TI-Nspire™ Activities: Physics

In this activity, students investigate uniform circular motion. They determine the relationship between the radius of a circular path, the velocity of the object moving along the path, and the object's angular acceleration.

First, students examine an animation of an object moving in a circular path. Vectors show the object's velocity and acceleration at each point on the path.

Students vary the radius of the circle while keeping the velocity constant. A Lists & Spreadsheet application automatically captures data on the radius of the circle and the object's resulting acceleration. These data are graphed, and students use the graph to infer the relationship between acceleration and radius.

Next, students change the object's velocity while holding radius constant. The Lists & Spreadsheet application again records data on the object's acceleration and velocity.

Students examine the graph of acceleration vs. velocity to determine the relationship between these two variables. These two graphs allow students to derive the equation relating velocity, radius, and angular acceleration (a = v2/r ).

Finally, students use this equation to solve several problems involving uniform circular motion.