Forces and Motion Study Guide
Test Date: ______________
The following examples describe Newton’s First Law of Motion: An object at rest tends to stay at rest, and an
object in motion tends to stay in motion, unless acted upon by an outside, unbalanced force. This is also called
the Law of _________________.
1. A boy sitting in a chair. Is each example
at rest or in
motion?
What will cause each example to not
to be at rest or in motion?
What kind of force is
that: friction, gravity,
push, or pull?
2. A ball that is kicked
into the air.
3. A bowling ball is rolled
down the alley.
4. The spirit rock outside
of Blythe.
Newton’s Second Law of Motion describes unbalanced forces.
• Acceleration of an object depends on the force and mass of the object.
5. If I throw a basketball and a bowling ball with the same amount of force, which one will go further? Why?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
6. How do I get the bowling ball to go a further distance?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
7. If I kick a soccer ball softly and then kick a second soccer ball hard, which one travels further?
Why?__________________________________________________________________________________
Write the definition to the following words:
8. Acceleration
9. Speed
10. Velocity
Which of the above words best describes the following examples:
11. A car is travelling at 45 MPH. _______________________
12. An airplane is flying at 600 MPH southwest. _______________________
13. A train begins its journey going 80 MPH then speeds up to 90 MPH for the last hour of its trip.
_______________________
Forces: If an object is at rest and the forces are balanced, the object will not move.
If an object is in motion and the forces are balanced, the object will stay in motion forever.
So, if they are unbalanced, a change occurs.
Draw the arrows showing how the
Example
Balanced or Unbalanced Force
forces act. Make sure to draw a larger
arrow on the greater force.
14. A book on a table.
15. Two arm wrestlers deadlocked
in a middle position.
16. Shooting a basketball.
17. Pushing a grocery cart.
Newton’s Third Law of Motion
• For every action, there is a reaction that is equal in magnitude and opposite in direction.
Draw arrows showing the action/reaction relationship for each of the following examples:
18.
19.
20.
What is momentum? When you throw a ball at someone and it makes contact, it hurts because it was hard to
stop. It had momentum. If you throw a small ball and a large ball at the same speeds, the large ball will hit a
person with a greater momentum, be harder to stop, and hurt more. When the mass is greater (at the same
speeds), the momentum is greater.
21. A car and bike are travelling downhill. Which one will cause more damage if it hits against a wall at the
bottom of the hill? Which has more momentum?
______________________________________________________________________________________
22. A rolled up piece of paper and a basketball are on top of a playground set at a park. The wind blows and
both objects start moving. If they roll down the slide, which one will develop more momentum? Why?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
23. Make a chart for the ball travelling as shown in the graph to the
right.
Time
Speed
24. Is the ball speeding up? __________
25. How far does the ball travel every
2 seconds?
______________________________
26. How is speed described when it
doesn’t change?
______________________________
Look at the diagram below. T = time in seconds and pos. = position in meters the car has travelled.
27. Make a chart for the car travelling above.
Time
Position
28.
What distance does the car travel between 1 second and 2 seconds?
_______________
29.
What distance does the car travel between 2 seconds and 3 seconds?
_______________
30.
Is the car speeding up or slowing down? How do you know?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
Cars
31. Make a graph with the above data.
Forces and Motion Study Guide
Answer Key
The following examples describe Newton’s First Law of Motion: An object at rest tends to stay at rest, and an
object in motion tends to stay in motion, unless acted upon by an outside, unbalanced force. This is also called
the Law of Inertia.
1. A boy sitting in a
chair.
Is each example
at rest or in
motion?
What will cause each example to not
to be at rest or in motion?
What kind of force is
that: friction, gravity,
push, or pull?
2. A ball that is kicked
into the air.
Motion
When it falls back down to the
ground a short while after it is
kicked.
Gravity
3. A bowling ball is
Motion
rolled down the alley.
After it rolls down the hill it will
eventually come to a stop.
Friction
4. The spirit rock
outside of Blythe.
