Team Einstein's Olympic Diving
- WHAT: An interactive demonstration of basic physics equations.
- BY: Jon Gherardini, Elizabeth Heckscher and Elice Sanzerkia.
- FOR: Classical High School, Spring 1996.
- SIZE: 5M (download); 6M (expanded).
INTENDED AUDIENCE
This project was designed for eleventh and twelfth grade students at Classical High School. It enables students to visualize the interaction between physical phenomena and the equations describing them. An Olympic metahpor allows students to observe several type of dives and the equations describing them. In particular, the program covers equations for projectile motion, rotational motion and angular momentum.
EDUCATIONAL GOALS
The program illustrates the relative values of the variables in equations describing the motion of an animated diver. As the diver's velocity, acceleration and other variables change, so do the position of animated variables. The visualizations are useful and enlightening, and the video dives are great to watch!
NOTES
NOTES
This program's dive visualizations are a unique and helpful way to learn about the equations covered. The demonstration provides a good supplement to any basic physics class. Unfortunately, the program is plagued with some bugs. While they do not affect the visualizations, they affect the tutorial section of the application.