🌍 Gravity Drop
🔍 What's happening?
Gravity is a force that pulls everything down toward the ground. On Earth it pulls with a strength of
9.8 (that means falling things speed up by 9.8 meters per second, every second!).
Try this: with air resistance ON, the feather floats down slowly because air pushes back on light, fluffy things. Turn air resistance OFF (like on the Moon, where there's no air) and something amazing happens — the bowling ball and feather land at the exact same time! Astronauts actually tested this on the Moon and it worked! 🧑🚀
Try this: with air resistance ON, the feather floats down slowly because air pushes back on light, fluffy things. Turn air resistance OFF (like on the Moon, where there's no air) and something amazing happens — the bowling ball and feather land at the exact same time! Astronauts actually tested this on the Moon and it worked! 🧑🚀
⚽ Bouncy Balls
75%
…or tap the box to drop a ball right there!
🔍 What's happening?
A falling ball has energy of motion (scientists call it kinetic energy).
When it hits the floor, it squishes like a spring and pushes itself back up — that's a bounce!
But every bounce, a little energy turns into heat and sound (that's the "boing" you'd hear!),
so each bounce is smaller than the one before. A 75% bouncy ball keeps 75% of its bounce each time.
Try 95% (super ball!) and 10% (sack of flour 😄).
🛷 Slippery Slope (Friction)
25°
🔍 What's happening?
Friction is a force that happens when two surfaces rub together — it always tries to slow things
down. Rough surfaces like sandpaper have LOTS of friction. Smooth ice has almost none, which is why
sledding on ice is so fast (and why you slip on it!). If the ramp is too flat and the surface is too grippy,
the sled won't move at all — friction wins the tug-of-war against gravity! Try sandpaper at a small angle. 🏆
⚖️ Seesaw (Levers)
Tap the seesaw to place a weight:
🔍 What's happening?
A seesaw is a lever — one of the oldest machines ever! Here's the secret:
distance matters as much as weight. A weight far from the middle pushes harder than the same weight
close to the middle. That's why a kid sitting at the very end can lift a grown-up sitting near the middle!
Scientists multiply weight × distance and call it torque. Can you balance a 🐘 baby elephant
using only 🧒 kids? (Hint: put the elephant close to the middle!)
🕰️ Pendulum
🔍 What's happening?
A pendulum is a weight swinging on a string — it's what makes old grandfather clocks tick! ⏰
Here's the surprising part: only the length of the string changes how fast it swings.
A heavier ball does NOT swing faster — try it! Short string = fast tick-tick-tick.
Long string = slow tiiiick... tooooock. A scientist named Galileo discovered this over 400 years ago
by watching a lamp swing in church. 😴➡️🤯
🚀 Rocket Launch
45°
70
Best distance: 0 m
🔍 What's happening?
When you launch something, it flies in a curved path called a parabola 🌈 — it goes forward AND
gravity pulls it down at the same time. Challenge: which angle makes it fly the FARTHEST?
Try 20°, 45°, and 70° with the same power. (Spoiler: 45° is the champion — it's the perfect mix of
"going forward" and "staying up long enough"!) This is the same physics for basketballs, water fountains,
and real rockets. 🏀⛲🚀