Phet Simulation: Introduction to Newton’s Laws & Force

Name: Valdez Ma. Ricaela Shy S. Section: XII-Xenon

Date: 09-23-2019

To Begin: http://phet.colorado.edu —> HTML 5 SIMs —> Forces and Motion Basics: Motion

Part I - Newton’s First Law

Make sure the boxes that say “Force” and “Speed” are checked.

a. Apply a force of 50 N right to the box. Describe the motion of the box using physics terms (i.e.
velocity, acceleration, displacement). Refer to the speedometer in your answer.

The velocity Of the box that was placed on top of a skateboard is increasing to the right as the
speedometer shows increasing number. Its acceleration is constant and is going to the right. The
displacement is also increasing to the right.

b. Reset the scenario (don’t forget to check force, speed again). Apply a force of 50 N to the right
for about 5 seconds then reduce the applied force to zero (the man should stop pushing). Don’t
reset the scenario. Describe the motion of the box. Refer to the speedometer in your answer.

The velocity of the box is constant as the speedometer shows the same number. The moment the applied force
was turned back to zero the person stopped but the box is still moving at the same speed. The displacement is
increasing to the right and the acceleration is zero.

c. Apply a force of 50N to the left. Describe the motion of the box.
When I applied 50N on the box its velocity increased to the left as the speedometer shows an increasing
number. Its acceleration is constant while moving to the left side its displacement is also increasing while it is
moving to the right.

d. Explain the exact steps needed to make the box come to a stop.

To make the box stop apply force to the opposite side of the box until the speedometer turns 0 m/s.

Summary

Newton’s First Law of Motion States “An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in
motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.”
Explain how your observations in a - d support this Law.

The box does not move when there is no applied force and the object stays at rest. When there is
force applied to the box it will move with increasing velocity. Even though there force was applied
for a short amount of time the box will still move with constant velocity and the box in motion will stay
in motion.
Part II - Newton’s Second Law

a. Reset the sim, don’t forget to check force, speed again. Remove the box and place a garbage
can on top of the skateboard. Using your partner’s iPad, measure the amount of time it takes to
reach maximum speed using a force of 50 N. Try this again with forces of 100N, and 200N.

Applied Force Time To Max Speed

50 1 minute and 24 seconds

100 40 seconds

200 20 seconds

b. Reset the sim, don’t forget to check force, speed again. Remove the box and place a garbage
can on top of the skateboard. Using your partner’s iPad, measure the amount of time it takes to
reach maximum speed. Try this with a refrigerator, and a crate. Record your findings

Object Time To Max Speed

Garbage can = 50 1 minute and 24 seconds
 Refrigerator = 100 1 minute and 24 seconds

Crate = 200 10 seconds

Summary

Newton’s Second Law states “The acceleration of an object as produced by a net force is directly
proportional to the magnitude of the net force, in the same direction as the net force, and inversely
proportional to the mass of the object.” Explain how your observations in both a and b support this
Law.
The heavier the object is the longer it is to move at a certain speed. The larger the force you applied
in the box the larger its acceleration.
Part III - Friction’s Effects

The behavior of the skateboard in Part I and part II were not very realistic because friction was not
present. At the bottom of the screen is a simulation that includes friction. Select this simulation.

a. Set friction to “none”. Notice how the screen changed. Why do you think the app designers did
that?
When I turned the friction to none the ground turned into ice and it has a different kind of friction.

b. Make sure that only Speed box is checked.

i. Apply a force to get the box to about half of it’s maximum speed, then remove the force.
ii. While the box is moving, move the friction slider to 1/2 way.

What happened to the box?

When the force was remove and the friction was added the box slowed down until came to rest.

Summary
Is friction a force? What evidence do you have have?
The box slowed down to a stop when friction was added therefore friction must be a force, which mean that
friction force was acting in the opposite direction of the motion.

Part IV - Back to Newton’s Second Law

Reset the Friction app. Make sure Forces and Speed are checked.

a. Apply a force of 50 N. Describe the movement of the box.

the force was applied to the box it did not move because there’s a friction force that counters the
force that was applied to the box.

b. Apply a force of 100 N. Describe the movement of the box.

The same as when the box was applied with 50N the box still did not move because there is a
counter to the force applied witch is friction.

c. Apply a force of 150 N. Describe the movement of the box.

When the force applied in the box was larger than the friction force the box started moving slowly
until constant speed.
d. Check the box that says “Sum of Forces” . Repeat procedure A, B, and C. What was different about
c?
The friction force was lesser than the applied force that’s why the box started moving slowly
Summary
Newton’s Second Law states “The acceleration of an object as produced by a net force is directly
proportional to the magnitude of the net force, in the same direction as the net force, and inversely
proportional to the mass of the object.” Explain how your observations relate to the underlined
portion of this Law (hint, you might want to look up the definition of the word “net”).

The net force can be divided into two parts: Horizontal and vertical. The net force is the sum of all the
forces in the horizontal or vertical direction. When the box was not moving, the sum of the friction and
applied force is zero, so the net force is greater than zero. When the box was the sum of the friction
and applied force s greater than zero so the net force must be greater than zero.

Part V: Friction in Detail

Reset the app. Check the boxes that say “values” and “speed”.

a) Apply 50 N of force to the crate, slowly click to increase the amount of applied force until you
reach 350 N of applied force. Describe how the force of friction changes while you are
increasing the applied force.
The force of friction remains constant at 94 N lef. The speed of the box increased while there is
still a force applied to the crate. When the applied force was removed the crate slowed down
and eventually stopped.

b) Reset the app. Check the boxes that say “values” and “speed”. Slide friction to maximum (notice
the ground). Apply 50 N of force to the crate. Slowly click to increase the amount of applied force
until you reach 350 N of applied force. Describe how the force of friction changes while you are
increasing the applied force.

i. Describe how the force of friction changes while you are increasing the applied force.
The force of friction stayed the same after the crate reaches 300 N of applied force. The amount of
applied force in the crate is the reason why the net force did not reach zero and the crate to move
to the right. Before the crate reaches 300 N the force the friction force and the applied force has
the same amount.
Summary

ii. What was different about this compared to a?

c) Reset the app. Check the boxes that say “values” and “speed”. Place another crate on top of
the first. Apply 50 N of force to the crates, slowly click to increase the amount of applied force until
you reach 350 N of applied force.

i. Describe how the force of friction changes while you are increasing the applied force.

ii. What was different about this compared to a?

d) Reset the app. Check the boxes that say “values” and “speed”. Apply 200 N of force to the crate
until the speedometer reaches about 1/2 its maximum. Quickly change the applied force to zero
and describe how the force of friction changes until the box stops moving.
Summary

Make four general statements about the force of friction based on your observations in a, b, c, and d.