Most water fountains are designed to keep the water inside the fountain, but how are they designed to shoot up and out without the water leaving the fountain? Scholars vary the launch angle, fountain height, launch speed, and catcher position in an engaging simulation to understand the forces at play. They graph the position and velocity of the forces on both the horizontal and vertical streams of water.

Concepts

projectile motion, circular motion, gravitational force

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Relate the scenario to the way a cannon aims and fires

Classroom Considerations

• Requires a free CK-12 account to access the interactive
• Relies on prior knowledge of parabolas, velocity, and interpreting graphs

Pros

• Includes challenge questions in addition to the worksheet questions
• Provides simple and intuitive controls

Cons

• None

Common Core

RST.9-10.4 RST.11-12.4