easyphysicsR

A package with useful physics formulas to make physics easy and fun for users! It uses four functions to easily calculate four classic physics theories. By making the functions concise and supporting graphs to demonstrate the theories, physics beginners might find learning physics fun and not daunting! All functions in this package require only arguments in numeric format; no dataset files are needed. easyphysics can also generate easy-to-understand visualizations to further reveal the physics effects.

Installation

You can install the development version of easyphysicsR from GitHub with:

# install.packages("devtools")
devtools::install_github("UBC-MDS/easyphysicsR")

Usage

The package has four functions which can provide solutions for Physics Equations. Input will be taken from the User and the solutions will be provided by the functions. The four functions are as follows:

• freefall() calculates the time it takes for a falling object using the equation of motion height = 1/2*gt^2, given the height and gravity of the free fall. It returns the time it takes for the free fall, and a plot compares the time of the free fall on different planets with a list. The distance traveled by the falling object (height) and the acceleration of gravity (g, default g = 9.8) are the function’s arguments.
• gravitational_energy() calculates the energy possessed or acquired by an object due to a change in its position when it is present in a gravitational field = mgh
• kinetic_energy() calculates the Kinetic Energy of an object. When work is done on an object, energy is transferred, and the object moves with a new constant speed. We call the energy that is transferred kinetic energy, and it depends on the mass and speed achieved. The kinetic energy equation is given as: KE = 1/2mv^2, Where KE is the kinetic energy, m is the body’s mass, and v is the body’s velocity.
• static_friction_ground() calculates the friction force for static object. The formula is fr = mu * N, where the mu is the coefficient of friction which incorporating the characteristics of the surface.

library(easyphysicsR)
freefall(10, g = 9.8)
#> [[1]]
#> [1] 1.428571
#> [[2]]
#> `geom_smooth()` using method = 'loess' and formula = 'y ~ x'
easyphysicsR::freefall(10, g = 9.8)
#> [[1]]
#> [1] 1.428571
#> [[2]]
#> `geom_smooth()` using method = 'loess' and formula = 'y ~ x'
gravitational_energy(2.5,10,9.80665)
#> 245.16
easyphysicsR::gravitational_energy(2.5,10,9.80665)
#> 245.16
kinetic_energy(0.6, 3)
#> 2.7
easyphysicsR::kinetic_energy(0.6, 3)
#> 2.7
static_friction_ground(mu=0.2, g = 9.8, m=10)
#> 19.6
easyphysicsR::static_friction_ground(mu=0.2, g = 9.8, m=10)
#> 19.6

Fitting into the R ecosystem

Another similar physics package soilphysics is available in the R ecosystem.soilphysics is a library for soil physics data analysis.

easyphysicsR targets physics beginners rather than soil physics professionals, such as middle schoolers and people new to physics. It uses four functions to easily calculate four classic physics theories, not limited to soil physics. By making the functions concise and supporting graphs to demonstrate the theories, physics beginners might find learning physics fun and not daunting! All functions in this package require only arguments in numeric format; no dataset files are needed. easyphysicsR can also generate easy-to-understand visualizations to further reveal the physics effects. The specific functions and visual components make easyphysicsR different from other packages.

Contributing

easyphysicsR was created by Revathy Ponnambalam, Nikita Susan Easow, Yaou Hu and Mengjun Chen. Interested in contributing? Check out the contributing guidelines. Please note that this project is released with a Code of Conduct. By contributing to this project, you agree to abide by its terms.

License

easyphysicsR was created by Revathy Ponnambalam, Nikita Susan Easow, Yaou Hu and Mengjun Chen. It is licensed under the terms of the MIT license.

Code of Conduct

Please note that the easyphysicsR project is released with a Contributor Code of Conduct. By contributing to this project, you agree to abide by its terms.

Credits

easyphysicsR was created following the book R Packages by Hadley Wickham and Jenny Bryan.