Pengulum Project

Zane Bourdon                                                                                             Self:

5/10/2019                                                                                                    Teacher:

 

Mastery: (self grade)=30/30

1.The writing of many famous authors rarely take into account the reality their protagonists are put in and thus can often result in unrealistic outcomes of fictitious affairs. The mathematics and science involved in the feats of many lauded heroes is often not taken into account, thus in the pursuit of accuracy we have worked to discover the possibility and probability of survival under one of these stories. For this project we were given the fictitious scenario of “The Pit and the Pendulum” where the hero is put into a bound within a dungeon with a great swinging Pendulum overhead. The hero is given a unknown amount of time to escape via rat, we attempt to quantify the time frame he is allotted to escape and the assess its feasibility. The Problem simply states “in the time it takes for the pendulum to make the given number of periods does the hero have time to escape?” otherwise to be said as, If the periods of the pendulum can be quantified so to can the total duration of his escape thus would it allow feasible calculation of duration of escape?

 

2.According to our (my group and I’s) own calculation the period of the pendulum would be comparable 75 seconds for a total of twelve periods (as stated in the book being the time allotted to escape) in that time the hero would have to entice a horde of rats to crawl over him and chew through his ropes. Assuming he can entice the horde in no more than ten seconds of squirming and rubbing food on the ropes than its feasible that they might manage to chew through the ropes in the remaining minute giving him an comfortable 5 seconds to escape. This is to say of course that the escape while feasible and potentially possible is incredibly unlikely due to the limited time he would be given. To state it simply YES he might have enough time to escape depending on factors not specified within the context of the story. The 75 seconds he is allotted according to our calculations is dependant on a duration of twenty five seconds per every four swings of the pendulum as calculated through a table applied to the relative length of the pendulum swing, this of course was proven by our group at an earlier date to be the most defining factor in calculation of a pendulum's period. The thirty foot rope described in the short story applied to the mathematical calculation of pendulum periods we performed (see final answer sheet) would result in a four period count of roughly 25 seconds thus multiplied to match the twelve he was allotted.

 

3.My mastery of this subject while initially lacking has grown exponentially in the previous weeks as fueled by the necessity of discovering the aforementioned numbers and factors. My mastery of this subject matter can be displayed on almost every piece of work in the portfolio I have assembled as all the pieces show me struggling as best I can against the problems leveled against me, should however I be required to provide an specific and quantifiable named example I would select the piece you assigned entitled “Normal Curve Round Robin” as I feel it displays the first instance of me actually understanding the material to any extent and furthermore required mostly personal comprehension on my part. It is not my most masterful work, however it does display on my behalf an relative understanding an capability in regards to the material and my mastery therein. Both standard deviation and the normal curve are displayed within this piece and have been accurately recorded thus proving my capability with the material and my ability to find an accurate answer to such an problem. Secondly I would like to bring to attention the piece entitled “Curve fitting (finding the Curve of best fit)” (you can find this in the packet pocket). This work I feel displays my ability to form equations for curve fitting and the ability to use a calculator to fit a line with allotted points upon an graph. My equation while highly accurate is of course hand calculated and so not mathematically perfect however I feel it displays the mastery I have achieved in regards to producing a line of best fit and applying it to a graph. Both of these I feel prove my ability with the material and prove that I am both capable and competent with the material.

 

Effort: (self grade)=30/30

My effort in this project has been above the average amount I display, I feel that I have worked harder on this project than any other in this class in order to achieve excellence in this regard and perform to the best of my ability. I pushed my relative understanding of the subject matter as far as I could to achieve mastery to the best of ability, and while I am still an absolute idiot I feel that my effort in this unit has far surpassed anything I have shown so far. I did almost all of the work that was assigned to me (save the stuff I missed when I went to comic con) and have physical evidence collected if you should desire it. I worked to the absolute best of my ability in all regards in my simple desperation to pass this class. If I of course had to refer to two pieces of my work to display my effort in this project I would first and foremost name the “Normal Distribution” worksheet (in portfolio pocket) where we first worked to determine the concepts of normal distribution, I feel that this displays my effort because it shows my devotion to learning the new material you provide us with, and the difficulty I face being overcome with my unquenchable desire to pass this class. I feel it also displays my effort with the written responses giving full and complete answers instead of if singular word responses and simple solutions. Secondly for my evidence of effort I would like to perform an unprecedented action and reference the cover letter you are reading, My previous works have been no longer than an page and a half whereas this has ended up a whole page of explanation, being about as detailed as I can get it. I have spent a lot longer on this cover letter than all my others combined, and i feel it summarizes my effort and devotion to quality on this unit. I have devoted several hours of work to the creation of this and am proud with the quantity that is being displayed.

 

My growth in this unit has been incomparable in all regards, I feel I have severely advanced in every referenced field of inquiry, in the mathematical concepts as well as the values you request we describe herein. However for specific evidence I would like to reference my growth in the mathematical field of curve fitting, to display my mastery of the material I would like to reference the “Final Conclusions” paper which displays the final works I completed in this unit. The work itself is reliant on curve fitting to find a suitable equation for the final answer, I feel that by displaying my curve fit equation I thoroughly display my mastery of the mathematical material. And by finding an final answer I believe that I prove my ability to find an complete final answer from given variables using the material I am provided and educated within. Considering that at the outset of the project I had no idea what curve fitting was or how to do it, my capability in this regard proves beyond a shadow of a doubt my growth in this project and my development of mathematical skills.

 

In regards to my experience with this new grading policy I would simply like to say that I like the opportunity to be graded on my effort rather than the amount of questions I can get right on a test.

 

Curiosity Exploration (self grade)=8/10

The singular greatest variable of the pendulum's period is defined as the length of the axis, however other variables do have an relatively minor effect such as weight and launch angle. I would like to know,

 

Does the shape of the weight have and effect on the velocity of the pendulum and length of the period therein, to suffice would an spherical weight have a different period than a cubic shape through the simple values of wind resistance and aerodynamics?