Pool Table Physics — Reading Comprehension

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The Pool Table Physics reading passage is a highly engaging educational resource designed for fourth-grade science students. It aligns with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Disciplinary Core Concept PS3.B: Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer. The passage uses the familiar example of a game of pool to illustrate complex scientific principles. Students will learn about how a player's arm transfers kinetic energy to a cue stick, which then transfers it to a cue ball, and finally to the other balls on the table. The text also explains how some of this energy is converted into sound and heat, which is why the balls eventually stop moving. The assessment, with multiple-choice questions at DOK Levels 1, 2, and 3, helps teachers evaluate students' comprehension and application of the concepts. This material is an excellent tool for hands-on and conceptual learning.

CONTENT PREVIEW

Have you ever played a game of pool? It's a lot of fun, and it's also a great way to see an important science idea in action: energy transfer! Energy is the ability to do work or cause change. When you play pool, you're constantly transferring energy to make things happen on the table.

The game starts with all the colored balls sitting still. They have a kind of stored energy called potential energy, but since they're not moving, they have no energy of motion. The white ball, called the cue ball, is also sitting still.

To start the game, you use a long stick called a cue stick. When you hit the cue ball with the cue stick, you are giving it kinetic energy, which is the energy of motion. The harder you hit the cue ball, the more kinetic energy it has, and the faster it will roll. This is the first big energy transfer in the game: the energy from your moving arm is transferred to the cue stick, and then from the cue stick to the cue ball.

When the moving cue ball hits one of the other colored balls, another energy transfer happens. The cue ball's kinetic energy is passed on to the colored ball. The cue ball might slow down or stop, and the colored ball starts to move. This is exactly what you want to happen to get the balls into the pockets!

But what happens to all the energy? The Law of Conservation of Energy says that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred or changed. So, even though the cue ball stops moving, its kinetic energy doesn't just disappear. It gets transferred to the colored ball. Also, some of the energy is converted into other forms. You might hear a "clack" sound when the balls hit each other—that's a little bit of sound energy. The rubbing of the balls on the felt table and against each other also creates a small amount of heat energy. Because some of the energy is lost to sound and heat, the balls don't move forever; they eventually slow down and stop.

So the next time you play pool, remember that you're not just moving balls around, you're putting the laws of physics to the test!

Fun Fact: The friction on a pool table is so low that a cue ball could travel for a long time if there were no other balls to hit!

What is kinetic energy?

Energy of motionStored energy in a ballThe sound a cue ball makesThe ability to do work

What happens when a cue ball hits another ball?

It creates soundIt gives the ball energyIt stops completelyIt speeds the ball up

When a cue stick hits the cue ball, where does the energy come from?

The cue stickThe pool tableThe player's armThe other balls

Why does a cue ball eventually stop rolling?

It runs out of potential energyIts energy is converted into heatIt gains more kinetic energyThe table pulls it to a stop

How does the kinetic energy of a cue ball change after it hits a colored ball?

It decreasesIt increasesIt stays the sameIt turns into potential energy

If you hit a cue ball harder, what happens to the other balls?

They will not moveThey will move slowerThey will move fasterThey will move in reverse

A student pushes a cue ball gently. What would happen if she pushed it with more force?

The cue ball would have less kinetic energyThe cue ball would have more kinetic energyThe cue ball would transfer more potential energyThe cue ball would not move at all

You want to make a colored ball go a longer distance. Based on the passage, what would you do?

Push the cue ball slowerUse a lighter cue ballPush the cue ball with more forceUse a heavier cue stick