WriterTyper

All right, thanks guys. I thought I was going crazy there for a second!

Hi folks, I found this flash file as I was trying to visualize frequency. The more I increase the frequency, the longer the waveform gets. How is this possible? Shouldn't the wave get smaller and smaller as the frequency gets higher and higher? I'm talking about the second file on the page. It it broken? How is it possible that as I increase the frequency of the dial, the frequency declines....? http://www.livephysics.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6 I hope it's OK that I posted a link to another site, I just don't know how to import Flash onto here. As you can see, the post is from 2006, so I'm not trying to advertise anything! Thanks!

Ok, I think I may have come up with a metaphor to help me understand (it's how I understand the best). If I pour 5 liters of water into a bucket, then I make six holes, only 5 liters of water can come out of this bucket. But if I take all day, drip by drip, to fill up the bucket, then I make six holes, the water will spray out much more quickly than it took me to fill the bucket. In other words, the amount of energy I put into the system remains constant, but the machine increases the force applied to the object. Is that a good metaphor?

I'm sure you hear this all the time, but I'm not trying to get someone to do my homework or cheat on anything. I just don't understand what seems to be a logical fallacy: I'm being introduced to the concept of machines with the sentences: 1. Machines make work easier. 2. Work is done when a force causes an object to move in the same direction that the force is applied. 3. The output work of a machine cannot be greater than the input work. This makes me think that two opposite things are being said. First, that a machine will make it easier for me to exert a force, but also that that force won't be greater than what I've exerted. How can something not be greater, yet be easier? WT

So...at what point does my work no longer become my work? Is it when my direct force is spent? Or rather, if there is a new force that is no directly caused by my action then that is no longer work?

Hi Folks, I am having a devil of a time understand the concept of input work vs input force (relating to machines). OK -- I get that you push down a car's pedal and the car moves. Your force is vastly increased by the car's engine. The input force is much much less than the output force. The car has a mechanical advantage of some factor. But I don't understand how this isn't the same terminology as work. If my input work is pushing the pedal, the car still moves the same amount. The amount of work done by the car is a huge amount more than mine. Sure, my work is the same, but the ouput work is much more than the input work. What am I missing here?!?!! Thanks! WT