Name:____Gift____ Date:__06/11/2020__ Block:_C_

PhET: Forces and Motion Basics 

Link to sim: ​https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/forces-and-motion-basics

Open the simulation and press the arrow to start.

Newton's 1st Law​ is also known as the Law of Inertia. It says that objects will stay still or keep moving
in the same direction and same speed until they're acted upon by an ​unbalanced​ force.

Newton's 2nd Law​ tells us that the more force is applied to an object the faster it will accelerate. It also
tells us that objects with a greater mass need a greater force to be applied in order to accelerate them.

Acceleration​ is any change in motion. This means speeding up (this includes starting to move),
slowing down (including stopping), or changing direction.

Part 1: The “Motion” tab

● Click on the “Motion” option.

● Check the boxes for “Values”, “Masses”, and “Speed” (“Force” should already be
checked)
● Use the arrows at the bottom to slowly increase the amount of force applied
to the box until the box starts moving.

1. How much force does it take to start moving the 50 kg box?

F>0N>F

2. Why do you need to apply a force in order to get the box to move?

According to Newton’s 1​st​ Law of motion, the Law of Inertia, the object will continue to stay still
unless an unbalanced force is acted upon it.

3. How much force do you need to apply in order to stop the box?

F>0N>F

4. Which of Newton's Laws does this demonstrate?

Newton’s 1​st​ and 2​nd​ Laws of Motion

5. How does it demonstrate that law?

Newton’s 1​st​ Law of Motion

- This simulation demonstrates the Law of Inertia and how an object might tact to an
unbalanced force with a frictionless environment. While we apply a certain amount of
 force onto the object and stop, the object continues to travel at a constant speed in the
same direction that the force accelerates the object toward.

Newton’s 2​nd​ Law of Motion

- This simulation allows us to see that when we apply an unbalanced force onto the
object, we accelerate the object. Without the force, the object just continues to move in a
straight line at a constant speed.

● Fill in the chart below, adding your own mix in the final row.

Object Total mass Force needed to get it moving at 5 m/s

Box 50 kg F>0N

Box with Girl 90 kg F>0N

Box with Man 130 kg F>0N

Box with Garbage Can 150 kg F>0N

Fridge 200 kg F>0N

Fridge with Man and Girl 320 kg F>0N

Explanation:
Any unit of force above or below 0 N (F >
0 N > F) is enough to make the object
move at the speed of 5 m/s. After a
certain amount of time -depending on the
mass of the object, we can stop applying
force to let the object move at the
constant speed of 5 m/s (in case of a
frictionless environment). With greater
mass, it will take a longer period of time to
accelerate the object to get it to move at a
specific speed.

Example​, you have 2 objects: a box with

a mass of 50 kg and a box with a mass of
100 kg. You applied a force of 50 N to
both of the boxes. The box with a mass of
50 kg accelerates faster than a box with a
mass of 100 kg.
 6. What is the pattern you see between the total mass and the force needed to accelerate to
5 m/s?

With greater mass, more force needs to be applied to the object to accelerate the speed to 5
m/s for the same amount of time as a lesser mass being applied with lesser force.

7. Which of Newton's Laws does this demonstrate?

Newton’s 2​nd​ Law of Motion

8. How does it demonstrate that law?

This simulation demonstrates that when a constant force is being applied onto an object, it
accelerates the object. It also shows that in order for an object with greater mass to accelerate to the
same velocity as an object with lesser mass in the same amount of time, a greater force must be
applied to the object.

Part 2: The “Net Force” tab

● Click on the “Net Force” option at the bottom

of your screen.
○
● Check the boxes for “Some of Forces”, “Values”, and “Speed”

● Fill in the chart below, adding your own mix in the final row. ​Be sure to fill out your prediction
before​ you press “Go!”

People & Predicted Sum of Forces Actual Movement Speed (m/s)

Placement Movement (0, x-left, x-right) (none, left, right)

The cart will 0 None 0

stay still.

Same size
Same placement
 People & Predicted Sum of Forces Actual Movement Speed (m/s)
Placement Movement (0, x-left, x-right) (none, left, right)

The cart will 0 None 0

stay still.
Same size
Different
placement

The cart will 100 N (x-left) Left The speed

move to the will constantly
left side. increase as
Different size the applied
Same placement force
accelerates
the object
instead of
pushing it
with constant
speed.

The cart will 100 N (x-left) Left The speed

move to the will constantly
left side. increase as
Different size
the applied
Different
force
placement
accelerates
the object
instead of
pushing it
with constant
speed.

9. Your science class is going to play a game of tug-of-war and you need to divide up the
​ eople participating. If you want equal teams, how would you decide
teams. There are ​11 p
who is on which side and why? Use what you have learned about Newton's Laws of
motions to explain.

Normally, there are about 2-3 people that are the strongest in a class. Their physiques are
another factor that need to be considered. It is very likely that they are either male which are taller or
female which regularly play sports. From my past experience, there are about 2 males and 2 females in
the class which are stronger than others. The males that play sport are more likely to be taller than the
one that don’t. Average Asian females are quite short -around 160-165 cm at best, thus, each strong
male and female should be put in the opposite team.

According to Newton’s 2​nd​ Law of Motion, more force needs to be applied onto an object with
more mass. Therefore, the rest of 7 students in the class need to be divided based on their strength
and their mass. Assuming that there are 4 females and 3 males left, 2 of the females with similar
physique need to be put on the opposite side while the other 2 will be treated the same. With 3 males
left, we are to continue our assumption. It is possible that 1 of the males has greater mass than the
other 2, yet not any stronger than each other. As a result, 2 of the smaller males will be deposited onto
1 team while the larger male will be deposited into another.

In conclusion, we have Team A and Team B in the class. Team A consists of 1 strong male, 1
strong female, 2 average females, and 2 smaller males. Team B consists of 1 strong male, 1 strong
female, 2 average females, and 1 larger male. In this way, both of the teams have a similar chance in
winning.