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| Chapter 1: Physics in Action |
| Activity Summaries |
Physics Principles |
Activity One: A Running Start and Frames of Reference
Students measure the motion of a ball rolling down and up the sides of a bowl and find the ratio of the "running start" to the vertical distance. From this they are introduced to the concept of inertia. |
- Acceleration
- Gravity
- Galileo's Principle of Inertia
- Newton's First Law of Motion
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Activity Two: Push or Pull - Adding Vectors
Students construct, calibrate, and use a simple force meter to explore the variables involved in throwing a shot put. They then connect their observations and data to a study of the laws of motion. |
- Newton's Second Law of Motion
- Relationship of mass and force to acceleration
- Gravity
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Activity Three: Center of Mass
By finding the balancing points on objects with a variety of shapes, students are introduced to the effects of motion the athlete's center of mass has on the balance and performance. |
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Activity Four: Defy Gravity
Students learn to measure hang time and analyze vertical jumps of athletes using slow-motion videos. This introduces the concept that work when jumping is force applied against gravity. |
- Gravity
- Potential and kinetic energy
- Work
- Vertical accelerated motion
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Activity Five: Run and Jump
Thinking about the direction in which they apply force to move in a desired way introduces students to the concept that a force has an equal and opposite force. They test this concept, then apply it to a variety of motions observed in sports. |
- Force Vectors
- Weight and gravity of forces
- Newton's Third Law of Motion
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Activity Six: The Mu of the Shoe
Students measure the amount of force necessary to slide athletic shoes on a variety of surfaces. From this and the weight of the shoe, they learn to calculate friction coefficients. They then consider the effects of friction on the athlete's performance. |
- Gravity
- Frictional force
- Normal force
- Coefficient of sliding friction
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Activity Seven: Concentrating on Collisions
Students investigate the effects of a ball's velocity on its motion after a collision. They then apply these observations and what they now know about opposing forces in motion to describe collisions of balls and athletes in sporting events. |
- Newton's Third Law of Motion
- Mass
- Velocity
- Momentum
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Activity Eight: Conservation of Momentum
Additional collisions between objects allow students to investigate what happens when the objects stay together or "stick" after the collision. |
- Newton's Third Law of Motion
- Momentum = Mass x Velocity
- Law of Conservation of Momentum
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Activity Nine: Circular Motion
Students use an accelerometer to test the direction of acceleration when spinning in a chair. From this, they investigate the forces involved in the movement of turning objects and athletes. |
- Inertia
- Centripetal acceleration
- Centripetal force
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