Built at HackTX 2026

Ducky

Talk it through.

Explain your work out loud, in writing, or with a sketch. Ducky helps you find where it broke.

Try Ducky See how it works ›

duckyFileEditViewSessionWindow

Sat Oct 249:41 AM

ducky

2 hints maxAnswers hiddenTeacher viewKSSign out

Problem 2

A 1.0 kg ball and a 10 kg ball are dropped from rest at h = 20 m. Ignoring air resistance, find the time each takes to reach the ground and explain why.

Your reasoning path

Set up knowns: h, m₁, m₂, v₀ = 0
Predict what happens
Relate F = ma to each ball
Solve for t

Where to learn this

Explanations and notes on the idea you’re working on, not answers to this problem.

Apollo 15 dropped a hammer and a feather on the Moon. Found with SerpApi

Your current stepFind

Misconception tracker

this unit

Mass changes fall speed2×

Velocity vs. acceleration2×

Talk it through

Hints 0 / 2

Ducky

Before we calculate anything: if you drop both balls at the same moment, what do you expect to happen?

You

Gravity pulls the 10 kg ball with about 98 N, and the 1 kg ball with about 9.8 N.

Tap to talk, or type below

Type your reasoning... SketchUse hint (2 left)

VisualizationMinimize

Want to see it?

Ask in the chat (“can you show me?”) or describe what you want to see from this problem.

Show me visually

Equal arrows: both accelerate at 9.8 m/s² and land together.

Generated a free-body diagram

Reviewer: the 10 kg ball’s arrow is longer, so the diagram implies different accelerations.

Fixed on pass 2 of 3, then approved.

duckyFileEditViewSessionWindow

Sat Oct 249:41 AM

Ducky student view: the problem, a reasoning path and a conversation with the tutor

Ducky teacher dashboard: class overview, misconception heatmap and tutor settings

Students

Explain it your way.

Ducky listens, then asks the next question.

Why it works

Tutoring works.
It just can’t scale.

College professors instruct hundreds of students. High school teachers see more than 150 students daily. The result? Nobody can listen to every student think. That’s why we made Ducky.

The problem

45%: of U.S. 12th graders score below NAEP Basic in math. The highest share ever recorded.NAEP 2024 · The Nation’s Report Card, released September 2025
33.8%: of students fail lecture-based STEM courses. With active learning, that drops to 21.8%.Freeman et al., PNAS 2014 · 225 studies

What works

+0.37 SD: the average learning gain from tutoring, across dozens of randomized trials.Nickow, Oreopoulos & Quan, NBER 2020
2×: the learning gain of an AI tutor over active learning in class, in less time. Randomized trial, Harvard physics students.Kestin et al., Scientific Reports 2025

Built on how people actually learn.

Say it to see it

Explaining your reasoning builds sharper mental models than reading a solution. So you talk through the work instead of pasting in an answer.

Self-explanation · Bisra et al., 2018 · 64 studies, g = 0.55

Words plus pictures

People learn more from words paired with visuals. Every diagram is checked by a second model before you see it.

Multimedia principle · Mayer, 2009

Misconceptions don’t fade

Ideas like “heavier things fall faster” survive lecture. Ducky names each one the moment it appears and sends it to your teacher’s heatmap.

Force Concept Inventory · Hestenes et al., 1992

Every student, heard.

Try Ducky How we handle student data ›

Built at HackTX 2026

Ducky

Talk it through.

Explain your work out loud, in writing, or with a sketch. Ducky helps you find where it broke.

Try Ducky See how it works ›

duckyFileEditViewSessionWindow

Sat Oct 249:41 AM

ducky

2 hints maxAnswers hiddenTeacher viewKSSign out

Problem 2

A 1.0 kg ball and a 10 kg ball are dropped from rest at h = 20 m. Ignoring air resistance, find the time each takes to reach the ground and explain why.

Your reasoning path

Set up knowns: h, m₁, m₂, v₀ = 0
Predict what happens
Relate F = ma to each ball
Solve for t

Where to learn this

Explanations and notes on the idea you’re working on, not answers to this problem.

Apollo 15 dropped a hammer and a feather on the Moon. Found with SerpApi

Your current stepFind

Misconception tracker

this unit

Mass changes fall speed2×

Velocity vs. acceleration2×

Talk it through

Hints 0 / 2

Ducky

Before we calculate anything: if you drop both balls at the same moment, what do you expect to happen?

You

Gravity pulls the 10 kg ball with about 98 N, and the 1 kg ball with about 9.8 N.

Tap to talk, or type below

Type your reasoning... SketchUse hint (2 left)

VisualizationMinimize

Want to see it?

Ask in the chat (“can you show me?”) or describe what you want to see from this problem.

Show me visually

Equal arrows: both accelerate at 9.8 m/s² and land together.

Generated a free-body diagram

Reviewer: the 10 kg ball’s arrow is longer, so the diagram implies different accelerations.

Fixed on pass 2 of 3, then approved.

duckyFileEditViewSessionWindow

Sat Oct 249:41 AM

Students

Explain it your way.

Ducky listens, then asks the next question.

Why it works

Tutoring works.
It just can’t scale.

College professors instruct hundreds of students. High school teachers see more than 150 students daily. The result? Nobody can listen to every student think. That’s why we made Ducky.

The problem

45%: of U.S. 12th graders score below NAEP Basic in math. The highest share ever recorded.NAEP 2024 · The Nation’s Report Card, released September 2025
33.8%: of students fail lecture-based STEM courses. With active learning, that drops to 21.8%.Freeman et al., PNAS 2014 · 225 studies

What works

+0.37 SD: the average learning gain from tutoring, across dozens of randomized trials.Nickow, Oreopoulos & Quan, NBER 2020
2×: the learning gain of an AI tutor over active learning in class, in less time. Randomized trial, Harvard physics students.Kestin et al., Scientific Reports 2025

Built on how people actually learn.

Say it to see it

Explaining your reasoning builds sharper mental models than reading a solution. So you talk through the work instead of pasting in an answer.

Self-explanation · Bisra et al., 2018 · 64 studies, g = 0.55

Words plus pictures

People learn more from words paired with visuals. Every diagram is checked by a second model before you see it.

Multimedia principle · Mayer, 2009

Misconceptions don’t fade

Ideas like “heavier things fall faster” survive lecture. Ducky names each one the moment it appears and sends it to your teacher’s heatmap.

Force Concept Inventory · Hestenes et al., 1992

Every student, heard.

Try Ducky How we handle student data ›

Ducky

Your reasoning path

Where to learn this

Misconception tracker

Tutoring works.It just can’t scale.

The problem

What works

Built on how people actually learn.

Say it to see it

Words plus pictures

Misconceptions don’t fade

Every student, heard.

Ducky

Your reasoning path

Where to learn this

Misconception tracker

Tutoring works.It just can’t scale.

The problem

What works

Built on how people actually learn.

Say it to see it

Words plus pictures

Misconceptions don’t fade

Every student, heard.

Tutoring works.
It just can’t scale.

Tutoring works.
It just can’t scale.