made me remember why tv ties into Physics more than one realizes.

It ties in to what we are currently learning (no pun intended) since we need electricity to run it. The electrons travel through the wire in a zig-zag, curvy motion until it gets to its destination, powering up the TV. Those electrons bounce off the screen at varying speeds in order to light up the screen at different frequencies, which create pictures. The tv is attached to a cable that gets certain images from its mother company which allows the electrons to correspond with the images that the cable is trying to convey (or something like that). It's probably a lot more complicated that that, using fiber optics which we won't get to for a while.

The score is so close right now, but I hope this last quarter will be good. I'm not saying who I'm rooting for, since it'll jynx them, but best of luck to both teams.

Yay for me forgetting my history notes at school when I have a test tomorrow!!! T_T

Why yes, I DO like cinnabons.

But no thank you, I have a few of my own at home. Yay for trips to the mall ending in cinnamon-sugary goodness!

So as I was scouring through my fridge for some food (I was planning on eating just kimchee radish with rice but there was no rice. Why the heck is there no rice in there!?!?!), my mom yelled at me from the backyard to get her some very cold water. Without thinking, I put lots of ice and filled it with water before giving it to her. Then I realized that that was kind of useless.


(You can't tell, but I'm using a Pinocchio cup. It's kind of creepy that the paint wore off at the same place all around the cup, but oh well.) When ice is put into water, it begins to melt, keeping the system at a cool 0 degrees Celsius until everything melts, and the heat from a hand makes it increase its temperature again. The only difference between my cup and her cup is that my ice would melt completely faster, causing me to chug the water before it's too late. Seeing as my mom was parched, it would have been a better idea to have lots of water and only a couple of ice cubes, adding more as needed. I always aim the water flow onto the ice, so the water would cool down faster. Emphasizing the uselessness of my adding a huge chunk of ice to her water.

My weekend has not been productive at all. Saturday I had to go shopping with friends which ended in us not getting what we needed. I just started on homework at around noon today, which makes it kind of bad seeing as I have lots of it. *sigh* By the way, anyone taking the SAT in March? And those who took it already, any tips?

Yay for water! and Cinnabons! Now to look for food again...

So I have news...

I got my braces off! CHEE! Now I don't have to worry about things getting stuck in them! No longer will the torque of the wires force me to wince in pain, the volume of my mouth increases since there's no longer that evil contraption, and people will gravitate towards my newfound beauty! MWAHAHAHA. (Kidding about the last part). Anyway...



Shouldn't I totally be a product model? Haha. So when I was taking a pic of myself, my Pepsi fell to the ground (unopened, of course). I got freaked out and pissed cuz I'd have to wait a while before opening it and enjoying it's non-cancerous sugary goodness. Then Chemistry and Physics came to mind.

I remember when my chem teacher (G. TUTS!) shook a can for a while, then she pushed it a few times against a table and everything was fine. No strawberry soda exploded throughout the room, and someone got a free drink with most of the gas still keeping the drink fizzy. So how was that possible? No, she did not do the patented Dorian three tap method. Though that would have been hilarious to see the explosion. It all has to do with pressure and volume. By decreasing the volume and squishing the can against a desk, the pressure increased within the can. The gas that had formed into threatening bubbles waiting to explode in my face dissolved back into the liquid because of that pressure. When the volume is brought back to normal, the pressure lessens, but since there's no interference from shaking, the bubbles that did dissolve stayed within the pepsi. Repeat a few times, and the soda is alright. No problem.


PV=nRT will stay with us forever, guys. We just gotta accept it. *sigh* Before I wrap this up, bonus photo for whoever stayed awake 'til the end!


I haven't seen my teeth that straight ever! It's been a long three years, but it's totally worth it (believe me, if you saw my smile beforehand, your face would have melted like those guys from Raiders of the Lost Ark). Not sure if I'm kidding...

Yay for no braces! Yay for Pepsi (Pepsi >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Coke)! YAY FOR NO BRACES!

NO MORE EXAMS (for now)!!!

I'm extremely glad they're over. I thought I did decently on all of them (until I saw my PCH grade). Ah well, it's the year average that counts. Hopefully.


So my family got a solar water heater installed (I know this is sideways. My computer doesn't like to rotate stuff). Now I can be warm in the shower without having to worry about electricity costs. Now if only we got it for home electricity...Anyway...

I'm sure you guys remember the chem and physics side of this. The chemicals in the panels are semi-conductive, the sun hits them, knocking electrons off, generating a flow, which becomes electricity. In this case, the electricity generated heats up our water. The electromagnetic radiation from the sun makes all this possible. Although everything emits radiant energy, the sun emits large amounts which can be utilized for power much like the wind and water generators.

Why is there a little grey box attached to my water heater? It programs the heater so that hot water can only be used at certain times, conserving the energy that is absorbed throughout the day. Because my family only uses hot water at nighttime, the timer makes it so that it only starts operating in the evening, and shuts off at around 10. That means if I were to come home extremely late, I'll have to say hello to shivers and hypothermia instead of warmth and too-hot-water burns.

If we wanted to, we could add more cells to power up the house, but it would require the majority of the roof to be covered with the things, and as much as it would save money, I don't think it would save enough for the cost of things until my siblings and I finally finish school. Which brings me back to why I need good grades: scholarships. Apps fun next year!

Yay for no exams for another 3-4 months! Yay college apps! Wait a minute...

Back to school...

Next week won't be fun. I hate exams with a passion, especially since I'll have to write 5 essays in the course of those two days (unless PCH takes an ugly turn O_o). Any tips on how to survive?

My eldest brother left for college yesterday. It was kind of depressing since he kept on saying goodbye to the good things of Hawaii, such as the warmth, the food, and the beach. I'm glad I'm shooting for a west coast school so the only things I'd have to say goodbye to is clean tap water, clean beaches, and my family. And my 2nd oldest brother is graduating this week. Once again depressing because both my bros are gonna graduate before I even enter college. *sigh* At least I won't have to worry about full time jobs for another 5.5 years? actually, maybe 9.5...yay med school...



So the cover to the light in the bathroom fell. See the little screws? That's where the globe-like cover used to attach to. Dead bugs and all. We had to replace the light since it went out, and I guess the cover wasn't screwed on correctly or tightly enough. So when my neighbors decided to pop more illegals (as Waipahu's fireworks don't stop for days), the sound waves emanating from the explosion caused the glass to dislodge from the screws keeping it up, and it fell to the ground. Seeing as it hit tile, there was no way to salvage it. But even if it hit carpet, it might break anyway because of its initial height from the ground. The force from the impact was too much for the little bug-catcher to take. I think it was good that no one was in the bathroom at the time, since the glass shattered in tiny pieces and they flew up high. Not so good that I hadn't taken a bath before then and the shards fell into the tub...At least now when bugs fly towards the light, they'll fall to the ground instead? Which will make washing feet useless? Great.

yay for continuous fireworks! and years of dying from homework before decades of dying from actual work!