Grade LevelHigh School |
TopicsPhysics |
AuthorsZoe Masters, Jennifer Schloss |
Lesson Summary
This lesson introduces students to the concept of net force and how a net force causes a change in motion. It also introduces students to contemporary research on laser cooling. Upon completion of this lesson, students will be able to:
- predict how an object’s motion will change by comparing the direction of net force to the direction of initial motion; and
- use proportional reasoning to understand how relationships between force, mass and acceleration manifest in the real life example of laser cooling.

Image from Harvard Professor John Doyle’s physics group. Shown here with permission.
Standards
Science and Engineering Practices:
SP5MA Science and Technology/Engineering (2016):
HS-PS2-1NGSS (2013):
HS-PS2-1Common Core Math/Language Arts Standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.9-10.2Tags
acceleration, balanced forces, buffer gas, force, molecular beam, radiation pressure, unbalanced forcesEducator SoundBites
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