Forces and Motion: Basics

Forces and Motion: Basics Screenshot
  • Force
  • Motion
  • Friction
Java Logo Original Sim and Translations

Topics

  • Force
  • Motion
  • Friction
  • Speed
  • Newton's First Law

Description

Explore the forces at work when pulling against a cart, and pushing a refrigerator, crate, or person. Create an applied force and see how it makes objects move. Change friction and see how it affects the motion of objects.

Sample Learning Goals

  • Identify when forces are balanced vs unbalanced.
  • Determine the sum of forces (net force) on an object with more than one force on it.
  • Predict the motion of an object with zero net force.
  • Predict the direction of motion given a combination of forces.
Version 2.3.16

Teacher Tips

Download teacher tips PDF Overview of sim controls, model simplifications, and insights into student thinking ( PDF ).

Teacher-Submitted Activities

Concept questions for Physics using PhET (Inquiry Based) A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Trish Loeblein UG-Intro
HS		 MC Physics
Algebra-based Physics Semester one lessons, clicker questions, and schedule in pdf (Inquiry Based) A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Trish Loeblein HS
UG-Intro		 Demo
HW
Lab		 Physics
Forces & Motion: Basics HTML5 - Part 2 (Friction) A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Amy Rouinfar & Trish Loeblein MS
HS
K-5		 Lab Physics
Forces and Motion A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. Sarah Borenstein MS Lab Physics
How do PhET simulations fit in my middle school program? This contribution was designed by PhET. Sarah Borenstein MS Other Earth Science
Physics
Chemistry
Biology
Alignment of PhET sims with NGSS This contribution was designed by PhET. Trish Loeblein updated by Diana López HS
MS		 Other Physics
Earth Science
Chemistry
Biology
Net force Juan Carlos Fajardo MS Lab Physics
Calculating the Acceleration Dr Akhlaq Ahmad UG-Intro
MS
UG-Adv
HS		 Lab
HW
Demo		 Physics
Other
Mathematics
Friction Investigation mary kubat K-5 Lab Physics
Mapping of PhET and IBDP Physics Jaya Ramchandani HS Other Physics
MS and HS TEK to Sim Alignment Elyse Zimmer HS
MS		 Other Physics
Biology
Chemistry
Forces and Motion with Friction Group Activity Andrew Pawl UG-Intro
HS		 Guided
Discuss		 Physics
Forces and Newton's Laws Review Scott Clements HS Guided Physics
Force and Acceleration Russ Haynes MS HW
Lab		 Physics
PhET Simulations Aligned for AP Physics C Roberta Tanner HS Other Physics
Newton's Second Law of Motion Leah L. Lecerio HS
MS		 Other Physics
Friction Quantitative Lab Steve Banasiak HS Guided
Lab		 Physics
Investigation Bruce Spurrell MS
HS		 Guided
HW
Lab		 Physics
How does mass effect the speed of a forced object? Marley Carhart K-5 HW
Lab
Guided		 Physics
Balanced and Unbalanced Forces - What Causes Acceleration Jeremy Lessard MS Guided
Lab		 Physics
Dynamics (Gr11) Unit End Exploration John Mohr UG-Intro
HS		 HW
Guided
Demo		 Physics
Applied Forces and Friction and a Review of Newton's 1st and 2nd Law Scott Clements HS Guided Physics
Modeling Paradigm Lab- 2nd Law Tom Erekson HS Lab Physics
Student Guide for PhET - Forces Motion in html5 Brian Libby HS
MS		 HW
Guided		 Physics
Forces and Free Body Diagram Lab Kara Quinlan HS Lab
Guided		 Physics
Introduction to Forces and Newton's Laws Michael Pennisi HS Lab Physics
Pushing Things Around Dean Baird HS Lab Physics
Forces and Motion Raquelyn Maglinao and Faye Nathalie Montes MS Lab Physics
Force and Motion Basics - Second grade Anne Mason K-5 Lab Physics
Kinematics Wang Yunhe HS Lab Physics
Preguntas de razonamiento para todas las simulaciones HTML5 A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Diana López HS
MS
UG-Intro
K-5
UG-Adv
Grad		 HW
Discuss		 Chemistry
Astronomy
Physics
