NEWTON’S LAWS OF MOTION ! ^~^

By: Yohana Cantua & Fernando Ontiveros

Activity #1: Inertia – A Body at Rest

Materials• one book cover or large piece of smooth paper• one book with a hard, glossy cover• one book with a rough or non-glossy cover• objects to place on the book cover

Procedure1. Place the book cover (or piece of paper) on a flat, smooth surface.

2. Put the book with the glossy cover on top of the book cover.

3. Quickly (and in one smooth motion) yank the book cover out from under the book.

4. Write down what happens.

5. Do the experiment again, this time putting other objects on top of the book cover.

6. Try the experiment again using a book with a rough or non-glossy cover. What do you notice? Can you explain how this experiment relates to Newton’s First Law of Motion?

Activity #2: Inertia – A Body in Motion

Materials• one tennis ball• clearly-marked target(s), notebook paper, a chalk mark, or tape

Procedure1. Place a target about 10-15 meters away from a starting line. Mark the starting line with chalk or tape.

2. Hold the tennis ball and do not let your elbow leave your side as you run and drop the ball. Do not throw the ball. You should hold the ball from its sides so that you can release your grip as you let it drop.

3. Have three students stand alongside the running path to act as observers. One should stand before the target, one at the target, and one just after the target.

4. Ask the runner to sprint toward the target as fast as she or he can and try to drop the ball so that it lands on the target.

5. Next, have the observers make a diagram in their Newton’s Law book of where the ball was released and where it landed. Repeat the experiment until the ball hits the target.

Activity #3: Collision on the Tracks

Materials• two identical ball bearings• two marbles with different masses (similar sizes), each with less mass than the ball bearings • two tracks, 1 meter each• a ruler• a stopwatch• a balance or scale

Procedure1. Determine the mass of each ball bearing and marble. Record the masses.

2. Set up a ramp, 1 meter in length. Use books or a board to incline the ramp at an angleof 5 to 10 degrees.

3.Starting from the top of the ramp, put marks along the track at 30 and 60 centimeters.

4. Place the other track at the end of the incline. Make sure there’s a smooth transition where the tracks are joined. Put a book at the end of the last track.

5. Put one of the ball bearings at the bottom of the inclined track, where it becomes level.

Activity #4: Projectile Motion – Motion in Two Dimensions

Materials• a dart gun with rubber suction-tipped darts • a measuring tape• a protractor• a black marker• a large piece of cardboard or poster board

Procedure1. For each trial, keep the dart gun at the same height above the ground. Have him or her pick a position from which to fire the gun for each trial, from the top of a chair or table top.

2. Use a protractor to tilt up the gun at a given angle. *Shoot the gun and measure the horizontal distance traveled.* Mark where the dart first hits the ground, not where it finally comes to rest after bouncing.* Repeat the procedure three or four times for each angle to average the results, and use four or five different angles.

Activity #5: Reacting to Action

Materials• Experiment 1: one rubber ball• Experiment 2: two doughnut magnets; a small plastic toy car or truck; 10 cm of thread; tape or glue• Experiment 3: a wooden block; a bucket of water

Procedures1. Drop a rubber ball from a height of one meter. Catch it when it bounces back up to itsmaximum height. Name the force which caused the ball to start moving. 2. With tape or glue, attach a doughnut magnet to the back of a small plastic toy car or truck. Slowly bring the other magnet close to the back of the vehicle until the vehicle starts to roll forward. Quickly pull away the magnet in your hand and let the car roll to a stop.* Next, suspend a magnet from a 10 cm length of thread. Hold the end of the thread and bring thehanging magnet toward the back of the vehicle.

3. Place a wooden block in a bucket of water so that it floats. Push the blockdown into the water and release it.

Activity #6: A Day at the RacesMaterials• balloons (one for each team)• plastic straws (one for each team)• tape • fishing line, 10 meters in length• a stopwatch• a measuring tape

Procedure1. Divide into groups of at least five students. 2. Attach one end of the fishing line to the blackboard with tape. Have one teammate hold theother end of the fishing line so that it is taut and roughly horizontal.

3. Have one teammate blow up a balloon and hold it shut with his or her fingers. Have anotherteammate tape the straw along the side of the balloon. Thread the fishing line through the straw and hold the balloon at the far end of the line.

4. Assign one teammate to time the event. The balloon should be let go when the time keeper yells “Go!” Observe how your rocket moves toward the blackboard.

5. Have another teammate stand right next to the blackboard and yell “Stop!” when the rocket hits its target. If the balloon does not make it all the way to the blackboard, “Stop!” should becalled when the balloon stops moving.

Thank You ! \(^0^)/