The Viscosity of Maple Syrup, and Other Breakfast Properties

The viscosity of a fluid depends on temperature and pressure. It measures how resistant to stress a material is, and is expressed in units of pressure times seconds.

There are a few important things about any material. Strength of the actual material, porosity (or how many pores are in a certain area), and permeability are a few properties.
But some would argue that the most important characteristic would be the fluid inside the material.

This is what I was thinking of when I poured a slightly viscous and mostly sweet non-Newtonian liquid over a layer of permeable pancakes. Those layers of the stack were deposited over time, just as sedimentary layers are.
Yet they resemble the flat overlapping volcanoes on the planet Venus.

Does a pancake's porosity correlate to its taste?
Is there an ideal permeability of the layers that the viscous liquid will have the ideal concentration in?

Grains are classified according to size. There are boulders, cobbles, pebbles, sand, silt, and clay.

The pebbles of coffee beans are eroded down to sand--coarse, medium, and then fine sand.
Depending on how strong I want the coffee to be, I grind it down to silt.

Grain size affects porosity.
Porosity affects strength.
Strength affects taste and how awake I am.

Two heaping scoops for every cup of water, and another scoop for good measure. And maybe another dash to prevent against weak coffee. A semi-quantifiable algorithm.

The tensile strength of bacon, the permittivity of orange juice, and the bulk modulus of scrambled eggs...

Perhaps a pancake's porosity correlates to taste, but taste is only semi-quantifiable as bleh, meh, delicious.

The taste of syrup is positively correlated to viscosity. Making my permeable pancakes filled with viscous maple syrup delicious along with my strong, light-absorbing coffee.

That is how you have physics for breakfast.

Red Bull and Conquer

Remember this stuff!

"Every once in a while you come into a situation where you want to, and where you have to, reach down and prove something." 
~ Nolan Ryan

I think I'm getting used to it: being a Sophomore. I'm past the shock and differences between freshman year. Yeah, the classes are harder. I'm used to homework being infinite, whereas I would have been stressed out about just homework as a freshman. Hard tests don't hurt anything besides my head anymore. I've formed new friendships and stronger legit study groups for particular subjects. I'm getting to know people in my major, and they're pretty neat.

Yeah, I miss some things, like taking all the same classes and coming back to Digger Den to talk about it after an exam. I miss the accessibility of friends: just being able to go across the hall if I'm bored, or hearing Brady yell, "Saaaaa-raaa!" from down the hall even if we were doing homework. I miss "study breaks" in Maple, including throwing socks with Rebecca and Rima. I miss being innocent and not having to worry about the future as much. 

But not all change is bad, and not everything changes. I have to try and meet with old friends, but we talk about the same things. Everyone has the same quirks. (Brandon still gets up randomly and walks down the hall and forgets what he went down the hall for.) Mines is still hard. We still get through it. Time passes just as quickly. 

New friends are awesome. New challenges are good. And life goes on.

I'm trying to conquer physics this semester. (It's kinda crazy how I'm five-sixths of the way done with general physics here at Mines...) Anyway, it's the same but different. This semester the Physics Department isn't out to screw us, as proven with the biggest curve on a physics exam in the history of life. It's different for me a little: I still love physics, but I feel it is more conquerable this semester. That if I study hard it will actually pay off. I feel I have something to prove, with Physics II being related to my major. So I studied and studied for this circuits exam, which they generally say is the easiest, but prepared to score terribly without a curve. 

I studied with a few guys from The Stoop (one of the baseball houses) over the weekend, and Brandon gave me a Red Bull right before the test. Last year I would have declined, but I have found recently that Red Bull "increased performance, especially during times of increased stress...increases concentration and reaction speed..." blah blah blah. In short, I've did alright on the Calc exam while on Red Bull, so why not add it to my pre-test routine? I got my gum, my lucky pencils, and I was ready. Before the exam, I made an analogy of acing a physics test to throwing a no-hitter, which in turned apparently jinxed any likelihood of me getting an A. But during the exam, I tried to reach down into my weird brain, trying to prove  physics can be conquered. 

