National Science Foundation
Excellence Center of Science and Mathematics Education at King Saud University
The Ramp
Explore forces, energy and work as you push household objects up and down a ramp. Lower and raise the ramp to see how the angle of inclination affects the parallel forces acting on the file cabinet. Graphs show forces, energy and work.
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Topics
Main Topics
- Forces
- Energy
Related Topics
- 1D Motion, Friction, Force, Potential Energy, Kinetic Energy, Thermal energy, Work-Energy Theorem, Kinematics, Graphing, Conservation of Energy, Newton's Law, Work, Vectors, Gravity, Dynamics
Sample Learning Goals
- Explain the motion of an object on an incline plane by drawing free body diagrams.
- Calculate the net force on an object on an incline.
Teaching Ideas
Tips for Teachers
There is no teacher's guide for this simulation.
Ideas and Activities for this Sim
There are 8 contributions listed.
 Title | Author | Level | Type | Updated |
Algebra-based Physics Semester one lessons, clicker questions, and schedule in pdf (Inquiry Based)   | T. Loeblein | UG-Intro HS | HW CQs Lab Demo | 7/09 |
| Concept questions for Physics using PhET (Inquiry Based) | T. Loeblein | UG-Intro HS | CQs | 8/09 |
| Intro to energy | L. Trexler | MS | Lab | 5/08 |
| Ramp Activity 1: Using free body diagrams for motion on an incline (Inquiry Based) | T. Loeblein | UG-Intro HS | CQs Lab | 11/08 |
| Ramp Activity 2: Calculating Net force on an incline (Inquiry Based) | T. Loeblein | UG-Intro HS | Lab | 4/09 |
| Ramp Simulation Activity | D. Isola | HS | CQs | 1/09 |
| The Ramp PhET Lab | C. Bires | HS | Lab | 11/08 |
| The Ramp--Conservation of Energy | C. Cochran | MS | Lab | 9/07 |
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Software Requirements
| Windows Systems | Macintosh Systems | Linux Systems |
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Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7 Sun Java 1.5.0_15 or later |
OS 10.4.11 or later Apple Java 1.5.0_19 or later |
Sun Java 1.5.0_15 or later |
Translated Versions
Credits
| Design Team | Third-party Libraries | Thanks To |
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