The Accelerometer Interactive is an adjustable-size file that displays nicely on smart phones, on tablets such as the iPad, on Chromebooks, and on laptops and desktops. The Interactive will not be functional on any device that is not equipped with a built-in accelerometer. It will be useless on desktop computers and most laptop computers. It will excel on iPads, iPhones, and other mobile devices with accelerometers

 

This Interactive can be used at any time during a course. It's function is to plot acceleration as a function of time. The average value and the maximum value for a given time period are identified on the screen. This Interactive serves as a tool for measuring acceleration. Whether it swings back and forth, moves along with a person, or is strapped (securely, of course) to a moving cart, the Accelerometer Interactive has lots of applications in a kinematics unit as well as other units in a physics course. 

Instructors are encouraged to warn their students of the risk of attaching a mobile device to a moving object. The Accelerometer Interactive will certainly work. The mobile device it is on may not work once the experiment is over. Common sense is the cure to such possible problems.

 

 

• Reading:
  Lesson 1 of the 1D Kinematics Chapter of the Tutorial is a perfect accompaniment to this Interactive. The following page will be particularly useful in the early stages of the learning cycle on kinematics:
  
  Acceleration

• Curriculum/Practice: Several Concept Development worksheets at the Curriculum Corner will be very useful in assisting students in cultivating their understanding, most notably ...
  
  Acceleration
  Describing Motion with Velocity-Time Graphs
  Describing Motion Graphically
  
  Visit the Curriculum Corner.
  
   
• Labwork: 
  Simulations should always support (never supplant) hands-on learning. The Laboratory section of The Physics Classroom website includes several hands-on ideas that complement this Interactive. Two notable lab ideas include ...
  
  Velocity-Time Graphs Lab
  Match That Graph Lab
  
  Visit The Laboratory.

Credits