Getting on the move.
Mr. Zeisler is heading out for a weekend camping trip with his family. He needs his pop-up camper to move with his truck. Help him out by giving the trailer the correct equation of motion.
Measure the position of the red truck at two different times. Use the position of the front tire as the position of the truck. Use this information to calculate the velocity of the truck.
Measure the starting position of the trailer.
Using the information obtained for the truck and the trailer, write the needed equation of motion for the trailer in the box below. Your equation will look something the one below, except
x
and
v
will be replaced by numbers. (Since this is a function of time, "t" must appear in the expression.)
x
+
v
*t
x =
Then click on the button to make the trailer follow your equation of motion. If the two vehicals do not move together so that the hookups match exactly, check you calculations.