Forces and Motion- PhET Simulation Activity Name:___________________

Physics

Remember…it is not the presence of forces that cause acceleration…it is the

presence of unbalanced or NET forces!

TO GET TO SIMULATION: Either Google “Phet Forces and Motion:Basics” and

open the 2.14 version or enter this address:
https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/forces-and-motion-basics
**Open by pressing the play button on the simulation image.

Procedure PART 1: Acceleration WITHOUT friction:

1. Open the “Acceleration” tab and set the friction to “None”.
2. Select forces, values, masses, and acceleration as seen to the right.
3. Change the object and applied force to what the table calls for and fill in
the blank values.
4. You may have to reset the simulation if your guy runs out of room! You
can also use the pause button to get the forces to a larger value before you
hit play!
Force applied Mass (crate) Acceleration
100. N 50. kg a. 2.00 m/s2
250. N 50. kg b. 5.00 m/s2
Force applied Mass (crate +bucket) acceleration
150. N 150.0 kg c. 1.00 m/s2
d. 375 N 150.0 kg 2.5 m/s2
Force applied Mass (fridge) acceleration
50. N 200.0 kg e. 0.25 m/s2
f. 300 N 200.0 kg 1.5 m/s2
Force applied Mass (fridge + man) acceleration
100. N 280. kg g. 0.36 m/s2
h. 490 N 280. kg 1.75 m/s2

PART 2: Friction forces: Fill in the blanks as you use the simulator:

1. Select the “Friction” tab at the bottom of the screen.

2. Check mark the Sum of Forces, values, and masses settings. Keep friction in the default center setting.

3. Using the default crate, apply forces of 50 N and 100 N to the crate. Do this by using the button.
Observe the applied force and friction force. Without movement, these forces are equal .
4. Now apply 150 N to the crate. The crate should start to move. What happened to the value of the friction
force? . This was the change from static to kinetic friction!
5. What value was the Sum of the forces when the applied force was 150 N? 56N .
6. As the crate is moving, continue increasing the applied force. Does frictional force change? No .
 7. If you quickly remove the applied force (set it back to zero), what happens to the crate? The person
stops pushing in and the crate continues to move on its on. .
8. Reset the simulator and check the Sum of Forces, values, and masses settings again. Now place another object
on top of the crate. What did adding this mass do to the frictional force value? decreased the number.
.
9. Play with each object and observe the frictional force value. How did adding more mass affect the frictional
force value? The number was less value. .
10. Based on your observations in this part, what value of mass does the “unknown” gift box have? 94N

PART 3: Frictional forces and Acceleration:

1. Go back to the acceleration tab and select “sum of forces, values, masses, and acceleration” again. KEEP
FRICTION IN CENTER!
2. Set the simulator to the following and record the values of each in the table below:

OBJECT: Force applied Force of friction Sum of Forces Mass Acceleration

Crate 150. N 94N 56N 50kg 1.12m/s2
Crate + man 500. N 244N 256N 130kg 1.97m/s2
Bucket + girl 400. N 263N 137N 140kg 0.98m/s2

3. Reset the simulator, replace the crate with just the bucket, turn on sum of forces, values, and masses, BUT keep
acceleration OFF! Apply a force of 400 N. Record ALL the force values below and then CALCULATE the
bucket’s acceleration. SHOW all your work below:

4. Turn the acceleration value back on. Did your calculated value above match the simulation’s value? .

5. Reset the simulation and change the object to the fridge. Apply a force of 500 N to it. EXPLAIN what happens now!
.

6. What do you have to do to get the fridge to move? .

SUMMARY QUESTIONS: Highlight the answer which fits the best OR fill in the blank:

1. Without friction, an applied force will create a larger/smaller acceleration on a larger mass compared to a
smaller mass.
2. As a small force was applied to the object, the object didn’t move because the magnitude of the force of friction
was larger than / smaller than / equal to the applied force.
3. Our experiment showed that static (not moving) friction is greater than / less than kinetic (moving) friction.
4. The sum of forces is found by the applied force and frictional forces.
5. I’m not accelerating, so the net force on me, while I’m sitting here doing this lab is .