| Human Air Puck |
| by Joe Mahler |
| SOL's |
K3, PH.1.2, PH.3.2, PH.4.2, PH.5.3
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| Materials list |
- Shop Vac,
- Human Air Puck
- Cleared Classroom
- Long Hall Way or Gym
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You must have constructed a human hover puck in order to complete the activities below!! Please see any of the following for directions on how to build the human hover puck.
All the materials te do this can be purchased a Lowe's/Home Depot. Note (1) The unfinished circular table tops at Lowe's/Home Depot can be used in replacement of plywood and (2) the construction of the pucks can be completed by students as a class project.
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| Activity 1- Getting the Feel of Newton's First Law |
| Directions |
Clear out all the desks from the classroom and form a circle along the perimeter of the room. Place the human air puck with a rider on it in the center of the circle. Turn on the shop vac and let the rider/puck just hover for a few seconds. Then get the student/puck traveling across the circle. The job of the students on the outside of the circle will be bring the rider/puck to a stop and then get the rider to travel across the circle again. [Note: Make sure the students don't get the rider/puck moving too quickly or stop them too quickly.] If desired, students on the outside of the circle can trade places with the rider till everyone has had a turn riding on the puck. As the class is completing the activity the students should answer the following questions. |
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Questions:
- Describe the motion of the rider when the shop vac was first turned on but before the student was pushed. What was done by the teacher/students to create the motion described?
- Describe the motion of the rider when the teacher helped them start traveling across the circle. What was done by the teacher/students to create the motion described?
- Describe the motion of the rider when they were traveling across the circle and no one was in contact with them. What was done by the teacher/students to create the motion described?
- Describe the motion of the rider when a student was bring them to a stop. What was done by the teacher/students to create the motion described?
- Describe the motion of the rider when a student helped them start traveling across the circle. What was done by the teacher/students to create the motion described?
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Once the class has completed the activity and has answered the above questions, have the students share their answers. The teacher should use the student responses to help guide the class to developing Newton's First Law of Motion.
An object at rest will stay at rest and an object in motion will stay in motion until the forces on the objcct become unbalanced. Part one of Newton's First Law (When the forces are balanced on an object, the object will have a constant velocity.) can be addressed using questions 1 and 3. Part two of Newton's First Law (The motion of an object changes when the forces on it becomes unbalanced.) can be addressed using questions 2,4, and 5.
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| Activity 2: Quantitatively Connecting Newton's First Law |
| Directions: |
In a long hallway or in the gym mark a starting line. Then place students at 1 m increments from the starting line for 15 m. Give each student a stop watch. The students will time how long it takes the rider to reach them from the start line when the teacher says go. Place the hover puck/rider at the starting line. Pick two students to be in charge of pushing the rider/guiding the rider. When the teacher says go the pushers will push on the the rider constantly until the rider hits the 6 m mark, then the riders will release the rider (the), can be on the sides to make sure the rider doesn't crash into anything), finally once the rider hits the 10 m mark the pushers should gradually bring the rider to a stop over 3-5 m. Turn on the shop vac and say go. [Note: You might want to practice with the students a few times before collecting data.] Once the rider is brought to a stop have students record the class data.
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| Physics Lab: Forces and Motion |
Introduction
So far we have studied motion, how to describe constant motion, and how to describe motion with constant acceleration. We now want to try to understand what causes motion and what causes changes in motion. You will investigate this using a human air puck, rider, and stopwatches. The teacher will explain the procedure for this lab.
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Data
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| 1. |
Record the data collected by the class in the table below. |
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Time (s) |
Position (m) |
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1 |
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2 |
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3 |
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4 |
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5 |
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6 |
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7 |
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8 |
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9 |
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10 |
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11 |
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12 |
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13 |
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14 |
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15 |
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| 2. |
On a sheet of graph paper graph the position and time data collected. Put the position data on the vertical axis and the time data on the horizontal axis. |
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Analysis
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- Indicate on )'our graph where the rider was accelerating.
- Indicate on the graph the segment that corresponds to the motion of the rider while the), were being pushed forward.
- Indicate on the graph the segment that corresponds to the motion of the rider when they were not being pushed.
- Indicate on the graph the segment that corresponds to the motion of the rider while they were being brought to a stop.
- While the puck was being launched:
(a.) Describe the motion of the puck while it was being launched. Explain how you know this from the position-time graph and from what you observed.
(b.) Were there any forces acting on the rider while it was being pushed fonvard?
If so, use the diagram below to indicate what forces you think were acting on the rider by representing each force with an arrow pointing in the direction that the force is acting. Give each force a name and label the corresponding arrows accordingly.
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(c.) If there were forces acting on the rider, then how did they affect the motion of the rider?
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6. |
When the rider was released: |
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(a.) Describe the motion of the rider once the), were released. Explain how you know this from the position-time graph and from what you observed.
(b.) Were there an), forces acting on the rider once they were released?
If so, use the diagram below to indicate what forces you think were acting on the rider by representing each force with an arrow pointing in the direction that the force is acting. Give each force a name and label the corresponding arrows accordingly.
(c.) If there were forces acting on the rider, then how did they affect the motion of the rider?
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7. |
When the rider was being brought to a stop. |
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(a) Describe the motion of the rider once the), were being brought to a stop. Explain how you "know this from the position-time graph and from what you observed. |
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(b) Were there an), forces acting on the rider while it was being brought to a stop? If so, use the diagram below to indicate what forces you think were acting on the rider by representing each force with an arrow pointing in the direction that the force is acting. Give each force a name and label the corresponding arrows accordingly. |
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(c) c. If there were forces acting on the rider, then how did the), affect the motion of the rider? Conclusion
State a conclusion about the effects of forces on the motion of an object based on )'our answers to the questions above.
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Conclusion |
| State a conclusion about the effects of forces on the motion of an object based on )'our answers to the questions above. |
