Newton’s First Law Inquiry Lab

Directions: Highlight information in the text that answers the essential

question.
Essential Question:
How does the speed of a “vehicle” affect how far a domino “passenger” will
travel forward after the “vehicle” hits a wall?

Background or Phenomenon:
Why are seatbelts in cars or restraint bars on
roller coasters so important? Sir Isaac
Newton might have something to say about
it! Among his many important contributions to
science were three laws of motion that
described how moving objects behave and
paved the way for a more modern
understanding of physics.

Inertia is an object’s resistance to any

change in motion. Inertia is linked to an
object’s mass – the more mass an object has,
the more inertia, or resistance to change in
motion, it will have.

An object is said to have balanced forces if all of the forces acting on it are
equal in size and opposite in direction. In this scenario, the net force acting
on the object is zero, and the object will either be at rest (not moving) or
moving at a constant speed and direction. If an object has unbalanced
forces acting on it, this means that not all of the forces acting on the object
will cancel each other out, and the net force will not be zero. Unbalanced
forces always result in the object accelerating in some way – either by
speeding up, slowing down, or changing direction.

Newton’s First Law of Motion, also called the Law of Inertia, says that
an object will resist a change in motion unless an unbalanced force acts
on it. In other words, objects at rest will stay at rest, and moving objects
will continue moving in the same direction and at the same speed, until
some other force causes it to change its speed and/or direction.

Materials Needed:
• 1-2 textbooks
• Wooden board (at least 50 cm in length)
• 5-6 dominoes
• Tape
• ruler
Newton’s First Law Inquiry Lab

Check for Understanding:

Fill in with color the cube below that has balanced forces acting on it.
Then, calculate the net force acting on each object.

5 Newtons 10 Newtons 12 Newtons 12 Newtons

Net force = Net force =

___ - ___ = ______ ______ ___ - ___ = _______
(direction)
Procedure – Part 1:
1. Stack 5 or 6 dominoes on a table or other flat surface.

2. Lay a ruler flat on the table, and quickly slide it toward the stack so that
it hits the bottom domino only.

3. Practice Step 2 until you are able to completely knock out the bottom
domino from the stack without disturbing the remaining dominoes.

Check for Understanding:

1. In the diagram to the right, drag the
labels of the forces (gravity, force of table
pushing up) that were acting on the stack
before you hit them with the ruler.

2. Were the forces acting on the dominoes balanced or unbalanced? How

do you know?
gravity
The forces acting on the domino stack were __________________
because the stack was at rest (not moving).

3. Describe what happens to the stack when the bottom domino is hit
with the ruler. Use the terms inertia and unbalanced force in your
response.

When the ruler hits the bottom domino, it exerts an

force______________
force
force on it, of table
causing it to move. The rest of the dominoes stay at rest
pushing up
due to ____________ keeping them in place.
Newton’s First Law Inquiry Lab
Procedure – Part 2:

1. Create a shallow ramp with the wooden board. Use the picture below as
a guide.
2. Place one domino at the top of the ramp and let it go. Adjust the
steepness of the ramp as needed until the domino slides down the ramp
on its own.

dominoes Thin book or ruler

book(s) to act as a ‘wall’

3. Stack two dominoes on top of each other at the top of the ramp. They
should stay stacked as they slide down.
4. The ‘wall’ should stop the bottom domino only. Adjust the height of the
ramp and the placement of the ‘wall’ as needed to make this work.
5. Place a stack of two dominoes 10 cm from the bottom of the ramp. Let
go and allow the stack to slide down the ramp.
6. Record the distance that the top domino travels after it reaches the
‘wall’. Repeat for a total of 3 trials.
7. Repeat steps 5-6, releasing the domino stack from a distance of 20 cm,
30 cm, and 40 cm from the bottom of the ramp.
8. Predict how far the domino will fly if you release the stack at 50 cm from
the bottom of the ramp. Record your prediction in the data table
9. Test your prediction.

Data:

Distance from Distance top domino is thrown (cm) Average

bottom of Distance
ramp (cm) Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 (cm)

10

20

30

40

50** Prediction:

**Record your prediction first, then test it out!

Newton’s First Law Inquiry Lab
Conclusion: How does the speed of a ‘vehicle’ affect how far a domino
’passenger’ will travel forward after the ‘vehicle’ hits a wall?
Claim:
The faster the domino travels toward the wall, the ___________ it will fly
forward after it hits the wall.
Evidence:
Distance from bottom of Average Distance
ramp (cm) (cm)

10
20
30
40**

Reasoning: As the distance from the bottom of the ramp increases, what
happens to the distance that the passenger travels after hitting the wall?

What was the unbalanced force?

What can you infer about the inertia of the passenger?

Reflections:
1. What do you predict would happen if you taped two dominoes together
(effectively increasing the mass of the ‘passenger’), placed them on top
of the ‘vehicle’ domino, and released them down the ramp?
If you increase the ________ of the passenger domino, it will travel
_______________ after hitting the wall.

2. Describe a real-life situation in which you have experienced Newton’s

First Law. Use the words “unbalanced force” and “inertia” in your
answer.