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Earth Hockey I

Keywords: Reference Frames, Relative Motion, Rotating Reference Frames, Coriolis Effect, Centrifugal Acceleration, Computer Visualization

rfehockey1.jpg

Highlights of the activity

  1. This computer visualization activity is designed to help upper division undergraduate students visualize the motion of a hockey puck located on the surface of the earth.
  2. Students work in groups and use a computer animation to explain trajectories of a hockey puck in different reference frames, taking into account the Coriolis effect.
  3. The whole class wrap-up discussion summarizes the possible trajectories the hockey puck can take, helping students visualize the motion of objects in a rotating reference frame.

Reasons to spend class time on the activity

Animations help students visualize the motion of objects as seen from the rotating Earth.

Reflections

Instructor's Guide


Authors: Tevian Dray, David McIntyre
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