Getting the Hang of Charge - Directions

 

How it Works:

Using the Getting the Hang of Charge Concept Builder is quite simple. You will be presented with a description of the interaction between two or more balloons ... and on occasion between one of the balloons and some neutral bits of paper. In all cases, the charge of Balloon A is stated and you will have to use the information about the interaction between the balloons (and between a balloon and paper bits) in order to determine the charge on either Balloon B or Balloon C. Use the rules that oppositely-charged objects attract each other, like-charged objects repel each other, and a neutral and a charged object attract each other to determine this unknown charge. You can answer the question by tapping on the buttons labeled Positive, Negative, and Neutral that are displayed near the bottom of the Concept Builder. You can tap on more than one answer since the given information may not be sufficient to isolate a single answer from among the three answer options. Tapping once on a button selects that answer. Tapping a second time deselects that answer. You will know an answer is selected because the text turns red (from grey) and the button is highlight with a yellow highlight. Each tap of the button results in the creation of a verbal statement of what answers you have currently selected. You will see this in red text just above the buttons. Whenever you have at least one answer selected, a Check Answer button will appear. If you are satisfied with your answers, tap on the Check Answer button. Your answers will be evaluated and your Progress Report will be updated.

Your goal is to earn "Stars" and to complete one or more levels of difficulty. Stars are earned when you show success on a particular question. Once you show success on all the questions at a particular difficulty level, you will earn the reward for that level.

 

Earning Stars

When you start up any of the levels of difficulty, the number of questions for that level are shown in the Progress Report area of the Concept Builder. You will notice that there is either a Yellow or a Red background for each question number. When starting up a difficulty level, the background color is Yellow. Answering a "Yellow" question correctly earns you a star for that question number. However, answering it incorrectly turns the background color to Red. A question number with a Red background must be correctly answered twice (without a miss) in order to earn a star. 

 

Getting Help

You will notice that there is a Help Me button underneath the Progress Report. You should learn to use this feature of the program. It's how you can turn an exercise in answering questions into an exercise in learning. Tapping on the Help Me button will open a page with help that is specific to each question. Of course, the Help pages are only helpful if you read them. So take the time to read them. Each Help page contains four sections: a discussion of the Fundamentals, a display of the various Questions in the Question Group, a section titled "How to Think About This Situation", and a set of links to resources in our Tutorial section. You should pay attention to the sectoin titled How to Think About This Situation. You will find what you need to know in the two or three paragraphs in this section. You will also become a better Physics student for doing that. That is, after all, the goal of such an activity as Getting the Hang of Charge​.

Thanks for being patient with the Directions. Happy learning!