Directions
On this worksheet we are going to investigate physics with some animations.
Go to "The Car and the Wall"
Questions:
Remember we are studying forces so think about what forces are at work!
1)What happens in the simulation?
2)Why does the man keep going even though the car stops?
3)What would be different if the man were wearing a seatbelt?
4) The car hits the wall and goes backwards? By Newton's third law you
may expect the wall to move why doesn't it?
5) Look at the other simulations entitled "The Motorcyclist" and the
"The Truck and the Ladder". What is the theme of these three simulations?
Which of Newton's law do they all have in common? Explain in full sentences
what is the same in each and why.
a. The force of air resistance increases with increasing velocity. You
could have guessed this if you have ever put your hand out the window of
the car when driving on the freeway.
b. If you could increase the surface area of the object you increase
the amount of air resistance it has.
Questions:
A person jumps out of a plane, free falls for as long as they are comfortable, opens their parachute, then cruises to the ground.
1) With what you know about gravity and air resistance plot the Force
versus Time graph and acceleration versus time graph for a person jumping
out of an airplane.
2) Now click on the last Simulation,
"Skydiving". Plot the net
Force versus Time and Acceleration versus time (you can guess the time
scale, but get the net Force and Acceleration from the simulation).
Does it agree with your answer to one?
3) Is the force due to gravity changing as the person is fall? Why or
why not?
4) Is the force due to air resistance changing?
5) The acceleration is zero for the last part of the simulation does that mean there are no forces acting on the skydiver? What is the magnitude of the net Force during this time? What sort of velocity does the skydiver have at this time?