Activity Overview
Work with linked representations of the vertical motion of an elevator.
Objectives
- Work with linked graphical and physical representations of the vertical motion of an elevator
About the Lesson
These TI-Nspire documents are based on the context of the rectilinear (straight line) vertical motion of an elevator. The motion of an elevator is a particularly nice context for introducing ideas related to rectilinear motion (position, velocity, speed, acceleration, etc.) because the connection to the vertical coordinate of related graphs is more natural and does not require the additional mental work of representing functions depicting horizontal motion (for example, of a car).
The Elevator_Height_as_Integral_of_Velocity TI-Nspire documents allow the user to provide a velocity function v to "drive" the motion of an elevator. Assuming an initial starting point of height h = 0 at time t = 0, the document produces a height function by antidifferentiating the given velocity function. This height function, in turn, drives the motion of the elevator as the user advances the value of time t via a slider.