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Newton's Laws Investigation

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Newton's Laws Investigation

A toy-car lab is investigating how pushes, motion, and collisions work. Read each setup carefully. Predict, test when possible, and use evidence to explain what happens. Use force in newtons (N), mass in kilograms (kg), and acceleration in meters per second squared (m/s²).

Predict and Observe

For Questions 1–3, use the information in each question. If you cannot perform a test, reason from the evidence given.

1.A car is sitting still on the tabletop. Which change would make it start moving?

A balanced set of forces
An unbalanced push or pull
Its color changing
Adding a ruler beside it

2.Trial A: the same toy car receives a gentle push and rolls 40 cm. Trial B: it receives a stronger push on the same surface and rolls 75 cm. Name one thing kept the same and one thing changed.

3.In Trial B, the stronger push caused a greater change in the car's motion. Which Newton's law connects an object's acceleration with the net force and its mass?

First law
Second law
Third law
The law of gravity only

Use the Evidence

A class tests the same toy car on the same smooth track. The measurements are shown below.

Trial

Mass of car

Net push

1 kg

4 N

2 kg

4 N

4.Using F = m × a, calculate the acceleration in Trial A. Show your calculation and include the correct unit.

5.The net push stays at 4 N in Trial B, but the car's mass doubles. Predict Trial B's acceleration using F = m × a.

6.A car rolls across the floor and gradually slows down. The force from the floor that acts against the car's motion is .

7.A car rolls across the floor and gradually slows down. Its motion changes because the forces acting on it are (balanced or unbalanced).

8.A book rests on a level table. Draw a free-body diagram with arrows showing the forces acting on the book. Label each arrow and show which forces are balanced.

Action and Reaction

Think about a short collision test: one toy car rolls into a second toy car that is at rest. The cars push on each other during the collision.

9.True or false: During the collision, the first car pushes on the second car, and the second car pushes back on the first car with an equal force in the opposite direction.

TrueFalse

10.Explain how a swimmer moves forward when pushing water backward. Name the Newton's law this demonstrates.

11.Plan a fair investigation to test how adding mass affects a toy car's acceleration. State what you would change, what you would measure, and two conditions you would keep the same.