Newton's first laws investigation project

Jean André Zanellato Castro

Department of Science, Saint Paul College

10th Grade Physics

T. Kristie Lynn Reesey

April 5th, 2024

What are the main forces that cause objects to move?
There are many forces in the universe but the 2 main ones that cause an object to move are
friction and gravity. Friction is the force that opposes the motion between two surfaces in
contact. Friction is like a resistance that happens when things act against each other. On the other
hand, there is the force of gravity. Gravity is the most important force acting upon us because
without gravity we wouldn’t be able to do almost anything, gravity causes a lot of changes to our
everyday life. “If gravity causes changes to biology, then gravity, per se, must be a major
physical environmental force shaping life on Earth” (Morey-Holton, 2003). Gravity is the natural
force of attraction that exists between objects with mass. It's what keeps us and everything else
on Earth anchored to the ground.

What happens when two objects collide?

When two objects collide, they interact through forces according to Newton's laws of motion.
For example, this can be explained with Newton’s first law “An object at rest will stay at rest
unless acted upon by an external force.” When the objects collide they are acted upon by an
external force making them accelerate or change their motion depending on their mass and the
strength of the force applied during this. On the other hand, regarding the third law, “for every
action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”, when the objects collide they exert equal and
opposite forces on each other making them interact with a force that is equal in magnitude but
opposite in direction. In this interaction the objects can change direction, velocity, and more.
Even Newton back in the day used a device with two objects that collide to back up and
experiment his third law, this apparatus is known as Newton’s cradle. “In this apparatus two steel
pendulum bobs are each suspended by two long nylon strings (Figure 1) so they move in the
same plane and collide when both are at the lowest points of their swings. Something like this
was used by Newton to investigate conservation of momentum and illustrate his third law of
motion” (Gauld, 1999).

What happens when you throw something heavy versus throwing something light?
The difference between when you throw an object that is heavy that an object that is light is the
change in inertia. When you throw something heavy, it might not travel as far as something
lighter. Heavier objects tend to have more inertia and this would make them harder to accelerate,
per se, slowing them down quicker. On the other hand, lighter objects are easier to accelerate and
can maintain better speed in the air. But also this depends on the force that is being applied to an
object. “To cause a change of motion we must exert a force, and that must be greater the greater
the mass” (Coelho, 2007). This explains that the greater the mass of an object the more force is
needed to cause a change in movement.
Describe a very powerful force and how Newton’s first law applies to this powerful force.
A very powerful force found in nature is a volcano. A volcano is a geological feature on the
Earth's surface where magma, gasses, and ash can erupt or flow out onto the surface or into the
atmosphere. Volcanoes are typically found near tectonic plate boundaries. “Magma is the name
for that molten rock when it’s below ground. Scientists call it lava once that liquid rock erupts
from the ground — and may start flowing across Earth’s surface” (Perkins, 2014). Volcanoes can
also come in different types but that depends how they erupt.

The eruption of a volcano is a clear example of Newton's First Law of Motion. Newton’s first
law is not the only one that is applied in a volcano, Newton’s third law is also present in this
situation. Initially magma and gasses within the volcano are at rest deep underground, following
Newton’s first law. “the first law states that “every body continues in its state of rest, or of
uniform motion in a right line, unless it is compelled to change that state by forces impressed
upon it” (Pfister, 2004). As magma (or other substances) continues to rise, pressure within the
volcano builds up inside. This pressure is acting as the external force that overcomes their inertia
and causes them to move upward toward the surface.

When the pressure from the volcano becomes too great, it exceeds the resistance of surrounding
structures, leading to an eruption and expulsion of magma, rocks, ashes,etc. This event happens
because of the downward force of gravity and the upward force of expanding gasses. This is the
application of Newton's First Law of Motion, where objects continue their trajectory until acted
upon by another unbalanced force. In this case the unbalanced force could be gravity’s pull or
friction. Gravity is really important in a volcano's formation and eruption. “Repeated or
continuous deformation and gravity measurements can provide information on how the
gravity-height relationship evolves and the associated spatiotemporal changes of mass and
magma chamber volume within the medium” (Charco et al, 2009). Various studies have been
done calculating gravity’s changes and how they affect the volcanoes.
References:

Morey-Holton, E. (2003). Evolution on Planet Earth. Academic Press.

https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-012598655-7/50036-7

Gauld, C. (1999). Using colliding pendulums to teach Newton’s third law. American Association
of Physics Teachers. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.880166

Coelho, R.L. (2007). The Law of Inertia: How Understanding its History can Improve Physics
Teaching. Sci & Educ 16, 955–974. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-006-9042-x

Perkins, S. (2014, October 1). Explainer: The volcano basics.

https://www.snexplores.org/article/explainer-volcano-basics

Pfister, H. (2004) Newton's First Law Revisited. Found Phys Lett 17, 49–64 .
https://doi.org/10.1023/B:FOPL.0000013003.96640.79

Charco, M. et al. (2009). Spatiotemporal gravity changes on volcanoes: Assessing the

importance of topography. Advancing Earth and space sciences.
https://doi.org/10.1029/2009GL037160