Third Law of Motion: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Force is a push or a pull, like pulling a wagon or pushing a car. Gravity is a force that attracts things to one another. Weight is a measure of how much gravity is pulling on an object.
Gravity accelerates all things equally. Which means all things speed up (accelerate) the same amount as they fall. Acceleration is the rate of change in velocity. In other words, how fast is a change in speed and/or a change in direction happening.
Materials: balloon [am4show have='p8;p9;p11;p38;p10;p37;p109;p72;p92;' guest_error='Guest error message' user_error='User error message' ]
Hold a balloon between your fingers and let go. Which way does the air inside the balloon travel relative to the balloon itself?
Answer: The balloon travels to the right and the air inside the balloon (at least initially) travels to the left.
Find out more about this key principle in Unit 1 and Unit 2.
Download Student Worksheet & Exercises
Exercises
Force is a push or a pull, like pulling a wagon or pushing a car. Gravity is a force that attracts things to one another. Weight is a measure of how much gravity is pulling on an object.
Gravity accelerates all things equally. Which means all things speed up (accelerate) the same amount as they fall. Acceleration is the rate of change in velocity. In other words, how fast is a change in speed and/or a change in direction happening.
Materials: balloon [am4show have='p8;p9;p11;p38;p10;p37;p109;p72;p92;' guest_error='Guest error message' user_error='User error message' ]
Hold a balloon between your fingers and let go. Which way does the air inside the balloon travel relative to the balloon itself?
Answer: The balloon travels to the right and the air inside the balloon (at least initially) travels to the left.
Find out more about this key principle in Unit 1 and Unit 2.
Download Student Worksheet & Exercises
Exercises
- What is Newton’s Third Law?
- Give three examples of forces in pairs.
- A rope is attached to a wall. You pick up the rope and pull with all you’ve got. A scientist walks by and adds a force meter to the rope and measures you’re pulling with 50 Newtons. How much force does the wall experience?
- Can rockets travel in space if there’s nothing to push off of? Explain your answer.