Open Stax: Falling Objects

Light and sound go hand in hand. Pupils set up a system that will emit sound when a laser is directed at a photodiode. Various objects, such as a comb and talcum powder, allow for modulation of the laser beam. Individuals also...

Students experiment with a simple periscope to see how it reflects light. They draw a diagram of the path a ray of light follows as it travels from an object, through the periscope, and into your eye.

A Java-based simulation where students can observe what happens to a free-falling object, with and without air resistance. Controls allow the user to adjust settings and the results are graphed as the simulation progresses.

Scholars must understand freefall before they learn how objects like airplanes fly. They apply knowledge of velocity and acceleration to predict speed and direction as part of a larger series on vectors and projectiles.

In this interactive module, students will calculate displacement of an object that is not accelerating, given initial position and velocity. They will also calculate final velocity of an accelerating object, given initial velocity,...

In the following interactive students will begin to define net force, external force, and system and understand Newton's second law of motion. They will also apply Newton's second law to determine the weight of an object.

In the following interactive students will begin to explain how an object must be displaced for a force on it to do work. They will also explain how relative directions of force and displacement determine whether the work done is...

In this interactive site, students will begin to understand the rules of vector addition, subtraction, and multiplication and apply graphical methods of vector addition and subtraction to determine the displacement of moving objects.

High schoolers calculate acceleration due to gravity with the measurements of the period of a pendulum or measurements of the time for an object to fall from different heights. They observe and measure the effect of air resistance on the...

What goes up must come down, but there is more to the phenomenon than meets the eye! As it turns out, any two objects attract to each other. The formula for Newton's law of universal gravitation is introduced in the explanation. A touch...