The Physics Behind a Roller Coaster

Eireann has spent some time researching the physics behind roller coasters! Well done Eireann! 

At the start of a roller coaster ride, the cart is pulled to the top of the first hill but after that, the cart must complete the ride independently.  The roller coaster is moved along the track because the energy converts from potential energy to kinetic energy. The roller coaster can be wooden or steel, the experience of the ride will change depending on the material it is constructed with. They can be all shapes or sizes. It may have a loop or it may not have a loop.  Wooden roller coasters sway a lot more compared to steel roller coasters. 

Inertia allows the roller coaster to glide along the tracks without an engine. Isaac Newton was the scientist who discovered inertia, it was his first law of motion.

“An object at rest tends to stay at rest unless acted on by an unbalanced external force. An object in motion will stay moving in the same speed and same direction unless acted on by an unbalanced external force.”

Read more about roller coasters at the following websites: 

http://www.learner.org/interactives/parkphysics/coaster.html

http://www.explainthatstuff.com/

https://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/rollercoaster.html

Does chocolate make us happy?

By Saoirse Flanagan
Have you ever noticed that you may feel slightly happier after eating chocolate? The ‘feel-good-feelings’ one experiences after eating chocolate is not just because it tastes good, it’s a result of the 300+ naturally-occurring chemicals it contains!

One of these chemicals is called anandamide, which is also found naturally in the brain. Anandamide causes the production of dopamine.The results of this chemical on the brain can be described as a blissful feeling or ‘intense well-being’.

Phenylethylamine (a.k.a. The Love Drug) is a natural ‘upper’ found in chocolate which makes your heart pound a little faster. It produces a pleasant feeling and some say it’s the feeling of being in love!

Another reason chocolate makes us feel good is because it releases endorphins into the brain. Endorphins reduce our perception of pain, helps reduce anxiety and depression and, as a result, triggers a positive feeling in the body.

I suppose you can conclude that a little bit of chocolate wouldn’t do too much harm!

Sources:
http://www.streetdirectory.com/food_editorials/snacks/chocolates/five_reasons_why_we_love_chocolate.html

http://www.explainthatstuff.com/scienceofchocolate.html

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/comfort-cravings/201402/why-do-we-crave-chocolate-so-much

Well done Saoirse!!!

Student Spotlight: density, flotation and the human body

By Stevie Girasole 

Flotation  

Flotation is the phenomenon related to the relative buoyancy of matter. 
Understanding flotation is useful, for example when adding material to the hull of a watercraft to keep the hull afloat. 
Flotation is used in process engineering, as a method for the separation of mixtures e.g de-inking which is a process that takes ink from paper to make it a blank page again.  

Density  

The density (also known as the volumetric mass density) of a substance is its mass per unit volume. The symbol most often used for density is ρ, although the Latin letter D can also be used.  

Density or the volumetric mass of density is calculated by dividing the mass of the object by its volume, e.g: 

Mass of object = 5g 

Volume = 10cm3 
Density = mass/volume = 5g/10cm3 = 0.5g/cm3

How does the human body float in water? 

The density of water is 1g/cm3 and the average density of the human body is 1.062g/cm3 so therefore, the human body should not float. But there's an exception to this concept. In the human body, obviously there's extra muscle and fat, in ordinary water, fat will float because of its density of 0.9094g/cm3 so the more fat you have in your body, the more likely you are to float, but, if you have muscle you will sink because of its density of 1.0599g/cm3.  

Well done Stevie!