Inclined Planes

The Inclined Planes Video Tutorial discusses the physics of objects moving along inclined planes. The identification of the forces, the drawing of a free-body diagram, the components of gravity, and the application of Newton's second law to the analysis are discussed in an organized and understandable manner.

The video lesson answers the following questions:

1. How do you determine the free-body diagram for an object on an inclined plane?
2. How do you mathematically analyze the forces for an object on an inclined plane?

Video

You can watch the video below, or click here to watch on YouTube (opens in a new tab).

To improve the effectiveness of the learning experience, The Physics Classroom has provided the following tools:

Additional and Related Learning Tools

Concept Builders: Free-Body Diagrams for Inclined Planes
Students love Concept Builders and this one is a perfect follow up to the video. Given a description of the motion of an object along an inclined plane, use the interactive tools to construct a free-body diagram.

Concept Builders: Solve It! - Inclined Planes
Here's another Concept Builder to put your analytical skills to the test. There are three levels of difficulty, each having two multi-part problems to solve. The problems bear a strong resemblance to Slides 9 and 10. Tap the Help Me! button to get some help specific to the problem.

Minds On Physics, Missions 2DF5 and 2DF6
Minds on Physics can provide a student a rigorous work-out on any topic. Give your brain some exercise and your conceptual understanind a test with a MOP mission. Each question comes with a thorough commentary of the Physics associated with that question. Give Missions 2D5 and 2DF6 a try as a perfect follow-up to this video.

Tutorial Section, Motion and Vectors in Two Dimensions, Lesson 3
The go-to place at The Physics Classroom for a topic-specific and understandable discussion is the Tutorial section. The following page is a great complement to this video: Inclined Planes

Teacher Resources

Curriculum Corner, Forces in Two Dimensions
Our Curriculum Corner provides teachers with a collection of Think Sheets on numerous topics. They make perfect in-class reviews and post-video follow-ups. In particular, the following would be a great complement to this video:
Inclined Plane Analysis

Concept Builders: Free-Body Diagrams for Inclined Planes
Students love Concept Builders and this one is a perfect follow up to the video. Students use interactive tools to construct a free-body diagram for objects moving along inclined planes. When combined with our Task Tracker system, student progress can be tracked for each of the difficulty levels.

Concept Builders: Solve It! - Inclined Planes
Here's another Concept Builder to put student's analytical skills to the test. There are three levels of difficulty, each having two multi-part problems to solve. The problems bear a strong resemblance to Slides 9 and 10. There's some question-specific help for each question.

Minds On Physics, Missions 2DF5 and 2DF64
Minds on Physics can provide a student a rigorous work-out on any topic. Each question comes with a thorough commentary of the Physics associated with that question. Missions 2D5 and 2DF6 pertain to inclined planes.

Tutorial Section, Motion and Vectors in Two Dimensions, Lesson 3
The go-to place at The Physics Classroom for a topic-specific and understandable discussion is the Tutorial section. Many teachers create links to its pages from within their CMS. The following page is a perfect complement to this video:
Inclined Planes

Teacher Toolkit - Forces in Two Dimensions
The Forces in Two Dimensions Toolkit provides teachers with standards-based resources for designing lesson plans and units that pertain to situations that involve forces acting at angles to the traditional horizontal and vertical axes. Find annotated links to resources on our website and throughout the web.

Lesson Notes

Download (opens in a new tab) or view below

Slides

Do you like the slides we used? They are available in our low cost Teacher Presentation Pack, along with other updated materials used in our presentation.