Copy of CenterMassSE - Name: Samuel Cardona-Nader Date:...

Name: Samuel Cardona-Nader Date: 03/28/22
Student Exploration: Center of Mass
Directions: Follow the instructions to go through the simulation. Respond to the questions and
prompts in the orange boxes.
Vocabulary: center of mass, mean, weighted mean
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
1. The head of this hammer is made of steel. The handle is made
of wood, which is much less dense than steel. Suppose you
wanted to balance the hammer on your finger. Draw an
arrow to indicate where you would balance the hammer on
your finger. (Click on the image, select edit to open drawing
tools).
2. Explain why you chose to draw an arrow where you did:
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Gizmo Warm-up
Suppose you tried to balance a hammer by placing your finger halfway
down the handle. The hammer would fall because the head is much
heavier than the rest of the hammer. Instead, you would have to place
your finger near the head to balance the hammer perfectly. The point
where an object balances is called its center of mass
You can use the Center of Mass Gizmo to explore how changing the
distribution and masses of objects in a system affects the total system’s
center of mass. On the SIMULATION pane, drag a single block into the
white square. Turn on Show center of mass and Show mass of each
region . The center of mass is marked by a green circle.
1. Relative to the block, where is the center of mass? Is it where you
expect it to be?
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