I'm sure some peeps conquered physics, I'm sure some were conquered. But for me, it was just the 6th of 8 physics exams I'll ever take, and by far the least difficult. 

Nothing's been proven yet....War is still on, physics. 

Weekend in the Life

Thursday:
Woke up at 7 to go to Chuck Stone's lecture during which women were referred to as "wanting to control all the voltage".
Identified minerals and rocks subjectively during 205 lab with Matt from 9-12.
Met Sara at Sherpa house and stayed past 1 during which Calc would've happened.
Tried to do Calc homework. Finished one problem.
Listened to how bad the physics test was and talked about it.
Had a meeting for IV.
Listened again to how bad the physics test was.
Arrived late to horticulture club: helped dig holes and weed.
Talked to Chuck Stone about physics and names with Marvin.
Arrived late to Brown w/ Marvin
Ordered Buffalo Wild Wings
Went and picked them up with John and KC
Ate them.
Watched John play the piano, played the piano for the first time in a while.
Started physics homework with Marvin, KC, and John.
Read email out loud to the guys.
Email said Physics got curved.
Started yelling.
Heard other people yelling too.
Went and found Clinton and peeps and massive celebrations erupted
Ran through Brown yelling
Started physics homework.
Replied to Lon Capa email.
Read Chuck Stone's reply.
Almost fell asleep,but figured it out with the guys.
Went home.
Wrote this.
Fell asleep at 1:30.

Friday:
8:30 AM, waking up in the morning, (can't have my bowl, can't have cereal).
Ran to Intro to Geophysics.
High-fived Shane because we got the same score on the physics test.
Tried not to fall asleep during landslides lecture.
Tried not to fall asleep during Econ recitation. 
Went to Starbucks in Brown with Rima; espresso and chai were gone; ended up with a free frappuccino.
Went to DiggerDen and watched Youtube videos and helped Rebecca with this one problem.
Went to Society of Student Geophysicists meeting, ate Subway, and met a new freshie in GP.
Read Switzer's email about "a calculus guardian angle peeking over your shoulder" and went to math.
Got new assignments for studio groups. 
Had another meeting, got out late.
Went to Rockies game, watched Rockies not throw strikes, watched fireworks show afterwards. 
Lingered at the field after reminded by Jason that it'd probably be my last game.
Went home and crashed.

Saturday:
Woke up late.
Pretended to do homework.
Made lunch.
Cleaned room.
Pretended to do homework.
Went up to Lockridge Arena to work the volleyball game.
Went home and made Rice-a-Roni; had dinner with Rima. 
Studied in Brown. 
Studied at EP. 
Crashed. 

Sunday:
Woke up super early and went to Brown to study; Starbucks was not open, to my dismay.
Did Calc for forever.
Got Subway for lunch with Rima and sat outside. 
Lollygagged for a half-hour. 
Studied for Geology with Rosie, Matt, and Lee. 
Ate dinner.
Did Small Group IV stuff.
Went back to Brown. 
Kinda did Econ. 
Went back to EP; did laundry; prepared for Humans vs. Zombies. 

What a life I lead. 

Here We Go Again....

IN A.D. 2012 FALL SEMESTER
WAR WAS BEGINNING.

Mines Kid: WHAT HAPPEN ?
Studio Partner: SOMEBODY SET UP US THE ELECTROSTATICS EXAM.
TA: WE GET BAD RESULTS.
Mines Kid: WHAT !
TA: MAIN SCREEN TURN ON.

Mines Kid: IT'S YOU !!
Physics II: HOW ARE YOU STUDENTS !!
Physics II: ALL YOUR GRADES ARE BELONG TO US.
Physics II: YOU ARE ON WAY TO DESTRUCTION.
Mines Kid: WHAT YOU SAY !!
Physics II: YOU HAVE NO CHANCE TO PASS MAKE YOUR TIME.
Physics II: HA HA HA HA...

