Lesson Plan: Distinguishing Weight from Other Forces Physics
This lesson plan includes the objectives, prerequisites, and exclusions of the lesson teaching students how to distinguish between the effects of the weight of an object from that of other forces that may be acting.
Objectives
Students will be able to
- recognize that weight force is not necessarily equivalent to the net downward force acting on an object,
- distinguish between and calculate forces acting in situations where a weight force acts in addition to other forces that might be confused with the weight force.
Prerequisites
Students should already be familiar with
- Newton’s laws of motion,
- force as a rate of change of momentum.
Exclusions
Students will not cover
- Newton’s law of universal gravitation.