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.

This editable PowerPoint presentation introduces Newton's 3rd Law and gives example of action and reaction force pairs. Agent-Object notation is introduced and used to explain the surprising reason why Normal force and Weight are equal and opposite, but NOT an Action-Reaction pair. When you dive off of a cliff, you and the entire earth fall towards each other with equal and opposite forces! (But very unequal accelerations)

In this presentation, a (secretly lazy) horse studies physics at night in the barn and uses Newton's 3rd Law to convince a farmer that it is futile to pull on a wagon since "if I pull on the wagon, the wagon exerts an equal and opposite force on me". Agent-Object notation is explained and used to analyze the three (horizontal) interactions: horse/ground, horse/wagon, & wagon/ground. Ends with an activity for small groups with whiteboards or paper to assess understanding.

This Editable PowerPoint reviews the 1st and 2nd Laws, and then introduces a taxonomy of Names and Symbols for commonly encountered forces; contact and non-contact. Four real-life examples are used to show how to identify the forces present (and not present!) and create an accurate properly labelled Free Body Diagram. Finally, the Normal force is explained at a micro-physical level, and common confusions dispelled.

This fully editable PowerPoint reviews the Octet rule and the 2 main types of bonding. It introduces covalent bonding, describes with examples how and why atoms share electrons to form compounds. The special tetravalent nature of Carbon bonding is discussed in terms of forming complex 3-D structures essential for life Finally, the naming of covalent compound is introduced, using oxides of nitrogen for examples.

This fully editable PowerPoint defines the Octet rule and the 2 main types of bonding. It introduces Oxidation Number, describes with examples how cations and anions bond and form ionic compounds. Finally, the naming of ionic compound is covered, including with polyatomic ions and transition metals.

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.

This PowerPoint provides definitions for power and efficiency in terms of rates for both work and energy transformation. Three example problems guide students through solving problems that involve finding time, power, or energy. Units utilized include Watts, Horsepower, seconds, hours, and Joules.

This fully editable PowerPoint defines Newton 1st Law in 3 ways. It gives rich historic context as to how Galileo demolished the physics of Aristotle, and shows with examples the concepts of Force, Net Force, as well as Static and Dynamic Equilibrium.

This fully editable Powerpoint explains freefall and its relationship to astronauts experiencing weightlessness while in orbit. Finally, Einstein's "happiest thought" and his revolutionary Principle of Equivalence is introduced, the crucial first step in Einstein's formulation of a radical new theory of gravity. Nine links to videos and simulations are embedded for educators who want to open up more depth and wonder!

This well designed and fully editable PowerPoint presentation explains the formula that relates weight, mass, and the acceleration of gravity. Includes 3 fully worked example word problems that show the cancellation and combination of SI units.

This tutorial and mini-worksheet explains the rationale for and the steps for creating a Free Body Diagram (FBD). Includes determining the contact and non-contact forces at play, and labeling forces. A short, but challenging, exercise lets students create 2 FBDs so they can practice the steps, and see how the choice of system changes a FBD.

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.

This is a quick 1 page reference sheet that contains 20 SI prefixes, the 7 root SI units, and an explanation of how prefixes and units combine to give re-sized units. Also defines Liters and millilters in terms of SI units. A very handy reference sheet.