Jim'sCosmicScience

This lab activity has student groups riding an elevator while a volunteer stands on a bathroom scale in order to get readings on the Normal Force. After conversion from pounds to Newtons, students create 8 Free Body Diagrams showing the forces on the person, the directions of the velocity and acceleration vectors, and calculations for the net force and acceleration experienced by the rider.

Introductory worksheet gives students practice drawing Free Body Diagrams for a simple situation (huskies pulling dog sled) involving 2 vertical forces and 3 horizontal forces. Students write an expression for net force along each axis using the correct symbols/abbreviations and apply the 2nd law to find the acceleration. Follow up questions use kinematic formulas to describe the resulting motion.

A 1 page review of Newton's first and second laws. Students fill in the blanks using a word bank. Good warm-up activity with a partner or small group. Complete solution included.

Students practice creating properly labelled Free Body Diagrams starting from 6 real-life scenarios. Includes complete solution.