The Big Fall - History of STEM practicals - Free-fall, Motion and Momentum

Practical 16 in the History in STEM practical series.

This practical set focuses, first and foremost on replicating Gallileo’s famous free-fall experiment. Students use modern technology to record with slow motion video and calculate an object in free-fall’s velocity, momentum and acceleration. There is also a proof of concept to show that surface area, not mass, is a major factor in determining acceleration.

Finally, using YouTube, they look at momentum in moving vehicles, using technology to analyse video frame by frame to get an estimate of a cars velocity, momentum and accelaration.

As always, it includes an introduction covering the history of the theory across multiple continents and over a period of over 2000 years.

More about the History in STEM practical Series

This series is designed to bring quality cross-curricula material to STEM subjects, that help students to explore and discover phenomena normally taught, while getting a glimpse into the history of its development.

In addition, a number of the practicals give the students the opportunity to play “Mythbusters”, looking at a number of different methods and having to reason why one or the other was the more likely or useful method.

From Ancient Greece to Vikings, China to the Golden age of the Muslim empire and beyond to India, the series takes a look at some of the most important STEM achievements throughout history.

There is a plan for 40 of these such practicals in this series, so, if you liked this one, consider looking at some of the others, or check out some of the bundles available.

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