Acceleration Demonstrator Abstract Device to demonstrate both direction and magnitude of linear and centripetal acceleration. Elbow joints, glue, fixing hardware. These are simple plastic U-tubes filled with colored water. One U-tube is aligned forward and backward, the other sideways. One of the U-tubes is filled with green and the other with red colored water.
Acceleration is demonstrated by running the car.
Centripetal acceleration shows up in the unequal level of water in the sideways U-tube when the car is turning. The magnitude of the accleration is proportional to the height difference of the water level in a U-tube. One can show the independence of the two components of accleration, as well as the magnitudes.