Mines Kid: TAKE OFF EVERY APPROPRIATE 'DOT PRODUCT' !!
Mines Kid: YOU SLIGHTLY KNOW WHAT YOU DOING.
Mines Kid: MOVE 'VECTOR'.
Mines Kid: FOR GREAT JUSTICE.

***
I had two exams this week, and am so so excited to be done with them. The Physics II exam was really rough, I guess, but my cold emotionless heart couldn't tell because, quite frankly, it doesn't hurt anymore. Exams are beginning. Or rather, War.

Here we go again...

A Semester-Long Battle With Physics

It began with the chirp of a droid....

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO"

Then there was homework...

MissleDefense.Problem

GREEN BOXES YAY!

And studio....

"OM NOM NOM NOM NOM"

And studying...

And the Kinematics Exam...I was stoked.

(I was actually nervous inside.)

My grade before the exam.

Then Lon-Capa's all:

And I'm like:

Then we started torque...

Awesome TA's are awesome.

And I started getting less and less sleep.

People needed help with homework on Sunday night...

and I fought on until the Torque Test.

And then we saw it. And were like:

My life is a failure and surely I got an F or G!

People were mad...

Yeah, we mad, bro.

Then I got the test back and Lon-Capa said

"How'd the test go?"

Then I was all 

Heck, yeah. I got this stuff.

I studied hard. Sometimes I needed help.

I knew I could do really well and get an A if I tried (and didn't sleep). So I woke up early the day of the test and went to 8a.m. studio.

"If you don't define a system or axes or write equations in their general forms,
you're gonna have a bad time."

I was wrong.

You know, sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. 

And I had the worst luck for the Energy Test (stupid conceptual questions).

But upon further review, I shouldn't have had to rely on luck that much in the first place.

There were a few questions I had to make last second choices on. 

And when I woke up, I realized

It would now take a miracle to pull an A in physics.

I became angry and emotional.

Well, more angry and emotional than usual.

I got sad texts and awesome news from others. But I was stuck in the middle: the average, or right above it.

All week I went back and forth between wanting to try to ace the final so someone can make an inspirational movie about me or giving up and screwing physics and forgetting all the people that might want to study with me but focusing on other classes. I'm pretty sure I did a million calculations.

I still don't know what to do. 

But I'm proud. 

For: "I have fought the good fight, I have (nearly) finished the course, I have kept the faith." ~ II Timothy 4:7

And I only need a 35 on the final to keep my lovely B. 

They Said It Ain't Gonna Be Easy...

Hi people.

I've been really busy. I've been really tired. I've kind of been stressed. A lot of things go on and I don't get time to sit. But here we go.

(Dang I need to see when the last time I posted was and what I posted about....Oh that, haha.)

I'm already in the midst of "midterms" (which doesn't mean anything other than they are the second round of tests). Everybody's been freaking out. Especially those poor people who aren't Geophysics majors (or CompSci, or Math, or Electrical I think). I only have two tests this week plus my NHV paper (which I guess is a pretty major thing). I don't know. It's rough. I've had so much homework due so I don't study until late at night and as a result, don't sleep. I work my brain to mush for physics and then come out of the test dead. And I didn't even freak out during the test- must've been hard. Others concur. I reason that with the amount of guessing I did, I got a 55. The average turns out to be 57.

They said it wasn't going to be easy.

I knew that, but I thought it'd take a couple semesters for the average on an exam to be failing. It sucks, because I work so hard and now I'm sure of certain failure (which I now realize is repetitiously redundant). I feel like punching everyone I know that goes to non-engineering school in the face, which is extreme, I know but not as extreme as talking about assisted and attempted suicides for the kids that just took that test. Yes, it was that hard- some of you will not understand and I am glad for you. Lon-Capa takes forever to load and then finally does. I am never so happy to not fail a test.

