Name
Date
Class
Newton’s Laws of Motion
Understanding Main Ideas
Answer the following questions in the spaces provided. Use a separate sheet of paper if
you need more room.
1. Newton’s second law of motion describes the relationship among
force, mass, and acceleration. Write the equation.
Acceleration =
Net force
Mass
2. How does the diagram at the right illustrate Newton’s
third law of motion?
Newton’s third law of motion says that if an object, such as a foot, exerts a force on another object, such as a
soccer ball, the second object (the soccer ball) exerts a force of equal strength in the opposite direction on
the first object (the foot).
If the statement is true, write true. If the statement is false, change the underlined word
or words to make the statement true.
3. True
If you increase the force on an object, its acceleration increases.
4. Increases
If you increase the mass of an object, its acceleration decreases.
5. 27 newtons
is needed.
To accelerate a 3 kg skateboard at 9 m/s2, a force of 3 newtons
6. Mass
The amount of inertia an object has depends on its speed.
Building Vocabulary
Write a definition for the term on the lines below.
7. inertia
An object’s resistance to a change in its motion.
Name
Date
Class
Newton’s Laws of Motion
If the statement is true, write true. If the statement is false, change the underlined word
or words to make the statement true.
1. Unbalanced
Newton’s first law of motion states that an object will not
experience a change in motion unless acted upon by a(n) balanced force.
2. True
To increase acceleration of an object, you reduce its mass or
increase the applied force.
3. Opposite
Newton’s third law of motion states that if one object exerts
a force on another object, then the second object exerts a force of equal strength in
the same direction.
4. Inertia
Resistance to change in motion is called stasis.
5. Do Not
Action and reaction forces acting in opposite directions do
cancel out because they act on different objects.
6. Equal
weaker force.
If you lean against a wall, the wall pushes back on you with a(n)
Fill in the blank to complete each statement.
7. Newton’s second law of motion states that an object’s acceleration depends on its
mass
and on the net force acting on it.
8. Acceleration is measured in meters per second per second (m/s2)
.
9. Force is measured in a unit called the accept newtons or kilograms times meters per second
(kg × m/s2)
.
10. The smaller the mass of an object, the less
its inertia.