Galileo and Inertia
The number and unit in the green box by the measuring tape is roughly equal to the distance traveled by the skater after he got to the very bottom of the track. According to my measuring tape, the skater moved roughly 8.72 meters along the right-hand side of the track after he got to the bottom of the track. Your measurement should be about the same.
Compare this to the distance the skater traveled when the right-hand side of the track had a steeper slope. When the slope was steeper, I measured that the skater moved roughly 6.05 meters along the right-hand side of the track, and when the slope was less steep, he moved roughly 8.72 meters along the right-hand side of the track.
In other words, when we DECREASED the slope of the right-hand side of the track, the skater moved FARTHER along the right-hand side of the track.
Try decreasing the slope of the right-hand side of the track again by dragging the blue circle at the right-hand side of the track to the right HORIZONTALLY. Release the skater on the line labeled with the number 6 on the left-hand side of the track, and watch as the skater moves down the left-hand side of the track and back up the right-hand side.
You should notice that the skater ended up on the line labeled with the number 6 on the right-hand side of the track, and if you measure the rough distance the skater traveled along the right-hand side of the track, you should see that the skater moved even farther than the 8.72 meters he moved before.
So, when we DECREASED the slope of the right-hand side of the track even more, the skater moved EVEN FARTHER along the right-hand side of the track.
Based upon what we have seen in this experiment, what would happen if we decreased the slope of the right-hand side of the track until the right-hand side of the track became horizontal? In other words, how far would the skater move if the track looked like the picture below.
Post your answer to the following question in the Lino bulletin board below.
Question: According to what we have seen in this experiment, how far would the skater move if the right-hand side of the track were horizontal?
Note: To post in the Lino, place your cursor over "Galileo and Inertia" in blue below and select a sticky note.
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