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GeoGebra suvat

Introduction

In this simulation a the position of a red ball wil be defined in terms of the suvat equations. Graphs will then be plotted showing position and velocity vs time.

Defining quantities.

Before you can write the equations of motion you need to define the variables. This is done by placing sliders on the graphics window. Click the slider button then click where you want the slider to appear on the graphics window (somewhere near the top). The first variable is time so call the slider t and set the range from 0 to 10 in incremements of 0.01

B

Repeat the same procedure to define sliders for:
Initial velocity, u (from -5 to 5 in 0.1 increments)
Acceleration. a (from -5 to 5 in 0.1 increments)

Defining relationships

If a body moves with constant acceleration it's position will be defined by the suvat equation s=ut+½at2 . Enter this equation in the Input space at the bottom of the window (s=u*t + 0.5*a*t^2)

Place a point by clicking the "new point" button then clicking somewhere on the graphic window. This is point A, its coordinates are displayed in the algebra window. You want its y position to be defined by the equation so change its coordinates so that it's x coordinate is -1 and its y coordinate is s.

If the point isn't red already you can make it so by double clicking it and clicking object properties, you can also make it nice and big by increasing it's size in the style options.

Animating the point

To make the point move you need to vary time, this can be done by sliding the slider or can be made to run on its own if you double click the t slider and tick "animation on" under the basic tab.

Graphing s&v vs t

You now have the red ball moving about according to the suvat equation the next stage is to plot a graph of its position vs time. To do this place a second point on the graph and change its coordinates to (t,s). Double click the point and tick show trace from the object properties basic tab. As this point moves around it wil leave a trail of points behind it. Try running the animation to see what happens.

Before you can plot v you will need to define it according to the suvat equation v2=u2 + 2as

To plot v against t create another point and define its coordinates as (t,v).
If you only want to show one graph at a time you can place a check box in the window. This option can be found under the slider button.

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