A PHYSICS SAMPLER

Ray Gonzales, Clark High School

Introduction | Internet Activities | Conclusion | Dictionary

Introduction

The following links come from all over the World Wide Web and represent a variety of aspects related to PHYSICS. You may complete the following Internet activities alone or by working in a group. You may complete all or only some of the activities depending on your goals for the study of PHYSICS.

The purpose of this Web page is to give you a sampling of some of the aspects related to the PHYSICS. Each of the activities require logic and problem solving. Good luck and have fun!

Note: Clicking on the bolded Internet links on this page will open a new browser window so you can get back to these instructions and activities easily. When you've finished, close the new browser window and move on to another activity that interests you.
Activities on PHYSICS


UNIFORM  MOTION

Activity 1: Give the cow an initial positve velocity with zero acceleration.

1. What does its position vs. time graph look like?

2. What does its velocity vs. time graph look like?

3. Can you write the general form of the equation for position as a function of time?

4. Can you write the general form of the equation for velocity as a function of time?

5. Can you explain the meaning of the slope of a distance vs. time graph?
 
 

UNIFORM ACCELERATED MOTION

Activity 2: Give the cow an initial velocity of zero and an acceleration of + 5 m/s/s.

1.What does its position vs. time graph look like?

2. What does its velocity vs. time graph look like?

3. Can you write the general form of the equation for velocity as a function of time?

4. Can you explain the meaning of the slope of a velocity  vs. time graph?

5. Can you explain the meaning of the area under the velocity vs. time graph?
 

Conclusion

You have had the opportunity to explore some important aspects of One dimensional uniform accelerated motion. You have seen that motion can be represented graphically. If an object has uniform motion ( zero acceleration ) a graph of its position as a function of time is a straight line. The general form of the equation of this line is x = vt. The slope of the line is velocity. The graph of velocity vs. time is a horizontal line ( zero slope ).

If an object has uniform accelerated motion ( constant acceleration ) the graph of its postion as a function of time is a curved line. It's actually a parabola. A graph of the objetcs velocity as a function of time is a straight line. The general eqation for this line is  v = vo + at . The slope of this line is the object's acceleration.  The y intercept ( vo) is the object's initial velocity.
 
 

Dictionary

Velocity - an objects rate of change of position. Velocity is a vector, ie, it has both magnitude and direction. If an object is moving along a straight line, its direction of motion is indicated by a + or - sign.

Speed - How fast an object is going, without regard to direction. Speed is a scalar, ie , it has only magnitude.

Acceleration - The rate of change of an objects velocity. Like velocity, acceleration is a vector.