Mission NL2 Balanced Forces and the State of Motion
Hold down the T key for 3 seconds to activate the audio accessibility mode, at which point you can click the K key to pause and resume audio. Useful for the Check Your Understanding and See Answers.
Mr. Smith guides a golf ball around the outside rim of the green at the Hole-In-One Putt-Putt Golf Course. When the ball leaves the rim, which path ...
| Newton's First Law of Motion: An object at rest will stay at rest; an object in motion will stay in motion with the same speed and direction, unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. |
As the golf ball moves around the rim, it pushes upon the rim and the rim pushes back on the ball. This provides an unbalanced force upon the ball. But once the rim ends and the ball is no longer in contact with it, the mutual interaction between wall and ball is over. At that time, the forces acting upon the golf ball are balanced and the motion of the ball is best described by Newton's first law of motion (stated in the Know the Law section). The direction the ball is moving when it reaches the edge of the rim is the direction the ball will continue to move. Make O' Isaac proud and get this one right.
