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Gravity Force Lab HTML Guide - en

The document provides information about the Gravity Force Lab simulation including: 1) The simulation allows students to observe and adjust the gravitational force between two objects. 2) It provides guidance on common student misconceptions and encourages exploration over looking up equations. 3) The simulation includes inclusive features like audio cues and interactive descriptions for non-visual use.

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dedirusadi277
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80 views

Gravity Force Lab HTML Guide - en

The document provides information about the Gravity Force Lab simulation including: 1) The simulation allows students to observe and adjust the gravitational force between two objects. 2) It provides guidance on common student misconceptions and encourages exploration over looking up equations. 3) The simulation includes inclusive features like audio cues and interactive descriptions for non-visual use.

Uploaded by

dedirusadi277
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Tips for Teachers Gravity Force Lab

In Gravity Force Lab students observe the gravitational force that two objects exert on each other, and
adjust the properties of the masses to see the effect on gravitational attraction.

VIEW the forces DISPLAY the


in the system distance between
the objects

DRAG the HOLD the radius


masses apart or constant when
together

ADJUST masses ACCESS


keyboard
navigation help
menu

Insights into Student Use


• Students should measure distances from the center of mass, but we want them to discover this on
their own. If they use something else, like distance between outer edges, they should nd that their
data doesn’t make sense.
• We encourage students to construct their own ideas through exploration, and have found that referring
directly to the “Universal Law of Gravity” may encourage some students to simply look up the relevant
equation.

Model Simpli cations


• The scale of the masses and distances allow students to explore the gravitational force between
everyday objects. To experiment with forces on the order of 10-1-103 N, see Gravity Force Lab:
Basics.
• By default, the masses will maintain a constant density. If the mass is increased, the radius will increase
proportionally to maintain the density. If the simulation is in Constant Size mode, the radii of the
masses will instead remain constant. The color saturation of the mass maps to its density (i.e. larger
masses will have a more saturated color).
• The gures attached to the masses are displayed to help students understand why
the objects stay apart, despite their attraction. The gure will lean further back to
indicate that the force exerted on the mass it is holding has increased. However, the
gure is massless and does not contribute to the forces in the system.

Rouinfar & Fiedler, August 2023 Page 1 of 3


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Inclusive Features
Sound and Soni cation
• A tone plays that changes with the magnitude of the force as mass OR distance change to emphasize
the change on the gravitational force by either variable.
• Extra emphasis on the magnitude of the mass as being different than the force sound is possible by
enabling Enhanced Sounds in the PhET menu. A change in mass also plays a percussive tone that
changes pitch with the magnitude of the mass.
• See the Sound Features Video for more useful tips on how concepts and sound are integrated in this
sim. See the published Sound Design Documentation for more details on all sounds in this simulation.

Interactive Description
• This simulation features interactive description to support non-visual access, delivered only while using
screen reader software. See the Introduction to Interactive Description video for more info on how to
use this feature.
• Teachers can access the A11y View here to decide if this sim's interactive description meets their
instructional needs. Reminder: A11y View is not intended for student use and will not provide a good
experience for learners using screen reader software.

See the simulation page for all supported inclusive features.

Customization Options
Query parameters allow for customization of the simulation, and can be added by appending a '?' to the
sim URL, and separating each query parameter with a ‘&’. The general URL pattern is:
…html?queryParameter1&queryParameter2&queryParameter3

For example, in Gravity Force Lab, if you want to mute the audio (sound=muted), and disable external
links (allowLinks=false) use:
https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/gravity-force-lab/latest/gravity-force-lab_all.html?sound=muted&allowLinks=false

To run this in Spanish (locale=es), the URL would become:


https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/gravity-force-lab/latest/gravity-force-lab_all.html?locale=es&sound=muted&allowLinks=false

Query Parameter and Description Example Links


locale - specify the language of the simulation locale=es (Spanish)
using ISO 639-1 codes. Available locales can be locale=fr (French)
found on the simulation page on the Translations
tab. Note: this only works if the simulation URL
ends in “_all.html”.
sound - if muted, audio is muted by default. If sound=muted
disabled, all audio is permanently turned off. audio=disabled

allowLinks - when false, disables links that allowLinks=false


take students to an external URL. Default is true.

Rouinfar & Fiedler, August 2023 Page 2 of 3


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Suggestions for Use
Sample Challenge Prompts
• Identify two ways you can change the amount of gravitational force that the objects experience. How
could you increase the gravitational force using each factor? How could you decrease the gravitational
force using each factor?
• If gravity is a force of attraction between objects, why aren’t objects like your pencil being pulled
towards you? Explain your reasoning.
• Select two different values for mass 1 and mass 2. How does the force that the smaller mass exerts on
the larger mass compare to the force that the larger mass exerts on the smaller mass?
• Predict what happens to the gravitational force as the distance between the masses is doubled.
• Pick an independent variable to manipulate and design an experiment to determine what happens to
the gravitational force as this variable is changed. What do you observe?
• Design an experiment to determine the equation that describes the relationship between the
gravitational force and the masses of the objects and the distance between the objects. Plot your data
and choose an appropriate trend line.

Explore Inverse Square Laws


Use Coulomb's Law to investigate the electrostatic force.
• Determine the similarities and differences between the gravitational and electrostatic forces.
• Compare the magnitudes of the gravitational and electrostatic forces in the Hydrogen atom.

See all published activities for Gravity Force Lab here.


For more tips on using PhET sims with your students, see Tips for Using PhET.

Rouinfar & Fiedler, August 2023 Page 3 of 3

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