Using Excel Spreadsheets to Study the Vertical Motion in A Gravitational Field

摘要

The present paper presents an instrument realized with Excel interactive spreadsheets to study the vertical motion of a body in Earth's gravitational field. The instrument comparatively analyzes the motion of a spherical body launched vertically when air friction is not considered, to the movement of the same body when both air friction and the buoyantforce are taken into consideration. We have explored a series of facilities of spreadsheets, for example the rapid feedback to the data change or the capacity of graphic representation of certain measures according to the tables with values. The instrument proves very useful both in teaching and in learning. Thus, many cases can be quickly analyzed by modifying the input data.