What quantity did you change?
Labs / Physics
Net Force Tug
Two forces fight over one box — set how hard each side pushes, then hit Go. Only the net force (what is left over after the two cancel) drives the motion, and heavier boxes fight back harder. Drag the box anywhere on the track to line up your own experiment.
Labs / Physics / Net Force Tug
Net Force Tug
Two forces fight over one box — set how hard each side pushes, then hit Go. Only the net force (what is left over after the two cancel) drives the motion, and heavier boxes fight back harder. Drag the box anywhere on the track to line up your own experiment.
Why it matters
Why explore this?
Physics explains how changes in forces, energy, motion, and matter produce results we can measure. This model lets you test one part of that relationship at a time.
Explore
Try the model
Fnet 40 Na 5.00 m/s²v 0.00 m/s
Investigate
Questions to test
Predict first, try it in the model, then use what you observe to answer.
What to try
- Make both pushes exactly equal. Does the box move at all — and what is the net force reading?
- Keep the forces fixed and slide the mass up. Why does the same net force produce a smaller acceleration?
- Get the box gliding, then flip which side pushes harder. How long before it actually turns around?
- Switch friction on. How much of a head start does one side now need before the box breaks free and moves?
- With friction on and the box coasting, set both pushes to zero. What brings it to a stop, and how quickly?
Explain
Make sense of what happened
Name the quantity you changed, the quantity that responded, and the physical rule connecting them. Use a readout or visible change as evidence.
Check
Before you leave
What measurable result changed?
Which physical idea connects them?
If you can answer all three using evidence from the model, you understand the main idea. If not, return to Explore and change one setting at a time.