How does motion work

This is a force. Another force is friction, which slows things down by rubbing. Try pushing the puck on cement. Friction between the puck and the cement slow the puck down.

If something has a lot of inertia, it takes a large amount of force to move it. If it has not much inertia, it takes only a small force to move it. The third law is the Law of Rockets: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This means if you push on something, it pushes back on you the same amount.

This causes a force that pulls equally in both directions. The spring force is the force created by a compressed or stretched spring. Depending upon how the spring is attached, it can pull or push in order to create a force. Resisting force , like air resistance or friction, change motion. Whether the forces actually stop or slow something depends upon your point of view. Air friction makes a leaf travel along in the wind. When you pick up a pencil, it's friction with your fingers that gets the pencil in motion.

In each case, the friction makes the two things like the air and the leaf move together. Inertia is actually not a force at all, but rather a property that all things have due to the fact that they have mass. The more mass something has the more inertia it has. You can think of inertia as a property that makes it hard to push something around.

Friction is a force that happens when objects rub against one another. Say you were pushing a toy train across the floor. It doesn't take much effort or force, because the toy is light. Now say you try to push a real train. You probably can't do it because the force of friction between the train and the ground is more intense. The heavier the object, the stronger the force of friction. Velocity is the speed of an object in one direction. If an object turns a corner, it changes its velocity because it is no longer moving in its original direction.

Some consider Sir Isaac Newton to be the greatest English mathematician of his time and perhaps one of the greatest scientists the world has known. Thus, inertia could be redefined as follows:. An object at rest has zero velocity - and in the absence of an unbalanced force will remain with a zero velocity. Such an object will not change its state of motion i.

Objects resist changes in their velocity. Thus, we could provide an alternative means of defining inertia:. A group of physics teachers is taking some time off for a little putt-putt golf. The 15th hole at the Hole-In-One Putt-Putt Golf Course has a large metal rim that putters must use to guide their ball towards the hole. S guides a golf ball around the metal rim When the ball leaves the rim, which path 1, 2, or 3 will the golf ball follow?

The best place to start, of course, is at the beginning -- Newton's first law. Sign up for our Newsletter! Mobile Newsletter banner close. Mobile Newsletter chat close. Mobile Newsletter chat dots. Mobile Newsletter chat avatar. Mobile Newsletter chat subscribe. Scientific Experiments.