In Dynamics, what is "plane motion"? How can you explain it to kids?

Answer 1

Motion in only two dimensions. It is not something that falls through the air as you throw it. It is something like a roller skate that moves left to right and not up or down at the same time.

Answer 2

Plane motion is that in only 2 of the 3 spacial dimensions. In a graph of motion, this would look like moving along the x and y axes, but not into the z axis. A good physical example is a marble rolling around on the floor. It can move forward and backward, left and right, and combinations of those, but it doesn't fly up into the air or fall through the floor.

In order to understand the terminology, kids should know some basic geometry and the difference between 2d and 3d objects. A great piece of literature that could be used to teach about different dimensions is Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions. This book chronicles a character called triangle man as he moves through Flatland, seeing the other triangles as lines because he sees them from the same height that they are at. He eventually meets a 3D figure who takes him above Flatland to look down on it from above, then to Lineland (where everyone is in a line and can only know the line to his left and to his right) and Pointland (where the point believes that he is the entire universe).

Answer 3

When a ball is dropped from a balcony ( or a falling rain drop), it moves on a straight path.Its distance from the ground decreases but its distance from the wall (parallel to which it is falling ) does not change,It is an example of motion in one direction .

Now suppose one player throws a ball towards another,then the vertical distance of the ball from the ground as well as horizontal distance from the thrower is changing.This is motion in two direction or motion in a PLANE.

A car turning at the crossing, rowing of a boat on a curved path on the surface of a lake,your motion on the ground floor of your house from one room to other room are all examples of motion in a PLANE
This is also called motion in two dimensions

Answer 4

You can not go up or down. You can go sideways (left and right if they are at this point) and you can go forward or backward. Each time you move without going up or down will be "plane motion". You may want to use motion in a plane. Make sure they know you are not talking about an airplane.