Levers Gizmo Worksheet | Gizmos: Student Exploration - Levers

Student Exploration: Levers Vocabulary: effort, first-class lever, fulcrum, lever, load, mechanical advantage, second-class lever, third-class lever Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.) 1. A ...

Student Exploration: Levers Vocabulary: effort, first-class lever, fulcrum, lever, load, mechanical advantage, second-class lever, third-class lever Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.) 1. A lever is a rigid plank or bar that pivots on a fulcrum. Look at the lever in the picture. Where would you push on the lever to lift the rock? ______You would push the lever between points 3 and 2 to lift the rock._____________________ 2. Where are some places that you see levers in everyday life? _____You see levers in trucks that have levers so they can lift products such as storage units. _____________ Gizmo Warm-up In the Levers Gizmo, the strongman tries to lift animals by pushing down or pulling up on the lever. The force of his push or pull is the effort The weight of the animal is the load. Both forces are measured in newtons. • You can move the fulcrum to the left or right by dragging it. • You can drag animals to any spot on the lever. • You can move the strongman by dragging him. • You can change the strongman’s Effort with the slider. 1. Drag the pig to the lever. Try to arrange the lever so that the strongman can lift the pig. What did you do so that he could lift it? __ I would have to make sure that the pig was close to the strong me on the lever.______________________________________ 2019 2. Did the strongman pull up or push down to lift the pig? _ He pulled down to life the pig_____ 3. How much effort was needed to lift the pig? ___ One thousand Newtons (N) was needed to lift the pig. ____________ 2019 Activity A: First-class levers Get the Gizmo ready: • Remove the pig from the lever. • Drag the turkey onto the lever. Question: In a first-class lever, the fulcrum is between the effort (strongman) and the load (turkey). How are first-class levers helpful? First class levers are helpful since they can be used to identify how much effort is needed to raise the object. 1. Observe: Place the turkey, strongman, and fulcrum at a variety of positions. Each time, pay attention to the smallest amount of Effort needed to lift the turkey. (Note: In this simulation, the lever itself has no mass.) 2. Form hypothesis: When does a lever make it easiest to lift the turkey? ________________ I think the lever makes it easiest to lift the turkey because the force put into the lever amplifies , and the force goes into lifting the turkey. ____________________________________ 3. Experiment: Place the fulcrum at position 3, the turkey at position 4, and the strongman at position 2. Slowly increase the Effort until the turkey is lifted. A. What is the smallest force that can lift the turkey? __ 110_____________________ B. How does this effort compare to the turkey’s weight? _ The effort equals to the weight of the turkey when you subtract the bar’s weight______ 4. Revise and repeat: Move the strongman further away from the fulcrum and lift the turkey. A. What is the smallest force that can lift the turkey now? ____ 60_______ B. Which moves more, the turkey or the strongman’s hands? _ The strongman’s hands moved the most___ 5. Draw conclusions: A. How does a first-class lever help you lift a turkey? _______ The first-class lever helps lift a turkey because you arent able to put as much force onto the lever. Because the lever works with you as you lift the turkey therefore balancing the weight.__________________ B. What is the “price” that you pay for using less force? _______ the price you pay for using less force is more work to do. _____________________________ 2019 6. Predict: What will happen if the turkey is farther from the fulcrum than the strongman? ____ If the turkey was farther from the fulcrum, I believe the man would have a more difficult time lifting the turkey.______________________________ 7. Test: Check your prediction using the Gizmo. Were you correct? My prediction was correct, once the turkey was farther it took the man 70 more newtons of effort compared to when the turkey was closer (when it only took him 6o newtons)_____ 2019 Activity B: Mechanical advantage Get the Gizmo ready: • Turn on Show grid. • Place the fulcrum at position 5. • Drag the sheep to position 6. Question: How are forces and distances related? 1. Observe: Move the strongman to a few places on the lever and find the smallest effort needed to lift the sheep at each place. What do you notice? _____ when he was placed at the end of the bar, the sheep would not lift with any amount of effort. Each place on the side of the bar, the man could not lift the sheep.______________________________________________ 2. Form hypothesis: As the strongman gets further from the fulcrum, what happens to the effort needed to lift the sheep? __ I believe that the effort needed to lift the sheep when the man is farther from the fulcrum has to in