In recent weeks, I have heard far too many unfounded, outrageous complaints about the work of President Obama.  There has been a backlash against the democrats in the United States, which has resulted in a right-sided victory in the 2010 midterm elections.  As the republicans march on with smirks on their faces, I feel that Americans have been unfair in their analysis of Obama.  Worse, I believe they are, on average, ignorant and/or misinformed, and easily swayed by the media, whose representatives appear to also be ignorant and/or misinformed.  You know there is something wrong with the mainstream news in America, when the voice of reason, the only rational pundit on television, is Jon Stewart, whose Daily Show airs on Comedy Central.

The main reason why President Obama is not so popular at the moment is because of the terrible economic situation his country is in.  Americans feel that the quality of their lives should automatically be high if their government is doing good work.  Any undergraduate mechanical engineer will tell you that the state of a system depends on two things: the governing forces and the initial conditions.  Not only were things bad at the time that Obama was sworn in as President, but they were getting worse at an astonishing rate.  Even the most efficient government, which worked together rather than being internally opposed, would require a good deal of time to get things moving in the right direction.  When Superman imparts a large counteracting force on a speeding locomotive to slow it down before it falls into a pit, the train does not come to a stop instantly.  The train has a large mass, or inertia, which causes a time-delay between cause and effect.  The inertia associated with political change is significantly greater than that of a simple train.

I can understand why the American people had high expectations of President Obama.  He campaigned with serious gusto in 2008, and promised a lot.  Those who voted for him were naive if they believed he would accomplish his entire to-do list in two or even four years.  To Obama’s credit, he managed to address the healthcare issues in America at a time when focusing on anything other than the financial crisis would appear impossible.  Obama has helped to curb some economic issues, but any policies he put in place will take some time to yield results; this is the nature of cause and effect in real life – there is a time lag between them.

It has been more than two decades since man stopped emitting Ozone destroying refrigerants into the Earth’s atmosphere.  Still, our ozone layer continues to deplete today.  Why?  It turns out that the lifetime of these dirty chemicals is about fifty years.  Any chemicals we released in 1975 will continue to eat away at the ozone layer until 2025.  We expect that this very useful layer, which prevents certain UV rays of the Sun from reaching the Earth’s surface, will begin to restore itself in a decade or so from now.  Perhaps by 2050, the ozone layer will be restored to its former 1900 self.

We can hope that any positive changes in legislation put forth by Obama will show results before his first term is over, but some may not.  This is unacceptable to the average American who has the patience, and attention span, of a child.  Today’s American is accustomed to instant information via Google and instant supper via McDonalds.  Their sense of entitlement naturally extends into other facets of life.  They have forgotten that results require a long, concerted effort – dare I say, they might have to work hard, and perform well.  Elsewhere in the world, there is not the same expectation that food and shelter should rain down from the sky, followed by occasional bursts of precious jewels. 

The reality is that America went on an eight-year hiatus.  The country placed an “out-of-order” sign around its neck from the year 2000 to 2008.  During that period of time, the government of America had a certain set of values and set forth with actions that were completely misaligned with twenty-first century realities.  In walks a well-meaning leader named Barack Obama, who wishes to lead his country out of trouble.  He is thrust in the middle of a wind storm, and given the circumstances, handles the situation, and extreme pressure, admirably.  In his first two years of service, which is not a long period of time in politics, he stabilized a few issues that were in the process of spiralling out of control.  One such issue involved the lack of rules imposed on banking institutions.  However, the most important issue that he managed to curb does not get enough coverage by the media.

In 2008, America was the most despised country on Earth.  We live in a global village, where International integrity is an absolute necessity for a nation to prosper.  President Obama is uniquely responsible for improving his country’s image, and America is indebted to him for this.  Yet, I doubt he will get much praise for this accomplishment, as American pride forbids them to admit the obvious reality that their country is not respected overseas.

The citizens of society underestimate the difficulties associated with leading a powerful nation such as America.  Obama is responsible for a multi-million variable system of non-linear equations.  Today’s most sophisticated computers could very well attempt to solve such a set of equations, but they may find that there is no “best-solution” to be found. 

Linear Algebra demonstrates that certain sets of equations have no solution, and some have an infinite set of solutions.  If Obama finds himself in the first situation, when no satisfactory decision is possible, he must still act when a problem arises.  In an over-constrained system, he must push against certain constraints to find some way forward.  The alternative to this would be stagnation, which is the most subtle, yet disastrous form of leadership.  In general, Obama has not taken this route.

I take exception to those who are vehemently opposed to Obama’s track record thus far.  Overwhelmingly, their opinions have been shaped by the media, who have a clear agenda; their narrative is written by the owners of the broadcasting station.  I agree with Jon Stewart’s rally to restore sanity in America, but I would like to see that mantra expanded for next year’s rally.  I want to see a “Rally to Restore Sanity and Truthfully Inform”.  Correct information, ie, the truth, can go a long way towards real progress. 

I would support Obama if I were American.  I watch with great interest from the northern sidelines, and can’t help but be disappointed in my southern neighbours.  Their negative view of their leader is the worst kind of wrong, as it is not only unfounded, but worse yet, it is based on unsound science.

