Newton's Laws Labs
The following PDF files represent a collection of Lab write ups pertaining to the topic of Newton's Laws. The Labs are synchronized to readings from the Tutorial, missions of the Minds On activities, and more. Teachers may print these Labs and their related Ruberics and use them freely with their classes. Learn more about creating a Lab Notebook for these activities as well as Reporting and Guidelines.
Available Labs
Select a Lab below to learn more about it, or download the teacher guide and other supporting documents.
Pass the Water Lab
Under what conditions is water most likely to spill from a pan when the pan is carried around an oval racetrack?
Galileo for a Day Lab
What effect does minimizing friction have upon the motion of an object after an initial push is applied to it?
Wait! Hmmm. Gee. Lab
What is the relationship between the mass of an object and the force of gravity which acts upon the object?
F-m-a Lab
What effect does varying force and varying mass have upon the acceleration?
Coffee Filter Skydiver Lab
How does the velocity and acceleration of a falling object change over time when under the dual influence of gravity and air resistance?
From a Feather to an Elephant Lab
What effect does varying mass have upon the terminal velocity value of an object which is falling under the dual influence of gravity and air resistance?
Falling Body Sim Study
(To be identified by the student.)
Friction Lab
What is the value of the coefficients of static and sliding friction between two surfaces?
Mu Shoe Physics Lab
What sports shoe offers the greatest amount of traction for both lateral and longitudinal movements as reflected by the coefficient of static friction values?
Breaking Strength Lab
What is the breaking strength of a light string?
Two-Body Lab
What is the mathematical relationship between the mass, applied force, internal force and acceleration for a two-body system and for the individual objects within the system?
Ut Tensio, Sic Vis Lab
What is the mathematical relationship (i.e., the equation) between the force applied to a spring and the amount of stretch of the spring?
Normal Force-o-meter Lab
How can Hooke's law be used to construct a normal force-o-meter and how can the normal force-o-meter be used to analyze a simulated free fall ride?