Sled Wars Gizmo/ Student Exploration: Sled Wars_ fall2021 (Solved)

Directions: Follow the instructions to go through the simulation. Respond to the questions and prompts in the orange boxes. COMPLETE FILE; Vocabulary: acceleration, energy, friction, kinetic energy, momentum, potential energy, speed Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.) 1. A firefighter is trying to break through a door. Is he more likely to break through if he runs at the door very slowly or if he runs at the door very fast? Explain your answer. 2. Two firefighters are trying to break through a door. One firefighter is heavy, and the other is light. If they run at the same speed, which one is more likely to break through? Explain. COMPLETE FILE; 1. Use the slider to set the Snowmen to 5. Check that the height of the sled is 25.0 m. Click Play ( ). How many snowmen does the sled destroy? 2. Click Reset ( ). Set the Red sled mass to 200 kg. Click Play. How many snowmen does the sled destroy this time? 3. Click Reset. Drag the sled to the top of the hill so the starting height is 50.0 m. Click Play. A. How many snowmen are destroyed now? Date: 3/7/21 Gizmo Warm-up The ability to crash through doors and cause other changes depends on an object’s energy. With the Sled Wars Gizmo, you will explore the factors that affect the energy of a sled. The Gizmo shows a Yeti named Burt riding his sled down a steep hill. Burt plays a game where he tries to wreck as many snowmen as he can. This study source was downloaded by from CourseH on :10:22 GMT -06:00 STUDENT EXPLORATION : SLED WARS B. Why do you think this is so? COMPLETE FILE; This study source was downloaded by from CourseH on :10:22 GMT -06:00 Activity A: Acceleration and speed Get the Gizmo ready: ● Click Reset. Check that One sled is selected. ● Set the Red sled mass to 100 kg. ● Set the Number of snowmen to 0. ● Check that the height of the sled is 50.0 m. Introduction: Speed is a measure of how fast an object is moving. It is defined as distance moved per unit of time. In this Gizmo, the units of speed are meters per second, or m/s. Question: What factors affect the speed of the sled? 1. Observe: With the sled at 50.0 m, click Play. Observe the Red sled speed speedometer. A. What happens to the sled’s speed as it moves down the slope? B. Acceleration is a change in speed or direction over time. In what two ways does the sled accelerate as it descends? C. Click Reset. This time, focus on the speed of the sled after it reaches the bottom of the hill. Click Play. What do you notice? D. Does the sled accelerate after reaching the bottom? Explain. 2. Experiment: Click Reset. Set the Red sled mass to 10 kg. Click Play and then Pause ( ) after the sled reaches the bottom. A. Look at the speedometer. What is the speed of the sled? B. Click Reset, and change the Red sled mass to 200 kg. Click Play. What is the speed of the sled at the bottom now? C. Try other sled masses. Does the mass of the sled affect its final speed? In this Gizmo, there is no friction, so there is no force slowing the sled down. As long as there is no friction, the sled’s final speed only depends on the starting height. In the real world, friction will affect the sled’s final speed. COMPLETE FILE; 3. Explore: Click Reset. Use the Gizmo to measure the sled’s final speed when it starts at a height of 10 meters and when it starts at a height of 40 meters. Record these speeds below. Speed when starting from 10 m: Speed when starting from 40 m: How does increasing the starting height affect the final speed? This study source was downloaded by from CourseH on :10:22 GMT -06:00 COMPLETE FILE; This study source was downloaded by from CourseH on :10:22 GMT -06:00 Activity B: Energy Get the Gizmo ready: ● Click Reset, and check that One sled is selected. ● Drag the red sled so that its height is 25.0 m. ● Set the Red sled mass to 100 kg. Introduction: Energy can be found in several forms. Kinetic energy is energy of motion. Potential energy is stored energy, such as the stored energy of a sled at the top of a hill. Question: How are potential and kinetic energy related to one another? COMPLETE FILE; 1. Collect data: Turn on Show energy. Notice that energy is measured in joules (J). In the table, record the potential and kinetic energy of the sled at the top of the slope, about halfway down, and at the bottom.