Newton’s First Law of Motion Activities
Name: _________________________________ Period: _______ Score: ______
The Purpose: To demonstrate Newton’s first Law of Motion
State Newton’s First Law of Motion completely:
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Activity One: Coin Flick
Materials: Coin, glass, index card
Procedure:
1. Center an index card over the top of a glass. Make sure there is enough space to
give one edge of the card a good flick without smacking your finger on the glass. Ouch!
2. Place a single coin on top of the card, so that it rests over the cup's opening in the
middle of the index card.
3. Flick an exposed edge of the notecard. Don't flick the card from underneath. Flick
directly from the side of the card's edge.
4. Repeat steps 1 – 3 three times.
Observations:
1. When you flicked the card what happened to the coin? Describe what happens in
complete sentences.
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2. What happened when you flicked the card from underneath instead of from the side?
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Conclusion:
Use Newton’s first law of motion to explain why the coin falls into the cup if you remove
the card quickly._________________________________________________________
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[Type text]
Activity Two: Catching Coins
Materials: 5 pennies
Procedure:
1. Stack five of the pennies, one on top of the other, on your elbow, so that you form a
tower.
2. Quickly jerk your elbow down and catch as many pennies in the palm of your hand
that you can. Repeat this step 3 times, with both hands.
3) How many can you catch with your Left hand? ______
4) How many can you catch with your Right hand? ______
5) Conclusion: Use Newton’s first law to describe what happened. Use complete
sentences. Which object is in motion, what is the unbalanced force?
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Activity Three: Toy Car
Materials: toy car, pennies
Procedure:
1) Stack 5 pennies on top of the toy car.
2) Give the car a firm push. What Happens to the pennies?_______________________
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3) Stack the pennies again and give the car a gentile push. What happened to the
coins? _______________________________________________________________
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4) Conclusion: Use Newton’s first law to describe what happened. Use complete
sentences. Which object is in motion, what is the unbalanced force?
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