Lesson 2.

Newton’s First
Law of Motion
SIR JAMES
 LPO (Life Performance Outcome) 1:
As a Christ-centered Paulinian, I am a
mindful, self-directed learner and role model,
consciously expressing my Faith.
 INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOME (ILO)
Infer that when a body exerts a force on
another, an equal amount of force is exerted
back on it.
• (S8FE-Ia-16)
 OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson,
• I CAN describe what happens to an object with balanced forces acting
on it.
• I CAN investigate the relationship between the amount of force applied
and the mass of the object to the amount of change in the object’s
motion.
• I CAN infer that when a body exerts a force on another, an equal
amount of force is exerted back on it.
 Changing the State of Motion

In this activity, the students are asked to describe the changes in

the state of motion of a body or an object.
Procedure:
1. Fill the beaker to the brim with water. Hold the beaker in
front of you then walk forward at a constant speed, then
make an immediate stop.
2. 2. Fill the beaker to the brim with water. Hold the beaker in
front of you then walk forward at a constant speed, then
make an abrupt right turn.
Guide Questions:
a. What happened to the water on the beaker when you
moved forward and made a sudden stop? Why do you
think this happened?
b. What happened to the water on the beaker when you
moved forward and made an abrupt turn? Why do you
think this happened?
 Inertia is the
tendency of an
object to resist
motion.
 Inertia at Rest
For objects at rest, inertia
depends on mass.The larger
the object, the larger is the
inertia.
A boulder (left) has a higher inertia at rest compared to the
pebble (right).
 Inertia in Motion
For moving objects, inertia
depends on the object’s
momentum. The greater the
momentum of an object, the
harder it is to stop from
moving.
As shown on the image, a
massive man with large speed
has a higher inertia in motion
compared to the other one.
 Newton’s First Law of Motion
The first law of motion is the law of inertia.

It states that:

An object at rest stays at rest, and an object in motion

stays in motion at constant velocity unless acted upon
by a net external force.
Let us consider a pool ball set on
the table. Before a strike from
another ball or the cue stick, the
pool balls are at rest. It will
remain at rest as long as no
external force will act on it. When
the cue ball has been struck, the
cue ball will continue to move
with constant velocity as long as
no external force acts on it.
 Learn about It!

Balanced and Unbalanced Forces

Let us consider a book resting on

a tabletop. There are two forces
acting on the book. Earth’s
gravitational force exerts a
downward force on the book
while the table exerts an upward
force called the normal force.
 Learn about It!

These two forces have the same

magnitude but act in the
opposite directions. Hence, they
balance each other. In
accordance with Newton’s first
law, there is no unbalanced force
acting on the book. As such, the
book resting on the tabletop will
remain at rest.
 Learn about It!

Suppose the book is now sliding

across the tabletop, to the right.
The downward gravitational
force is balanced by the normal
force. As the book slides to the
right,friction acts to slow the
movement of the book.
 Learn about It!

There is no force that is acting to

balance friction. Hence, there is
an unbalanced force acting on
the book. In accordance to
Newton’s first law, there is an
unbalanced force acting on the
book. As such, the book will
change its state of motion and
will slow down.
Key Points

Newton’s first law of motion states that an object at

1 rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in
motion unless acted upon by a net external force.

2 Inertia is the tendency of an object to resist motion.

For objects at rest, inertia depends on mass of the

3 object. For moving objects, inertia depends on
momentum of the object.
 Check Your Understanding

Arrange the following in increasing amount of

inertia.
1. a parked truck, a person sitting on a bench, a baby on a
crib
2. tennis ball, basketball ball, table tennis ball
3. 10 kg of meat, 5 kg of vegetables, 7 kg of rice
4. a wooden chair, a glass table, a reading lamp
5. a kitten, an adult tiger, an ant
 Challenge Yourself

Is it correct to say that the mass of an object is

directly proportional to its inertia? Why or why not?
 ACTIVITY 2
Rocket Sledder

In this activity, students are

to explain Newton’s first law
of motion, the law of inertia,
using a simulation of a rocket
sled.
 Procedure:
1. Access the simulation entitled “Rocket Sledder” in
the link given below.
Nerdist Land Studios. 2018. ‘Rocket Sledder.’
https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Physics-
Interactives/Newtons-La ws/Rocket-Sledder.
2. Manipulate the simulation.
 PROCEDURE
3. Move the blue button to the right to change or add an applied
force on the sled. Observe what happens.
4. Ask the students to turn on the air drag and friction on the
simulation. Again, observe what happens.
5. This time, ask them to change the weight of the sled by clicking
the gold bar buttons. Observe what happens.
6. The students should take note of their observations on the table
given below.
 Guide Questions
a. What happened when you started applying force on the
sled? What do you think happened?
b. What happened when you turned on the friction and air
drag on the simulation? How do you think this affected the
motion of the sled?
c. How do you think the increase in weight affected the
motion of the sled?
 Photo Credits

Slide 7: This file, No-w-ay in collaboration with H. Caps, by Billard, is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via
Wikimedia Commons
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