Download Motion and Forces introduction

Motion and Forces Intro Activity
Name:
Instructions: In today’s activity you will be rotating around with your group investigating some
different and interesting physical phenomena. There are 2-3 questions per station which must be
answered in complete sentences in the spaces below.
Record your responses in your journal.
Station 1: Colliding Pennies
Materials: 7 pennies
Put three pennies in a row. Line up a 4th penny in the row about 3 cm from the end. Gently flick
the 4th penny into the row of 3 pennies.
1. Describe how the row of pennies moves in response to the
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collision.
2. Which penny or pennies moved? Why did that penny move?
3. Why didn’t the pennies move before the collision?
4. Repeat this process but use 5 pennies in a line and two pennies to flick into the system.
Describe what you observe.
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What can you say about the energy of the system? Make a sketch of the force you applied
and the direction of the motion.
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Station 2: Eraser Slide.
Materials: two erasers, one index,
orange/yellow chip
Put an eraser directly on the table (eraser 1)
and the other on top of an index card (eraser 2).
Push on top of each eraser and slide each across the table.
1. Describe what you observed.
2. What can you say about the force you put into moving each eraser? Make a sketch
of the force you applied and the direction of the movement of the erasers.
3. If you slide an orange and yellow chip across the table, will it act more like eraser 1 or
eraser 2? Why do you think this?
Station 3: Penny Drop
Materials: plastic cup, index card, penny
Place the penny on an index card above the cup. Flick the card from under the penny.
1. Describe and draw what you observed.
2. Make a sketch of the force you applied, the movement of the index card, and the
movement of the penny.
3. Why do you think the index card and the penny moved differently?
4. If your applied force moved the index card, what force caused the penny to move in the
direction it did?
Station 4: The Flying Presidents
Materials: ruler, quarter, dime, penny, triple beam balance
Find the mass of each coin and record it in your journal.
Place the quarter, dime, and penny on a ruler. Hold the ruler at the edge of the table and FLIP
the ruler over so the coins leave the ruler at the same time. Watch as they hit the ground.
1. Describe the direction and motion of the coins.
2. What is causing this motion?
3. How would the result change if two more massive objects were dropped from the same
height at the same time?
4. How does the speed of the falling objects of different masses compare? How does the
size and direction of the force of gravity on the different masses compare?
Station 5: How Coordinated Are you?
Materials: one sheet of clean white paper, one bottle of water filled (filled to half way),
one crumbled piece of paper.
Put the bottle of water on the clean piece of paper. Quickly pull the piece of paper from under
the water bottle.
1. Describe what you observed when the piece of paper was removed.
2. Make a sketch of the force you applied and the movement of the paper and the
movement of the bottle of water. Include the table top in your sketch.
3. Explain how the way you pull the paper affects your results.
Repeat this procedure using the wrinkled piece of paper.
4. Make a sketch of your results, and explain why this happened.
5. When magicians do this trick with a tablecloth, what are the ideal properties for the table
cloth to have so that the plates and glasses do not break?
Station 6: Rolling Marble
Materials: marble, one whole paper plate, one paper plate with the wedge cut out
Make a sketch of the WHOLE paper plate with a marble placed on the “TRACK’ of the paper
plate. Gently flick the marble so it rolls along the track.
1. Use arrow on your sketch to show the path of the marble on the whole plate. Include the
direction of the force you applied.
2. Predict what you think will happen when you flick the marble on the plate with the wedge
removed. Include the force you apply and the direction of the marble.
Place the marble on one edge of the wedge and flick it so it will follow the TRACK to the
other edge of the wedge.
3. Make a sketch of the plate with the wedge and use arrows to show the motion of the
marble.
4. Explain the motion of the marble when it reaches the wedge. What would make this
happen?
5. Was your prediction correct?
6. What can you say about object that are in motion?