STEM SIMULATION

STEM

SIMULATION

Play

Jesús Paz-Albo, URJC

@bi_HigherEd

INDEX

SIMULATION

LEARNING GOALS

Objectives

SUGGESTIONS

TOPIC

projectile SIMULATION

Objectives

simulation

let's play a stem simulation

You are about to investigate the the factors that affect a projectile’s trajectory, such as angle, height, initial speed, and air resistance. Check out the topics and learning goals before you play.

learning goals

topics

topics

• Kinematics
• Air Resistance
• Parabolic Curve
• Vectors
• Drag Force
• Projectile Motion

learning goals

LEARNING GOALS

• Determine how each parameter (initial height, initial angle, initial speed, mass, diameter, and altitude) affects the trajectory of an object, with and without air resistance.

• Predict how varying the initial conditions will affect a projectile’s path, and provide an explanation for the prediction.

• Estimate where an object will land, given its initial conditions.

• Determine that the x and y motion of a projectile are independent.

• Investigate the variables that affect the drag force.

• Describe the the effect that the drag force has on the velocity and acceleration.

• Discuss projectile motion using common vocabulary (such as: launch angle, initial speed, initial height, range, time).

PLAY SIMULATION

A Projectile MotioN - Introduction

One day after school, you are enjoying a soda in the backyard. When the can is empty, you decide to throw it in the trash can. What effects whether or not it gets in the can? Use Projectile Motion to test your ideas about the things that affect the landing location of a projectile.

PLAY

A Projectile Motion - VECTORS

View the drag and gravitational forces in a free-body diagram, and explore how the velocity andacceleration are affected by air resistance.

PLAY

A Projectile Motion - DRAG

Determine the factors that affect the drag force, and observe the relationship between the drag force and the velocity.

PLAY

A Projectile Motion - LAB

Explore the effects of adjusting the projectile’s parameters, and investigate the influence of gravity.Use the Lab screen to expand your ideas about what affects the landing location and path of a projectile. List any discoveries you made to identify additional things that affect the landing site of a projectile and/or path of a projectile.

PLAY

Please, read each section before playing

Simulation by PhET Interactive Simulations, University of Colorado Boulder, licensed under CC-BY-4.0 (https://phet.colorado.edu).

SUGGESTIONS FOR USE

• Choose a variable, and design an experiment to determine how it affects the projectile’s path.

• Predict how changing the initial conditions will affect the path of the projectile, and explain your reasoning.

• Determine which factors affect the range of the projectile when air resistance is turned on, but have no effect when air resistance is turned off.

• Describe how the behavior of the velocity and acceleration vectors over time, and how they are affected by air resistance.

• Explain why the black dots on the projectile’s path are closer together near the top, but further apart when close to the ground.

• Create a situation in which the projectile reaches terminal velocity.