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Sliding Down an Incline Plane Model
written by Francisco Esquembre
This interactive simulation shows a stone block lying at rest on an inclined plane. Initially, the component of gravity along the plane surface is exceeded by the force of static friction. The slope of the ramp can be increased or decreased, allowing students to see the exact point when the component of gravity equals the force of static friction. If the ramp is raised any further, the block will slide down. The coefficient of static friction is set at 0.2. As the slope is increased or decreased, students will see changing numerical values for the gravitational component, the force of static friction, and the force of kinetic friction.

See Annotations (below) for two editor-recommended interactive tutorials that take students step-by-step through exercises designed to help them form a conceptual basis for solving problems related to objects moving on an inclined plane.

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.

Please note that this resource requires at least version 1.5 of Java (JRE).
1 source code document is available
Subjects Levels Resource Types
Classical Mechanics
- Applications of Newton's Laws
= Friction
- Motion in One Dimension
= Gravitational Acceleration
- Newton's Second Law
= Force, Acceleration
- Statics of Rigid Bodies
= Resolution of Forces
- Work and Energy
= Simple Machines
- High School
- Lower Undergraduate
- Instructional Material
= Interactive Simulation
= Simulation
Appropriate Courses Categories Ratings
- Physics First
- Conceptual Physics
- Algebra-based Physics
- AP Physics
- Activity
- New teachers
  • Currently 5.0/5

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Intended Users:
Learner
Educator
Format:
application/java
Access Rights:
Free access
License:
This material is released under a GNU General Public License Version 3 license.
Rights Holder:
Francisco Esquembre
Keywords:
EJS, Easy Java Simulation, friction, gravitational acceleration, gravity, inclined plane, kinetic friction, simple machine, static friction
Record Cloner:
Metadata instance created April 16, 2010 by Wolfgang Christian
Record Updated:
June 12, 2014 by Andreu Glasmann
Last Update
when Cataloged:
April 15, 2010
Other Collections:

Use in teaching

Author: Kingsley Obodo
Posted: July 4, 2011 at 3:11AM
Source: The Open Source Physics collection

Important for visualisation

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AAAS Benchmark Alignments (2008 Version)

4. The Physical Setting

4F. Motion
  • 9-12: 4F/H1. The change in motion (direction or speed) of an object is proportional to the applied force and inversely proportional to the mass.
4G. Forces of Nature
  • 6-8: 4G/M1. Every object exerts gravitational force on every other object. The force depends on how much mass the objects have and on how far apart they are. The force is hard to detect unless at least one of the objects has a lot of mass.

11. Common Themes

11B. Models
  • 6-8: 11B/M2. Mathematical models can be displayed on a computer and then modified to see what happens.

AAAS Benchmark Alignments (1993 Version)

4. THE PHYSICAL SETTING

E. Energy Transformations
  • 4E (9-12) #1.  Whenever the amount of energy in one place or form diminishes, the amount in other places or forms increases by the same amount.
F. Motion
  • 4F (6-8) #3.  An unbalanced force acting on an object changes its speed or direction of motion, or both. If the force acts toward a single center, the object's path may curve into an orbit around the center.
Illinois PER Interactive Examples: Wooden Block (Editor: Caroline Hall)
Date: 06/11/2010

The Physics Front editors recommend this interactive tutorial to help students form a conceptual basis to understand the forces acting on a block sliding down an inclined plane. A Socratic-dialog "help" sequence takes students through each step of the problem, from concept-building to a strategic analysis that includes free-body diagrams. It concludes with a quantitative section to help students independently set up equations to solve the problem.

Illinois PER Interactive Examples: Wooden Block on Inclined Plane (html)

The Physics Classroom: Inclined Planes (Editor: Caroline Hall)
Date: 07/07/2010

This editor-recommended tutorial offers extensive content support in how to determine the net force acting on an object on an inclined plane. Abundant use of free-body diagrams will help students visualize situations in which friction is zero and where frictional force must be considered.  Seven practice problems offer the opportunity to self-test understanding.

ComPADRE is beta testing Citation Styles!

Record Link
AIP Format
F. Esquembre, Computer Program SLIDING DOWN AN INCLINE PLANE MODEL, Version 1.0 (2010), WWW Document, (https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9973&DocID=1594).
AJP/PRST-PER
F. Esquembre, Computer Program SLIDING DOWN AN INCLINE PLANE MODEL, Version 1.0 (2010), <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9973&DocID=1594>.
APA Format
Esquembre, F. (2010). Sliding Down an Incline Plane Model (Version 1.0) [Computer software]. Retrieved October 4, 2024, from https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9973&DocID=1594
Chicago Format
Esquembre, Francisco. "Sliding Down an Incline Plane Model." Version 1.0. https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9973&DocID=1594 (accessed 4 October 2024).
MLA Format
Esquembre, Francisco. Sliding Down an Incline Plane Model. Vers. 1.0. Computer software. 2010. Java (JRE) 1.5. 4 Oct. 2024 <https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9973&DocID=1594>.
BibTeX Export Format
@misc{ Author = "Francisco Esquembre", Title = {Sliding Down an Incline Plane Model}, Month = {April}, Year = {2010} }
Refer Export Format

%A Francisco Esquembre %T Sliding Down an Incline Plane Model %D April 15, 2010 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9973&DocID=1594 %O 1.0 %O application/java

EndNote Export Format

%0 Computer Program %A Esquembre, Francisco %D April 15, 2010 %T Sliding Down an Incline Plane Model %7 1.0 %8 April 15, 2010 %U https://www.compadre.org/Repository/document/ServeFile.cfm?ID=9973&DocID=1594


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Citation Source Information

The AIP Style presented is based on information from the AIP Style Manual.

The APA Style presented is based on information from APA Style.org: Electronic References.

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Sliding Down an Incline Plane Model:

Is Based On Easy Java Simulations Modeling and Authoring Tool

The Easy Java Simulations Modeling and Authoring Tool is needed to explore the computational model used in the Sliding Down an Incline Plane Model.

relation by Wolfgang Christian
Covers the Same Topic As http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/vectors/U3l3e.cfm

This interactive tutorial from The Physics Classroom collection offers extensive content support on how to determine the net force acting on an object on an inclined plane. It includes problems in which friction is present. Abundant use of free-body diagrams helps with visualization.

relation by Caroline Hall
Same topic as Sliding Down an Inclined Plane Model

A simpler version of the Inclined Plane model -- frictional force is removed.

relation by Caroline Hall

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