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.)
Du
...
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: Tom should sit
more towards the middle of the see
saw the distribute weight.
Gizmo Warm-up
The Torque and Moment of Inertia Gizmo™ shows a seesaw, 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
triangular fulcrum that supports the lever.
1. Click Release. What happens? The see saw falls towards the right side
2. Click Reset. Without changing the masses, experiment with different positions of objects
A and B by dragging them around.
Can you create a scenario in which object A goes down and object B goes up? Yes, just
make sure the weight of object is greater than that of object B.
3. Can you create a scenario in which object A perfectly balances object B? Yes, make
sure the two weights equal one another and are the same distance apart.
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Activity A:
Principle of the
lever
Get the Gizmo ready:
Click Reset. Turn on Show ruler.
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?
Make sure the object with the smaller weight is closer to the outside and the heavier object
is closer to the center.
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.
Object A
mass
Object A
location
Object B
mass
Object B
location
Object A
m × d
Object B
m × d
1.0 kg -0.4 m 1.0 kg .4 -.4 .4
2.0 kg -0.4 m 1.0 kg .8 -.8 .8
3.0 kg -0.4 m 1.0 kg 1.2 -1.2 1.2
4.0 kg -0.4 m 1.0 kg 1.6 -1.6 1.6
3. Analyze: What patterns do you notice in your data? The two objects are the same distance
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