Finished with physics

I'm afraid this will be the last post here, for I am finished with my physics for now. The microphone was somewhat successful; it should work, but doesn't, and I'll fix it soon. The light theremin is still in pieces, and I can't really find wires for it yet.

Yeah, so long physics blog. Find the other stuff I do at:
the Blake blog
Audio Log
Farsounmusic

20% Project: Post 2

Monday update:
 So, I've gone ahead and ordered the parts for an A460 DIY Microphone. I have to figure out how to read schematics and solder, and probably some other stuff, so I shall seek out help for that.

Thursday: So, I've found someone that knows what they're doing to help me with this. The parts haven't come yet, but I have gotten the parts for the Light Theremin. I'll try to get a 4 track cassette recorder soon (because recording to computer isn't as exciting) to record all of this stuff.

Friday: Nothing. Going to be gone this weekend, so the most I can do is wait for the microphone kit package.

20% Project: Post 1

So, for my project I've decided to build a microphone, along with a couple instruments to record with the microphone. Unfortunately, the websites I've been using to find some cheap kits haven't been updated for a while, and the normal kits start at $150 with less instruction than the cheaper ones. I will still accomplish, regardless of this small obstacle.
The second thing I've planned to do is make a theremin, specifically one that runs on photoreceptors or something like that. This shall either be recorded with the mic, or directly plugged into the recording unit, depending on whether I replace the speaker with a 1/4" plugin, or xlr if I can. (so I can use the 48v switch on the interface I have rather than using a battery).
The last thing shall be a custom instrument that slightly resembles something that somebody probably made. It's acoustic, and contains twelve strings, each a half step up from the other.
I might also combine the recording with some non-conventional instruments, like glasses of water and random stuff.

I have links to the things I'd like to use here:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Light-Theremin/
http://www.aurycle.com/index.htm

The picture I drew of the 12 string acoustic instrument in currently in my English teacher's possession, for it was drawn on an assignment. I shall upload other pictures later, along with parts and stuff.

If I require more things to do, I shall do them. This probably isn't the final plan, as I may decide to do something random. The only real guideline I have is to record something that resembles a song.
I shall be ordering parts soon. Yes. Yeah. Hi.

Rocket Lunch. No, not lunch. Launch.

We didn't use much physics in the making of this thing. We pretty much just threw the thing together and expected it to fly. SOOOO...
These were the "Q-Focus" questions that we were forced to come up with:

1.How are we supposed to incorporate any math into calculating how far a rocket will go based on the amount of water and psi put into the bottle, along with the launch angle and other factors when we're barely learning about energy?
2.Why does a bullet shape have a better effect than a cone shape in the model of the rocket?
3.How does an egg in a bottle realistically represent a human in a crashing rocket?

I built the rocket out of bottles, cardboard, and duck tape  The hardest part of it was trying to chug down the 2 liter bottle of soda the night before the first test launch date. It looked 2 bottles mutated together, without any attachments except for that extra netting thing. So, the first test launch was pretty much wasted, and we still had to build our rocket.
So, on another night I decided to go on a journey to find duck tape to make this rocket successful. I searched around target and finally came to the aisle with the golden duck tape. A golden rocket will make a golden performance!

It eventually came to be the rocket you see above.

So, I taped cardboard to the bottle, and this weirdo plastic thing to the top to give it more room for the egg. Then Robert (my other rocket engineer) brought in some random stuff to shove inside the egg capsule.

There wasn't much physics to use while making this, but some to reflect on after the flight.

To protect the egg from breaking, we just shoved as many soft things inside of the rocket as possible. At first, it was a foam net with paper towels, but by the final launch we upgraded to packing peanuts and newspaper along with the foam and paper towels. Unfortunately, the egg still did break. Which goes to show that no human would survive in a rocket built out of cheap plastic, cardboard, and duck tape.

Launching at a lower angle avoids the wind, but may lower the distance of your rocket. The 700 mL of water was the standard, so we chose it.

I learned that I should probably research what I'm doing before I start working on the project. I didn't really learn anything practical, because I just threw this rocket together without thinking. All I really knew was that it should look similar to others' rockets, and have a bullet top rather than a cone. And to put more padding for people if you're building a real rocket, because they won't survive if they're pressed up against the walls. And that NASA doesn't launch on incredibly windy days, so we shouldn't have to either.