Forces and motion

Forces and motion
Publication Date: October, 2006
Type of Resource: Interactive/Simulation

These online interactives demonstrate the interaction of forces.

The resources are a number of downloadable interactive simulations that help explain the various forces acting on moving objects in terms of the mathematics involved.

Explore the forces at work when you try to push different objects along a flat surface. Create an applied force and see the resulting friction force and total force acting on the object.

See charts that show the forces, position, velocity, and acceleration v time.

View a free-body diagram of all the forces, including gravitational and normal forces.

Sample learning goals and tips for teachers are given on the website along with many downloadable documents with teaching ideas.

The second link is to a worksheet on the site that guides students through an investigation of Newton’s second law and is particularly relevant to ACSSU229.

Australian Curriculum v9 Codes: AC9S10U05 (Year 10)

Additional Information

You might need to involve your school's IT staff in setting up this software. The use of these simulations requires your computer to be able to run Java applications.

Australian Curriculum:
  • Year 10 > Science Inquiry Skills > Communicating > Communicate scientific ideas and information for a particular purpose,... > ACSIS208
  • Year 10 > Science Inquiry Skills > Processing and analysing data and information > Analyse patterns and trends in data, including describing relationships between... > ACSIS203
  • Year 10 > Science Inquiry Skills > Processing and analysing data and information > Use knowledge of scientific concepts to draw conclusions that are consistent... > ACSIS204
  • Year 10 > Science Understanding > Physical Sciences > The motion of objects can be described and predicted using the laws of physics > ACSSU229
  • Year Senior Secondary > Science Understanding > Physical Sciences