If I move the rock with a bulldozer.
(Or other such example)
Push or Pull
At rest
Newton’s Second Law of Motion describes unbalanced forces.
• Acceleration of an object depends on the force and mass of the object.
5. If I throw a basketball and a bowling ball with the same amount of force, which one will go further? Why?
The basketball will go further because it has less mass. When the same force is applied to both balls, the
one with the least mass will go the furthest.
6. How do I get the bowling ball to go a further distance?
If I applied more force or a harder push, the bowling ball will go further.
7. If I kick a soccer ball softly and then kick a second soccer ball hard, which one travels further? Why?
The second soccer ball will go further because a greater force was applied.
Write the definition to the following words:
8. Acceleration An increase in an objects velocity. (An increase in speed or direction)
9. Speed
The total distance travelled divided by the total time that has passed.
10. Velocity
How fast and in what direction an object is travelling.
Which of the above words best describes the following examples:
11. A car is travelling at 45 MPH. Speed
12. An airplane is flying at 600 MPH southwest. Velocity
13. A train begins its journey going 80 MPH then speeds up to 90 MPH for the last hour of its trip.
Acceleration
Forces: If an object is at rest and the forces are balanced, the object will not move.
If an object is in motion and the forces are balanced, the object will stay in motion forever.
So, if they are unbalanced, a change occurs.
Draw the arrows showing how the
Example
Balanced or Unbalanced Force
forces act. Make sure to draw a larger
arrow on the greater force.
14. A book on a table.
Balanced
Equal
15. Two arm wrestlers deadlocked Balanced
in a middle position.
Equal
16. Shooting a basketball.
Unbalanced
17. Pushing a grocery cart.
The push off the floor is greater
allowing the person to overcome
the force of gravity.
Unbalanced
The man’s push is greater than the
push back of the cart allowing it to
move.
Newton’s Third Law of Motion
• For every action, there is a reaction that is equal in magnitude and opposite in direction.
Draw arrows showing the action/reaction relationship for each of the following examples:
18.
The fuel pushes
downward against the ground that
pushes back up toward the rocket
with equal force allowing the
rocket to move upward.
19.
The swimmer pushes off the
ground. The ground pushes back
with equal force allowing the
swimmer to propel forward.
20.
The two skaters push off each
other with the same force. They
will travel backwards the distance
equal to the force of the push.
What is momentum? When you throw a ball at someone and it makes contact, it hurts because it was hard to
stop. It had momentum. If you throw a small ball and a large ball at the same speeds, the large ball will hit a
person with a greater momentum, be harder to stop, and hurt more. When the mass is greater (at the same
speeds), the momentum is greater.
21. A car and bike are travelling downhill. Which one will cause more damage if it hits against a wall at the
bottom of the hill? Which has more momentum?
The car will cause more damage because of its greater mass. It will be harder to stop and will have greater
momentum.
22. A rolled up piece of paper and a basketball are on top of a playground set at a park. The wind blows and
both objects start moving. If they roll down the slide, which one will develop more momentum? Why?
The basketball will have more momentum because it has greater mass. It will be harder to stop.
23. Make a chart for the ball travelling as shown in the graph to the
right.
Time
Speed
24. Is the ball speeding up?
0 sec
1.0 m
No
2
1.0 m
25. How far does the ball travel every
4
1.0 m
2 seconds?
1.0 meters
6
1.0 m
26. How is speed described when it
doesn’t change?
Constant
8
1.0 m
10
1.0 m
Look at the diagram below. T = time in seconds and pos. = position in meters the car has travelled.
27. Make a chart for the car travelling above.
Time
0 sec
1
2
3
Position
0m
2m
8m
18 m
4
32 m
5
50 m
28.
29.
What distance does the car travel between 1 second and 2 seconds?
6m
What distance does the car travel between 2 seconds and 3 seconds?
10 m
30. Is the car speeding up or slowing down? How do you know?
The car is speeding up (accelerating) because it is travelling a further
distance in the same interval of time.