Case Studies: Impulse and Force - Directions

 

How it Works:

Using the Case Studies: Impulse and Force Concept Builder is quite simple. There are two different difficulty levels. The difficulty levels differ only in terms of the number of collisions situations that must be analyzed. The difficulty of the questions are the same in each level; but the Wizard Level contains eight different questions and the Master Level contains only four different questions.

Each question provides a description and a Before-After graphic representing the two different collisions - labeled Case A and Case B. There is one subtle difference between the two cases. You must identify the one variable - velocity change (Delta V), time, or mass - that is different between the two cases. This is done by tappling on the answer field and toggling between the three choices (Delta V, time, and mass). Then you must identify which Case involves the greatest Momentum Change, Impulse and Force. You do this by tapping on the three answer fields and toggling between the three possible answers - A, B, or Both the Same. Once you have selected an answer for all four questions, a Check Answer button appears. Once you are satisfied with your answer, tap on the Check Answer button. Your answer will be evaluated and your Progress Report will be updated. 

Your goal is to earn "Stars" and to complete one or more activities. Stars are earned when you demonstrate success with a particular question. Once you show success on all the Question Groups at a particular difficulty level, you will earn the reward for that level.

Earning Stars

There are three activities in this Concept Builder. When you start up any of these activities, the number of questions for that activity are shown in the Progress Report area of the Concept Builder. You will notice that there is either a Yellow or a Red background for each question number. When starting up an activity, the background color is Yellow. Answering a "Yellow" question correctly earns you a star for that question number. However, answering it incorrectly turns the background color to Red. A question number with a Red background must be correctly answered twice (without a miss) in order to earn a star. 

 

Getting Help

You will notice that there is a Help Me button underneath the Progress Report. You should learn to use this feature of the program. It's how you can turn an exercise in answering questions into an exercise in learning. Tapping on the Help Me button will open a page with help that is specific to each question. Of course, the Help pages are only helpful if you read them. So take the time to read them. Each Help page contains four sections: a discussion of the The Basic Idea, a display of the Question that you are trying to answer, a section titled "How to Think About This Situation", and a set of links to resources in our Tutorial section. You should pay attention to the section titled How to Think About This Situation. You will find what you need to know in the two or three paragraphs of this section. You will also become a better Physics student for doing that. That is, after all, the goal of such an activity as Case Studies: Impulse and Force.
 

Thanks for being patient with the Directions. Happy learning!