Book Work

SCIENCE CONCEPT:

Newton's First Law of Motion states that the tendency of an object to remain moving in a straight line at constant speed or to remain stationary is called inertia. When anything moves, it has a kind of energy called kinetic energy. The more it weighs and the faster it moves, the more energy it has. The moving object gets this energy as a force starts it moving or makes it move faster.

STUDENT OBJECTIVE:

The student will show how inertia works when you jerk a piece of paper suddenly from under a book. What happens? Does the book move or does it remain stationary?

OVERVIEW:

In this activity, the student will place a book on a sheet of paper. The student will then jerk the paper suddenly. The book doesn't move. When you pull the paper quickly, it is easier to move the paper from under the book than to move the book. This is inertia - the tendency of objects at rest to stay motionless - is responsible.

PREPARATION TIME:

Variable

LESSON TIME:

20 minutes.

TEACHER PREP:

Gather materials for the experiment. You will need books and pieces of paper.

WORDS TO KNOW:

inertia

acceleration

energy

force

friction

stationary

TEACHER TEXT:

When Sir Isaac Newton began his explorations and explanations of motion, friction, energy, force, and acceleration he expressed praise to Galileo and other great scientists for contributing to his findings by what they had discovered before him. Newton's findings would influence the world of physics to a great extent.

Newton's First Law states that if an object is not being pushed or pulled by a force, it will either stay still or keep moving in a straight line at a steady speed. It might be obvious that a stationary object will not move until a force acts on it, but it is less obvious that a moving object can continue to move without the help of a force. The tendency of an object to remain moving in a straight line at constant speed or to remain stationary is called inertia. Force is the push or pull that is needed to make something start moving. Force is then required to make the object move faster or to make it slow down and stop.

Friction is a force that occurs whenever anything on earth moves. It makes moving objects slow down and may cause them to stop. Friction is produced when the surface of one object moves over the surface of another. More friction is given if one object presses harder on the other. Friction also occurs when objects move through the air or a liquid such as water.

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Last modified: Tue Mar 24 15:37:09 PST 1998