Today my dad was trimming our hibiscus bush in our backyard. As he cut the branches off the bush, he tossed them to the ground. Seeing the branches fall got me thinking about the acceleration of gravity. The acceleration of gravity is always –9.8 m/s2. When my dad released the branch from his hand, the branch accelerated at –9.8m/s2 until it hit the ground. I also watched my dad throw multiple branches of different sizes and they fell to the ground at the same time because they have the same acceleration. I did not know that I could find physics in my backyard.

physics 1

Today I was watching football and saw physics in motion. In football physics is everywhere. In the picture, the defensive player is tackling the receiver. The receiver was accelerating forward for fifteen yards then stopped and cut to his right to catch the ball. The receiver changed his velocity because he changed the direction and speed he was traveling. After he caught the ball, he accelerated forward for one yard and one second until the defender stopped him who was accelerating backwards. After the abrupt stop, the receiver went backwards for two yards until he was pushed out of bounds. In that one play the receiver accelerated, changed his velocity. The total displacement of the receiver resulted in a fourteen-yard gain and a first down for his team. In that pay the ball also went through acceleration and change in velocity. When the ball was released from the quarterback’s hand the ball accelerated and went forward down the field to the receiver. The receiver caught the ball and the ball went through a larger negative acceleration.