Physics Lab
Name:Tom Jessessky and Alec
Szaleski
Period:2B
Moving Man Simulation
Answer the following in your lab book.
Click here to run the simulation or type in this address:
http://phet.colorado.edu/sims/moving-man/moving-man_en.jnlp
1. Investigate Moving Man by having the man move using the sliders. Use the playback features to look
at the graphs. While you make observations talk about the reasons the graphs look the way they do.
2. Make a chart like the one below on your own paper. Without using Moving Man, sketch what you
think the graphs would look like for the following scenario and explain your reasoning.
Scenario: The man starts at the tree and moves toward the house with constant velocity
Position - time graph
Explain your reasoning for the graph’s
appearance red text
At a constant velocity the position of the
man will start at negative and consistently
become more positive
Velocity - time graph
Explain your reasoning for the graph’s
appearance
The velocity of the man stayed constant and
he was moving in a positive direction
Acceleration - time graph
Explain your reasoning for the graph’s
appearance
He does not accelerate because his velocity
remains constant
3. Now, use the Moving man simulation to verify or correct your predicted graphs and reasoning with a
different color pen.
4. Make new charts for each of the following scenarios. Predict what you think the graphs will look like,
and then use Moving man to verify or correct your predicted graphs and reasoning with a different color
pen.
a. The man starts three meters from the house and accelerates towards the tree.
2/15/2016 Loeblein about 100 minutes
1
Physics Lab
Moving Man Simulation
Name:Tom Jessessky and Alec
Szaleski
Period:2B
Reasoning: Because he is accelerating the
position change is slow at first but as he
accelerates the position change is faster and
the line curves because of the changing
slope of the line.
Though his speed is increasing, the direction
is negative which makes his velocity
negative causing the downward slope of the
line.
Because his velocity is negative his
acceleration is also negative and he
accelerates at a constant rate which makes
the line flat
b. The man stands still while he talks on his cell phone at the middle of the sidewalk, then walks
toward the house at a constant rate trying to get better cell reception. He comes to a sudden stop
when the coverage is good (about a meter before the house) and stands still to finish his
conversation.
Scenario:
Position - time graph
Explain your reasoning for the graph’s
appearance red text
At a stop his position stays the same then his
position increases constantly then his
position stays the same when he stops again
Velocity - time graph
Explain your reasoning for the graph’s
appearance
His velocity is zero while he is standing
then his velocity is a constant positive value
while he moves then goes back to zero
2/15/2016 Loeblein about 100 minutes
2
Physics Lab
Moving Man Simulation
Acceleration - time graph
Name:Tom Jessessky and Alec
Szaleski
Period:2B
Explain your reasoning for the graph’s
appearance
The man is not accelerating while standing
still but accelerates for a moment while
before he starts moving forward then goes
back to zero acceleration then when he stops
he negatively accelerates and goes back to
zero.
c..
The man starts close to the house, stands still for a little while, then walks toward the tree
at a constant rate for a while, then the slows to a stop.
Position - time graph
Velocity - time graph
Explain your reasoning for the graph’s
appearance red text
At a stop his position is the value of where
he is standing then his position becomes
more negative as he moves toward the tree
and as he slows his position curves then his
position remains constant at the stop.
Explain your reasoning for the graph’s
appearance
The velocity is zero as he is standing still
then is constantly negative as he moves
toward the tree then curves as he slows
down and comes to a stop
Acceleration - time graph
Explain your reasoning for the graph’s
appearance
The acceleration is negative after the
man begins walking with a negative
velocity. It increases to a constant value
as he slows down then goes back down
to zero when he stops.
5. Look at your graphs, reasonings and the corrections from questions 2 and 3. Talk about why some of
your predictions were wrong and how your ideas about motion have changed.
Some of our predictions were wrong because we got confused about which values would be negative and
positive because of the position values of the simulation. Our ideas about motion have changed because
we have started to understand the different looks of each of the position, velocity, and acceleration graphs
and their relationships.
2/15/2016 Loeblein about 100 minutes
3
Physics Lab
Name:Tom Jessessky and Alec
Szaleski
Period:2B
Moving Man Simulation
6. Sketch the position, velocity and acceleration graphs for the following scenario:
A man wakes up from his nap under the tree and speeds up toward the house. He stops because he
is worried that he dropped his keys. He stands still as he searches his pockets for his keys. Once he finds
them, he continues calmly to walk toward the house and then slows to a stop as he nears the door.
Position
Velocity
Acceleration
7. With your lab partners, write a motion scenario that you could test. Test it, and then write a
description of how you used the program to generate the graphs. Sketch the graphs.
A man is confused about directions to the house but is too afraid to ask for help. He walks toward the tree
at a steady rate then turns around and accelerates all the way to the house and stops.
How to use the program:
Have the man at position 0 and set velocity to -2m/s. Let him get to the tree then set the velocity to 2m/s
and the acceleration to 1m/s/s. Have him reach the house then set the velocity and acceleration to 0 and
have him stop at house.
Position:
Velocity
8
2/15/2016 Loeblein about 100 minutes
4
Physics Lab
Moving Man Simulation
Name:Tom Jessessky and Alec
Szaleski
Period:2B
Acceleration
8. Individually write a possible scenario for the following graph. Then compare your scenario with
your lab partners to check if its reasonable.
time
The man starts at the wall and moves toward the house while slightly accelerating then slows down and
stops for a few seconds, turns around accelerates back toward the wall and begins to slow down again.
2/15/2016 Loeblein about 100 minutes
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