COMPARING INTERACTIONS - LAB

OBJECTIVES:
Differentiate electromagnetic and gravity interaction.

BACKGROUND:
Describe 4 interactions.
Compare electromagnetism with gravity.
Gravity has to do with motion.

A physicist may define forces as mass times acceleration.  A force that acts on a body which is free to move, produces an acceleration in the motion of a body, measured by the rate of change of the momentum of a body.  In this case force is treated mathematically, however forces also refer to a fundamental notion of motion.

This portion of the lab will focus on mechanics.  In this lab, there will be different gadgets around the room in stations, and the students will have to decide how to explain why that gadget works.  You will have to discuss friction, gravity, buoyancy, action/reaction, inertia,  and any other force that will describe the gadgets listed below in the procedure.

MATERIALS:
Love meter, slinky, force machine, small rubber balls, magnets, alien ball, jacobs ladder,  density timers, immersed hourglass

Answers:
Drinking Duck: changing pressure in bulb
Love meter: changing pressure in bulb
Slinky: spring, gravity
Force machine: action – reaction forces
Small rubber balls – gravity
Magnets –magnetism
Alien ball- electricity, light, sound
Jacobs ladder – gravity, friction
Density timers – gravity