Republic of the Philippines

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY

Alangilan Campus
Alangilan, Batangas City, Batangas

GROUP 11

PHYSICS 1
GROUP LABORATORY NO. 1
FORCES AND NEWTON’S LAWS

Berioso, John Peter

Leyma, Aeron
Lucero, Glydel Marie
OBJECTIVE: To determine the Laws of Motion based on the force applied.
THEORY: Law of Inertia and Law of Acceleration (based on discussion).
PROCEDURES: Please refer below for the step-by-step procedure. 
EXPECTED OUTPUT/ RESULT: PDF File consisting of: Title page, compiled pictures with
description based on the experiment and a conclusion. 
CONCLUSION: Explain what you have observed during the experiment relating to Forces and
Laws of Motion.
To Begin click on the link:
https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/forces-and-motion-basics/latest/forces-and-motion-basics_en
.html

Part I - Newton’s First Law

Choose the “Motion” window to start the simulation

Make sure the boxes that say “Force”, “Values” and “Speed” are checked!

a. Apply a force of 50 N right to the box. Describe the motion of the box using physics
terms (i.e. velocity, acceleration, displacement). Refer to the speedometer in your answer.

As soon as a force of 50 N was applied to the box, it started moving to the right
with the speedometer showing a value that is increasing from 0 m/s as it goes further
from its starting point. Since the speedometer shows an increasing number, this means
that the velocity of the box is increasing with a constant acceleration moving to the right.

b. Reset the scenario (don’t forget to check forces, speed again). Apply a force of 50 N to
the right for about 5 seconds then reduce the applied force to zero (the man should stop
pushing). Don’t reset the scenario. Describe the motion of the box. Refer to the
speedometer in your answer.

After applying a force of 50 N to the box, it started moving to the right with the
speedometer showing an increasing value. After 5 s, the force was removed and it
continued to move with the speedometer showing a constant value of 5.8 m/s. Since the
speedometer stopped at 5.8 m/s, this means that the box’s velocity is constant and the
acceleration is zero.
c. Apply a force of 50N to the left. Describe the motion of the box.

The box with a constant speed of 5.8 m/s to the right slowly decreased in speed
when applied with a 50 N force to the left until it stopped and continued to move at an
increasing speed to the left. This then means that the velocity increases to the left and the
acceleration is constant to the left.

d. Explain the exact steps needed to make the box come to a stop.

To put a moving box to a complete stop, one must apply force in the opposite
direction of the motion until the speedometer shows a value of 0 m/s.
Summary

Newton’s First Law of Motion states “An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays
in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced
force.” Explain how your observations in a - d support this Law.

Just like Newton’s first law of motion that ‘an object at rest stays at rest,’ the box in the
simulation did not move until an amount of force was applied onto it. ‘An object in motion stays
in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced
force’ was also shown in the simulation wherein the moving box continued moving until an
unbalanced force in the opposite direction was applied onto it.

Part II - Newton’s Second Law

a. Reset the sim, don’t forget to check force, values and speed again. Remove the box and
place a garbage can on top of the skateboard. Using your timer/phone, measure the
amount of time it takes to reach maximum speed using a force of 50 N. Try this again
with forces of 100N, and 200N.

Applied Force (N) Time To Max Speed (s)

80.40
50

39.81
100

20
200

50N
100N

200N

b. Reset the sim, check force, values, speed and the masses boxes this time. Set the applied
force to 200 N Right. Using your timer/phone measures the amount of time it takes to reach
maximum speed. Repeat with two crates, one crate and a garbage can, and a refrigerator. Record
your findings!

Object – Mass (kg) Time To Max Speed (s)

9.69
50

19.62
100

29.83
150

39.94
200
50kg

100kg

150kg

200kg
Summary

Newton’s Second Law states “The acceleration of an object as produced by a net force is directly
proportional to the magnitude of the net force, in the same direction as the net force, and
inversely proportional to the mass of the object.” Explain how your observations in both a and b
support this Law.

In Newton's second law of motion, an object will move if there’s a constant force acting
on it like the push or pull forces. The bigger the force applied, the faster the object will move in
the same direction. The heavier the object, the bigger amount of force is needed. As you noticed
in letter a, as the force applied on the object was getting bigger, more acceleration was produced
or it’s faster until it reaches its maximum speed. While on the other hand, in letter b, a constant
force was applied but as the object gets heavier, the acceleration is slower until it reaches the
maximum speed.

Part III - Friction’s Effects

The behavior of the skateboard in Part I and part II were not very realistic because friction was
not present. At the bottom of the screen is a simulation that includes friction. Select this
simulation.

a. Set friction to “none”. Notice how the screen changed. Why do you think the app
designers did that?

I noticed that the floor became clear when I turned the friction button to "none". It
indicates that the floor is frictionless.

b. Make sure that only the speed box is checked.

i. Apply a force to get the box to about half of its maximum speed, then remove the
force.

When I apply a force to the box on the frictionless floor, there is no indication that
the friction force is present. When I remove the force upon reaching half of its maximum
speed, the box continuously moves horizontally. I also notice that the speed retains
exactly to time when it releases.
ii. While the box is moving, move the friction slider to 1/2 way.

What happened to the box?

As the box endlessly moves to the frictionless floor, it begins to decelerate

when I put the friction slider to ½ and slowly stop.
Summary

Is friction a force? What evidence do you have?

Yes it is considered as a force. It resists the box movements counter to its flow or
movement. The absence of friction means no friction force available. The data is based on the
experiment and simulation conducted that shows the behavior of the box in presence and absence
of friction.

Part IV - Back to Newton’s Second Law

Reset the Friction app. Make sure Forces and Speed are checked.

a. Apply a force of 50 N. Describe the movement of the box.

The box showed no movement.

b. Apply a force of 100 N. Describe the movement of the box.

The box showed no movement.

 c. Apply a force of 150 N. Describe the movement of the box.

The box started moving slowly. It was going right and against the friction force.

d. Check the box that says “Sum of Forces”. Repeat procedures a, b, and c. What was
different about c?

While procedures A and B showed a sum of 0 N, procedure C showed a value of

56 N.

Summary

Newton’s Second Law states “The acceleration of an object as produced by a net force is directly
proportional to the magnitude of the net force, in the same direction as the net force, and
inversely proportional to the mass of the object.” Explain how your observations relate to the
underlined portion of this Law (hint, you might want to look up the definition of the word “net”).

The net force can be split up into two components namely horizontal and vertical. The net
force is equal to the total of all forces acting horizontally or vertically. The net force is 0 when
the box is not moving because the sum of friction and applied force is zero. The net force is more
than zero when the box is moving because the sum of friction and applied force is greater than
zero.