Name_______________________________________Period_______Date_______________

Newton’s Laws of Motion Lab

Background: You have learned about Newton’s three laws of motion. During this lab, you
will be experimenting with examples of all three laws of motion.

Experiment 1: Quarters (Newton’s 1st Law)

Supplies:
8 quarters
Clean desktop
Procedure:
1. Stack 4 quarters on top of each other so they form a tower of quarters.
2. Take a 5th quarter and aim it at the bottom of the stack of quaters.
3. Give the single quarter a good flick with your finger so it hits the tower.

Questions:
1. Explain what happened when the single quater hit the stack of quaters.

2. Can you replicate that result? (In other words, see if you can do it more than once)

3. Now make a small stack of 2 quarters and flick it at the stack of 4 quarters. Explain what
happened.

4. Now flick a stack of 4 quarters at the stack of 4 quarters. Explain what happened.

5. What does Newton’s first law of motion state?

6. Give at least two examples of Newton first law from this experiment.

7. What type of friction occurred between the quarters and the table when you flicked
them?

8. What type of friction occurred between the quarters in the stack?

Experiment 2: Penny Drop (Newton’s 1st Law)

Supplies:
1 penny
1 wooden clothespin
1 card stock disk
1 piece of string
small amount of tape
Procedure:
1. Set a clothespin so it is standing up on its “legs”
2. Balance a card stock circle on the top of the clothespin
3. Balance a penny on top of the card stock
4. Try to flick the card stock out from under the penny, but
keep the penny balanced on the clothespin.

Questions:
1. Were you successful on your first try to keep the penny on the clothespin? If not,
try at least 10 times to see if you can accomplish this feat (it is possible). How many
attempts did it take you? (if you could not do it, simply write that down)

2. Using a small amount of tape, attach a short length of string to the card stock.
Now try to pull the string quickly to remove the card, but again try to keep the penny
balanced. Again try at least 10 times… Were you able to accomplish this feat? (in how many
tries)

3. Now, balance the card stock/penny on your finger instead of the clothespin and
try again to remove the card but keep the penny balanced on your finger. Which seemed
easier – on the clothespin or on your finger?

4. How does this activity relate to the “pull the tablecloth” (pulling a tablecloth out
from underneath plates, etc)? Explain why this trick should work according to the first law of
motion.

Experiment 3: Hot Wheels (Newton’s 2nd Law)

Supplies:
1 car 10 pennies
3 meter sticks masking tape
3 textbooks stopwatch or timing device

Procedure:
1. Set up a ramp using meter sticks and several books. Place one end of the ramp on
the books and line up the other end with a piece of masking tape on the floor.
2. Place the vehicle at the top of your meter stick and roll it down the ramp. Use a
meter stick to measure how far the vehicles rolls. Do the same thing for Trials 2 & 3.
Record all results below.
3. Add 5 pennies to the vehicle and repeat the process from step 2. Make sure all
pennies remain on the vehicle.
 4. Add 10 pennies to the vehicles and repeat the process from step 2. Make sure all
pennies remain on the vehicle.

Distance Speed
# of Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Averag Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Avera
pennie e (1/sec) (1/sec) (1/sec) ge
s Distan Speed
ce (m/s)
(cm)
0

10

Questions:

1. How does increasing the mass of the car (adding pennies) affect the force of objects in
motion (how far it rolled)?

2. What do you think would happen if you added 15 pennies to the car? Predict how far the
car would roll.

3. What does Newton’s second law state?

4. Explain the results of this experiment in terms of Newton’s second law.

Experiment 4: A Day at the Races (Newton’s 3rd Law)

Supplies:
Balloon Tape
Straw Stopwatch
Fishing line Meter stick

Procedure:
1. You will be in groups of people at your table (4-5 students).
2. Attach one end of the fishing line to the board with tape. Have one teammate hold
the other end of the fishing line so that it is taut (tight, no slack) and roughly
horizontal. The line must be held steady and may not be moved up or down during
the experiment.
3. Have one teammate blow up a balloon and hold it shut with his or her fingers. Have
another teammate tape the straw along the side of the balloon. Thread the fishing
line through the straw and hold the balloon at the far end of the line.
4. Assign one teammate to time the event. The balloon should be let go when the time
keeper says “go”. Observe how your rocket moves toward the board.
5. Have the person holding the fishing line (or another teammate) say stop when the
rocket hits its target. If it does not hit the board say stop when it stops moving. The
timekeeper should record the flight time.
6. Measure the exact distance the rocket traveled with a meter stick. Record the
distance in cm.
 7. Calculate the average speed at which the rocket traveled. To do this divide distance
by time. Fill in your results below.
8. Each team should conduct 2 more races.
9. Then calculate the average speed for the three trials by adding up the speeds and
dividing by 3 to determine your team’s race entry time.

Distance (cm) Time (sec) Speed (cm/sec)

Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 3
Average:
1. What made your rocket move?

2. What does Newton’s Third Law State?

3. How is Newton’s Third Law demonstrated by this activity?

4. Below, draw pictures using labeled arrows to show the action and reaction forces
acting on the inside of the balloon before it was released and after it was released.

Experiment 5: Reacting to Action (Newton’s 3rd Law)

Supplies:
One rubber bouncy ball
Meter stick
A wooden block
Bucket of water

Procedure & Questions:

1. Drop a rubber ball from a height of 1 meter. Catch it when it bounces back up to its
maximum height.
a. Name the force that caused the ball to start moving.

b. What must have happened in order for the ball to bounce back to your hand?

c. After the ball bounces and starts to move upward, what happens to its
motion? Why?

d. How does this activity relate to Newton’s Third Law of motion?

2. Place a wooden block in a bucket of water so that it floats. Push the block into the
water and release it.
a. What happens? Why?
b. What do you notice if you push the block down to a greater depth in the
bucket? How can you explain this in terms of forces?