Lab: Newton’s Laws and Rocketball
Name__________________________
Class_________________
Date___________________________
Introduction:
The motion of a rocket from the surface of the Earth to a landing on the Moon can be explained and
described by physical principals discovered over 300 years ago by Sir Isaac Newton. Newton worked in
many areas of mathematics and physics. He developed the theories of gravitation in 1666, when he was
only 23 years old. Some twenty years later, in 1686, he presented his three laws of motion in the
"Principia Mathematica Philosophiae Naturalis."
Part I. Newton’s Laws
Complete the Following Statements using the word bank below:
WORD BANK
FORCE
INERTIA
ACTION
MASS
STAYS
REACTION
REST
Newton’s First Law:
1.
An object in motion______________ in motion (unless acted on by an outside force).
2.
An object at ___________ stays at rest (unless acted upon by an outside force).
3. This is called _________________.
Newton’s Second Law:
1.
The acceleration of an object depends on the net ___________acting on the object and the
_________ of the object.
Newton’s Third Law:
1.
Every __________ has an equal and opposite __________________.
Part II. Rocketball
1.
Drop the ping pong ball from a height of 50cm each time and record how high up the ping pong
ball bounces back. Do this five times and calculate the average. (Add up your numbers and
divide by 5!) Show your work in the space provided. Give your ping pong ball back to your
teacher now and get a golf ball for the next step.
PING PONG DROPS
1.
cm
2.
cm
3.
cm
4.
cm
5.
cm
TOTAL
AVERAGE
cm
2. Do the same experiment as #1, this time using a golf ball. Remember to drop from 50cm each
time. Do your calculations in the space provided. When you are finished, go back and pick up a
ping pong ball from your teacher.
GOLF BALL DROPS
1.
cm
2.
cm
3.
cm
4.
cm
5.
cm
TOTAL
AVERAGE
3.
cm
Now, drop the ping pong ball and golf ball together with the ping pong ball on top of the golf
ball.
Write an observation of what happens when they hit the surface.
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4.
Why do you think this happens?
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5.
How does this experiment relate to Newton’s Laws of Motion?
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6.
Newton’s Third Law of Motion states that for every action there is an opposite reaction. For
each example, list what the action is, and what the reaction is.
a.
A rocket can lift off from a launch pad only when it expels gas out of its engine. The
rocket pushes on the gas, and the gas in turn pushes on the rocket.
Action:___________________________________________________________________________
Reaction:_________________________________________________________________________
b.
Imagine that a skateboard and rider are in a state of rest (not moving). The rider
jumps off the skateboard.
Action:____________________________________________________________________________
Reaction:__________________________________________________________________________