Torque and Moment of Inertia Gizmos-VERIFIED BY EXPERTS 2021-GRADED A+

Name: ______________________________________ Date: ________________________



Student Exploration: Torque and Moment of Inertia

Vocabulary: angular acceleration, fulcrum, lever, moment of inertia, Newton’s second law,
torque, weight


Prior Knowledge Question (Do this BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
During recess, Tom and his little sister Marcie want to play on the see-saw. Tom is quite a bit
heavier than Marcie. Where should they sit so the see-saw is balanced? Sketch their positions
on the image below.

Explain your reasoning As long as you
set both of them an equal distance from




m
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the fulcrum.
_______________________________




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Gizmo Warm-up
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The Torque and Moment of Inertia Gizmo™ shows a see-
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saw, which is a type of lever. The see-saw can hold up to
eight objects. To begin, check that the Number of objects is
2. Check that the mass of object A is 1.0 kg and the mass of
object B is 2.0 kg. The two objects are equidistant from the
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triangular fulcrum that supports the lever.
aC s
vi y re


1. Click Release. What happens? B weighs down the seesaw


2. Click Reset. Without changing the masses, experiment with different positions of objects
ed d




A and B by dragging them around.
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Can you create a scenario in which object A goes down and object B goes up? _______

Explain: _When b is closer to the end__
is
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3. Can you create a scenario in which object A perfectly balances object B? When both
are create an equilibrium
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, Activity A: Get the Gizmo ready:
Principle of the  Click Reset. Turn on Show ruler.
lever  Check that object A is 1.0 kg and B is 2.0 kg.

Question: How can you use a light object to balance a heavy object?

1. Explore: Experiment with the Gizmo to see how you can balance a heavy object with a light
object. What do you notice about the distances of each object from the fulcrum?

They


2. Gather data: For each mass and location of object A, find a location for object B so it
perfectly balances object A. You can change the mass of object A by typing the mass into
the text box and hitting “Enter” on your keyboard. Leave the mass of object B the same
(1 kg) in each experiment. Include all units in the table.




m
er as
Object A Object A Object B Object B Object A Object B




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mass location mass location m×d m×d




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1.0 kg -0.4 m 1.0 kg .4 .4 1




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2.0 kg
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-0.4 m 1.0 kg .4 .8 2
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3.0 kg -0.4 m 1.0 kg .4 1.2 3
4.0 kg -0.4 m 1.0 kg .4 1.6 4
o
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3. Analyze: What patterns do you notice in your data? They are exponentially getting greater
vi y re


by a factor of of .4


4. Calculate: Fill in the last two columns by multiplying each object’s mass by its distance from
ed d




the fulcrum. The units are kg·m. (Note: The distance d is always a positive number.)
ar stu




What do you notice? They are constant with object mass A
5. Generalize: In general, how can you calculate the distance of object B from the fulcrum so
is




that it balances object A? __________By measuring and creating an equilibrium________
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6. Apply: Suppose you wanted to lift a heavy rock with a lever. Would you place the fulcrum
near the rock or near the part of the lever where you are pushing? Explain.
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Closest to the fulcrum because the weight that is basically distributed over a small area
closest to the fulcrum rather the further you go the harder it is to lift.




This study source was downloaded by 100000823516103 from CourseHero.com on 07-09-2021 05:19:54 GMT -05:00


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