Chapter 3: Vectors in Physics
Ranking Tasks Exercise
|
 |
This module contains downloadable PDF files for individual Ranking Task Exercises on topics covered in this chapter. Ranking Task Exercises are a type of conceptual exercise that asks you to make comparative judgements about a set of variations on a particular physical situation. The basic structure of a Ranking Task has four elements:
- the description of the situation, including the constraints and the basis for ranking arrangements
- a set of figures showing the different arrangements to be compared
- a place to write down the ranking of the variations
- a place to write down the reasoning behind the chosen ranking
From Ranking Task Exercises in Physics. Tom O'Kuma, David Maloney, and Curtis Hieggelke, eds. Copyright © Prentice Hall, 2000. Students may download and print a copy of each exercise for their own personal use. The materials may not otherwise be copied, transmitted, posted, reproduced, or distributed in part or in whole by any means whatsoever without express written permission from the publisher.
PDF Help
Projectile Motion and other Two-Dimensional Motion
Position Time Graphs-Displacement (pdf)
Cars-Change of Velocity (pdf)
Position Time Graphs-Average Speed (pdf)
Motion Diagrams-Displacement (pdf)
People on Trains-Speed Relative to Ground (pdf)
To read the pdf (Portable Document Format) files available for download from our site, you will need Acrobat Reader 3.0TM or later. You can get the latest version here if you don't have it already. If you want to read these files online in your browser window, you will need the PDFViewer plugin. The plugin comes with the installer for Acrobat Reader and normally will be installed when the application itself is installed. Without the plugin your browser should download the document to your desktop where you can read it with Acrobat Reader.Please read the following before downloading:
Find your Plugin:
(instructions may vary with browser version)
- If you are using a NetscapeTM browser, you can tell if the PDFViewer plugin is installed and activated by:
- On a Windows machine go to Help and then About Plugins. If you have the plugin and it is not enabled, go to Edit->Preferences->Navigator->Applications and locate Portable Document Format or pdf. Highlight it and use Change or Edit to access its properties, and from there you can activate the plugin.
- On a Macintosh, the instructions are much the same except that About Plugins is also available from the apple menu.
- With Microsoft Internet ExplorerTM, the situation is less clear.
- On a Macintosh, look in the Plug-ins folder in the Internet Explorer folder and see if the plugin is there. To see if it has been activated, go to Edit->Preferences->Receiving Files->File Helpers. Highlight Portable Document Format and use Change to access its properties. If "View with plugin" is not selected, select it now.
- On a Windows machine, click the link to the pdf--if you do not have the plugin, the file will be downloaded to the desktop. Cancel the download.
Download and Installing Tips for Acrobat Reader
- For Windows, choose your operating system and download. You do not need to leave your email address but there appears to be no reason not to do so.
- Next, close all running Windows applications and double-click the installer. Plugins for both Netscape and Internet Explorer should be installed automatically.
- For Macintosh you have the choice of .bin (binary) and .hqx (text) downloads.
The latter is considered safer but is larger. With modern browsers it should be safe to choose .bin. You may need Drop Stuff with
Expander Enhancer, available HERE, if your version of Stuffit Expander does not support MacBinary(.bin) files.
If your browser is properly configured, Stuffit ExpanderTM should open and extract the file. If not, you will have to do so manually.
- Double click the installer. The installer will force you to quit all running programs and perform the installation. During the course of the installation, you should be asked which browser you wish to use the plugin with. Choose the one you want. To install the plugin for use with other browsers, simply copy the extra plugin in the Acrobat folder into the target browser's plugins folder.
Tips for Using the Plugins:
Once the plugins are installed, clicking on one of our pdf links should initiate the download in a new window. It will also open the Acrobat application as a helper. If you do not have enough available RAM for Acrobat to open you will receive an error message.
You can view the document as it downloads, but if your connection is slow only the first page might display, and an attempt to change the page will result in a blank page for the duration of the download.
Once the file is completely downloaded to your browser window, you can use the File->Save as command to save it to your computer for later viewing. This will not work with Internet Explorer in Windows.
Questions
From Ranking Task Exercises for Physics by Thomas O'Kuma (Lee College), David Maloney (Indiana University-Purdue University-Fort Wayne), and Curtis Hieggelke (Joliet Junior College). ©2000 by Prentice Hall, Inc.