When will objects float and when will they sink? Learn how buoyancy works with blocks. Arrows show the applied forces, and you can modify the properties of the blocks and the fluid.

Learn about conservation of energy with a skater dude! Build tracks, ramps and jumps for the skater and view the kinetic energy, potential energy and friction as he moves. You can also take the skater to different planets or even space!

This lesson addresses 2018 Virginia Science Standards of Learning 1.2a, “The student will investigate and understand that objects can move in different ways. Key ideas include a) objects may have straight, circular, spinning, and back-and-forth motions.During this investigation, students predict and test the motions of six objects.  

Students will learn about direct force and how pushes and pulls are forces.

The purpose of this Podcast is to demonstrate the different ways that objects can move while incorporating non-locomotor and locomotor physical activity.

This podcast will focus on combining PE objectives on movement with 2nd Grade Content objectives found in the Force & Motion unit.  Specifically we will introduce pushes and pulls using use movements to give listeners a chance to solidify the scientific concepts taught.

Explore the forces at work when you try to push a filing cabinet. Create an applied force and see the resulting friction force and total force acting on the cabinet. Charts show the forces, position, velocity, and acceleration vs. time. View a Free Body Diagram of all the forces (including gravitational and normal forces).

Learn how friction causes a material to heat up and melt. Rub two objects together and they heat up. When one reaches the melting temperature, particles break free as the material melts away. Arabic Language.

Visualize the gravitational force that two objects exert on each other. Change properties of the objects in order to see how it changes the gravity force.

Move the sun, earth, moon and space station to see how it affects their gravitational forces and orbital paths. Visualize the sizes and distances between different heavenly bodies, and turn off gravity to see what would happen without it!

Hands on Physics is a co-production of Blue Ridge PBS ECHO and Virtual Virginia. The episodes were all recorded in the demonstration physics lab at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.

This demo includes a cart on a track with vectors identifying motion. Then, the cart slows, and the vector reverses to indicate motion, and the cart reverses direction.
VA SOL PH.3, 3a

Hands on Physics is a co-production of Blue Ridge PBS ECHO and Virtual Virginia. The episodes were all recorded in the demonstration physics lab at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.

This demo illustrates dropping objects with air resistance and without, confirming that all objects fall at the same rate (g) It includes discussion of a similar experiment done by NASA astronauts on the moon.

VA SOL PH. 2d

Hands on Physics is a co-production of Blue Ridge PBS ECHO and Virtual Virginia. The episodes were all recorded in the demonstration physics lab at Virginia ...

This activity is designed to have students investigate the basics of forces and how they affect motion. They will also have the opportunity to participate in a PHET Simulation by the University of Colorado on Force and Motion and use the simulation to create a simple Experimental Design and collect data.

In this physics lab (best done outside), students will explore Newton's Third Law - 'For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction'. Students will fill empty 35-mm film canisters with water and part of an Alka-Seltzer tablet, place the cap on, and place the canister either cap side down or the cap against a hard surface like the school building. Students will measure the distance the canister is pushed away from the building or into the air. Students will summarize their understanding of Newton's Third Law and suggest applications of the Third Law in everyday life.

Join the ladybug in an exploration of rotational motion. Rotate the merry-go-round to change its angle, or choose a constant angular velocity or angular acceleration. Explore how circular motion relates to the bug's x,y position, velocity, and acceleration using vectors or graphs.

Can you avoid the boulder field and land safely, just before your fuel runs out, as Neil Armstrong did in 1969? Our version of this classic video game accurately simulates the real motion of the lunar lander with the correct mass, thrust, fuel consumption rate, and lunar gravity. The real lunar lander is very hard to control.

A realistic mass and spring laboratory. Hang masses from springs and adjust the spring stiffness and damping. You can even slow time. Transport the lab to different planets. A chart shows the kinetic, potential, and thermal energy for each spring.

Try the new "Ladybug Motion 2D" simulation for the latest updated version. Learn about position, velocity, and acceleration vectors. Move the ball with the mouse or let the simulation move the ball in four types of motion (2 types of linear, simple harmonic, circle).

Build your own system of heavenly bodies and watch the gravitational ballet. With this orbit simulator, you can set initial positions, velocities, and masses of 2, 3, or 4 bodies, and then see them orbit each other.