Code Number: 1D10.15
Demo Title: Car on a Moving Sheet - Velocity Addition
Condition: Excellent
Principle: Velocity and Vector Addition
Area of Study: Mechanics
Equipment:
Toy cars with battery adapter for using with one or two batteries or variable speed Pasco car, cardboard sheet, cup targets, suction cup.
Procedure:
Place the car with one battery on the table so that it will move across the sheet and run into the cup on the other side. Then do the same experiment, but pull the sheet at 90 degrees to the direction of the car. You should be able to time the movement of the sheet so that the car runs into the back cup.
Take out the battery adapter and add the second battery to make the car go with twice the velocity.
It is easier to use the Pasco variable speed car for this demo.
References:
- Guy Vandegrift, "The River Needs a Cork", TPT, Vol. 46, # 7, Oct. 2008, p. 440.
- David P. Taylor, "Vector Video", TPT, Vol. 39, #1, Jan. 2001, p. 14.
- Paul Hewitt, "Figuring Physics", TPT, Vol. 38, #4, Apr. 2000, p. 216.
- Harvey F. Blanch, "How To Avoid Niagara Falls", TPT, Vol. 37, #2, Feb. 1999, p. 78.
- Bruce Gregory, "Flying in a Crosswind", TPT, Vol. 34, #6, Sept. 1996, p. 326.
- Paul Hewitt, "Figuring Physics", TPT, Vol. 34, #4, Apr. 1996, p. 246.
- Robert P. Bauman, "Are Arrows Vectors? and Similar Problems", TPT, Vol. 31, #7, Oct. 1993, p. 390.
- Alfredo A. Louro, "Are Arrows Vectors? and Similar Problems", TPT, Vol. 31, #7, Oct. 1993, p. 390.
- Nathan Brown, "Vector Addition and the Speeding Ticket", TPT, Vol. 31, #5, May 1993, p. 274.
- Roger Blickensderfer, "Fighting the Current",TPT, Vol. 30, #1, Jan. 1992, p. 44.
- Glenn L. Green, "Vector Addition Demonstration Apparatus", AJP, Vol. 48, #10, Oct. 1980, p. 887.
- Martin Gardner, "Twiddled Bolts", Smart Science Tricks, p. 44.
Borislaw Bilash II and David Maiullo, "You Go This-a-way and I'll Go That-a-way", A Demo a Day: A Year of Physics Demonstrations, p. 25.