Year 10 Demonstrate Newton's First Law of Motion

Year 10 have been modelling Newton’s first law of motion this week using toy cars, plasticine passengers and ramps.

Newton’s first law of motion states that every object will remain at rest or in uniform motion unless acted on by an external force. The students demonstrated this truth by bringing their moving cars to a sudden stop and watching their poor plasticine people go flying.

Inertia means that the unrestrained passenger kept moving forward despite the vehicle coming to a sudden stop. The same principal applies to occupants of motor vehicles during car crashes.

“Physics is everywhere in these kid’s lives,” explains Science teacher Wendy Murwood, “Some of them play basketball and a lot of them are about to get their license this year. Hopefully, understanding physics will help them better understand the forces acting on them and adjust accordingly.”

The students will now move on to explore Isaac Newton’s other laws of motion as part of their physics unit.