PhET Simulation: Balancing Act

With this PhET online physics lab your students will have fun and learn physics at the same time. Why does the lever tip to the left and when will it tip to the right? The purpose of this activity is for your students to determine what conditions must be met for a first lever to balance.

Along the way they will also be introduced to the concept of torque and will be able to answer the following questions: What is torque? What affects the amount of torque an object applies to a lever? How is torque calculated?

This online lab is intended to be used with the Balancing Act HTML5 Simulation from PhET Interactive Simulations. The link for the simulation can be found inside the resource.

PhET simulations incorporate research based, student centered activities that are fun and easy to use. All of the PhET simulations are available from their website: hET Interactive Simulations. This PhET online simulation can be done in the classroom or during distance learning.

This product includes:
(1) The lab activity worksheets.
(2) An answer key for the worksheets.
(3) Notes covering a full description of levers and torque.