Name:______

Newton’s Laws of Motion Lab

STATION 1

Newton’s 1st Law of Motion: Newton’s 1st law of motion explains why riders in a car are thrown forward when the driver quickly slams on the brakes. This law also explains why a soccer ball slows down after being kicked across a grassy field. Newton’s first law states that objects in motion stay in motion, and objects at rest stay at rest unless they are acted upon by unbalanced forces. Unbalanced forces cause objects to change their motion. An unbalanced force could cause an object to start moving, speed up, slow down, change direction, or stop moving.
Newton’s first law is also called the Law of Inertia. Inertia is the property of an object that resists changes in motion. Objects with more mass have more inertia.
Task: 1. Attach the passenger to the car using a rubber band. Release the car from the top of the ramp and observe what happens to the passenger. 2. Place the passenger on the car without the rubber band. Release the car from the top of the ramp and observe what happens to the passenger.
Diagram:
Draw a LABELED picture of what happened in the lab. Use arrows to show the direction of all of the forces.
WITH SEATBELT WITHOUT SEATBELT

Questions:
  1. What is inertia? ______
  2. What were 2 unbalanced forces in this lab? ______
  3. When the passenger is in the car, it travels in the same direction as the car. When the passenger is thrown from the car, in what direction does it go? Why does the passenger go in that direction? ______
  4. What would cause the passenger to have more inertia? ______

STATION 2

Newton’s 2nd Law of Motion: Newton’s 2nd law of motion is also called the law of force and acceleration. The law states that the amount of acceleration depends on the mass of the object and the force that is applied. In order for an object to accelerate, the unbalanced force applied must be large enough to overcome resistance to change – it’s inertia.
The equation for force is: Force = mass x acceleration. Force is measured in Newtons. (N)
The greater the force applied to an object, the more the object will accelerate. If the same amount of force is applied to two separate objects with different masses, these objects will accelerate at different rates. The object with the greater mass will have a lower rate of acceleration.
Task: 1. Create an inclined plane by placing the grooved ruler on the books. Tape the end of the ruler for added stability. 2. Place the cup at the bottom of the inclined plane with the cut-out portion facing the ruler. 3. Place the ping-pong ball at the top of the inclined plane and release the ball. 4. Measure the distance (cm) the cup moved. 4. Repeat the distance using the golf ball.
Diagram:
Draw a LABLED picture of what happened in the lab. Use arrows to show the direction of all of the forces. Include in each picture how far the cup traveled.
PING PONG BALL GOLF BALL

Questions:
  1. Which ball caused the cup to travel the furthest? ______
Why? ______
  1. The greater the force applied to an object, the more the object will ______.
  2. A wagon has a mass of 50 kg. How much force is required to cause the wagon to accelerate 2 m/s2? (Show your work!)

STATION 3

Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion: Forces occur in pairs. Issac Newton explained that for every force there is another equal force in the opposite direction. Basically, that means when you push on something, it pushes back on you with equal force. For example, if you hit a punching bag, the bag actually hits back on you with equal force, just in the opposite direction. Newton’s 3rd law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Equal and opposite pairs do not always result in motion. Sitting in the chair at your desk, you are pushing down on the chair while it pushes up on you, and neither of you move.
Task: 1. Have one member blow up a balloon. 2. Attach the side of the balloon to the straw using a piece of tape. 3. Have one person hold one side of the string and another person hold the other. 4. Release the balloon from one end of the string and observe what happens.
Diagram:
Draw a LABELED picture of what happened in the lab. Use arrows to show the direction of all of the forces.
Questions:
  1. What happens when the balloon is released? ______
  2. What forces are involved in the balloon’s movement? ______
  3. What is Newton’s 3rd law of motion? ______
  4. Imagine sitting in a rolling chair. You push forward off of a wall in front of you. This causes you to roll backwards. What is the action in this scenario? ______
What is the reaction in this scenario? ______

STATION 4

Observe each picture. Identify which of Newton’s laws of motion applies to each picture and explain why.

Picture 1:
Newton’s _____ Law of Motion
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Picture 2:
Newton’s _____ Law of Motion
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Picture 3:
Newton’s _____ Law of Motion
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Picture 4:
Newton’s _____ Law of Motion
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Picture 5:
Newton’s _____ Law of Motion
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Picture 6:
Newton’s _____ Law of Motion
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