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Newton's Laws

 Authors: Ms. Giselle dos Santos Castro - Federal University of Ceara - UFC
                   Dr. Nildo Loiola Dias - Federal University of Ceara - UFC

CONTROLS: 

- The red cursor lets you choose the mass of the red block.
- The blue cursor lets you choose the mass of the blue block.
- There are 4 friction coefficient options: one frictionless option and three frictional options. Options with friction have the static friction coefficient different from the kinetic friction coefficient.
- Choose the local gravity from four possibilities (Earth, Moon, Mars and Exoplanet X).
- The VIEW VECTORS button allows you to view the vectors that represent the forces on the blocks. When pressed, a new ENLARGE VECTORS button appears. This button, when pressed, shows the vectors represented in different scales.
- The RELEASE button allows the movement of blocks and at the same time starts the stopwatch.
- The RESET button puts the blocks in the initial position and resets the timer.
- If the weight of the blue block is not enough to drag the red block, when pressing RELEASE, the timer starts and the system remains at rest; 4 buttons appear that allow you to change the masses from 1 g to 1 g.


DESCRIPTION OF THE SIMULATION:

This simulation allows the study of Newton's laws using a system formed by two blocks connected by a string of negligible mass that passes through an ideal pulley. One of the blocks moves over a horizontal surface and the other block, connected to the first by the string, moves vertically. Two cursors allow one to vary the blocks' masses. Local gravity can be chosen from 4 possibilities. There are 4 friction coefficient options: one frictionless option and three frictional options. Options with friction have the static friction coefficient different from the kinetic friction coefficient. A stopwatch makes it possible to measure the movement time and thus calculate the acceleration of the system in order to relate it to the resulting force. A button allows you to view the vectors that represent the forces acting on the blocks. The simulation allows: to study the acceleration as a function of the total mass of the system, to study the acceleration as a function of the resulting force, to determine the local gravity acceleration, to determine the static and kinetic friction coefficients between the horizontally moving block and the horizontal surface. Time measurements show small fluctuations to represent experimental errors.


For an analysis of the data, consult one of the proposed ACTIVITY GUIDE.​ 
 

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