Aircraft and Newton’s Second Law of Motion

Aircraft and Newton's Second Law of Motion

This lesson introduces students to how planes are tracked using radio waves. The lesson continues as students collect data on local planes and use this information to calculate the net force acting on the aircraft according to Newton’s second law of motion.

NGSS Standards

HS-PS4.C Information Technologies and Instrumentation. Multiple technologies based on the understanding of waves and their interactions with matter are part of everyday experiences in the modern world and scientific research. There are essential tools for producing, transmitting, and capturing signals and storing and interpreting information.

HS-PS2-1 Analyze data to support the claim that Newton's second law of motion describes the mathematical relationship between the net force on a macroscopic object, its mass, and its acceleration.

Materials

student computers

RTL-SDR dongle (optional)