Circle High School

Towonda, Kansas

Experiment Title: The Motion and Mathematics of Objects in Microgravity

The purpose of this experiment is to demonstrate how objects move in a weightless environment by using a tube and objects of various masses. Students will be able to see the laws of motion in action to facilitate their understanding. Students will then use mathematics to calculate a variety of the tube's physical characteristics such as velocity, acceleration, and force. They will use these concepts to understand how mass effects force and acceleration as well as seeing the difference between weight and apparent weight in the "weightless" environment. We will use the results from the experiment in physics and math classes to further student understanding of the involved topics.

L-R: Shelly Nibarger; Merle Craig; Rebecca Cutri-Kohart, NASA mentor; Dan Mattern, lead teacher