And then I try to study two chapters of Calculus II material for the test today (this was yesterday). And then stay up 'til 4.

They said I'd have to work hard and late.

I never knew what that was. But now, I have to study everything before a test. Which reminds me, I have one in an hour and a half.

***

That test was easy. Way too easy in fact, that I know I screwed up and made a bunch of stupid mistakes and solved this one problem "The Physics Way" because that's the right way to. But it's over, and it was a big fat piece of chocolate cake compared to the physics exam.

We'll see. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. Like in Physics, I guessed three questions right out of six unknown with 5 different options each. Math you gotta know your stuff. So for luck you do your routine, maybe. My routine is eating dinner (I mostly have a post-test routine) and praying really really hard (it was only by the grace of God I got a decent grade on Physics). I have a CSM Department of Physics pencil I use for all things Physics. And for Math and CompSci I usually wear a baseball cap to the exam so I don't pull all my hair out- Physics assumes anyone wearing anything but clothes is a cheater and liar and out to kill people, so I don't wear a hat to that, obviously. Last Math test I wore my oldest Rockies hat, and tonight I wore my newest Mines hat. We'll see how this one performs- I gotta break it in. Anyways. I use yellow or orange colors of pencils for Math, because that's what color I think it is (Physics is blue, Chem would be red...).Water is good, but only sometimes. I like to be awake during my exams so sometimes I caffeinate up. And I don't look at the exam or try to read it turned over before we're supposed to. A lot of times, I don't even look ahead (especially for Physics) while doing it. And usually I have success with not freaking out.

It's weird having to think during an exam. There is always one (or 20) questions that will rack your brain. If you don't have a headache afterward, you're doing it wrong. And it's always funny when you score lower on the subject you work everything for than the others. But back to thinking- I don't think I ever thought or reasoned through any test in highschool (or kindergarten for that matter); they were just so easy. Formulas: memorize and bam. If I got an A-, I was doing it wrong. How things change. I guess it's good. I hope it's not too unhealthy. If it's not I have time to catch up on sleep for a couple days.

So the battle's half-way over. It was not easy.

They say the third Physics test is easy...

Time to study for an A in the class.

Rite of Passage

Oh my goodness. In the midst of getting used to college life again, Mines has seemingly placed me in an illusion so that time warps and passes twice as quickly, even though I am awake for more hours in the day (16 as opposed to 12ish). But it's been good. I know it's only the third week, but I have tried to not let myself fall into the traps I did during the first part of last semester, such as goofing off and not doing homework. Instead, I go to Calculus and sit down in the front like a good little nerd and pull out my binder and take notes. No talking or making fun of mustard socks or falling asleep. In fact, in all my classes it is impossible to surf the internet on my laptop or fall asleep without being noticed. Which is good.

I suppose the level of business I had the last few weeks of last semester has carried on to the first part, all because I want it to. It's okay that I have to stay up until 2a.m. because I am actually doing homework. Crazy, I know, but I learned last semester that studying the night before the test and only the night before the test isn't a great strategy, especially for the "easy classes". So here I am, and I am busy again, and never bored, and life is good.

Again, I will offer the disclaimer that this is only week 3. But man, does it feel so good to get my Physics homework done before the weekend. And a bit more satisfying when others agree with you that it was better than Chem (cough, cough, geophysics majors). Or when the power goes out the day before it's due (whew!). The kids who took it last semester say "You will see, young one,....(something about it sucking and I will hate it, much like I have lectured on EPICS)". And then I accept the challenge with the most accepty-ness.

I agree, getting red boxes on Lon-Capa sucks. But it doesn't make me want to throw my laptop out the window. I wish everyone would try to keep a positive attitude about Physics, because the way I see it: the more tries you've spent, the sweeter it is when you finally get that green box.

