General Directions for Preparing the Narrative Portion for the QuickTime Presentation Recording:

1. Answer each of the key concepts for the “The Human Vacuum” challenge, by putting the question and
response to the question in the speaker’s notes in the group’s Google slides where they fit best.

2. Incorporate the key terms into your group’s responses where they apply and put the terms in bold.

Need to have gifs of motion, changes, documentation and narrative and explanation in media.
NEED THE CONTENT

Key Concepts

1. How is each type of speed displayed?

Instantaneous- when you suction up the paper- fast speed Constant- infrequently seen Average- average

2. What are 3 examples of acceleration? as in speed up, slow down, and change direction?

Can put this in with testing- we learned that we had to accelerate near the end.. Slowing down.. Speeding up...

3. How do friction and gravity affect motion? -

4. How do Newton’s 3 Laws of Motion apply?

Key Terms

motion
vacuum
matter
energy
Force
reference point
inertia
mass
resistance
net force or unbalanced force
equal force
speed
velocity
acceleration
momentum
exert or apply
friction
gravity
opposite
Direction
Slide 1- Niki
The Human Vacuum
By Niki, Kayla, and Elon

Slide 2- Kayla
The objective is to use human lung power and our knowledge of Newton’s 3 Laws of Motion to create a
vacuum that efficiently moves paper from a given reference point to another in less than 60 seconds
(1 minute). Although this lab takes a lot of energy suctioning the straws and strategizing how to cut the
paper, it is definitely worth it. Now I’m getting ahead of myself, take it away, Elon!

Slide 3- Elon
The materials we used for this lab were…

● Scissors

● Sharpie

● Ruler

● Baggy to hold material

● 2 Straws per person

● 1 Piece of Paper

● Whiteboard

● Cup

● Whiteboard Eraser

● Whiteboard Marker
Slide 4- Elon - This is our original plan of action. We first cut our paper into 8 equal sections and
folded them in half and then in half again. Because Kayla couldn’t suction a full ⅛ piece of
paper, she cut her piece in half and then folded it in half only once, making it 2 1/16 pieces
which had less mass so it required less force. The straws that worked best for Elon and Kayla
were the thick straws and Niki could suction better using the thinner straw. Neither of us folded
or cut our straws.

Slide 5- Kayla

The first GIF is of Kayla creating a vacuum by sucking up all the air out of the straw. By sucking
on the straw, air is getting removed from the straw, so an area of empty space is created. The
paper tries to fill that space, but because it is too big to fit into the straw, it sticks to the end of
the straw instead. In other words, when you suck on the straw, a vacuum is created which lifts
the paper.
Down below is our original lab procedure. As you can see, although Niki is trying to suction the
paper, she does not have enough force to lift paper with that mass. This told us that we needed
to make a modification to the mass of Niki’s pieces of paper so that she could successfully
suction up the paper and get it into the reference point.

Slide 6- Niki - Here our final, modified idea. Because Elon had more force, he was successful in
suctioning the ⅛ pieces so he kept his 4 ⅛ pieces the same. Niki cut her pieces in half and gave
two of the cut pieces to Kayla, so they each had 4 1/16 pieces folded in half. We decided to
keep the straws that we used in our original idea since they worked well for us. In the end, this
plan was a success because the masses of each of our papers matched the amounts of force
we each had, and we had just enough papers to get them all into the cup in just under 60
seconds.

Slide 7- Niki - These four GIF’s show the full process of our successful trial. The first GIF shows
the first 15 seconds of the trial, the second GIF shows the next 15 seconds, and so forth. We
made sure to always be aware of what was going on even when it was not our turn, because if
one of us dropped a paper for example, we had to be ready to go in order to save time. Towards
the end, we realized that we had to increase our momentum in order to make it under the time
limit.

Kayla - At the beginning, we had slowed down because we were not as aware of the time.
Each of us went around the table in different directions based on which way was closer to the
paper at the end of the table. When we suction up the paper, it is instantaneous speed. This is
because the speed when we suction up the paper is only one moment in time. It is a fast speed
since the paper quickly gets suctioned to the straw.

Niki - There is no constant speed in this lab, because the speed is always changing. Constant
speed is infrequently seen. Since the speed is constantly changing, we use the average to get
an idea of the overall speed. Because of our success, Kayla is jumping with energy. Literally!

Slide 8- Elon - Now it’s time to apply Newton’s 3 Laws of Motion in our lab. We’re going to start
with Law 1 Part 1 which states that an object at rest will remain at rest until a net force is applied
to it. How does that apply to us running around with straws and paper, though?

Kayla - It’s simple! The paper, which is at rest, is acted on by the unbalanced force that is
suction which pulls up the paper. By suctioning the straws, we are applying our force to the
paper, causing it to go from being at rest to in motion. We do have to note, however, that the
paper has inertia, which is resistance to change, so we have to use more force to pick it up and
get it into motion. You can see Kayla in the first GIF sucking up the paper that is at rest on the
table and putting it into motion.

Elon - Law 1 Part 2 states that an object in motion will stay in motion with the same velocity
unless a net force acts on it. Looking at the second GIF, we can see Kayla once again sucking
up the paper through the straw and dropping it into the cup. The paper, which is in motion being
sucked to the straw, drops down into the cup because of the unbalanced force of gravity. When
Kayla stops sucking on the straw, the paper is released from the straw, and because of gravity,
drops downwards. The unbalanced force of friction from the air also causes the paper to slow
down on its way to the cup.

Slide 9- Niki - In this GIF, we used newton's second law, which states that an object acted on
by a net force will accelerate in the direction of the force. Kayla uses her force to accelerate the
paper. Because Kayla and Niki had less force, they could accelerate paper with smaller
masses. Elon had a greater force, so he was able to accelerate pieces of paper with bigger
masses. All paper has matter, but based on the mass, it requires more or less force to pick up.

Kayla - The third and final law is that for every action, there is a reaction with an equal force and
opposite direction. This can be applied to our lab because the paper that is sitting on the table is
pushing down on the table, and the table in return is exerting the same force upwards on the
paper.

Slide 10- Niki- thanks for watching! The end