Mathematics
Introducción a Fricción A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Amy Rouinfar & Trish Loeblein (traducción Diana López) UG-Intro
HS		 Guided Physics
SECUNDARIA: Alineación PhET con programas de la SEP México (2011 y 2017) This contribution was designed by PhET. Diana López MS
HS		 Other Biology
Mathematics
Chemistry
Physics
PREPARATORIA: Alineación de PhET con programas de la DGB México (2017) This contribution was designed by PhET. Diana López UG-Intro
HS		 Other Chemistry
Mathematics
Physics
PRIMARIA: Alineación con programas de la SEP México (2011 y 2017) This contribution was designed by PhET. Diana López MS
K-5		 Demo
Lab
Guided
Discuss
HW		 Mathematics
Physics
Astronomy
Chemistry
mesues pjeter gjoka MS Discuss
Lab
HW		 Physics
Mjerenje sile trenja Karmen Prugovečki MS HW Physics
Kracht en Beweging. Google Quizen Loran de Vries HS HW
Remote
Lab		 Physics
Werkblad simulatie Kracht & Beweging B.J.A. van der Steenstraeten MS Lab
HW
MC
Discuss		 Physics
Werkblad simulatie kracht en beweging klas 2 Martijn van der Hoff MS Guided Physics
Krachten als oorzaak van versnelling en wetten van Newton Rolf Schon MS HW
Lab		 Physics
Moodle et PhetColorado Claude Divoux HS Lab
Guided
MC		 Chemistry
Physics
Força e movimento Patrícia Oliveira MS Remote
HW		 Physics
Gamificação da Força e movimento Darkson F. Costa; José M. V. Gomes; Dommenike M. Silva; Gilvandenys L. Sales. UG-Intro
HS
MS		 Guided
Lab		 Physics
Atividade de Força e Movimento Darkson F. Costa, Jeirla A.Monteiro, Gilvandenys L. Sales MS Lab
Discuss		 Physics
Primeira e Introdução à segunda Lei de Newton Cremilson Souza HS Guided Physics
Forças e movimento: Noções Básicas Geraldo Peres; Sérgio Terres Viana; Pedro Henrique Ferreira; Vivian Bonow MS
HS		 Discuss
Demo		 Physics
Força, Massa e Aceleração (Básico) no OA "Forces and Motion: Basics (HTML5)" Artur Araújo Cavalcante e Gilvandenys Leite Sales HS
Other		 Guided
Other
HW		 Physics
Other
Mathematics
Atividades sobre o movimento dos corpos Artur Araújo Cavalcante e Gilvandenys Leite Sales Other
MS
HS		 Guided
Other
HW
Discuss		 Earth Science
Mathematics
Other
Physics
Dinâmica (Atividades) nos OA's do PhET Artur Araújo Cavalcante e Gilvandenys Leite Sales MS
Grad
UG-Adv
Other
HS		 Other
Lab
HW
Guided		 Other
Physics
Earth Science
Cinemática (Atividades) nos OA's do PhET Artur Araújo Cavalcante e Gilvandenys Leite Sales MS
UG-Intro
HS
Other		 Other
HW
Demo
Lab
Guided		 Other
Earth Science
Physics
Movimento Retilíneo Uniformemente Variado (MRUV) no "Forces and Motion: Basics (HTML5)" Artur Araújo Cavalcante e Gilvandenys Leite Sales HS
MS
Other		 HW
Guided
Other		 Physics
Mathematics
Other
Earth Science
Movimento Retilíneo Uniforme (MRU) no "Forces and Motion: Basics (HTML5)" Artur Araújo Cavalcante e Gilvandenys Leite Sales Other
MS
HS		 Other
Guided
HW		 Earth Science
Physics
Other
Mathematics
2ª Lei de Newton e Força de Atrito no "Forces and Motion: Basics (HTML5)" Artur Araújo Cavalcante e Gilvandenys Leite Sales MS
HS		 Other
Guided
HW		 Physics
Other
Earth Science
Mathematics
Impulso no "Forces and Motion: Basics (HTML5)" Artur Araújo Cavalcante e Gilvandenys Leite Sales HS
Other
MS		 HW
Guided
Other		 Mathematics
Earth Science
Other
Physics
Leis de Newton e Movimento Artur Araújo Cavalcante e Gilvandenys Leite Sales HS
MS
Other		 Guided
Other
MC
HW		 Earth Science
Physics
Mathematics
Força de Atrito Darkson Fernandes da Costa, Gilvandenys Leite Sales HS
UG-Intro		 Lab Physics
LEYES DE NEWTON Y FUERZAS DE ROZAMIENTO Pedro Salgado UG-Intro
HS		 Guided
HW
Lab		 Physics
Chemistry
Laboratorio Segunda Ley de Newton José Darío Porto MS HW
Lab		 Physics
Actividad para formalizar el Primer Principio de Newton y el concepto de Inercia, basada en predicciones Carla Hernández HS
MS		 Guided
Demo		 Physics

