Nikki Nappi
The Physics Behind Hurricanes
Hurricane Force
With the recent havoc hurricane have been causing across the globe, scientists are working to try to make better forecasts and figure out if the recent increase in the number of these storms has been caused by global warming. Understanding the physics behind these storms can help scientists do this. In 2005, the record number of intense hurricanes drew the attention to scientists that hurricane forecasting needed to be improved. The physics behind hurricanes, the mechanics and thermodynamics, can help to improve forecasting models. The dynamics of hurricanes is very subtle but can be thought of in two components. The first is "primary circulation," which describes the tangential motion of the air about the central rotation axis. The second is the "secondary circulation." This describes the motion of air in the radial direction, whereby it flows inwards nearer the ocean surface and outwards at higher altitudes. These components work together to form winds spiraling in all directions. These competing inward and outward forces are what cause the center of a hurricane, or the eye of the storm, to have lower pressure than the rest of the storm and be considered the calm part of the storm. These components and the thermodynamics of a hurricane are what make them so intense and dangerous at times. Extensive research on the dynamics of hurricanes between the late 1980s and the early 1990s have allowed scientists to predict their paths with short-term accuracy. Global warming remains to be a controversial issue in society, but scientists are still unsure if hurricanes are related to or caused by these changes.
The physics of hurricanes has allowed a lot of knowledge on these powerful storms. We still have much to learn, but these new developments have allowed our forecasts of hurricanes to become much more reliable.With recent natural disasters affecting the lives of millions, this type of physics is very important to our lives. It shows that things like the tangential and centripetal acceleration that we are learning about in class not only have a practical use when it comes to things like carnival rides or cars driving in a circular motion, but also that these things affect bigger things. With this information, the forecast of hurricanes and the warning news stations were able to give people in Florida or Texas recently probably saved many lives. Without this knowledge, these natural disasters might have cost many more lives than they did.
On the weather channel a hurricane's path is explained in terms of velocity. People want to know how fast a hurricane is traveling but they also need to know in what direction it is traveling so they can evacuate if necessary. Say, for example, a hurricane is traveling with a centripetal acceleration of 10m/s^2 and is about a 2 miles wide. To find the wind speed of this hurricane, we can use the formula Ac = V^2/r. This gives us a velocity of about 401.1 m/s. Say your bike gets picked up by this hurricane and flung somewhere in the state. To find how far away the bike went if it is thrown at the same velocity as the hurricane, we can use a kinematic equation. If you watched the hurricane pick up your bike and throw it in 2 minutes, we can use this information to plug in to find the tangential acceleration. Plugging into the equation Vf = Vi +at. Vf is 0, Vi is 401.1, a = unknown, and t=120 seconds. This gives us a tangential acceleration of 20.1 m/s^2. Using the equation total acceleration = the square root of (Ac^2 + At^2), we get a total acceleration of 22.45 m/s^2. Plugging this into the equation deltaX = 1/2(a)(t^2) + Vi(t), we get the deltaX, or distance, of 209772 meters away. So your bike is lost forever pretty much. In much more practical situations than this one, information similar to this using this process can be found, making hurricane forecasts much more accurate.
The Physics Behind Hurricanes
Hurricane Force
With the recent havoc hurricane have been causing across the globe, scientists are working to try to make better forecasts and figure out if the recent increase in the number of these storms has been caused by global warming. Understanding the physics behind these storms can help scientists do this. In 2005, the record number of intense hurricanes drew the attention to scientists that hurricane forecasting needed to be improved. The physics behind hurricanes, the mechanics and thermodynamics, can help to improve forecasting models. The dynamics of hurricanes is very subtle but can be thought of in two components. The first is "primary circulation," which describes the tangential motion of the air about the central rotation axis. The second is the "secondary circulation." This describes the motion of air in the radial direction, whereby it flows inwards nearer the ocean surface and outwards at higher altitudes. These components work together to form winds spiraling in all directions. These competing inward and outward forces are what cause the center of a hurricane, or the eye of the storm, to have lower pressure than the rest of the storm and be considered the calm part of the storm. These components and the thermodynamics of a hurricane are what make them so intense and dangerous at times. Extensive research on the dynamics of hurricanes between the late 1980s and the early 1990s have allowed scientists to predict their paths with short-term accuracy. Global warming remains to be a controversial issue in society, but scientists are still unsure if hurricanes are related to or caused by these changes.
The physics of hurricanes has allowed a lot of knowledge on these powerful storms. We still have much to learn, but these new developments have allowed our forecasts of hurricanes to become much more reliable.With recent natural disasters affecting the lives of millions, this type of physics is very important to our lives. It shows that things like the tangential and centripetal acceleration that we are learning about in class not only have a practical use when it comes to things like carnival rides or cars driving in a circular motion, but also that these things affect bigger things. With this information, the forecast of hurricanes and the warning news stations were able to give people in Florida or Texas recently probably saved many lives. Without this knowledge, these natural disasters might have cost many more lives than they did.
On the weather channel a hurricane's path is explained in terms of velocity. People want to know how fast a hurricane is traveling but they also need to know in what direction it is traveling so they can evacuate if necessary. Say, for example, a hurricane is traveling with a centripetal acceleration of 10m/s^2 and is about a 2 miles wide. To find the wind speed of this hurricane, we can use the formula Ac = V^2/r. This gives us a velocity of about 401.1 m/s. Say your bike gets picked up by this hurricane and flung somewhere in the state. To find how far away the bike went if it is thrown at the same velocity as the hurricane, we can use a kinematic equation. If you watched the hurricane pick up your bike and throw it in 2 minutes, we can use this information to plug in to find the tangential acceleration. Plugging into the equation Vf = Vi +at. Vf is 0, Vi is 401.1, a = unknown, and t=120 seconds. This gives us a tangential acceleration of 20.1 m/s^2. Using the equation total acceleration = the square root of (Ac^2 + At^2), we get a total acceleration of 22.45 m/s^2. Plugging this into the equation deltaX = 1/2(a)(t^2) + Vi(t), we get the deltaX, or distance, of 209772 meters away. So your bike is lost forever pretty much. In much more practical situations than this one, information similar to this using this process can be found, making hurricane forecasts much more accurate.
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