1DForcesandMotion

I.

PushingonaFileCabinet
Bobhasbeenaskedtopushaheavyfilecabinetdownthe
halltoanotheroffice.Itsnotonrollers,sothereisalot
offriction.Attimet=0seconds,hestartspushingit
fromrestwithincreasingforceuntilitstartstomoveatt
=2seconds.Hepushesthefilecabinetdownthehall
withvaryingamountsofforce.Thevelocityversustime
graphofthecabinetisshownbelow.
A. Onthegraphsprovidedbelow,
1. drawthenetforcevs.timethatwouldproducethisvelocitygraph;
2. drawthefrictionforcevs.timeforthismotion;
3. drawtheappliedforce(FonCabinetbyBob)vs.timeforthismotion(thefirsttwosecondsofthisgraph
havebeendrawnforyou).

Forces1DActivity,version1.0(Oct20,2008)

B. Intheboxesprovided,drawafreebodydiagramforthefilecabinetatthetimesindicated.Labelall
forces.
timeA

timeB

timeC

timeD

C. ExplainhowyouusedNewtonsLawsinreasoningyouranswertopartIB.

D. HowdothehorizontalforcescompareattimeAandattimeC?Explainwhytheyarethesameor
different.

Forces1DActivity,version1.0(Oct20,2008)

II. Usingthecomputersimulation
Onthecomputer,findthePhETsimulationcalledForcesin1Dimensionandstartit.Hereyoullsee
Bobandhisfilecabinet.(Besurethatallgroupmembersgetachancetocontrolthesimulation.)
A. ExplorethesimulationtoseeifyourgraphsandfreebodydiagramsfrompartImakesense.
B. Asyoulearnanddiscovermoreaboutforcesandmotion,reviseyourgraphsanddiagramsinpartI.
Explainwhatyoudiscoveredandhowthesediscoveriesrevisedyourreasoningandresponses.

Drawthefinal,revisedversionofyourappliedforcegraphhere:

Drawthefinal,revisedversionofyourfreebodydiagramsfortimeAandtimeChere:
timeA

Forces1DActivity,version1.0(Oct20,2008)

timeC

C. ReviseyouranswertopartID:HowdothehorizontalforcescompareattimeAandattimeC?
Explainwhytheforcesatthesetimesarethesameordifferentfromeachother.

D. Summarizethemainphysicsideasthatyouneededtoapplytothisproblemandhowtoreasonfrom
thatideatotheanswer.

Forces1DActivity,version1.0(Oct20,2008)

III. Pushingonotherobjects
A. Usingthesimulation,exploretheotherobjectsbesidesthefilecabinet.
B. Bobwantstobeabletopredicthowhisexperiencemovingdifferentobjectsdownthehallwillchange
basedonthetypeofobject.ExplaintoBoballofthewaysinwhichthetypeofobjectwillinfluence
Bobsexperienceandtheobjectsmotionsothathecanmakegoodpredictions.

C. Explainhowyouwouldhavetomodifyyourappliedforcediagram(partIA)ifthevelocityvs.time
graphrepresentedthemotionofotherobjects.

D. Explainhowyouwouldhavetomodifyyourfreebodydiagrams(partIB)forotherobjects.

Forces1DActivity,version1.0(Oct20,2008)

IV. Motionwithoutfriction
Forthissection,turnofffrictioninthesimulation.
A. Withoutfriction,howdotheappliedforceandthenetforcecompare?

B. Experimentingwiththesimulation,sketchanappliedforcethatwillgeneratethepositionversustime
graphshown.

Forces1DActivity,version1.0(Oct20,2008)

C. Makeupanddrawapositionversustimegraphinthespaceprovided.Thensketchanappliedforce
graphthatwillgeneratethismotion.

D. Whatarethemainphysicsideasthatyouusedwhendrawingtheappliedforcegraphabove?

Forces1DActivity,version1.0(Oct20,2008)