Exploration 1.1: Click-Drag to Get Position

Please wait for the animation to completely load.

Some problems require that you click-drag the mouse inside the animation to make measurements.  These measurements cannot be more accurate than one screen pixel.  This means that depending on how you measure the position of an object you may get a slightly different answer than another student in your class.  Restart.

Use the following techniques (position is given in meters and time is given in seconds) to measure the position of the man in the x direction as a function of time:

  1. Pause the animation at t = 0 s (you may have to step back or reinitialize or reset the animation).
  2. With the cursor in the animation, hold down the left mouse button and drag the cursor to the center of the man to measure his position in the x direction.
  3. Step forward by  2s and record the time and the man's new position in the x direction.
  4. Repeat these measurements for t = 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 s.

Look at show data in table after you have finished part (d).  Be sure to take a close look at the data table.

  1. Do your answers agree with the table?  Why or why not?

 

 

Instructor's Resource CD Edition: Do not post or distribute.
The complete version of Physlet Physics is available as a text with CD; Physlet Physics can be bundled with this Prentice Hall textbook.
© 2004 by Prentice-Hall, Inc. A Pearson Company