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Created 3/25/18. Updates available online.

Forces and Motion: Basics

Forces and Motion: Basics Screenshot
  • Force
  • Motion
  • Friction
Java Logo Original Sim and Translations

About

Topics

  • Force
  • Motion
  • Friction
  • Speed
  • Newton's First Law

Description

Explore the forces at work when pulling against a cart, and pushing a refrigerator, crate, or person. Create an applied force and see how it makes objects move. Change friction and see how it affects the motion of objects.

Sample Learning Goals

  • Identify when forces are balanced vs unbalanced.
  • Determine the sum of forces (net force) on an object with more than one force on it.
  • Predict the motion of an object with zero net force.
  • Predict the direction of motion given a combination of forces.
Version 2.3.0

For Teachers

Teacher Tips

Download teacher tips PDF Overview of sim controls, model simplifications, and insights into student thinking ( PDF ).

Teacher-Submitted Activities

Title Gold Star Contribution Contribution by PhET Authors Level Type
Forces & Motion: Basics HTML5 - Part 2 (Friction) A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Amy Rouinfar & Trish Loeblein K-5
MS
HS		 Lab
Forces and Motion A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. Sarah Borenstein MS Lab
Alignment of PhET sims with NGSS This contribution was designed by PhET. Trish Loeblein HS Other
How do PhET simulations fit in my middle school program? This contribution was designed by PhET. Sarah Borenstein MS Other
Balanced and Unbalanced Forces - What Causes Acceleration Jeremy Lessard MS Lab
Guided
Dynamics (Gr11) Unit End Exploration John Mohr UG-Intro
HS		 Guided
Demo
HW
PhET Simulations Aligned for AP Physics C Roberta Tanner HS Other
MS and HS TEK to Sim Alignment Elyse Zimmer MS
HS		 Other
Applied Forces and Friction and a Review of Newton's 1st and 2nd Law Scott Clements HS Guided
Modeling Paradigm Lab- 2nd Law Tom Erekson HS Lab
Student Guide for PhET - Forces Motion in html5 Brian Libby MS
HS		 Guided
HW
Forces and Free Body Diagram Lab Kara Quinlan HS Lab
Guided
Introduction to Forces and Newton's Laws Michael Pennisi HS Lab
Pushing Things Around Dean Baird HS Lab
Forces and Motion Raquelyn Maglinao and Faye Nathalie Montes MS Lab
Force and Motion Basics - Second grade Anne Mason K-5 Lab
Kinematics Wang Yunhe HS Lab
Preguntas de razonamiento para todas las simulaciones HTML5 A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Diana López MS
HS
K-5
UG-Intro
UG-Adv
Grad		 Discuss
HW
mesues pjeter gjoka MS Discuss
Lab
HW
Mjerenje sile trenja Karmen Prugovečki MS HW
Werkblad simulatie kracht en beweging klas 2 Martijn van der Hoff MS Guided
Krachten als oorzaak van versnelling en wetten van Newton Rolf Schon MS HW
Lab
Simulações no Ensino de Fisica Carla Tavares HS Lab
Guided
Other
HW
MC
Discuss
Demo
Mecánica desde la metodología del aprendizaje virtual Patricia Abdel Rahim UG-Adv Lab

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Translations

Language Download or Run Tips
Basque All Basque Run now Indarrak eta higidura: Oinarrizkoa
Belarusian All беларускі Run now Сілы і рух: Асновы
Bosnian All Bosanski Run now Sile i kretanje - Osnove
Bulgarian All български Run now Действие на силите и движение
Chinese (Simplified) All 中文 (中国) Run now 力和运动：基础
Chinese (Traditional) All 中文 (台灣) Run now Forces and Motion:Basics_力和運動：基礎
Croatian All hrvatski Run now Sile i kretanje: Osnove
Czech All čeština Run now Síly a pohyb: základy
Danish All Dansk Run now Kræfter og bevægelse: Basis
Dutch All Nederlands Run now Kracht en beweging: eenvoudig
Estonian All Eesti Run now Jõud ja liikumine: algtõed
Finnish All suomi Run now Voimat ja liike: perusteet
French All français Run now Forces et mouvement : les bases
German All Deutsch Run now Kräfte und Bewegung: Grundlagen
Greek All Ελληνικά Run now Δυνάμεις και κίνηση: Τα βασικά
Hebrew All עברית Run now כוחות ותנועה: הבסיס
Hindi All हिंदी Run now बल तथा गति : मूल बातें 
Hungarian All magyar Run now Erők és mozgás - alapok
Indonesian All Bahasa Indonesia Run now Gaya dan Gerak : Dasar
Irish All Gaeilge Run now Fórsaí agus Gluaisne: Buneolas
Italian All italiano Run now Forze e moto: le basi
Kannada All Kannada Run now ಶಕ್ತಿ ಮತ್ತು ಚಲನೆ
Kazakh All Kazakh Run now Forces and Motion: Basics
Korean All 한국어 Run now 힘과 운동: 기초
Latvian All Latviešu Run now Spēki un kustība: Pamati
Malay All Bahasa Melayu Run now Daya dan Gerakan: Asas
Malayalam All Malayalam Run now ബലവും ചലനവും : അടിസ്ഥാന പാഠങ്ങള്‍
Maori All Maori Run now Ngā Tōpana me te Nekehanga: Hei Tīmatanga
Marathi All मराठी Run now बल आणि गती : प्राथमिक
Norwegian Bokmal All Norsk bokmål Run now Krefter og bevegelse: Grunnleggende
Oriya All Oriya Run now ବଳ ଓ ଗତି : ମୌଳିକ ଧାରଣା
Persian All فارسی Run now آشنايي با نيروها و حركت؛ اصول اولیه
Polish All polski Run now Siły i ruch: Podstawy
Portuguese (Brazil) All português (Brasil) Run now Forças e Movimento: Noções Básicas
Russian All русский Run now Силы и движение: основы
Serbian All Српски Run now Силе и кретање - Основе
Sinhalese All Sinhalese Run now බල සහ චලිතය : මූලික කරුණු
Slovak All Slovenčina Run now Sila a pohyb: základy
Slovenian All Slovenščina Run now Vzporedne sile
Spanish All español Run now Fuerzas y Movimiento: Fundamentos
Spanish (Mexico) All español (México) Run now Fuerzas y Movimiento: Fundamentos
Spanish (Peru) All español (Perú) Run now Fuerzas y Movimiento:Fundamentos
Spanish (Spain) All español (España) Run now Fuerzas y movimiento: Fundamentos
Swedish All svenska Run now Kraft och rörelse: Grunder
Tamil All Tamil Run now விசைகளும் அசைவும்:  அடிப்படைகள்
Thai All ไทย Run now แรงและการเคลื่อนที่: พื้นฐาน
Tibetan All Tibetan Run now ཤུགས་དང་གཡོ་འགུལ།
Ukrainian All українська Run now Сили і рух: Основи
Vietnamese All Tiếng Việt Run now Lực và chuyển động: Phần cơ bản

Software Requirements

Windows 7+ Mac OS 10.7+ iPad and iPad Mini with iOS Chromebook with Chrome OS
Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer 11, latest version of Firefox, latest version of Chrome.
Safari 9+, latest version of Firefox, latest version of Chrome.
Latest version of Safari
Latest version of Chrome

Credits

Design Team Third-party Libraries Thanks To
  • Noah Podolefsky (lead)
  • Sam Reid (developer)
  • Patricia Loeblein
  • Ariel Paul
  • Kathy Perkins
  • undefined
English
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