Spinning Chair

TOPIC: Principles of Flight: Newton's First Law of Motion
LEVEL: advanced

"Spinning Chair"

SCIENCE CONCEPT:: Newton's First Law of Motion: objects at rest remain at rest and objects in motion remain in motion unless acted upon by an outside force.
STUDENT OBJECTIVE:: The student will discover a part of Newton's First Law of Motion: an object in motion remains in motion unless acted upon by an outside force.
OVERVIEW:: The student will use a chair that spins to discover that an object in motion remains in motion unless acted upon by an outside force.
TEACHER TEXT:

PREPARATION TIME: 5 minutes

LESSON TIME: 15 minutes

TEACHER PREP:

Gather materials.

WORDS TO KNOW:

MATERIALS NEEDED:

STEPS TO FOLLOW:

Sit in the chair with the phone books in your lap..

Have a friend spin you around until you are spinning quickly.

Hold one phone book in each hand and extend your arms out straight.

Observe what happens. (The spinning slows down.)

Now move the books in toward you as you spin.

What happens? (The spinning speeds up.)
WHY?:: Objects that are moving tend to keep moving unless acted upon by an outside force. This is called inertia and is part of Newton's First Law of Motion. In this case, the chair will continue spinning until acted upon. When you extend your arms with the phone books, you are more spread out and drag acts to slow you down. When you move the books in toward you, you have less drag acting upon the spinning motion, and you speed up.
ASSESSMENT: Can the student communicate what they observed?: 4....The student is able to communicate that the spinning sped up and slowed down because an outside force (drag) acted upon the inertia of the chair.; 3....The student is able to communicate that drag did something to the chair.; 2....The student is able to communicate that inertia kept the chair spinning.; 1....The student is able to communicate that the chair sped up and slowed down.

Last modified: Mon Aug 11 20:46:55 PDT 1997