This lab is an inquiry activity in that students have not been exposed to the idea of terminal velocity, though they are using skills that they already have to analyze the balloon’s motion. The lab is both a review of graphing and translating distance versus time graphs, as well as an inquiry into terminal velocity leading into a discussion about air resistance. A discussion of terminal velocity is included at the end of the lab to give students a name for the phenomenon they have just witnessed. The pennies will help the balloon fall straight, but washers or other suitable objects of the same mass may be used.
Details
Type Book ChapterPub Date 5/30/2009Stock # PB240X_8