Lesson Planet
Search educational resources
  • Sign In Try It Free
  • AI Teacher Tools
    • Discover Resources Search reviewed educational resources by keyword, subject, grade, type, and more
    • Curriculum Manager (My Content) Manage saved and uploaded resources and folders To Access the Curriculum Manager Sign In or Join Now
    • Browse Resource Directory Browse educational resources by subject and topic
    • Curriculum Calendar Explore curriculum resources by date
    • Lesson Planning Articles Timely and inspiring teaching ideas that you can apply in your classroom
    • Our Story
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Testimonials
    • Contact Us
  • Pricing
  • School Access
    • Your school or district can sign up for Lesson Planet — with no cost to teachers
      Learn More
  • Sign In
  • Try It Free

Hi, what do you want to do?

Create a lesson plan
Create a lesson plan
Generate resources with 80+ AI teacher tools
Generate resources with 80+ AI teacher tools
Search 200,000 instructional videos
Search 200,000 instructional videos
Find a teaching resource
Find a teaching resource
Masses and Springs InteractiveMasses and Springs Interactive
Publisher
PHET
Resource Details
Curator Rating
Educator Rating
Not yet Rated
Grade
6th - 12th
Subjects
Science
2 more...
Resource Type
Interactives
Audiences
For Teacher Use
1 more...
Duration
10 mins
Instructional Strategy
Simulation
Technology
Internet Access
Usage Permissions
Creative Commons
BY: 4.0
cc
Interactive

Masses and Springs

Curated and Reviewed by Lesson Planet
This Masses and Springs interactive also includes:
  • Masses and Springs
  • Join to access all included materials

Have you ever stretched out a Slinkie so much it wouldn't go back to its original shape? Slinkies, like all springs, follow Hooke's Law. A simulation uses springs and masses to demonstrate kinetic, potential, and thermal energy. It allows scholars to adjust the spring stiffness, spring damping, and even gives them the ability to slow down time.

21 Views 20 Downloads
CCSS: Adaptable

Concepts

springs, hooke's law, the law of conservation of energy, measurement

Additional Tags

science

Instructional Ideas

  • Provide springs and weights and then challenge class members to estimate the weight of an unknown mass

Classroom Considerations

  • Requires Flash 9 or later
  • Assumes prior knowledge of kinetic, potential, and thermal energy

Pros

  • Includes links to 48 teacher-created lesson plans that relate to the simulation ranging from elementary school through graduate school level
  • Translates into more than 50 languages
  • Allows the experiment to be performed using the gravitational pull of various planets

Cons

  • None

Common Core

RST.6-8.4 RST.9-10.4 RST.11-12.4

See similar resources:

Lesson Plan

Understanding Wave Motion - Slinky vs. Snaky: Which Spring is Dominant?

National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
Ride the wave to an understanding of refraction! The first in a series of two inquiry-based lessons challenges learners to create transverse waves with two different types of springs. As their wave hits an object, they observe the change...
7th - 12th Science
Lesson Plan

Heat and Thermal Energy Transfer

Virginia Department of Education
How does radiation affect our daily lives? Answer that question and others with a lesson that discusses radiation and its use in thermal energy transfer through electromagnetic waves. Pupils investigate vaporization and...
9th - 12th Science
Lesson Plan

Heat, Temperature, and Transfer

Curated OER
Physical science scholars discover an array of heat sources. They experiment to connect radiation to heat. They begin to understand thermal equilibrium. Then, they test to see if mass affects the rate of temperature change. Choose a few,...
6th - 12th Science
Lesson Plan

Newton's Second Law

Curated OER
Three memorable activities build on each other to give physics masters a firm grasp of Newton's Second Law. Pupils play with a lab cart on a flat surface and on an incline to confirm that force is equal to mass times acceleration. In the...
9th - 12th Science
Activity

University of Colorado: Ph Et Interactive Simulations: Masses & Springs

University of Colorado
An interactive simulation that teaches about springs, Hooke's Law, and conservation of energy observing changes in kinetic, potential, and thermal energy by adjusting the stiffness and damping of springs holding various masses. This...
9th - 10th Science
Interactive

University of Colorado: Ph Et Interactive Simulations: Masses & Springs

University of Colorado
Hang various mass weights on spring scales while you adjust the spring stiffness and damping in this online activity. Slow down the action, take it to another planet, or watch the amount of potential, thermal, and kinetic energy.
9th - 10th Science
Unit Plan

Mit: Open Course Ware: Mass on a Spring

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Students explore mass on a spring. Some topics examined in the activities are Hook's law, sinusoidal motion, and oscillatory motion. The resource consists of video clips, lecture notes, practice problems, and exam questions. Practice...
9th - 10th Science
Lesson Plan

MASS

Curated OER
High schoolers distinguish between weight and mass. They examine how in oscillations of a mass against an elastic spring--in the absence of gravity, or in horizontal motion--the length of the oscillation period is proportional to the...
9th - 12th Science
Interactive

Com Padre Digital Library: Open Source Physics: Falling Slinky Model

American Association of Physics Teachers
A model of a slinky consisting of a string of twenty masses connected by springs. When the slinky is released, it falls and retracts in a series of movements. The motion of the slinky can be explored by moving the masses to different...
9th - 10th Science
Instructional Video

Khan Academy: Period Dependence for Mass on Spring

Khan Academy
David explains what affects the period of a mass on a spring (i.e. mass and spring constant). He also explains what does not affect the period of a mass on a spring (i.e. amplitude and gravitational acceleration). [8:10]
9th - 10th Science
Try It Free
© 1999-2026 Learning Explorer, Inc.
Teacher Lesson Plans, Worksheets and Resources

Sign up for the Lesson Planet Monthly Newsletter

Open Educational Resources (OER)

  • Health
  • Language Arts
  • Languages
  • Math
  • Physical Education
  • Science
  • Social Studies
  • Special Education
  • Visual and Performing Arts
View All Lesson Plans

Discover Resources

  • Our Review Process
  • How it Works
  • How to Search
  • Create a Collection

Manage Curriculum

  • Edit a Collection
  • Assign to Students
  • Manage My Content
Contact Us Site Map Privacy Policy Terms of Use