See, doesn't just looking at that picture make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside? This weekend I was pretty stoked about finishing my homework early again so I sought to save others from the red box. My white board diagram for MissileDefense.problem was sick (I think it's still up there.) Forget TV, watching kid's eyes light up to the green box is priceless.

The kid across the hall has this awful drink that he decided to buy on whim, and almost all of us on First Floor North have tried it, at least the cool people anyway. It's this awful molasses gross slimy liquid that was supposed to be some sort of malt thing...I don't even know. It's our rite of passage almost, but it's pretty disgusting.

Three weeks in, and almost all freshman have now experienced Physics and Lon-Capa, and what it really means to get a colored box- a feeling we only imagined before as friends told tales of getting them. But here we are. And any given Sunday night, if you listen quietly, you can hear a student do a green box happy dance somewhere in Golden. It's an awesome feeling.

Ya Feelin' Lucky, Mines?

At a time like this, I've gotta ask myself: what did I do right, what did I do wrong, how can I improve, and what do I actually want to do to improve?

I had good intentions going in, formulated even more good intentions during the middle of the semester after a little bit of experience, and ended up winging it. I meant to read the textbooks, meant to do the homework, thought about starting a lab report as soon it was assigned. I told myself I would take out the trash and do laundry every Sunday. I would wake up each morning and get breakfast. Make coffee overnight. And yet I barely found time to comb my hair, never made coffee in the morning because I didn't want to wake up and make it (or have it wake me up and time it), and mostly studied just the week before the subject to be tested (except Calc, which I actually did find a study buddy and did well the last two tests).

Coming in Spring semester, I have even more experience and even more good intentions. For example, I think it would be really nifty to do homework as soon as it is assigned (a.k.a. DON'T PROCRASTINATE). Imagine what I could do on the weekends and think of a world where I don't have to do two things the same night because they're due! Secondly, I hope to read the textbook even though it's not required and do the problems. I have actually taken action on this and registered for Calculus II with a teacher who makes us do the bookwork. Go me! But I intend to do any Physics problem thrown at me and attempt to understand it, same for CompSci 101. I'll read the book. As for the other class I'll have, Nature and Human Values, there will probably be not too much to worry about, and the "tests" are essays. So I'm obviously doomed since science nerds can't write. Good intentions won't help. But actually, I should probably have the intention that I'll start my writing not too late. That always helps.

I want to write more for the Oredigger and actually go pick up my money. I want to keep my room cleaner. I want to learn to play the ukulele. I intend to wake up early again and eat breakfast. Maybe I'll go to the gym this semester more times than I did last, which amounted to zero. Not let things distract me when I need to get soemthing done. Do homework and study after classes. Which will actually work this semester, since I did not schedule myself the worst schedule in the world (seriously, starting at 1 and going until 7 in the evening?!. No wonder I never got anything done.) and will have some structure in my life. And that structure will be key: I work best in a routine- not winging it- and organizing time and events and tasks helps me.

I want to seriously and legitimately have a good physics study group- a couple people that will help me and not distract me. And I hope to regularly meet to continue on the structure thought (inquire within, freshman). Same for Calc, but Physics is going to be a huge focus of mine this semester. I want to prove that I can do well in this class that I've heard everyone whine about all of Fall semester. And I want to like it. You see, I was almost a physics major until we visited the campus and fell asleep in one of their presentations about optics. I took two years of it in high school, "not like it matters" or I'll be prepared for Mines physics or anything: so say the others. I suppose I liked it and did well enough in it. But I decided to keep my soul and do Geophysics instead (which is awesome, by the way...it just is, don't ask me questions until next year). But I still want to do well in Physics, and considering it's a 4.5 credit hour class as opposed to a 4 credit hour class, I need to do well.

But I can't put all my efforts and burn out on one class- we know where that got me last semester. But I think with the right combination of execution of good intentions, I can do much better than last semester. And I fully intend to have fun again.


So go ahead, Mines. Make my day.