Newton’S Laws Station Lab
Newton ’s Laws Station Lab (cut-ups)
Station 1: After logging on to www.physicsplace.com go to the “interactive figures” page and click on
fig. 5.16. Fire the cannon and analyze the equations provided below the animation. Then answer the following questions:
1. What is the action/reaction pair in the animation?
2. If every action has an opposite and equal reaction, then why did the cannon ball accelerate so
much further than the cannon?
Close fig. 5.16 and open fig. 4.09. Experiment by changing the mass of the elephant and the force applied to it. Then answer the following questions:
3. What happens to the acceleration of the elephant as the force is increased?
4. What happens to the acceleration of the elephant as you increase the mass of the elephant?
Station 2: Toilet Paper Physics: With one hand, try to snap a sheet of toilet paper from each of the two rolls.
1. With which roll was it easier to snap a sheet off with?
2. Explain why this trick works with one roll, but not the other?
3. Which of Newton’s Laws explains why this happens?
Station 3: Egg Drop: Fill the glass with water and place the pie tin on top of the glass. Then place the toilet paper roll on top of the pie tin in line with the water glass. Finally balance the egg on top of the roll. Your goal is to tap the pie tin out from under the egg and watch the egg fall into the glass…give it a shot!
1. Why does this trick work and which of Newton’s Laws does it demonstrate?
2. Carefully pour the water out of the glass and catch the egg. Dry off the egg and the counter. Leave your area exactly how you found it. When you have done these things, put a smiley face on your paper for this question’s answer.
Station 4: Tennis Ball Head: Balance the tennis balls on your head and try to pivot/turn 180o . Can you do it without letting the balls move?
1. Which of Newton’s Laws does this demonstrate?
2. What do the balls have that make them want to stay in one place?
3. Explain at least one other time in your life when you have seen something like this happen.
Station 5: Newton’s Cradle: Experiment with this toy and try to get as many different tricks to happen as you can dream up. Then answer the following questions:
1. How many different combinations of bouncing balls could you create?
2. Explain what causes this toy to work. You should be able to use each of Newton’s Laws in your explanation.
3. What is the force at work that is causing the masses to accelerate and change their motion?
4. Why won’t the metal balls keep on going forever?
Station 6: Poker Chip Poke: Stack the chips and try to swipe under the stack with a narrow comb or ruler. The goal is to make the stack of chips stay at rest, while one chip at a time flies out from the bottom of the stack. How fast can you swipe out all of the chips?
1. What do the poker chips have that is causing them to stay at rest?
2. Which of Newton’s Laws does this trick demonstrate?
Station 7: Ball and Mallet: Start with the basketball at rest on the counter top. Hit it firmly with the mallet and have your partner stop the ball from accelerating a few feet down the counter top. Repeat this procedure using the bowling ball. Try to hit each ball with an equal force from the mallet.
1. Using Newton’s Second Law, explain why the bowling ball didn’t accelerate as far as the
basketball when hit with an equal amount of force.
2. Which ball has more inertia and why?
Station 8: Car Push: Push and slide the car across the counter top.
1. Think about all forces that are acting on the car and draw a vector diagram illustrating these
forces. Label your diagram with words describing what each vector arrow represents.
2. Draw another vector diagram labeling all forces acting on an airplane that is taking off.
Make sure each vector’s magnitude illustrates what would happen during take off.
3. In your second drawing of the airplane, are all forces acting on the plane balanced? Why or
why not?
Station 9: Wiffle Ball on a String: Go out into the hallway and twirl the wiffle ball above your head. Try to hit the provided target by letting go of the string at the appropriate time.
1. In order to hit the target where did you have to let go of the string?
2. Why would you miss the target if you let go of the string when the ball was directly in front of the target? Draw a picture or explain with words.
3. Which part of the law of Inertia does this demonstrate?
Station 10: Goo Spoon: Gather some goo on the spoon and try to get the goo back into the bowl without touching it. NOT TOO HARD! Compare the motion of the goo compared to the motion of the spoon.
1. Which of Newton’s Laws does this demonstrate?
2. What feature in your car is used to try and stop this law from occurring and keep you safe?
3. Think of at least one other time in your life when this law has been used to help you accomplish something. Explain this instance with a few sentences.
Station 11: On the board there is a picture of a rocket lifting off.
1. True or False: The rocket is able to go up into outer space because it’s engine is burning fuel that is pushing against the launch pad.
2. How does the rocket continue to climb into space once it is far away from the launch pad? Use Newton’s Third Law in your explanation.
Station 12: Here you see a picture of a person attempting to jump off of a raft and onto a pier.
1. Will this jump be successful?
2. Explain your answer to #1 by using Newton’s second and third laws.
Others:
Raw vs. Hard Boiled Egg Spin
Blow Dryer w/Ping Pong Ball
F=ma Calculation
Inertia on a Cart w/Diff. Mass Flying Off
For use with station 9: