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Central idea: Motion can be explained by three simply-stated laws known as Newton's laws of motion.

Concepts: causation, connection
Related concepts: law, motion, principles, discovery, force, science, procedure
Lines of inquiry:

  • What the effect of force is on the motion of objects.
  • How understanding the three laws enables us to explain the motion we see everyday.
  • Understanding how our body responds to inertia, acceleration and momentum.

In this unit we will explore the physics of force and motion.

Uploaded by 1veritasium on Feb 17, 2011
"Force is a central concept in physics. By analysing the forces on an object, its resulting motion can be determined. But what exactly is a force? The word force is used in everyday language in a variety of contexts, only some of which reflect the scientific definition of force. In this video, people at Victoria Park in Sydney are interviewed on their ideas of force and the forces that act on them."

Uploaded by 1veritasium on Feb 18, 2011

"What forces (i.e. pushes or pulls) are acting on you right now? Most people can identify the gravitational force down, but there must be something else otherwise you would accelerate down towards the center of the Earth. The other main force on you is called the normal force. It is a force perpendicular to the surface that supports you, like the ground or the seat of your chair. You compress this surface and it acts like a spring, pushing you up."

Link to:
external image calvin1-3.jpg

Watch the full episode. See more Circus.

"Many young students are familiar with the idea of 'feeling a force' when something pushes or pulls them. More abstract ideas can be built on this foundation, through experiment and careful thinking. The aim should not be to define what a force is but to describe what forces can do.

The relationship between forces and motion is counter-intuitive and so needs careful explanation. We provide experiments that show a variety of ways of measuring position and time. These measurements lead to concepts of speed, velocity, momentum and acceleration.

All manner of everyday phenomena can be explained in terms of Newton’s laws of motion, including circular motion and oscillations. Physicists use Newton's laws to interpret interactions at extreme length scales too, everything from sub-atomic particles to collisions of galaxies. "

Newton's Laws of Motion

View Force and over 3,000,000 other topics on Qwiki.

"The world is filled with motion. Some motions just happen: the Earth revolves around the Sun, snowflakes fall to the ground, waves surge across the sea.

Other motions are under our control. We walk. We pick up things. We ride our bikes. But whether the movement is a planet revolving or you playing a game, the motion happens because of force...Force is just a fancy word for pushing or pulling."

Refer to,wp.htm for background science

Uploaded by 1veritasium on Mar 10, 2011
