Moving Man Lesson

Learning Goals:

·  accurately interpret and draw position v time graphs for both constant velocity and constant acceleration

Directions:

Open up the simulation “Moving Man.”

·  Go to our class website – http://www.5thblock.wikispaces.com

·  Click on “Assignments”

·  Scroll down to June 3 and click on “Moving Man Computer Simulation”

Let the sim load – when finished, your screen should look like the picture below

·  Close both the velocity and acceleration graphs by clicking on the minus sign on the right hand side of each graph.

1.  Play with the Moving Man by dragging him back and forth. After you get the feel for what moving the man does to the graph of position v time, hit clear and get the man back to the zero mark. Do your best to drag the man to the right wall at a constant speed, and in the space below, draw a representation of the shape of your position graph.

Click on the playback button at the bottom of the page to look at the graph when you are done. Notice what is happening to the graphs as he moves. Tell your neighbor what you’ve noticed, and why you think it happened.

“I noticed that…. / “I think this happened because…”

When finished, be sure to move the man back to the zero mark and then click the “clear” button on the left side of the screen to reset your graph.

2.  For this set, drag the man at a constant speed to the right for approximately 5 meters, let the man “rest” for 10 seconds, and then drag him back to his starting position. Hit stop. In the space below, draw a representation of the shape of your position graph.

Click on the playback button at the bottom of the page to look at the graph when you are done. Notice what is happening to the graphs as he moves. Tell your neighbor what you’ve noticed, and why you think it happened.

“I noticed that…. / “I think this happened because…”

When finished, move the man to the left wall and then click the “clear” button on the left side of the screen to reset your graph.

3.  Click on the green plus sign for “Maximize a graph” to open up the acceleration v time graph. Give the man an acceleration of 0.5 m/s2 by putting the number “0.5” in the input box shown to the right.

Click on “Go” and let the man move all the way to the right wall before stopping. Draw the position graph you see below.

Click on the playback button at the bottom of the page to look at the graph when you are done. Notice what is happening to the graphs as he moves. Tell your neighbor what you’ve noticed, and why you think it happened.

“I noticed that…. / “I think this happened because…”

4. Clear everything, get your man back to the left wall, close the acceleration graph by clicking the red minus sign and open the velocity graph by clicking the green plus sign. In this section, you are going to give your man a constant velocity starting from the LEFT wall. PREDICT what your position graph will look like below. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT that you predict – and it is perfectly okay to predict incorrectly! J

In the velocity input box, give your man a velocity of 0.5 m/s. Run the simulation and graph what you see in your position graph below.

How close did you come to predicting the shape of your graph?