Hands-on learning activity that allows students to experiment with and demonstrate different physics principles, such as the laws of motion and forces, using Rube Goldberg machines.

1. Demonstrating Newton’s
Laws of Motion
Using Rube Goldberg Machines

2. What is a Rube Goldberg machine?
❖ a machine that uses a
complicated chain reaction to
complete a simple task
❖ invented by cartoonist Rube
Goldberg
➢ combined his art and
science background
➢ inspired people to create
their own real life
machines
An example of one of Goldberg’s cartoon machines in which
lifting a spoon sets off a chain reaction that eventually wipes the
user’s face. Try following the chain reaction using the letters!

3. The Page Turner
One Example of a Rube Goldberg Machine
What are some of
the interesting
objects used in the
machine?
What is one step orconnectionbetween steps inthe chain reactionthat stood out toyou?

4. Isaac Newton and His Laws
❖ one of the most famous physicists of his
time
➢ physics is the branch of science that
studies matter and energy and how
they behave
❖ developed the foundation of physics- the
Three Laws of Motion
➢ the Laws of Motion describe how all
objects move, everything from rockets
travelling through space to soccer
balls being kicked across a field
Fun fact: The famous story about an
apple falling on Newton’s head leading
him to discover gravity actually didn’t
happen. In reality, Newton safely watched
the apple fall from his window.

5. Three Laws of Motion
❖ 1st Law
➢ Objects at rest tend to stay at rest, and objects in
motion tend to stay in motion.
➢ Also known as the idea of inertia, or an object’s
resistance to changing its motion
❖ 2nd Law
➢ The force acting on an object is equal to its mass
times its acceleration.
➢ This means that a strong force can easily move a
small object, while a little force can’t move a
large object.
❖ 3rd Law
➢ Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
➢ Forces always happen in pairs. For example,
when a cannonball is fired into the air, the cannon
is also pushed backward.

6. Forces
❖ Applied forces
➢ Pushes or pulls on an object by another object
➢ For example, a baseball bat hitting a baseball or
a person pushing a desk across a room
❖ Gravity
➢ Force that pulls you toward the center of the
Earth
➢ Gravity also pulls the Moon to the Earth and the
planets to the Sun.
❖ Friction
➢ Force that acts against an object’s motion when
it moves across any surface
➢ Slows objects down

7. Now It’s Time To Build Your Machine!
❖ Objective
➢ Create a Rube Goldberg machine that gets a ping pong ball into a
cup, incorporates at least two steps, and demonstrates one law of
motion and one force.
❖ Procedure
1. Break up into smaller groups.
2. Have one group member pick up a kit of supplies.
3. Send another group member to pick out a card that lists the law of
motion and the force you must demonstrate in your machine.
4. Get to work! Make sure you label where you demonstrate the laws
and forces in your machine!

8. Here are some tips to help you get started…
❖ Plan some ideas and draw out what your machine might
look like before you start building. Think of different steps
and how you could connect them in interesting ways.
❖ Work backwards! Start with figuring out how to drop or roll
the ball into the cup.
❖ Test your different steps and connections as you work to
make sure they function correctly.
❖ Not everything will work perfectly on your first run of the
machine. Don’t be afraid to make adjustments!

9. Suggested Materials for Rube Goldberg Kits
❖ Hot Wheels cars and tracks
❖ Ping pong balls
❖ Mini buckets
❖ Cups of various sizes
❖ Paper
❖ String
❖ Scissors
❖ Balloons
❖ Popsicle sticks
❖ Golf balls
❖ Paper clips
❖ Rubber bands
❖ Duct tape
❖ Marbles
❖ Dominoes
❖ Springs
❖ Pool noodles
❖ Sandpaper
❖ Pieces of cardboard and
cardboard boxes
❖ Legos
❖ Paper towel tubes