Sky High Tubing Adventures
By: Amanda Jerry Hour 2
About My Adventures
My family and I took up the activity of water tubing for the first time in many years this summer. I was begging my grandma for many weekends to let us go because I had seen so many people doing it on our bay. Also, I hadn't tubed in many years and I wanted to see if I was still able to do it. The final reason why I was urged to go tubing is that my brother and grandpa had never done it before and I wanted them to see how amusing it is!
Our family was up at our cottage in Door County, specifically Little Sturgeon. We were tubing on the Bay of Green Bay in our little cove that we have named "Pirate's Cove". My brother and I call it that name because of the numerous "treasure" items stuck deep in the mud at the bottom of the bay. On Sunday August 16th at around noon, we embarked on our adventure. The water was cyrstal clear and there were was not a wind burst to be found. We took out the boat with our neighbors, who had just moved in last year but we had became very close with. After the boat was set up, we jumped onto the HUGE red and yellow tube that was the perfect size for all of us. On the tube was myself, my grandpa (Jon), and my brother (Alex). The driver of the boat was our neighbor's son-in-law (George) and the passengers of the boat included our neighbors (Bernie & Connie) and their daughter (Nicole). Last but not least were the spotters who made sure we stayed safe (Owen & Ethan). From the banks of the bay sat my grandma. She was perched on our dock with binoculars and a bright yellow walkie talkie. After everyone was on, they reved up their 150 horsepower motor and slowly took off. As the started to excellerate, they swished us threw the water and catapulted us up into the sky with their waves.
Other interesting facts/information:
On our first round of tubing my grandpa was accidentally holding up the wrong signals to our spotters. We were already going over 33 miles per hour and holding on by our fingertips. My grandpa was throwing the signal for faster and boy did they go faster! Over 40 miles per hour to be exact! I was laughing the entire time, not noticing that he STILL was throwing the faster signal. Finally I threw the cut signal and we halted to a complete stop. I was still laughing my head off, however I hadn't noticed that my brother fell off and was screaming thinking that the fish were going to eat him! My grandpa frantically got into the boat and we rushed over to him. Thankfully, everything went ok and everyone had loads of fun. However, next time I'll be throwing the signals!
The Science to Tubing
You can relate the activity of tubing to Newton's First Law of Motion. Newton's First Law states that an object at rest tends to stay at rest, and an object in motion tends to stay in motion, with the same direction and speed unless an external force is applied to it. Tubing can relate to the second part of this law. For example, the tube will always stay in motion if the boat is in motion as well. In addition, the tube will most likely always be moving in the same direction and speed as the boat, unless a external force occurs. An example of a external force would be if a wave would hit you from the side, causing you to drift to that side.
Connection #2:
You can also observe the waves that send you flying sky high on your tube, which all depend on the features on the wind that is present. Have you ever wondered why the lake is crystal clear glass some days, but rough waves with white caps other days? Have you noticed that the occurrence of waves is usually connected to the wind that is present? If there are waves on the bay (or any other body of water), this means that the wind is transferring some of its energy to the water, through friction between the air molecules and the water molecules. For example, if there happens to be gusty winds on the day you go tubing, you will notice numerous rough waves with white caps. This example could also occur with the opposite circumstances (no wind-no waves). The wind also determines the direction of the waves. The waves will almost always follow the direction of the wind. So, if the wind is going south, the wave will go south as well. This action could only be disturbed by other man-made waves from boats.
Look At Me Tubing!
Photo #1
Photo #2
Photo #3
I wonder...
2. How could tubing relate to any of the other Newton's laws?
3. How does science relate to when the front end of the tube starts sinking in the water when the boat slows down?
4. Does science relate to the reasoning why the man-made waves of boats usually look different from the naturally made waves? (Naturally made waves are usually more "rounded", while man-made waves are usually more "choppy".)
Tubing Video
Citations
Czeczot, Mike. How Safe Are the Lakes In the Southeast? Digital image. Southeast Discovery. N.p., 16 Sept. 2012. Web. 4 Sept. 2015. <http://www.southeastdiscovery.com/blog/2012/09/how-safe-are-the-lakes-in-the-southeast-north-carolina-lakes-part-ii/>.
Darling, Davey. Tubing Wipeout on Loughborough Lake. Digital image. Wikipedia. N.p., 13 July 2007. Web. 4 Sept. 2015. <https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tubing_wipeout_on_loughborough_lake.JPG>.
Frymire, Bill. Summer Fun. Digital image. Bill Frymire Visuals. N.p., 27 Aug. 2012. Web. 4 Sept. 2015. <http://www.billfrymire.com/blog/summer-fun/>.
"Inner Tubing on Tahoe Lake." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 08 Sept. 2015. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpEVW2nc1vE>.
"Newton's Laws of Motion." - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Sept. 2015. <https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton%27s_laws_of_motion>.
"What Causes Waves?" What Causes Waves? N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Sept. 2015. <http://www.angelfire.com/crazy2/nur_filzah/new_page_2.htm>.