Newton's Three Laws of Motion Lab Activity
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Before we get started with our lab, we need to discuss a concept known as inertia. We often say that inertia is "sluggishness," but it is officially defined as the resistance to change in motion. In other words, inertia is the tendency of an object to keep doing whatever it is already doing. We do not really know exactly why objects have inertia, but we do know that only objects with MASS have inertia. By the way, virtually everything has mass. So, virtually everything has inertia.
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Richard Feynman, who is known as one of the best physics teachers of all time, explains the concept of inertia beautifully in the video above.
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The video at the left is a good demonstration of inertia. First, a student places a clothes hanger on top of her head. The clothes hanger has a relatively massive blob of modeling clay attached to either end. The student then turns slowly, and the blobs of clay move with her. When Ms. Clanton puts the hanger on her head and turns quickly, the blobs stay put. Why? Click HERE for the answer. |