Motion by Parker

So far in Physical Science we have learned about motion, force, and aerodynamics. The reason we learned all of these is to be able to build a self-propelled vehicle, to participate in the Derby. First we learned about motion, the way we did this is discuss Newton’s law of motion. The first law being   “Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it.” This is saying that if you threw a ball it would keep moving at that same speed till it hit a fence or was somehow stopped. So if the ball hit the fence it would stay in rest, until it was acted by an unbalanced force.

Newton’s second law has to be one of the most important ones. The reason for this is because it shows the calculations of dynamics. Newton’s second law is F=ma. What this means is Force= Mass times Acceleration. So an acceleration is made when a force acts on a mass. The bigger the mass is the more amount of force you need to accelerate the object.

Newton’s third law simply states that “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” An example would be if you were pushing against a wall it would pushed back in the other direction just as hard. That’s how rockets work. You see what happens is that the rockets action is to push down against the ground, but the reactions causes the ground to push the rocket up.

These three laws are very important to us even today. Cars use Newton’s laws as well.

Questions for the class

• Have you ever thought that force affects the rides at the fair?

• What would happen if we never found motion?

• Which law do you think is the most important?