11/7 MS Physics update and homework due 11/14

Hi folks,

Well today we got into Newton's Second Law. It's one of my favorite concepts of the year because it can be seen and applied to so many everyday things like sports and work. To get the hang of it, we went outside and pulled a wagon. Each student pulled the wagon three times and each time we added mass by adding another student to the wagon. We could very easily see that more mass the wagon had, the less the student was able to accelerate the wagon.

For homework 3 assignments this week. 

1. Read the Newton's 2nd law chapter in the book and do the questions at the end of the chapter.  (You can skip the math ones if you wish.)

2. Also, answer the following questions.  (Answers below.  Please check them to make sure you understand the right answers. )

3. Take two pictures of examples of Newton's second law.  Be sure to tell me where is the force, the mass and the acceleration in the picture.

There will be a quiz next week so make sure to study your old quizzes as well as Newton's first and second laws.

1.  If you had to explain Newton's 2nd law to a 9 year old, how would you explain it?  I'm looking for at least 3 or 4 sentences here.   Feel free to use examples.

2. Answer the following questions based on today's "Little Red Wagon" lab.

a.  What part of today's lab would you say represents the F in F=MA?

b.  What part of today's lab would you say represents the M in F = MA?

c.  What part of today's lab would you say represents the A in F=MA?

d.  As the mass got larger and larger, what happened to the acceleration?

e.  Was the inertia of the wagon greater with no one in the wagon or with two people?

1.  Your answer is going to be different but here's an example. "Newton's second law means that the heavier something is, the harder it is to make something change how it's moving.  If something is light, it's easy for me to make it move.  If it's heavy, it's hard for me to make it move.  Also, if it's heavy and it's moving, it's very hard to get it to stop.  So, for example, I'd much rather kick a balloon than a bowling ball.  The balloon is light and will move easily.  The bowling ball is heavy and will not move easily (and will probably hurt my foot!).  For that matter I'd rather catch a balloon than a bowling ball!.

2. a. The F was the wagon puller.

b.  The M was the wagon and anyone in it.

c.  The A is the fact that the wagon sped up.

d.  The larger the mass, the lower the acceleration.

e. Inertia is greater the more mass something has so the inertia was greatest with two folks in the wagon.