Frames of Reference

Series: PSSC Physics Series

Duration: 29

Year Published: 1960

Creator: Educatonal Services

Format: 16mm

Color: B&W

Description: Demonstrates through a variety of experiments the distinction between an inertial and noninertial frame of reference, and the appearance of fictional forces in a non-inertial frame. Opens on a scene in which what at first appears to be down is gravitationally up, and a sequence in which it is difficult to identify whether the foreground or background is in motion. Using slow-motion photography the path traveled by a ball dropped from a stationary and constant velocity cart is studied from both fixed and moving frames of reference. Real forces operate in inertial frames of reference; however, "fictional forces" seem to operate in accelerated frames of reference. Several additional examples of accelerated frames of reference are presented using a large rotating turntable including the Foucault pendulum. Explains that fictional forces are required in accelerated frames to prevent laws of physics from changing. Demonstration by J. N. P. Hume and D. G. Ivey, University of Toronto.