PASCO SE-8747 Kinesthetics Cart KINESTHESIA-1 - Manual (Page 19)

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012-05787C Kinesthetics Cart
So far we have not yet exposed out students to sinusoidally varying forces. Of course, we could
simply suspend our students from the ceiling using the ever-so-popular bungee cords. However,
for safety reasons we opt for a horizontal simple harmonic motion. Either bungee cords or the
type of springs that we often find on garage doors are suited to convert Kinesthesia-1 into a simple
harmonic oscillator. The oscillation of the student is recorded with a motion detector and displayed
in front of the student while (s)he kinesthetically experiences sinusoidally varying forces.
Kinesthetic Experience of Non-Linear Forces
Experiment 10: The Simple Harmonic Oscillator
Experiment 11: The Human Oscilloscope
Finally, we would like to describe a use of the Kinesthetics Cart that has nothing to do with kines-
thetic experience but serves to visualize mechanically and macroscopically the basic idea behind
the oscilloscope. A student riding on Kinesthesia-1 rolls at constant velocity v past a blackboard or
a white board. Should neither of those be available, then a roll of old wallpaper works just fine.
Several yards of wallpaper are then unrolled and taped along the wall close to the floor. The stu-
dent, holding a piece of chalk or suitable marker, moves his/her hand up and down while riding on
the cart alongside the wall, creating a near-sinusoidal graph on the board or back of the wall paper.
Figure 10-1: A student riding on the Kinesthetics
Cart undergoes simple harmonic motion.