Newton’s

Laws of
Motion
EQ: How is inertia & Newton’s 1st
law of motion connected?
Newton’s Contributions
 Calculus
 Light is composed of
rainbow colors
 Reflecting Telescope
 Laws of Motion
 Theory of Gravitation
 While most people know
what Newton's laws say,
many people do not know
what they mean (or simply do
not believe what they mean).
What else should I know before I learn the
first law?

 Friction is the force that acts to

resist sliding between two touching
surfaces.

Inertia is the tendency of an object

to resist a change in its motion.

The more mass an object has, the

more inertia it has.
 Newton’s First Law
(law of inertia)

An object at rest tends to stay at rest

and an object in motion tends to stay
in motion unless acted upon by an
unbalanced force.
 What is Net Force?
 The combination of all the forces acting on an object is the net
force.

If the forces are in the same direction, they add together to
form the net force.

If the forces are in opposite directions, the net force is the
difference between the two forces.
 Balanced Force

Equal forces in opposite

directions produce no motion
 Unbalanced Forces

Unequal opposing forces

produce an unbalanced force
causing motion
 If objects in motion tend to stay in
motion, why don’t moving objects keep
moving forever?
Things don’t keep moving forever because
there’s almost always an unbalanced force
acting upon them.

A book sliding across a table slows

down and stops because of the force
of friction.

If you throw a ball upwards it will

eventually slow down and fall
because of the force of gravity.
 QUESTION!

Why then, do we observe every

day objects in motion slowing
down and becoming motionless
seemingly without an outside
force?
It’s a force we sometimes cannot see –
friction.
 What is this unbalanced force that acts on an
object in motion?

 There are four main types of friction:

 Sliding friction: ice skating
 Rolling friction: bowling
 Fluid friction (air or liquid): air or water resistance
 Static friction: initial friction when moving an
object
 Newton’s First Law
(law of inertia)
 MASS is the measure of the
amount of matter in an object.

 It is measured in Kilograms
 Newton’s First Law
(law of inertia)
 INERTIA is a property of an object
that describes how
much it will resist change to the
______________________
motion of the object

 more _____
mass means more ____
inertia
1 Law
st

 Unless acted
upon by an
unbalanced
force, this golf
ball would sit on
the tee forever.
 1 Law
st

 Once airborne,
unless acted on
by an
unbalanced force
(gravity and air
– fluid friction)
it would never
stop!
Newtons’s 1 Law and You st

Don’t let this be you. Wear seat belts.

Because of inertia, objects (including you)

resist changes in their motion. When the car
going 80 km/hour is stopped by the brick
wall, your body keeps moving at 80 km/hour.
 Check Your Understanding
1
Question 1
You try and push a desk across the floor one
direction but a friend is trying to push it the
opposite direction. As a result, the desk
doesn’t move. This is an example of what
kind of forces?
 CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING
1

A. balanced forces
B. opposite forces
C. parallel forces
D. unbalanced forces
 CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING
1
Answer
The answer is A.
When forces are
balanced, the net
force is zero.
 Section Check
1
Question 2
What happens any time there are
unbalanced forces acting on an object—that
is, any time the net force is not zero?

Answer
Any time the net force is not zero, the object
moves.
 Section Check
1
Question 3
Explain Newton’s first law of motion.

Answer
The first law says that when the net force
acting on an object is zero an object already
in motion will tend to stay in motion and one
at rest will tend to stay at rest.
 Newton’s 1 Law 1-Pager
st

 Requirements:
 Title
 Picture
 5 Facts
 Summary Paragraph
 (5 Sentences)
 USE COLOR!
Motion, Newton and the YoYo