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Newton's First Law Worksheet SOLUTIONS: Net ST

This document provides solutions to a worksheet on Newton's First Law. Key points include: - Newton's First Law states that an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. - Inertia is the tendency of an object to resist changes in its motion. - Friction is the main unbalanced force that prevents objects in real life from continuing in constant motion indefinitely. - The net force is calculated by adding all forces acting on an object.

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KATE BLACHOWSKI
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346 views2 pages

Newton's First Law Worksheet SOLUTIONS: Net ST

This document provides solutions to a worksheet on Newton's First Law. Key points include: - Newton's First Law states that an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. - Inertia is the tendency of an object to resist changes in its motion. - Friction is the main unbalanced force that prevents objects in real life from continuing in constant motion indefinitely. - The net force is calculated by adding all forces acting on an object.

Uploaded by

KATE BLACHOWSKI
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Newton’s First Law Worksheet SOLUTIONS

1. Fully and clearly state Newton’s 1st law.

An object in motion at a constant velocity (or at rest) will remain in motion at a constant
velocity (or at rest) unless acted upon by an unbalanced, external force.
2. An object is at rest. What does the object have that tends to keep it at rest?

Inertia, the tendency of an object to remain either in motion or at rest.


3. What would it take to force the object to move? Be specific, using Newton’s first law.

An UNBALANCED, EXTERNAL force.


4. An object is moving along at a constant velocity of 100 cm/s. What is the external force
acting on the object? Explain using Newton’s 1st Law.
Constant velocity means that the forces are balanced, and thus Fnet = 0. If the forces were
unbalanced, the object would not continue in the constant velocity motion, according to
Newton’s 1st law.
5. An object is sliding with a velocity of 10 m/s [S] along a perfectly frictionless surface.
Instantly, a 45 N [N] force acts upon the object. Based on your knowledge of Newon’s 1st
Law, what do you think will happen? Will the object remain in motion or will its motion
change? If the motion changes, what kind of change occurs?

Since an unbalanced, external force is present, the object will NOT continue in its current
motion state. It will slow down because the unbalnced force causes it to accelerate in
opposite direction (N) than it was moving (S).
6. An object is sliding with a velocity of 4 m/s [NE] along a perfectly frictionless surface.
Instantly, 3 forces act upon the object. The forces are 5N [W], 15N [E], and 10N [W].
Based on your knowledge of Newon’s 1st Law, what do you think will happen? Will the
object remain in motion or will its motion change? If the motion changes, what kind of
change occurs?
Since the forces are balanced, the object will continue moving in its current motion, at a
constant velocity of 4 m/s [NE]. Newton’s 1st Law confirms this.
7. An object is at rest on a perfectly frictionless surface. Instantly, a 10 N [W] force acts upon
the object. Based on your knowledge of Newon’s 1st Law, what do you think will happen?
Will the object remain in motion or will its motion change? If the motion changes, what kind
of change occurs?
Since the force is unbalanced, the object will accelerate in the direction of the applied force,
or West. Its current motion state (of rest) will thus change.
8. According to Newton’s 1st Law, there are two “natural” states of motion that an object tends
to be in. What are they?
At rest AND moving at a constant velocity. Objects naturally like both motion states.
9. Convert 10 N to lbs. Then, convert 85 lbs to Newtons. (recall that 1 N = ____ lbs)
Since 1 lb = 4.45 N à 10N = 2.25 lb, 85 lbs = 378.25 N

10. A car is driving along a straight road. A passenger is sitting in the front-passenger seat, which
just so happens to be greased with Crisco. There are no doors on the car and no seatbelts
(illegal? Maybe.). The car comes to a hard turn in the road and attempts to complete the turn
without slowing down. Explain, using Newton’s 1st Law, what will happen to the passenger
in the front seat.

The passenger in the car was going straight. He has INERTIA, or a natural tendency to want
to continue his current motion. When the car turns, his inertia causes him to continue to do
what he was doing before (going straight), and thus he slides out the car door because there is
no Unbalanced, External force (like friction between his butt and the seat, a seatbelt, a door,
etc) that changes his motion. You can see that this explanation uses both Newton’s 1st Law
as well as the concept of Inertia, which is why Newton’s 1st law is often called the “Law of
Inertia”.
11. In real-life, objects in motion don’t tend to stay in motion. What is the unbalanced force that
keeps most objects that are in motion from remaining in motion indefinitely? Give three
different examples from everyday life of this type of force.

Friction (in the form of air resistance, rough surfaces, ungreased wheels on carts, etc)
12. The SI unit of Force is the Newton. Since this is not a “base” SI unit but rather a “derived”
unit, we must always remember what “base” units make up the Newton. Write 1N in terms
of only kg, sec, and m. (look it up on the internet if you need to … google it J)
1 N = 1 kg * m/s2
13. Give two different examples of “contact” forces. Then, give two different examples of “field”
forces.

Contact forces: Push or Pull


Field Forces: Gravitational Forces, Magnetic Forces, Electric Field Forces
14. Find the net force in each situation below. Make sure to give both a magnitude and a
direction.
a) 15 N [right] and 42 N [left] b) 65 N [West] and 50 N [North] c) 32 N [E 30 N] and 16 N [South]

27 N [left] 82 N [W 37.6o N] 27.7 N [E]

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