Masses & Springs
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PhET
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In this online activity, learners use a realistic mass and spring laboratory. They hang masses from springs and adjust the spring stiffness and damping. Learners can even slow time and transport the lab to different planets! A chart shows the kinetic, potential, and thermal energy for each spring. Use this activity for a lesson on Hooke's Law and Conservation of Energy. This activity includes an online simulation, sample learning goals, a teacher's guide, and translations in over 30 languages.
- Under 5 minutes
- 10 to 30 minutes
- free
- Ages 8 - adult
- Activity, Experiment/Lab Activity, Simulation
- Arabic, Basque, Chinese, Croatian, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Spanish, Turkish, Vietnamese
Quick Guide
Materials List (per student)
- Computer with online access, current Macromedia Flash software, and mouse
Subjects
- Mathematics
- Data Analysis and Probability
- Data Analysis
- Data Collection
- Data Representation
- Measurement
- Units of Measurement
- Size and Scale
- Data Analysis and Probability
- Physical Sciences
- Energy
- Potential and Kinetic Energy
- Energy and Power
- Work and Machines
- Motion and Forces
- Machines
- Gravity
- Momentum and Velocity
- Acceleration
- Newton's Laws
- Structure and Properties of Matter
- Mass and Weight
- Energy
- The Nature of Science
- The Scientific Process
- Conducting Investigations
- Gathering Data
- The Scientific Process
Audience
To use this activity, learners need to:
- see
- read
- use mouse
Learning styles supported:
- Involves hands-on or lab activities
Other
Components that are part of this resource:
Access Rights:
- Free access
By:
- Dubson, Michael; Perkins, Kathy; Adams, Wendy
Rights:
- All Rights Reserved, University of Colorado, ©2011
Funding Sources:
- The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
- National Science Foundation
- Excellence Center of Science and Mathematics Education at King Saud University
- O'Donnell Foundation
- The Mortenson Family Foundation