Browse legacy activities.

Share an Activity!

Language Download or Run Tips
Albanian All shqip Run now Forcat dhe lëvizja: Bazat
Arabic (Saudi Arabia) All العربية (السعودية) Run now مبادئ القوة و الحركة
Azerbaijani All Azerbaijani Run now Qüvvələr və hərəkət
Basque All Euskara Run now Indarrak eta higidura: oinarriak
Belarusian All беларускі Run now Сілы і рух: Асновы
Bosnian All Bosanski Run now Sile i kretanje - Osnove
Bulgarian All български Run now Действие на силите и движение
Catalan All català Run now Les forces i el moviment. Nivell bàsic
Chinese (Simplified) All 中文 (中国) Run now 力和运动：基础
Chinese (Traditional) All 中文 (台灣) Run now Forces and Motion:Basics_力和運動：基礎
Croatian All hrvatski Run now Sile i gibanje: Osnove
Czech All čeština Run now Síly a pohyb: základy
Danish All Dansk Run now Kræfter og bevægelse: Basis
Dutch All Nederlands Run now Kracht en beweging: eenvoudig
Estonian All Eesti Run now Jõud ja liikumine: algtõed
Finnish All suomi Run now Voimat ja liike: perusteet
French All français Run now Forces et mouvement : les bases
Galician All Gallegan Run now Forzase movemento: Inicial
Georgian All ქართული Run now ძალა და მოძრაობა 1
German All Deutsch Run now Kräfte und Bewegung: Grundlagen
Greek All Ελληνικά Run now Δυνάμεις και κίνηση: Τα βασικά
Hebrew All עברית Run now כוחות ותנועה: הבסיס
Hindi All हिंदी Run now बल तथा गति : मूल बातें 
Hungarian All magyar Run now Erők és mozgás - alapok
Indonesian All Bahasa Indonesia Run now Gaya dan Gerak : Dasar
Irish All Gaeilge Run now Fórsaí agus Gluaisne: Buneolas
Italian All italiano Run now Forze e moto: le basi
Japanese All 日本語 Run now 力と運動: ベーシック
Kannada All Kannada Run now ಶಕ್ತಿ ಮತ್ತು ಚಲನೆ
Kazakh All Kazakh Run now Forces and Motion: Basics
Korean All 한국어 Run now 힘과 운동: 기초
Latvian All Latviešu Run now Spēki un kustība: Pamati
Macedonian All македонски Run now Сили и движење - Основи
Malay All Bahasa Melayu Run now Daya dan Gerakan: Asas
Malayalam All Malayalam Run now ബലവും ചലനവും : അടിസ്ഥാന പാഠങ്ങള്‍
Maori All Maori Run now Ngā Tōpana me te Nekehanga: Hei Tīmatanga
Marathi All मराठी Run now बल आणि गती : प्राथमिक
Mongolian All Монгол (Монгол) Run now Динамикийн үндэс
Norwegian Bokmal All Norsk bokmål Run now Krefter og bevegelse: Grunnleggende
Oriya All Oriya Run now ବଳ ଓ ଗତି : ମୌଳିକ ଧାରଣା
Persian All فارسی Run now آشنايي با نيروها و حركت؛ اصول اولیه
Polish All polski Run now Siły i ruch: Podstawy
Portuguese All português Run now Forças e Movimento: Noções Básicas
Portuguese (Brazil) All português (Brasil) Run now Forças e Movimento: Noções Básicas Download teacher tips PDF
Russian All русский Run now Силы и движение: основы
Serbian All Српски Run now Силе и кретање - Основе
Sinhalese All Sinhalese Run now බල සහ චලිතය : මූලික කරුණු
Slovak All Slovenčina Run now Sila a pohyb: základy
Slovenian All Slovenščina Run now Vzporedne sile
Spanish All español Run now Fuerzas y Movimiento: Intro Download teacher tips PDF
Spanish (Mexico) All español (México) Run now Fuerzas y Movimiento: Intro Download teacher tips PDF
Spanish (Peru) All español (Perú) Run now Fuerzas y Movimiento:Fundamentos
Spanish (Spain) All español (España) Run now Fuerzas y movimiento: Fundamentos
Swedish All svenska Run now Kraft och rörelse: Grunder
Tamil All Tamil Run now விசைகளும் அசைவும்:  அடிப்படைகள்
Thai All ไทย Run now แรงและการเคลื่อนที่: พื้นฐาน
Tibetan All Tibetan Run now ཤུགས་དང་གཡོ་འགུལ།
Turkish All Türkçe Run now Kuvvet ve Hareket: Temel Prensipler
Ukrainian All українська Run now Сили і рух: Основи Download teacher tips PDF
Urdu All Urdu Run now قوت اور حرکت : بنیادی باتیں
Vietnamese All Tiếng Việt Run now Lực và chuyển động: Phần cơ bản
Welsh All Welsh Run now Grymoedd a Mudiant : sylfaenol

