First Law of Motion: Objects in motion tend to stay in motion unless acted upon by an external force. Force is a push or a pull, like pulling a wagon or pushing a car. Gravity is a force that attracts things to one another. Gravity accelerates all things equally. Which means all things speed up the same amount as they fall.

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27 Responses to “Newton’s First Law of Motion”

  1. Yes, your son is correct! The lighter car will reach the finish line first.

  2. tiphaine_lamb says:

    what is the answer to the third question? my son says lighter because it can start faster

  3. ablueshoe says:

    When I click on download worksheet nothing happens. Any suggestions on what to do?

  4. I’ll have someone contact you to help!

  5. Tiffany Coppenger says:

    IT says I need to login to see the experiment with the ball. But I have already logged in.

  6. My team will connect with you right away!

  7. Tiaan Van Vuuren says:

    I am having the same trouble as Syvannah Jones. I keep running into “Sorry, but it looks like you don`t have access to the rest of this content.” It says that on the videos specified in my subscription.

  8. What happens if you try a different computer? (What browser/computer are you using where this happens?) Make sure you have the latest updates for the web browser you are using to avoid any issues with compatibility.

  9. Bridgette Bullock says:

    All the screens are black, with no play button….

  10. I’ll have my team connect with you right away!

  11. SYVANNAH JONES says:

    None of the experiment videos are working. It keeps telling me I don’t have access to it. But on my “topics” page it tells me the following units are included in my purchase but then I don’t have access to any experiments along with them. What am I doing wrong?

  12. Wonderful! So glad you found me again… hope you’re enjoying the content!

  13. Anne Dillon says:

    Hey Aurora, I saw your one of your livestreams a while back and thought is was pretty cool and then a year or two later I found this.

  14. Did you check the answer page? It’s right after the exercises.

  15. Maria Flores says:

    what is the answer to the question number three?

  16. Rebekah Layher says:

    My son is working through Newton’s Laws – the Apologia Physical Science curriculum. Your intro to the module (module 10 in text) says that you go through each experiment that the book presents. However, experiment 10.1-10.3 are now where to be found. Am I missing something?

  17. jocelyn lin says:

    i meant why when you roll a ball and it stops at the edge at the table and drops then it some how keeps rolling

  18. Linda Miller says:

    Thank you, Aurora.

  19. Yes that’s right. It has to do with inertia – a kid on a scooter can get going a lot faster than a freight train, and it can also stop faster, so the kid would win a short race. That’s why big, heavy cars (like muscle cards from the 60s 70s) don’t usually want to race 1/4 mile races!

  20. Linda Miller says:

    So, the heavier car would take more time to accelerate, right? But once it gets going, it would take longer to slow down, right? So in a short race, would it be better to have a lighter car because of the acceleration factor?

  21. Make sure you are logged in, and also – which kind of computer are you using, and which web browser?

  22. Susan Enns says:

    None of the videos are working for me. They are just constantly loading. Is there something I need to do?

  23. Shumaila Khan says:

    Initially, I could not get the above video to work…fixed it!
    Thanks!

  24. All forces exerted on an object come in the form of either contact forces or short/long range forces. Contact forces occur when an object makes physical contact with some other object. In this video, the contact forces mentioned would be (1) the rolling friction on the ball when it comes in contact with the table surface, (2) the drag (air resistance) on the ball as it moves through the air and hits air molecules, and (3) the alien grabbing the Voyager spacecraft as it moves through space. Unlike contact forces, short and long range forces do not act through physical contact of objects. They attract and repel objects without needing any physical medium to travel through. These forces are made up of the four fundamental forces: gravity, electromagnetism, the strong nuclear force, and the weak nuclear force. The two nuclear forces are short range forces – they only work at the small distances between the particles making up atomic nuclei. Gravity and electromagnetism make up the long range forces, meaning they can affect objects from any distance, though their strength does decrease as the distance between objects increases. As mentioned in the video, massive bodies such as planets and stars create strong gravitational fields that will exert force on any objects passing through those fields. The same thing happens to any object with electrical charge when it passes through an electric or magnetic field. All forces in the universe come from these contact and short/long range forces.

  25. Julie LaPorte says:

    Question generated by my son from this experiment:

    Motion is created by outside forces. But sometimes these outside forces are other objects. What starts these other outside forces and how are they connected?

    This lead to a more esoteric dilemma about the original force in the universe. Aurora’s response? Thanks!

  26. Lynn Glasheen says:

    I’m glad it was simple and that she did it in a pretty easy to understand.