Summary:
Today, students took part in the infamous Car-Pushing Lab. They took turns pushing my car across a 20 meter track. Using a stopwatch, they timed each pusher. Then they calculated acceleration using the a=2d/t² formula, plugged in the mass of my car (1,350 kg), and calculated the force of each pusher.

The lessons included how to use Newton’s 2nd Law, that increasing the number of pushers will increase the force, and that increasing the mass of the car (everybody jump in!) will reduce the acceleration.

Resources:
September 18 – Car Pushing Lab (pg111).docx