Land Waka Forces

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📝 Instructions

Read the paragraph below and fill in the blanks using the words from the word bank.

Tip: Read the whole paragraph first, then go back and fill in each blank.

Word Bank

thrust force • Newton's First Law • Newton's Second Law • Newton's Third Law • balanced forces • unbalanced forces • velocity • friction force • air resistance • change in direction

🚗 The Land Waka Experiment

When we used the hair dryer to push our land waka, we observed many different forces working together. The hair dryer created a thrust force that moved the waka forward. This demonstrates Newton's Third Law, which states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

At first, the waka was stationary because of balanced forces. This means the forces were equal in all directions. According to Newton's First Law, an object at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.

When we turned on the hair dryer, we created unbalanced forces. The push from the air was stronger than the forces trying to stop the waka. This caused the waka to accelerate, which demonstrates Newton's Second Law - the greater the force applied, the greater the acceleration.

As the waka moved across the floor, it experienced a friction force from the surface beneath it. The waka also had to push through the air, creating air resistance that slowed it down.

The waka's velocity increased as it sped up. When we moved the hair dryer to different angles, we could cause a change in direction in the waka's movement.