This document describes 5 activities to demonstrate Newton's First Law of Motion. Activity 1 involves flicking an index card to drop a washer into a cup. It works because removing the card quickly removes the opposing force of friction. Activity 2 involves flicking a washer at a stack - it will knock over the stack because objects at rest stay at rest. Activity 3 has students catch falling washers - it works because their hand provides an opposing force to the washers' inertia. Activity 4 compares gently vs quickly pulling on a thread attached to a washer - a hard pull overcomes inertia faster. Activity 5 has students blow marbles across a table - it's hard to start and stop the marble because air provides only a weak
1. This virtual lab experiment investigates Newton's second law of motion by dropping objects of varying masses under different gravitational conditions.
2. Students will observe how mass and gravitational acceleration affect the rate at which objects fall. They will also calculate the weight of objects using their mass and gravitational acceleration.
3. The objectives are to relate Newton's second law to gravity, determine how mass affects acceleration rates, observe how gravitational conditions impact identical masses, and compute force given mass and acceleration.
1. The document describes an experiment to design and test a "collision safety device" made of paper and tape to protect an egg dropped from increasing heights up to 2 meters, simulating car collisions.
2. Students will work in groups to build a free-standing device within 20 minutes using no more than 10 sheets of paper and 1 meter of tape, then test it by dropping an egg from 1 meter, then 1.5 meters, then 2 meters high.
3. The device that protects the egg from all drop heights using the fewest sheets of paper will be considered the most effective design. Observations of how eggs break or survive impacts can explain physics principles like changing momentum and impulse that help people survive
This document describes 5 activities to demonstrate Newton's First Law of Motion. Activity 1 involves flicking an index card to drop a washer into a cup. It works because removing the card quickly removes the opposing force of friction. Activity 2 involves flicking a washer at a stack - it will knock over the stack because objects at rest stay at rest. Activity 3 has students catch falling washers - it works because their hand provides an opposing force to the washers' inertia. Activity 4 compares gently vs quickly pulling on a thread attached to a washer - a hard pull overcomes inertia faster. Activity 5 has students blow marbles across a table - it's hard to start and stop the marble because air provides only a weak
1. This virtual lab experiment investigates Newton's second law of motion by dropping objects of varying masses under different gravitational conditions.
2. Students will observe how mass and gravitational acceleration affect the rate at which objects fall. They will also calculate the weight of objects using their mass and gravitational acceleration.
3. The objectives are to relate Newton's second law to gravity, determine how mass affects acceleration rates, observe how gravitational conditions impact identical masses, and compute force given mass and acceleration.
1. The document describes an experiment to design and test a "collision safety device" made of paper and tape to protect an egg dropped from increasing heights up to 2 meters, simulating car collisions.
2. Students will work in groups to build a free-standing device within 20 minutes using no more than 10 sheets of paper and 1 meter of tape, then test it by dropping an egg from 1 meter, then 1.5 meters, then 2 meters high.
3. The device that protects the egg from all drop heights using the fewest sheets of paper will be considered the most effective design. Observations of how eggs break or survive impacts can explain physics principles like changing momentum and impulse that help people survive