Newton's Laws of Motion Explorations
Individual Support Required for all Explorations
Video Point Motion analysis – use a computer
program to analyze complex motion on video. This is quite useful with Newton's
second law and the conservation of momentum. See your teacher for the procedure
sheet.
Motion Sensor Activities - two activities used
for studying freefall and non-freefall motion.
Terminal Velocity - Use a book and a piece of cardboard to compare
freefall to non-freefall. Try some other objects if you really want to
see what's going on.
mini Labs (you may need
to provide materials, check with your teacher first)
Reaction Time (Hewitt p. 27 #52)
Newton's First Law (Science Spectrum p. 269)
How are Action and Reaction Forces Related? (Science Spectrum
p. 273)
How can you deliver a payload with a balloon rocket?
Materials:
balloon, fishing line or string, plastic drinking straws, masking tape
Procedure:
-
Make a guiding line for your balloon rocket by threading an 8 m string
through a drinking straw. Tie each end to a chair and stretch it taut between
the chairs.
-
Blow up a balloon and pinch the end. Tape a very small object to the balloon
in a location that will interfere as little as possible with the rocket's
flight.
-
With the straw at one end of the string, use tape to attach the inflated
balloon to the straw.
-
Release the balloon. Measure to the nearest centimeter how far your rocket
travels.
Analysis:
-
What propels the balloon forward? How does this demonstrate Newton's third
law?
-
Do you think your rocket would travel farther if it were not carrying the
object? What changes could you make to allow your balloon to travel farther?
Try it.
How can air resistance change the acceleration of a failing
object?
Materials:
old, hardcover book; scissors; piece of paper
Procedure:
-
Obtain a discarded book. Cut a piece of paper the same size as the cover
of the book.
-
Predict whether the book or the paper will hit the floor first if you drop
them the same way and at the same time.
-
Try dropping them side by side with the greatest surface area facing down.
Which object has the greater acceleration?
-
Next, devise several methods to make the book and paper fall at nearly
the same acceleration.
Analysis:
-
If the acceleration of gravity is the same for all objects, how can you
explain your results?
-
Describe the methods you discovered for making the book and paper fall
at nearly the same acceleration. Analyze how they work.
How does friction act as a force?
Materials:
a sheet of smooth paper or slick piece of cloth, a 100-g mass or another
unbreakable object with a smooth bottom surface, piece of coarse sandpaper,
table
Procedure:
-
Place a sheet of plain white paper near the edge of a flat surface, then
set a 100 g mass on the paper about 7 cm from the far end of the paper.
-
Grip the end of the paper near the table's edge and give it a quick, smooth,
downward yank. What happens?
-
Replace the paper with a sheet of coarse sandpaper, rough side up, and
repeat the procedure. Observe what happens to the mass.
Analysis:
-
How do you interpret the different results?
-
How can Newton's first law help explain your observations?
Don't forget the internet based stuff as well: scavenger
hunt, website evaluation, topic research, and STS articles. These are all
described in the Exploration Procedures page.
The following video resources
are available in room E-190 or see your teacher for access.
Video Clips – These have informational clips
as well as things to do involving the phenomena in the video.
Newton's First Two Laws
Newton's Third Law
Elastic Collisions
Inelastic Collisions
Gravity
Other Stuff
Hewitt lecture/demo Clips – These are mostly
informational but also have some short demos. Paul Hewitt is a Professor
of Physics in San Francisco and Hawaii.
Inertia
Newton's Laws
Freefall
Momentum
Gravity
Weightlessness
Full Length Hewitt Videos – Full 30+ minute
lectures by Hewitt (the clips came from here).
Newton's First Law
Newton's Second Law
Newton's Third Law
Momentum