written by Andrew Duffy
supported by the National Science Foundation

The Car Race model is a Java-based simulation that will help students visualize the difference between constant velocity and constant acceleration. It features the classic physics scenario in kinematics: a lead car travels at constant velocity on a straight track, while a second car moves from rest with constant acceleration in the same direction. Each time the game is reset, the position and velocity of the lead car change, while the acceleration of the second car also changes. Which car will win?

SEE ANNOTATIONS (below) for an interactive tutorial on the topic of velocity and acceleration, recommended by The Physics Front editors.

This item was created with Easy Java Simulations (EJS), a modeling tool that allows users without formal programming experience to generate computer models and simulations. To run the simulation, simply click the Java Archive file below. To modify or customize the model, See Related Materials for detailed instructions on installing and running the EJS Modeling and Authoring Tool.

• Download ejs_bu_Car_Race2b.jar - 1979kb Java Archive File

Last Modified June 2, 2014

This file has previous versions.

The source code zip archive contains an XML representation of the Car Race model.   Unzip this archive in your EJS workspace to compile and run this model using EJS.

• Download ejs_bu_Car_Race.zip - 2kb Compressed File

Published April 27, 2010
Last Modified April 27, 2010