U2 Physics

Students study the motion of a solar powered cart using video analysis. Students will determine the speed of a solar cart from a position vs. time graph, and they will also be able to use the information from the chart to describe the motion. Is the velocity of the solar powered cart constant? How constant the velocity is? A video of the motion is uploaded for the video analysis, and a key is also provided. results may differ depending on the cart used.

In this activity student will use a motion sensor to collect the position of a pull-back toy cart. Students will use the equations of kinematic to determine the acceleration from a velocity vs time graph, or a position vs time graph. Students will use the information obtained to answer the post lab questions. Students also will learn and practice on data collection, and display using data tables and graph.

Students will be able to measure the acceleration of a cart down the ramp for different inclination angles, collected data may be used to predict the acceleration of the cart for an angle of 90 degrees by extrapolation. A graph of acceleration vs. sine(angle) should yield a strait line with a slope equals to the free fall acceleration g. A key and student sample data is provided.

Use video analysis to measure the acceleration of a falcon 9 rocket. How to determine the position, velocity, and acceleration of the rocket over time? How to use the data collected to analyze the rocket's motion? This lab activity is divided in four main sections, Introduction, data collection and data plotting , Analysis questions, and post-lab questions. any online source showing telemetry from a rocket launch may be used.

Lab activity: Use video analysis or similar technology to measure the velocity of a solar powered cart. Students will learn how to use excel or google sheets to graph data, plot a graph and obtain information from the graph as evidence to support a claim. Students may work in groups share the work, compare and communicate their results to the rest of the class. Students explore concepts like average velocity and instantaneous velocity.

Students investigate the acceleration of a cart down an incline for different incline angles, they will use the data obtained in this investigation to estimate the acceleration the cart would have if the angle is 90 degrees (vertical drop). This lab may be used to make the connection between accelerated motion and free fall motion.

Practice on plotting data into a chart and get useful information from the chart using excel or google sheets, you may upload a copy of this file to your google drive and convert it to a google sheet. Students will experience the connection between the speed of the moving object and the slope of the line in the chart, as well as the meaning of the y-intercept as the starting position of the object. There are good videos available in youtube.com about the topic to show the students before doing