Law Physical Science Explorations Chap 2 Lincoln High School Mr. Lowery Earth Science 2007-2008 The basic law related to inertia comes from Isaac Newton, and is known as Newtons First Law Every object continues in a state of rest or in a state of motion in a straight line at a constant speed, Unless it is compelled to change that state by forces exerted upon it. So, things tend to keep on doing what they are already doing. Objects at rest tend to stay at rest they need a force to get them in motion A force is a push or a pull, or any action that has the ability to change motion Objects that are already moving tend to keep moving along a straight path The inertia that an object has depends on its mass. {{demo}}} If you were in space and threw a baseball, it would move forever in a straight line path until some force acted on it. Most times, the force acting on something in motion is either gravity or friction Without force, objects dont speed up, slow down, or change direction. Force means total force net force acting on an object Many times, more than one force acts on an object. Shooting a basketball the force of gravity, air friction, and the pushing force you apply with your muscle all act on the ball The net force is the combination of all of these. If you pull on a box with a force of 5 pounds and your friend pulls on the same box in the same direction w/ a force of 5 pounds, what is the net force? Net force is 10 pounds. What if you are pulling in opposite directions? Net force is 0 pounds If you pull on a box with a force of 5 pounds and your friend pulls on the same box in the same direction w/ a force of 5 pounds, what is the net force? In science, the unit of force is the newton, N Forces are shown by arrows When the net force on something is zero, it is in equilibrium Support force Why dont we fall through the floor? A book laying on the desk is in equilibrium Gravity is acting on it, pulling it down. B/c it is in equilibrium, what force is cancelling out gravity? It is the desk supporting the book This is called the support force, or normal force. It must equal the weight of the book Speed The concept of speed was first developed by Galileo, who considered both distance travelled and the time it took. He defined speed as the distance covered per unit of time. Per means divided by. Speed = distance / time Velocity Takes into account both speed and direction of an object. Speed is a description of how fast, velocity is how fast and in what direction If a car goes 60 kilometers in an hour, its speed is 60 km/hour. If it goes this speed to the north (direction), 60 km/hr to the north is its velocity. Constant speed means that the speed does not slow up or go faster. Motion that is not constant is acceleration