Physical Science: Session 2
Virtual Particle Lab: Compressibility of Air
Air, unlike water, can be compressed. Why?
In Session 2, we introduced the particle model of matter by looking at examples of the behavior of matter on a macroscopic level that were best explained by assuming matter was made of particles. In these “Virtual Particle Labs,” you will manipulate a realistic scientific model of matter as particles in order to build your understandings about how interactions and changes on a microscopic scale relate to the macroscopic scale.
Each time we show a simulation or give you a choice to change something about a simulation, we’ll ask you to predict the result, so you can check your understandings of the macroscopic implications of the microscopic model.
Each Virtual Particle Lab has the following parts:
- Setup: What phenomenon are we looking at?
- Exploring the Model: Predictions are made about the way the model will act.
- The Virtual Lab: Several parameters are changed to experiment with the model.
- Wrap up: What did we learn?
| prev: lesson and curriculum |