PHYS 1401 – General Physics I
Linear Motion Computer Activity
Lab Partner:
___________________ Lab
Partner: __________________________
Set-up
Boot
the computer and start Safari (this activity doesn’t seem to work with IE
explorer on the Mac). Go to the web
address phet.colorado.edu. Click on the
Play with Sims button. On the page that
appears click on the Motion link, then click on the moving Man icon. Finally click on the Run Now button.
Part
I – Constant Position
Enter
2.5 in the position box, and then click Run.
Q1) Describe what the man does when you click
run.
Q2) Sketch the graphs of position vs. time,
velocity vs. time, and acceleration vs. time in the space below.
Click
on the Clear button and then click Yes on the box that
asks you to confirm.
Now
enter -2.5 in the position box, the click Run.
Q3) How does the result
differ when you enter -2.5 m, than when you enter 2.5 m? Be specific.
Q4) Was +2.5 m to the
right or left of the origin?
Q5) Was -2.5 m to the right or left of the
origin?
Q6) What does the sign
of the position tell you?
Part
II – Constant Velocity
Click
on Clear and then Yes in the confirm box.
Enter 1.0 in the velocity box, and then click Run. Click on Stop once the man runs into the
wall.
Q7) Describe what the man does when you click
run.
Q8) Sketch the graphs of position vs. time,
velocity vs. time, and acceleration vs. time in the space below.
Q9) How is the graph of
position vs. time different in this case than from the first two runs?
Click
on the Clear button and then click Yes on the box that
asks you to confirm.
Now
enter -1.0 in the velocity box, the click Run.
Click on Stop when the man runs out of room.
Q10) How does the result differ when you enter
-1.0 m/s, than when you enter 1.0 m/s?
Be specific.
Q11) When the man moved
at +1.0 m/s, did he move to the right or left of the origin?
Q12) When the man moved
at -1.0 m/s, did he move to the right or left of the origin?
Q13) What does the sign
of the velocity tell you?
Part
III – Constant Acceleration
Click
on Clear and then Yes in the confirm box.
Enter 1.0 in the acceleration box, and then click Run. Click on Stop once the man runs into the
wall.
Q14) Describe what the man does when you click
run.
Q15) Sketch the graphs of position vs. time,
velocity vs. time, and acceleration vs. time in the space below.
Q16) How is the graph of
position vs. time different in this case than from the previous runs?
Click
on the Clear button and then click Yes on the box that
asks you to confirm.
Now
enter -1.0 in the acceleration box, the click Run. Click on Stop when the man runs out of room.
Q17) How does the result differ when you enter
-1.0 m/s/s, than when you enter 1.0 m/s/s?
Be specific.
Q18) When the man
accelerated at +1.0 m/s/s, how did the velocity graph change over time?
Q19) When the man
accelerated at -1.0 m/s/s, how did the velocity graph change over time?
Q20) What does the sign
of the acceleration tell you about the velocity?
Part
IV – Constant Acceleration with non-zero initial velocity
Click
on Clear and then Yes in the confirm box.
Enter 1.0 in the acceleration box and 2.0 in the velocity box, and then
click Run. Click on Stop once the man
runs into the wall.
Q21) Describe what the man does when you click
run.
Q22) Sketch the graphs of position vs. time,
velocity vs. time, and acceleration vs. time in the space below.
Q23) In this case, when the man accelerated at
+1.0 m/s/s how did the velocity graph change over time?
Click
on Clear and then Yes in the confirm box.
Enter -1.0 in the acceleration box and 2.0 in the velocity box, and then
click Run. Click on Stop once the man
runs into the wall.
Q24) Describe what the man does when you click
run.
Q25) Sketch the graphs of position vs. time,
velocity vs. time, and acceleration vs. time in the space below.
Q26) In this case, when the man accelerated at
-1.0 m/s/s how did the velocity graph change over time?
Click
on Clear and then Yes in the confirm box.
Enter -1.0 in the acceleration box and -2.0 in the velocity box, and
then click Run. Click on Stop once the
man runs into the wall.
Q27) Describe what the man does when you click
run.
Q28) Sketch the graphs of position vs. time,
velocity vs. time, and acceleration vs. time in the space below.
Q29) In this case, when the man accelerated at
-1.0 m/s/s how did the velocity graph change over time?
Click
on Clear and then Yes in the confirm box.
Enter 1.0 in the acceleration box and -2.0 in the velocity box, and then
click Run. Click on Stop once the man
runs into the wall.
Q30) Describe what the man does when you click
run.
Q31) Sketch the graphs of position vs. time,
velocity vs. time, and acceleration vs. time in the space below.
Q32) In this case, when the man accelerated at 1.0
m/s/s how did the velocity graph change over time?
You
should have observed that the acceleration tells you the slope of the
velocity. When the acceleration is
positive the slope of the velocity is positive and when the acceleration is negative,
the slope of the velocity is negative.
Q33) When the velocity
and acceleration were both positive did the man speed up or slow down?
Q34) When the velocity
and acceleration were both negative did the man speed up or slow down?
Q35) When the velocity
was negative and the acceleration was positive did the man speed up or slow
down?
Q36) When the velocity
was positive and the acceleration were both negative did the man speed up or
slow down?
Q37) Summarize how the directions of velocity and
acceleration compare when the man speeds up.
Q38) Summarize how the directions of velocity and
acceleration compare when the man slows down.