Force physics science questions with pictures free#
Free Fall: Potential Energy, Kinetic Energy, and Gravity Instead, the ball follows its path of inertia and moves in a straight path that is tangent to the circular path. If centrifugal force was a real force, the ball would move straight away from the center at the point where the string was let go.īut it doesn’t. You can test this outside by spinning a ball around you and letting go of the string. the string breaks), then it is the object’s inertia that takes over and sends the object traveling in a straight path. If the centripetal force that pulls an object into the center stops working (e.g.
*Centrifugal force is actually not a real force. In theory, if the carousel starts moving really fast, centrifugal force* (‘center-fearing’) takes over and breaks the hold the platform (centripetal force) had on the riders and the riders would fly off. The platform upon which the horses and people are riding is the centripetal force that keeps them traveling in a circular motion just as the string was the centripetal force for the ball.Īs long as the ride is moving slowly enough, the centripetal force of the platform can keep everyone and everything on board.
The string is pulling the ball back toward you, acting as the centripetal force.Ĭentripetal means ‘center-seeking’ and is the force that is acting on the carousel. Since the ball is traveling in a circular path, an outside force must be acting on the ball – that force is the string. But Newton’s first law states that an object in motion stays in motion and that motion is in a straight path, not a circular path. The ball is traveling in a circular path. Imagine spinning a ball on a string around you. If two bumper cars traveling at the same speed and carrying the same amount of weight run into each other, they will bounce off and move an equal distance away from each other.Īnd based on the second law, if there is a difference in the amount of weight being carried in the two cars, the car with less weight will travel farther away from the point of impact than the car carrying more weight.Ĭlick to learn more about Newton’s Three Laws of Motion. Newton’s Third Law: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The more mass (weight) an object has, the more force it takes to move it.Īnd since all the bumper cars usually have the same top velocity, the cars carrying more mass will never travel as far as the cars carrying less mass after a collision. When riding in the bumper cars, you may have noticed that people who weigh less tend to get pushed around more than people who weigh more. Something that is small, such as a pebble, is much easier to pick up and throw than something that is large and heavy, such as a boulder. You already know this law and practice it in your everyday life. Newton’s Second Law: The greater the mass of an object, the harder it is to change its speed.
This is because your body’s inertia wants it to keep traveling in the direction it was moving with the car even though your bumper car has now suddenly stopped. When you are riding in a bumper car and end up in a collision with another bumper car, you feel a jolt. If the ball is set in motion, it will keep traveling in a straight path because, again, that is what it ‘wants’ to do.Īn object in motion will not stop, slow down, or change its direction unless an outside force acts on it (such as gravity, friction, and air resistance).
Newton found that if a ball is sitting on a table, it will stay sitting there because that is what it ‘wants’ to do. This is because all objects have inertia – the property of matter that resists changes to the object’s motion. Newton’s First Law: Every object in motion continues in motion and every object at rest continues to be at rest unless an outside force acts upon it. Roller Coaster: Putting It All Together Bumper Cars: Newton’s Three Laws of Motionīumper cars are a great place to see Sir Isaac Newton’s three laws of motion in action. Free Fall: Potential Energy, Kinetic Energy, and Gravity Bumper Cars: Newton’s Three Laws of Motion We’ll take a look at four of the most common types of rides to see how the forces, energy types, and laws of physics are at work in amusement parks. Amusement parks are thrilling places to spend the long days of summer, but did you know that these parks are also huge physics classrooms?Īll of the rides are built with the laws of physics in mind, and it is playing with these laws that makes these rides so fun and scary.
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