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Elizabeth Knox & Kara Kimos

May 12, 2017

GT Design Challenge Report

Period 5

Forces and Newtons Laws of Motion

In the seventeenth century, English mathematician and physicist, Sir Isaac Newton,

became known for the scientific advancements he made. Through physical experiments and

thought experiments, Newton built off of the work of scientist Galileo Galilei and discovered

three of his most famous achievements, known today as Newtons laws of motion. Our device is

an example of all three of these laws.

Newtons first law of motion states that when the forces acting upon an object are

balanced, the objects motion will not change. The supports holding up the conveyor belt had

balanced forces and no change in motion, so they were examples of Newtons first law. The only

forces acting upon the supports when they were at rest was the normal force and the force of

gravity, which act upon all objects. (See Figure 1.) There were no indicators of any other force

acting upon them. We observed that the supports did not sink into the table or float above it.

According to the PBIS Vehicles in Motion textbook, If its motion is not changing, you know

that the net force on the [object] must be zero, (79). This means that in our device, since the net

force is zero, all the forces of the device are balanced. While it was at rest, there was no change

in the objects motion, so the forces acting upon the supports were balanced. Therefore, they

were an example of Newtons first law of motion.

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Newtons second law of motion states that an objects acceleration depends on its mass

and the magnitude of its net force. The effect of the hamster wheels speed on the acceleration of

the conveyor belt is an example of this law. We observed that the conveyor belt increased in

speed when we turned the hamster wheel more quickly. When the speed of the hamster wheel

increased, it did more work on the conveyor belt, meaning that the magnitude of its net force was

greater. With a greater net force, the conveyor belt moved more quickly. (See Figure 2.)

Acceleration is a change in speed or direction over time. (VIM 36) The increase in speed of the

conveyor belt, caused by the greater magnitude of the net force, is an example of acceleration.

Our device demonstrates Newtons second law of motion because of this.

Newtons third law of motion states an object will exert an equal and opposite force on

the object that exerts a force on it. The supports holding up the conveyor belt exerted and equal

and opposite force on the ground as the ground exerted on the conveyor belt supports. (See

Figure 3.) The force of gravity caused the supports to exert a force on the ground. If [an

objects] motion is not changing, you know that the net force on the [object] must be zero.

(VIM 79) If the net force is zero, the forces acting on the object are balanced. This means that

the normal force that the ground exerted on the support was balanced with the gravitational force

that the support exerted on the ground. In order for the two to be balanced, the forces must be

equal and opposite. Therefore, the ground and the supports exerted equal and opposite forces on

each other, making them an example of Newtons third law of motion.

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The interactions between the ground and the supports and the hamster wheel and the

conveyor belt demonstrated Newtons three laws of motion. While these demonstrate just one

example for each law, they exist in every interaction in our device and every interaction between

any objects on Earth.