Newton’s Laws Lab

Newton’s laws and balancing forces is certainly a fun topic to cover with students. It is yet another layer of Physics that just makes sense. Newton’s Laws allows us to think logically on why something happens, and creating force diagrams explains where the forces are existing. The experiment we did explored several of newton’s laws and students had to identify what law was being displayed at each station.

Materials: Index Cards, Pennies, and Beakers

Instructions: This lab was set up in stations. Students rotated through the stations and wrote down what it is that they observed.

Station 1 – Drop a flat piece of paper and a wadded up piece of paper at the same time. Which will fall first?

Station 2 – Place two pieces of paper on the floor, place one foot on each paper, begin to run. Write down your observations.

Station 3 – Slide a penny across a desk without having the penny fall of the counter / desk. Write what you observe.

Station 4 – Place an index card over a beaker. Place a penny on the index card. Quickly slide the index card from under the penny, write the observations.

Please try this lab activity and let me know the results of the lab in the comments or via email. These are also fun tricks to practice at home durng winter break.