The document assigns roles and problems for student groups to work on. It instructs groups to check solutions against those posted online and discuss difficulties with other groups. Students are told to draw pictures and create free body diagrams when helpful. It then provides two physics problems for groups to work on involving a CD drive spin rate, disk speed and acceleration, and a hamster wheel radius and angular velocity to calculate nightly distance run. Groups are to discuss results and include work in their activity report.

1. Ponderable #1
Assign roles in your group and discuss the problems
for today that were posted on Blackboard. You may
check your work against the solutions that now are
available on Blackboard.
Where you are having difficulty understanding the
solutions, discuss them with the other groups at your
table.
Where helpful, remember to draw a picture of the
problem first and then create the Free Body Diagram.
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2. Ponderable #2
In your groups, work on the following problem:
A CD drive in a computer spins the 12-cm-diameter
disks at 10,000 rpm.
a.What are the disk’s period (s) and frequency (rev/s)?
b.What would be the speed of a speck of dust on the
outside edge of this disk?
c.What is the acceleration that this speck of dust
experiences?
Discuss your results with other students at your table.
Include your work in your group’s activity report.
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3. Ponderable #3
In your groups, work on the following problem:
A hamster runs in its wheel for 4.3 hours every
night. If the wheel has a 6.8 cm radius and its
average angular velocity is 3.0 radians per second,
how far does the hamster run in one night?
Discuss your results with other students at your table.
Include your work in your group’s activity report.
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