Presentation about Newton's Laws and how they relate to the construction of Calder-like art mobiles.

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2. Balance and Motion


3. Physics is part of our daily lives.
Everything we do or see
has a connection with
physical laws of one
sort or another. Color,
gravity, motion, balance…
these physical properties
are such an obvious part of
our daily lives that we take
them for granted. But this
wasn’t always so.

4. In the early 1600s, thinking people were certain that the Sun orbited
the Earth, that colors existed without the need of light, and that
planets were held in the sky by an invisible shield.
Then, along came Sir Isaac Newton.

5. Sir Isaac Newton
(4 January 1643– 31 March 1727)
was an English physicist and mathematician regarded by many
as the most important figure in the history of science.
We have Newton to thank for many of the breakthroughs in scientific
understanding which have occurred in the last three hundred years.

6. Newton discovered measurable, mathematical
patterns in the phenomena of
light, motion and gravity.
These discoveries have brought us:

7. Color Theory:
Basic rules for combining pigments
and/or light to create desired colors.

8. The Universal Law of Gravitation
The amount of
gravitational force
exerted on an object
is directly related to
the object’s mass.
More mass = more
weight, which is
another way to say:
more Gravity.

9. Newton deduced that the same forces which caused an
apple to fall from a tree also caused the Moon to orbit the
Earth, and the planets of our solar system to orbit the Sun.
The people who were strongly in favor of the “invisible shield theory”
were pretty upset by this announcement.

10. Law #1:
• A moving object will keep moving in a straight line, and an object
at rest will stay put unless acted on by an unbalanced force
Imagine a truck is traveling with a ladder on it’s roof. The ladder is not strapped
to the truck. Both are moving together at the same speed.
Q: If the truck comes to a sudden stop, what will happen to the ladder?
A: The ladder will keep on moving because it has not been acted on by
the same force as the truck.
This is also known as “Inertia”.

11. Law #2
• The force of an object is equal to its MASS
(the amount of matter it contains) times its ACCELERATION (increase
in speed). The formula for this is:
F=MxA (force equals mass times acceleration).
In other words, how hard a vehicle hits a wall depends on
how much it weighs
multiplied by how fast it is traveling.
Ouch!

12. Law #3:
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

13. When one or more forces act on an object, they are called the “Net Force”
on that object.
Equilibrium exists if the net force is zero.
Imagine a cue ball resting on a pool table.
It’s net force is zero, until…
an external unbalanced force is applied.

14. The yellow ball travels in the same direction as the cue’s force.
Which of Newton’s other laws are being illustrated here?
When a force acts on an object,
the object will move in a straight line
continuing in the same direction as the force.

15. If you said Newton’s 3rd
law:
“for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction”
you would be right because the object’s are reacting to hitting each
other by moving in opposite directions.
But you would also be right if you said Newton’s 2nd
law:
“Force equals mass times acceleration”
because the force with which one object hits another
Is directly proportional to how much it weighs and how fast it is traveling.

16. Newton’s laws of motion
have many applications
in our world today.
Scientists and
designers must take these
laws into consideration
when creating things that
move such as airplanes,
rockets and roller coasters.

17. On a smaller scale, Newton’s laws of motion can also be used in the
creation of kinetic art.
“Kinetic art (meaning Art that moves) was popularized by the artist
Alexander Calder
(1898-1976)

18. Calder used the laws of gravity, inertia, net forces,
equilibrium, and actions creating equal and opposite reactions
to produce floating abstract art pieces
which were dubbed
“Mobiles”.

19. A mobile is a moving sculpture that is composed of a number of objects
which are carefully balanced with each other to achieve perfect equilibrium.
In other words, to create a “net force” of zero.
These objects are connected to levers (arms) which balance at pivot,
or
“fulcrum” points.

20. Using fulcrums and levers, we can balance objects
of different masses.

21. Try this: Take a pencil or pen and try to balance it on your outstretched finger.
Find the place where it does not fall off your finger.
This is the point at which the lever’s mass is divided equally at
either side of the balance point.
What happens if move the pencil from this point?

22. Put your pencil (lever) back on its balance point.
Now put a big piece of tape on one end of it.
Where is the balance point now?
How does the increased mass (the tape) on one end of the lever
change the balance point?
What did you have to do to achieve
equilibrium again?

23. As you have discovered, levers can be used to balance a large force over a
small distance at one end by exerting only a small force over a
greater distance at the other.

24. Each joint where an arm, or lever, of the mobile connects to another
is a fulcrum, or balance point.
The net force on each lever, and in each layer of levers, must be
zero in order for the mobile to remain in a state of equilibrium.
Fulcrums and levers work in much the same
way in the making of mobiles.

25. One artist who creates kinetic art using all of the
concepts we have looked at so far is San Francisco based
kinetic artist Timothy Rose.
He makes mobile sculptures out
of interesting shapes balanced in unique ways.

26. Some of his mobiles are “abstract”, meaning they do
not represent real things…

27. Let’s look at how Mr. Rose creates his
kinetic sculptures.
First he starts by creating the
bottom rung of the structure.
And some are “representational", meaning they represent real things.

28. Starting with two cut out shapes, he adds them to a wire lever
which has been looped at both ends.
The weighted lever is then balanced, much like you did with your pencils,
until the balance point is located. That point on the wire is then marked
and a loop is twisted at that spot.

29. Next, another wire is cut and looped with an object on one end only,
using the first branch of the mobile as the weight at the other end.
Now it gets tricky: the balance point for the second branch,
or lever, of the mobile must be located.
When it is found, a loop is made at that spot on the second lever.

30. For the third lever, the
first two branches are
hooked to one side,
and a weight is hung
from a loop on the
other side.
The balance point is found by moving
the third lever, or changing the mass
of the weight until equilibrium is
achieved.

31. Mobiles can be formal and mechanical, or informal and
organic like these kinetic sculptures made from found objects:
Driftwood mobile “Tranquility” by artist Julie Frith
Found object mobile “Windshrine” by artist Jana Morgan

32. Today we are going to using our knowledge of balance and forces,
combined with our creativity and imaginations
to create unique mobiles inspired by
the scientific contributions of
Sir Isaac Newton.