Newton's 1st & 3nd Laws of Motion
By: Alex Pittman
Newton's First Law of Motion
In Newton's First Law, he states, "an object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless acted upon by an external force." This implies that an object at rest will stay at rest and an object in motion will stay in motion with the same speed and direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.
The Experiment
First, place the car to the right side of the computer. Then, make sure that the car rolls smoothly by rolling it back and forth. After you have completed the previous steps, try pushing the car. Once you get it moving, let it go and let it hit the computer case. What does this have to do with Newton's First Law you ask? Well, by pushing the car, you are applying an unbalanced force to the car, causing it to change it's state of motion. Before, the car was at rest until you pushed it, sending it into a state of motion. Ignoring friction and gravity, the car would theoretically go on forever in a state of motion unless a force acts upon it, in this case, the computer case.
Newton's Third Law of Motion
Newton once said, "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." The statement means that in every interaction, there is a pair of forces acting on the two interacting objects. The size of the forces on the first object equals the size of the force on the second object. Therefore, we will do an experiment called "Newton's Cradle". You will have 5 marbles. You will place on of the marbles next to the end, touching the others. Then, roll the other marble into the line of marbles. You will notice that the ball on the end travels farther if you do it right. In the explanation, they are called bearings. it is also demonstrated with a real newton's cradle.