Materials: Plastic container, table, cloth napkin, plastic cup,
index card, 6 pennies, egg, water, hover puck and balloon.
Using “magic” tricks and hover pucks, metaphors and games,
students explore the ideas that an object at rest, stays at rest,
and that an object in motion, stays in motions.

You will also need
a clean flat area to do the projects: or or Imagine you are
stretched out on a couch.

You have kicked off
your shoes and socks
and are busy doing
almost nothing at all! The idea of moving a muscle seems very difficult. Your mother tells you to pick-up your shoes and socks. You are suffering from a royal case of - - I N E R T I A ! Newton's
FIRST Law of Motion! An object at REST,
tends to stay at REST. Let's do some magic tricks with inertia! You will need: heavy,
unbreakable
bottle filled
with a non-toxic liquid such as soap cloth napkin Place the plastic bottle
and the cloth napkin
on a smooth table. Did the bottle stay standing upright?
If not try it again until it works. YANK the napkin straight out from under the bottle. Why does this trick work? Inertia! The plastic bottle begins at rest on top of the cloth.
The bottle stays at rest even as the napkin
is moved out from under it! An object at REST,
tends to stay at REST. Here is another trick to try
using INERTIA. You will need: penny or other coin index card cup Click
for anwer. Put the penny
on the card
on the cup. YANK the card
out from under
the penny. Did you pull the card out
fast enough for the penny
to land in the cup? AN OBJECT AT REST,
TENDS TO STAY AT REST! WHY did it work An object at rest,
tends to stay at rest. YANK the index card out from under the egg. Add water to the cup. Replace the coin
with a raw egg
or a boiled egg. I N E R T I A Why did the egg and the penny
fall into the cup
instead of moving
to the side with the card An object at REST,
tends to stay at REST. Click for answer. The penny and the egg stayed at rest, suspended in mid-air
until gravity pulled them DOWN into the cup! REMEMBER --
Try one more trick with
INERTIA! Find 7 pennies.
Stack 6 of them. Use your index finger to shoot a single penny at the bottom
of the stack. Did you remove a SINGLE penny from the bottom?
Why did the pennies on TOP stay in the stack?
I bet you know the answer! Newton's
FIRST LAW

also describes
how objects MOVE. AN OBJECT IN MOTION,
TENDS TO STAY IN MOTION. What does this mean?

If you have ever been
on ice skates,
you have experienced
this law of motion.

Once you begin to glide,
it is VERY difficult to stop.

To stop yourself you have
to dig your skates into the ice,
or grab onto a wall, or fall. WHY An object in motion,
tends to stay in motion. Astronauts in outer space must be tethered by long cords when they work
outside the spacecraft.

It they were to let go,
even the slightest push
in this low gravity, low friction environment could send them drifting off into space.

Once in motion,
there would be nothing
to stop them.They would
stay in motion! WHY is this An object in motion,
tends to stay in motion. Click for answer. Does the puck move easily
NO! The FRICTION between the puck
and the surface slows down the puck. Let's explore the MOTION in
Newton's First Law of MOTION! Find these items in you kit. balloon air puck Place the air puck
on a smooth surface.
Push it around. What happens when you reduce the friction? DON'T LET IT GO! The air from the balloon creates a cushion of air BENEATH the puck.
This layer of air lowers the friction on the bottom of the puck and
it glides along with little friction to slow it down. Push
the air puck Stretch the end
of the balloon
over the stopper
on the air puck. Blow up
the balloon. UNLESS acted on by outside FORCES,
such as gravity, friction, or a push from your hand. An object in MOTION,
tends to stay in MOTION. WHY The air puck keeps going and going,
until some unbalanced FORCE stops it.

Videos on Inertia Credits-Javalab INERTIA: A Spacecraft in Space Navigate through the asteroids! Click on Electra below. With Newton's First Law, the space craft can
either keep on going at a fixed speed
or fire the rockets to go at a faster fixed
speed. An object in motion, stays in motion.
Click here.