My young daughter cannot form a sentence yet, but she totally gets Newtonian Mechanics.  As a proud father, I am inclined to believe that she is a gifted 15-month-old, but I have observed other toddlers, and must admit that they too demonstrate a solid understanding of Mechanics, the oldest branch of Physics.  To be clear, these thumb-sucking individuals would struggle mightily in my Mechanics course, let alone get through the three-hour final without wetting themselves.  Without basic linguistic or mathematical skills, a baby cannot be expected to understand or express the laws studied in the course or solve computational problems (their unrefined motor skills lead to calculator errors).  However, these diaper-clad kiddies perform experimental studies in classical physics on a daily basis.  Every day, as they learn to exist within their environment, they make observations on the laws that govern it.  Through experience, they discover how to thrive within these universal constraints.

Newtonian Mechanics is, in a way, the oldest branch of science.  It deals with the most basic manipulation of our environment.  In essence, Mechanics is the study of motion of matter, or mass.  A primitive invention such as the wheel is a mechanical device man has used in a variety of ways for millennia.  Although the nature of how a wheel works has been clear since its inception, the physical laws governing the motion of a rolling wheel were derived by Isaac Newton in the seventeenth century.  The foundation of classical Physics, which Einstein later proved apply only to things moving much slower than the speed of light, was laid by Newton’s three laws of motion. 

The first law says that a moving body will only change its velocity if an external force is applied to it.  This is evident enough – it means that a puck would slide down the ice indefinitely if not for the contact force known as friction between it and the ice surface as well as the drag force that point opposite to the direction of motion.  One interpretation of this law is that an object at rest remains at rest if the net force acting on it is zero. 

Newton’s second law is indeed the cornerstone of Mechanics.  An economics student must leave an introductory class with an understanding of “Supply and Demand” – I ask that if students retain just one thing from my Mechanics course, it be that F = ma.  The bold notation signifies a vector quantity (an entity that has a direction).  This simple equation means that the net force is equal to the mass multiplied by the acceleration.  Otherwise stated, the magnitude and direction of the acceleration of a body is equal to the magnitude and direction of the net force acting on it divided by its mass (a = F/m).  The acceleration of a body means its change in velocity, and net force means the sum of all external forces which come in many forms (gravitational, contact, electromagnetic, etc).  Note that the first law is simply a result of the second law for the case when the net force is equal to zero. 

The third law is perhaps the most confusing, but may be stated very simply: “For every force applied by body one on two, there is an equal and opposite force applied by body two on one,” so all forces come in pairs.  When a fly hits the windshield of a car cruising down the highway, the windshield imparts the same contact force onto the fly as that of the fly onto the windshield (the windshield is not bothered by this magnitude of force, while the fly will need two Advil at best).

Imposing these laws, particularly the second and third, allows one to solve a wide array of mechanical problems.  An understanding of Newton’s laws allows for a deeper appreciation of Mechanics, but is not necessary for a basic appreciation.  When my daughter was six months old, she already knew that letting things go caused them to drop to the ground.  She had discovered the law of gravitation, which says that all mass is attracted to other mass, particularly the nearest, largest mass.  On the surface of the Earth, the only large gravitational force is the one established between all objects and the Earth.  Her understanding of gravity deepened as she learned to walk.  Every time she fell down, and converted her gravitational potential energy into kinetic energy, she hit the ground with a thump.  In the process, she learned about surface hardness, as the harder surfaces, like our wood floors, gave her rear end a larger impulse than the softer carpeted areas.

The next physics lessons involved projectile motion.  It turns out that the only thing more fun than dropping stuff is throwing it.  The curved path followed by the objects she throws is due to the unchanging horizontal speed of the ball and its downward uniform acceleration.  Greater initial velocities yield greater distances.  The study of motion in space and time is a branch of mechanics known as kinematics, and she is becoming well versed in it.

There are endless mechanical conclusions to be gathered whenever we go to the park.  An introductory physics class could bring a stop-watch to a park, and the setting would suffice for the majority of their experiments.  As she accelerates down the slide, she is learning about motion along an inclined plane with friction, a topic that many students struggle with.  As we take a break from the see-saw and sit in equilibrium, she learns about the principle of torque, like that used in levers – as I sit eight times closer to the pivot point than she, my weight, which is eight times greater than hers, causes an equal and opposite torque to counteract hers.  Finally, she displays simple harmonic motion as she vibrates back and forth in the swing.  When she is older, she will be able to swing herself by adding well-timed angular impulses about the pivot point, thereby increasing the kinetic energy of the system.

When she is older, I look forward to teaching her about electricity and magnetism (she had better not discover that one on her own first via electrical outlets in our home).  Maybe I will teach her about Einstein’s theories of relativity.  Some kids have normal parents, who buy their girls Barbie dolls – my poor daughter will be stuck with a mass and pulley system.  She may end up a nerd, but she will be ready to face the universe by understanding the laws that appear to be governing it.  The truth is that no matter how much I try to teach her about Physics, her real appreciation for it will come from pushing up against its boundaries herself, by throwing stuff and playing in the park.  We tend to learn things best when we teach them to ourselves.  People tend to excel at things they are naturally drawn to.  I will try to let her decide for herself if Physics is interesting. 

It is common for a Physics student to express their lack of understanding of Physics principles.  I sometimes wish that my students realized just how much they already understood about Physics before they entered my classroom.