Chap 3

Inertia Newtons First

Law
Physical Science Explorations Chap 2
Lincoln High School
Mr. Lowery
Earth Science
2007-2008
The basic law related
to inertia comes from
Isaac Newton, and is
known as Newtons
First Law
Every object continues
in a state of rest or in
a state of motion in a
straight line at a
constant speed,
Unless it is compelled
to change that state
by forces exerted
upon it.
So, things tend to keep
on doing what they
are already doing.
Objects at rest tend
to stay at rest they
need a force to get
them in motion
A force is a push or a
pull, or any action
that has the ability to
change motion
Objects that are
already moving tend
to keep moving along
a straight path
The inertia that an
object has depends
on its mass.
{{demo}}}
If you were in space
and threw a baseball,
it would move forever
in a straight line path
until some force
acted on it.
Most times, the force
acting on something
in motion is either
gravity or friction
Without force, objects
dont speed up, slow
down, or change
direction. Force
means total force
net force acting on
an object
Many times, more than
one force acts on an
object.
Shooting a basketball
the force of gravity,
air friction, and the
pushing force you
apply with your
muscle all act on the
ball
The net force is the
combination of all of
these.
If you pull on a box with
a force of 5 pounds
and your friend pulls
on the same box in
the same direction w/
a force of 5 pounds,
what is the net force?
Net force is 10 pounds.
What if you are pulling
in opposite
directions?
Net force is 0 pounds
If you pull on a box with
a force of 5 pounds
and your friend pulls
on the same box in
the same direction w/
a force of 5 pounds,
what is the net force?
In science, the unit of
force is the newton, N
Forces are shown by
arrows
When the net force on
something is zero, it
is in equilibrium
Support force
Why dont we fall
through the floor?
A book laying on the
desk is in equilibrium
Gravity is acting on it,
pulling it down. B/c it
is in equilibrium, what
force is cancelling out
gravity?
It is the desk supporting
the book
This is called the
support force, or
normal force. It must
equal the weight of
the book
Speed
The concept of speed
was first developed
by Galileo, who
considered both
distance travelled and
the time it took.
He defined speed as
the distance covered
per unit of time. Per
means divided by.
Speed = distance / time
Velocity
Takes into account
both speed and
direction of an object.
Speed is a description
of how fast, velocity is
how fast and in what
direction
If a car goes 60
kilometers in an hour,
its speed is 60
km/hour.
If it goes this speed to
the north (direction),
60 km/hr to the north
is its velocity.
Constant speed means
that the speed does
not slow up or go
faster. Motion that is
not constant is
acceleration