Ticker-tape timer sim
The timer's arm strikes the tape through a carbon disc 50 times a second, so the gap between dots is the distance moved in 1/50 s.
Ticker-tape timer · covers the GCSE, IGCSE, O-Level topic
What the sim shows
The timer's arm strikes the tape through a carbon disc 50 times a second, so the gap between dots is the distance moved in 1/50 s. The tape is cut every 5 ticks, so each strip is the distance moved in 0.1 s, and its length in cm ÷ 10 is the average speed in m/s. Stood side by side, the strips make a speed-time chart: equal strips are a steady speed, strips growing by the same amount each time are a steady acceleration, and the line through their tops has a gradient equal to the acceleration. On the compensated slope (2.3°) the slope just cancels friction. Shown at 0.4× speed.
- Dots: one every 1/50 s, closer together means slower
- Strips: 5 ticks each, length ∝ average speed
- Line through the tops: its gradient is the acceleration
Use it in your lessons
- Try it here: anyone can unlock 2 figures free, and a free account unlocks up to 5. Runs on a laptop, a Chromebook or a phone; nothing to install.
- Present it and share student links with the teacher plan, from US$5 a month, billed yearly.
- Put it on your own website or LMS for US$9, paid once, or every sim from US$29 a month.
Free guide: 12 practicals as sims, and how to run one in a lesson →
Need a version for your exact set-up? Have one made: US$49 a figure in an order of 5.
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