SCIENCE OF NHL HOCKEY: Newtons Three Laws of Motion (Grades

5-8)
Objective:
1.Students will design and carry out a demonstration of Newtons first law of motion. 2.Students will design and carry
out an investigation of Newtons second law of motion. 3.Students will design and carry out a demonstration of the
conservation of momentum and explain its relation to Newtons third law of motion.
Introduction Notes:

Science of NHL Hockey: Newtons Three Laws of Motion

Subject Area:
Grade Level:
Lesson Title:

Physical Science
58 (Physical Science)
Newtons Three Laws of Motion

National Science Education Standards:

Science as Inquiry: 58
Motions and Forces: 58
Suggested Prior Knowledge: concepts of mass, velocity, and acceleration; lab techniques of
measuring mass, distance, and time. Note that students might more easily grasp the concepts in
this video if they have already viewed the video Kinematics.
Purpose: This video focuses on the actions involved in playing the game of hockey. Although
all sports are subject to Newtons three laws of motion in one way or another, hockey shows
especially clear examples. The activity will help students to understand Newtons three laws of
motion and how they relate to the conservation of momentum.
Key Vocabulary:
conservation of momentumconstancy of the total moment of a closed system; derived from
Newtons third law.
impulseforce applied over a time interval; equal to the change in momentum, or the product of
mass and change in velocity, of an object the force acts on.
inertiaresistance to a change in motion of a moving object or a stationary object.
momentumthe product of an objects mass and its velocity.
Newtons first law of motionObjects remain at rest or in motion with a constant speed and
direction unless acted upon by a force.
Newtons second law of motionThe net force applied to an object is equal to the product of
the objects mass and its acceleration; F = ma (net force = mass acceleration).

Newtons third law of motionEvery action has an equal but opposite reaction. For instance, in
a collision between two objects, the forces acting are equal in magnitude and opposite in
directions: F1 = F2.
Objectives:
1. Students will design and carry out a demonstration of Newtons first law of motion.
2. Students will design and carry out an investigation of Newtons second law of motion.
3. Students will design and carry out a demonstration of the conservation of momentum and explain
its relation to Newtons third law of motion.

Materials:
- Safety goggles
- Metal toy car
- Book
- Hockey puck or coins
- Skateboard
- Bricks
- Spring scale
- Stopwatches
- Meter stick
- Tape or markers
- Newtons cradle (or equivalent)
Procedure:
1. After students view the video, discuss with them Newtons three laws of motion. Have
volunteers summarize the presentation of inertia and conservation of momentum in the video,
and point out examples of the three laws as they view the video againperhaps in slow motion
or with the sound muted. Emphasize to students that a hockey puck obeys Newtons laws, just as
colliding hockey players do. (The same is true for a ball in other sports, such as basketball,
soccer, golf, or jai alai.) Focus on exploring each of the laws, using the following questions to
start the discussion:
How might a struck hockey puck demonstrate Newtons first law of motion?
How might two hockey players demonstrate Newtons second law of motion?
According to Newtons third law of motion, how are forces applied between two colliding
hockey players?
What is momentum?
What does it mean that momentum is conserved?
2. Lab protocols should be followed, incorporating safety equipment. Goggles must be worn at all
times.
3. Guide students to design investigations for Newtons three laws. Allow students to examine the
materials available. Alternately, you might be able to borrow field hockey or street hockey
equipment from the physical education department for students to use in the gym, cafeteria, or
parking lot. Following are some questions to help focus students plans:
What is true of a moving object? How can this tendency be shown by stopping an object

What law describes the behavior of a body acted on by a force?

How can this law be demonstrated with a constant force and constant mass?
What is true of a collision between bodies?
What will happen when bodies with unequal masses and equal velocities collide?
What will happen when bodies with unequal masses and unequal velocities collide?

4. The procedures suggested here are simple demonstrations of Newtons three laws. However,
students may prefer to construct other activities using these materials. For instance, to
demonstrate Newtons first law, a student walks at a constant, moderate speed and tries to drop a
hockey puck onto a piece of tape on the floor. Dropping the puck when it is directly over the tape
will not work. The student must drop the puck slightly before reaching the mark. The horizontal
motion of the puck is unaffected by its vertical motion. Students should be encouraged to think
of alternative ways this or other simple equipment they have can be used to demonstrate
Newtons laws.
5. Students may choose to use the toy car, hockey puck (or coins), and book for a simple
demonstration of inertia. One student places the puck on top of the toy car and gently pushes it
toward the book. The car will stop when it hits the book, but the puck will continue. Students
record and analyze their results to explain how the law of inertia (Newtons first law) is
involved.
6. The skateboard and bricks comprise a body with a fixed mass. The spring scale allows students
to measure a variable accelerating force. The meter stick, markers, and stop watches are needed
to measure the speed of the accelerated body and the time the force acts. Students will need to
practice pulling the loaded skateboard with a constant force. They can measure the final speed of
the skateboard or its average speed while it is accelerating. Either method will demonstrate
Newtons second law.
7. Newtons cradle demonstrates conservation of momentum for elastic collisions, because the
steel spheres are highly elastic (unlike two colliding hockey players). The simplest case is seen
by using only two spheres, and drawing them back the same distance before releasing them. The
two have equal and opposite momenta, which are reversed during the collision. (It is not
necessary to measure absolute speeds with Newtons cradle. Students can judge relative speeds
by comparing the distance a sphere swings before a collision to the distance of recoil after a
collision.) A slightly more complex situation has two spheres with unequal velocities, and again
the velocities are reversed during the collision. A large number of combinations of mass and
velocity are possible if more spheres are used for the collisions, and students should be able to
verify that momentum is conserved in all cases. They should be able to give a clear explanation
of how conservation of momentum is related to Newtons third law.
8. In areas where students are not involved with ice hockey, students could video record groups
playing a few minutes of their favorite sport(s) and then analyze the motion in the video for
examples of the three laws of motion and compare those with the motion in the ice hockey video.

Student Worksheet for Newtons Three Laws of Motion

Experiment Title: _____________________Date: ________Name: __________________

Student Hypothesis: _____________________________________________________________
Materials:
- Safety goggles
- Metal toy car
- Book
- Coins
- Skateboard
- Bricks
- Spring scale
- Stopwatches
- Meter stick
- Tape or markers
- Newtons cradle (or equivalent)
Procedure:

Wear safety goggles for all lab work.

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Data and Observations:

Analysis of Data:

Conclusions: