Newtons First Law (Nancy Jinon)

Title: Egg Drop Newton’s First Law

Standard: Newton's laws predict the motion of most objects. As a basis for understanding this concept: a. Students know that when forces are balanced, no acceleration occurs; thus an object continues to move at a constant speed or stays at rest (Newton's first law).

Materials: Eggs, Cardboard tube, Pie pan raw eggs Water a large drinking glass

Procedure:

1. Fill the large drinking glass about three-quarters full with water and center the pie pan on top of the glass. Place the cardboard tube on the plate, positioning it directly over the water. Carefully set the egg (or practice ball) on top of the cardboard tube.

2. With your writing hand, smack the edge of the pie pan horizontally. Make sure you follow-through. It’s important that you use a pretty solid hit, so plan on chasing the plate and tube.

3. Your astonished guests will watch the egg plop nicely into the water.

Student Prior Knowledge: from previous chapter they will have to know that motion can be represented in a variety of ways. They will also need to know the concept of inertia.

Explanation:

The pie pan, toilet tube and egg are in an equilibrium state in the beginning of the experiment hence they are stationary. The equation that helps illustrate a balance force is V=0 m/s². When outside force is acted upon an object at rest that objects force will become unbalanced. During the experiment hitting the pie pan causes our “outside force”. The egg is stationary no longer has support produced by the pie pan and gravitational pull causes the egg to drop into the cup.

Questions and Answers:

Give one example for a balance force.

A science book is set on top of a table. There is force acting upon the book from two directions. One is the downward force, which is caused by gravitational pull. Then there is also an upward force acting upon the book caused by the table. When opposite forces act upon an object in different directions the object is to define as being balanced.

What is an example of an unbalanced force?

A science book that slides across a table. There is force acting both in an upward and downward direction, but this time there is force acted upon the right side of the book. This causes acceleration, which leads the book to become unbalance, hence the book moves.

Why did the egg fall straight down into the cup?

The egg fell straight down because of the uneven force acting upon the egg. The only type of force acting upon the egg was that of gravitational pull, which a downwards force. There was no upward force acting upon the egg, because the toilet tube was no longer under the egg. There was an unbalance force, which let the egg to accelerate and fall into the cup.

Everyday Applications:

Have you ever experienced inertia (resisting changes in your state of motion) in an automobile while it is braking to a stop? The force of the road on the locked wheels provides the unbalanced force to change the car's state of motion, yet there is no unbalanced force to change your own state of motion. Thus, you continue in motion, sliding along the seat in forward motion. A person in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by the unbalanced force of a seat belt. Seat belts are used to provide safety for passengers whose motion is governed by Newton's laws. The seat belt provides the unbalanced force that brings you from a state of motion to a state of rest. Perhaps you could speculate what would occur when no seat belt is used. When a person is pushing a heavy object like a shopping cart a person must apply a greater force to get the cart to move. Likewise, when stopping a car a driver must apply more force in order to stop the car.

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