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About Springs and Masses (Principles): Ideal springtime Virtual Lab Simulation
This is the principles (high school) version of the simulation. For a more advanced version, please see “Springs and Masses: Learn how to detect earthquakes”.
Enter the ideal world… as physicists see it! In the Springs and Masses simulation, you will play with vertical springs connected to different masses in ideal conditions. You’ll learn the main properties of a special type of oscillation: simple harmonic motion. This is one of the most fundamental concepts in physics and it’s used to describe many different phenomena, from the vibration of a tuning fork to the vibrations of the electrons in an atom. In the end, you will get to see springs in action in one of their many applications: a seismic station.
Ideal springs in ideal conditions
Have you ever wondered what would happen if you attached a mass to an ideal vertical spring and you could neglect the resistance of air? These conditions are called ideal conditions and are very important for letting physicists understand the world around us. In a real lab, you can only observe approximations to ideal conditions, but in this virtual simulation, you can forget about all the real-world messy conditions. In the springs and masses simulation, you will play with a vertical spring that moves without friction and observe its motion when no air resistance acts on it.
Harmonic oscillator
Simple harmonic motion is one of the most fundamental concepts in physics. In the Springs and Masses simulation, you’ll work on an ideal system and determine its equilibrium for different combinations of springs and masses. Springs are everywhere around us, but do you know what distinguishes the spring in your pen from that in the suspensions of cars? Here, you will learn how Hooke’s law can help you determine the elasticity of different springs, and you will get to measure it yourself.
Build your own seismograph
Among their many uses and applications, a mass attached to a spring is the main building block of seismometers. Seismometers are the instruments used to detect seismic waves and other ground vibrations. Here you will get to assemble your own seismic station and learn how to read a seismogram, the recording output of a seismograph.
Will you be able to detect the magnitude and epicenter of an earthquake using just a mass and a spring?
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Techniques in Lab
- Seismometer
Learning Objectives
At the end of this simulation, you will be able to…
- Understand the motion of a mass oscillating on a vertical spring
- Determine the equilibrium position of a vertical oscillator
- Understand the basic properties of Simple Harmonic Motion
- Understand Hooke’s law in relation to a spring-mass system
- Determine the magnitude and epicenter of an earthquake from a seismogram
Simulation Features
Examples of Related Standards
Physics and Engineering related 1st and 2nd year
HS-PS4-1, HS-PS3-3, HS-ETS1-2, HS-ETS1-4, HS-ESS2-2
2.1 – Motion
4.1 – Oscillations
6.1 Period of Simple Harmonic Oscillators
6.2 Energy of a Simple Harmonic Oscillator
10.1 Properties of Waves
10.2 Periodic Waves
Screenshots of Springs and Masses (Principles): Ideal springtime Virtual Lab Simulation
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