How can an angled force be balanced by forces that lie along the x- and y-axis? Is that even possible? You bet it is! And if you give this Interactive and its accompanying Help page some time, you're going to become the Master of Balance.

Now available with Task Tracker compatibility. Learn more.
 

Use Physics to add as many gold coins as is possible to a bag without breaking the rope(s) from which the bag is suspended. Progress from level to level in this game-like challenge. But don't get too greedy for gold or you'll loose both the level and the gold. As they say, you "need to know when to hold them, know when to fold them, know when to walk away and ...". Ahhh! You know what I mean. Just get your calculator out and use Physics.

Now available with Task Tracker compatibility. Learn more.

Drag out a force vector to balance the given force vector. Receive immediate feedback and try another problem. Think you have it mastered? Level up and try balancing two force vectors. And after you've mastered that level, level up again and show off your mastery at balancing three force vectors. Keep going until you have mastered all five levels of difficulty.

Set up an inclined plane and observe the forces, motion characteristics, and energy changes for an object sliding along it. Change the angle, the mass, and the initial velocity. Change the coefficient of static and kinetic friction. Repeat trials as needed and investigate the effect of such changes on the motion. 

Newton's second law works in one dimension and in two dimensions ... with one object and with two objects. And in this simulation, you can incrementally add a different nuance to the scenario being studied and easily see how Newton's second law becomes one of the most fundamental mathematical descriptions of the relationship between force, mass, and acceleration.

Thanks to Physics teacher Martin Kirby for contributing this simulation to our Physics Interactives collection. You can view other Kirby Sims here.