Physics POGIL: Scaling Fundamentals As an object is scaled up, do its linear dimensions (length, width, height), areas (surface

area, cross-sectional area) and volume grow by the same factor? If not, which one grows by the greatest factor, and which one grows by the least factor? We will investigate such questions in this POGIL. Scaling and Dimensions, Area, and Volume When we talk about an object being scaled in size, we mean that each dimension (length, width, and height) is multiplied (or divided) by the same number. When the resulting object is larger than the original object, we talk about scaling up. When the resulting object is smaller than the original object, we talk about scaling down. For example, the rectangular prism below has dimensions of 3 cm 2 cm 1 cm.

1 cm 2 cm 3 cm
If we scale the prism up by a factor of 2, the dimensions are now 6 cm 4 cm 2 cm.

2 cm 4 cm 6 cm
Please note that although we focus on simple shapes in this activity, the rules of scaling apply to all shapes. We will look at how scaling affects other geometric properties of objects, such as surface area, cross-sectional area, and volume. Surface area is the measure of how much exposed area an object has, expressed in square units. When cutting an object into slices (perpendicular to its length), one gets many parallel cross-sections. Cross-sectional area is the area of a newly exposed surface, expressed in square units. Volume is how much three-dimensional space an object occupies, expressed in cubic units. 1. As an object is scaled up, does its surface area increase or decrease?

2. As an object is scaled down, does its surface area increase or decrease?

3. As an object is scaled up, does its volume increase or decrease?

4. As an object is scaled down, does its volume increase or decrease?

Physics 5. As an object is scaled up, does its cross-sectional area increase or decrease?

6. As an object is scaled down, does its cross-sectional area increase or decrease?

7. The chart below shows the linear dimensions of two rectangular prisms. Determine the volume, surface and cross-sectional area of each one. Use the cubes provided to check your answers.

linear dimensions of rectangular prism length (cm) 3 6 width (cm) 2 4 height (cm) 1 2

volume (cm3)

surface area (cm2)

cross-sectional area of width height (cm2)

8. For the example above: (a) By what factor is the prism scaled?

(b) By what factor did the volume change? Defend your answer.

(c) By what factor did the surface area change? Defend your answer.

(d) By what factor did the cross-sectional area change? Defend your answer.

9. Based on the above evidence, arrange the following items in order from least affected by scaling to most affected by scaling. If two (or more) items are affected by the same factor, place an equal sign between them. cross-sectional area height length surface area volume width

Physics Problems 10. Consider a cube 1 cm on a side. Suppose we scale up the cube by factors of 2, 3, and 4. A diagram of each cube is shown below.

cube #1 1 cm edge

cube #2 scaled by a factor of 2

cube #3 scaled by a factor of 3

cube #4 scaled by a factor of 4

(a) In the chart below, fill in the edge length, cross-sectional area, surface area, and volume of each cube. Cube #1 #2 #3 #4 a cube scaled up by a factor of k (b) In the chart below, fill in the factor by which the edge length, cross-sectional area, surface area, and volume changed relative to cube #1 as each cube was scaled up. factor by which edge length changed factor by which crosssectional area changed factor by which surface area changed factor by which volume changed length of an edge (units: ) cross-sectional area (units: ) surface area (units: ) volume (units: )

Cube #2 #3 #4 a cube scaled up by a factor of k

11. As an object is scaled up, why does the surface area increase faster than the linear dimensions?

12. As an object is scaled up, why does the surface area increase by the same factor as the cross-sectional area?

Physics 13. As an object is scaled up, why does the volume increase faster than the surface area?

14. Illustrate scaling with your own example, and compare and contrast the effects on surface area, crosssectional area, and volume.