Inertia Demo @ Home

Inertia Demo @ Home Project

By Anne Margaret Boswell

Description: I demonstrated inertia with a toy car. I gave a toy car, which was resting on my kitchen counter top, a push. Then I picked up the car after a few seconds in order to demonstrate inertia. The wheels stayed in motion.

Adult explanation: The wheels kept moving once Anne Margaret picked up the toy car because the wheels were already initially moving, so it would take a greater force to make the wheels stop moving, rather than merely picking up the toy car.

My own explanation: This experiment demonstrates the concept of inertia, which says that objects at rest tend to stay at rest, and objects in motion tend to stay in that motion. The toy car began rolling fast in motion with a constant acceleration. However, when I picked up the toy car, the wheels did not stop moving, because they were trying to resist change. The toy car was in motion so the wheels stayed in that motion, even though the wheels were no longer touching the counter top.

1. Stack the books on the table. 2. Hit one in the middle and watch the books fall the in place. 3. Moms explantation: The middle book was the only one that came out of the pile because it is the only one that has force on it. 4. What I had to say: My mom was right on spot because the Newtons first law pertains to this. and this law was see right in my demonstration.

Danyal T inertia demo p.3

1. Stack quarter coins one above the other on a flat surface.

 

2.Hit one of the bottom coins with the edge of the spatula.

 

My moms explanation:  Only the bottom coin slid out because when you hit it with the spatula fast enough you are only applying force to the coin you hit.  This causes the coin to slide out and the rest remain unaffected because objects in rest stay in rest if not acted on.

 

My Critique: This is a good explanation because she used Newtons first law and this law directly applies to this demonstration. I would have mentioned coins are just sitting one above the other and when one of them is hit sideways, the ones in immediate vicinity resist that motion and the stack slide down under effect of gravity. But otherwise it is a pretty solid explanation.