HTML5 sims can run on iPads and Chromebooks, as well as PC, Mac, and Linux systems.

iPad:
iOS 12+ Safari
iPad compatible sims

Android:
Not officially supported. If you are using the HTML5 sims on Android, we recommend using the latest version of Google Chrome.

Chromebook:
Latest version of Google Chrome
The HTML5 and Flash PhET sims are supported on all Chromebooks.
Chromebook compatible sims

Windows Systems:
Microsoft Edge, latest version of Firefox, latest version of Google Chrome.

Macintosh Systems:
macOS 10.9.5+, Safari 9+, latest version of Chrome.

Linux Systems:
Not officially supported. Please contact phethelp@colorado.edu with troubleshooting issues.

Design Team Third-party Libraries Thanks To
  • Noah Podolefsky (lead)
  • Sam Reid (developer)
  • Patricia Loeblein
  • Ariel Paul
  • Kathy Perkins
  • almond-0.2.9.js
  • base64-js-1.2.0.js
  • easing-equations-r12
  • FileSaver-b8054a2.js
  • font-awesome-4.5.0
  • game-up-camera-1.0.0.js
  • himalaya-0.2.7.js
  • jama-1.0.2
  • jquery-2.1.0.js
  • lodash-4.17.4.js
  • pegjs-0.7.0.js
  • seedrandom-2.4.2.js
  • text-2.0.12.js
  • TextEncoderLite-3c9f6f0.js
  • Tween-r12.js