Mississippi Science PHY.2.10
The Standard
- PHY.2
- Students will develop an understanding of concepts related to Newtonian dynamics.
Apply the effects of the universal gravitation law to generate a digital/physical graph, and interpret the forces between two masses, acceleration due to gravity, and planetary motion (e.g., situations where g is constant, as in falling bodies).
2026 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science · Newton’s Laws
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students calculate gravitational force for two masses at different center-to-center distances and graph the results. They explain why the forces are equal but the accelerations can differ. They use gravity to explain short falls near Earth and planetary orbits.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students predict that doubling distance cuts the force to one-fourth, while doubling either mass doubles it. Their force-versus-distance graph curves downward. They explain that g weakens with distance but barely changes during a short fall, and that gravity bends a planet's path.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think doubling distance halves the force or that the graph is a straight line. Some think Earth pulls harder on a small object than the object pulls on Earth, heavier objects always fall faster, or orbiting planets are beyond gravity.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Two masses pull with 80 N at distance r. Find the force at 2r, sketch the force-versus-distance graph, and explain why g barely changes during a 2-meter fall.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Drop same-sized steel and wooden balls from shoulder height, then pause a slow-motion video to compare their positions frame by frame.
Ask, 'If Earth and the Moon pull equally hard on each other, why does the Moon accelerate more?' Have students write two sentences.
Give pairs distance cards marked r, 2r, and 3r; have them match each with force cards F, F/4, and F/9.
Show an ISS orbit diagram, then have students mark Earth's pull and explain why astronauts float even though gravity still acts.
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Related Standards
- P.5.6.1
Obtain and communicate information describing gravity's effect on an object.
- PHY.2.1
Identify forces acting on a system by applying Newton’s laws mathematically and graphically (e.g., vector and scalar quantities).
- ESS.1B.3
Design a model (e.g., a gravity simulation using PVC and a neoprene screen) to demonstrate Kepler’s laws and the relationships of the orbits of objects in our s...
- PHS.5.4
Use mathematical and computational analyses to show the relationships among force, mass, and acceleration (i.e., Newton’s second law).
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