1. Aristotle Experiments
The following are some activities that Aristotle observed when forming his notions on motion.
Repeat these activities and attempt to form your own logical conclusions from the observations you
have made. How do your ideas compare to those of Aristotle?
Activity 1 (Ball)
Stand 2 metres away from your partner and gently toss the ball to her. Carefully observe the
path the ball takes and draw the path in the diagram below.
Activity 2 (Ball, Table)
Roll the ball at a medium speed across the desk top in such a manner that it rolls of the table
and lands on the floor. Make careful observations of the path the ball takes and draw the
path on the diagram below.
Activity 3 (Golf ball, Ping-Pong ball)
These balls have the same mass/volume but different mass/volume (circle one). Drop the
balls simultaneously from the same height (as high as you can reach). Observe their fall. Do
they reach the ground simultaneously? If not, which one arrives first?
Activity 4 (Play-dough halved and made into two different shapes – round and flat)
These balls have the same mass/volume but different mass/volume. Drop the round ball of
dough and the flattened dough simultaneously from the same height and observe their fall.
Do they reach the ground simultaneously? If not, which one arrives first?
Activity 5
Observe a wooden block at rest. Apply a force to the block in order to slide it across the desk
top. Remove your force and observe what happens to the motion of the block. What caused
the block to move? What has caused the block to stop moving?
Questions:
Describe the path taken by projectiles.
State the important factors of an object that determine how fast an object falls.
Describe the relationship between the forces acting on an object and the object’s motion.
Briefly outline your ideas about how and why things move.

2. Galileo Experiments
Activity 6 (Air Hockey table)
Turn on the table and gently push one of the pucks from the table end. Try to make it go in a
straight line. Draw the approximate path of your air puck in blue in the diagram below.
Turn off the table and gently push one of the pucks from the table end. Try to make it go in a
straight line. Draw the approximate path of your air puck in red in the diagram below.
Turning the air on is almost like turning on/off (circle one) the friction.
Turning the air off is almost like turning on/off (circle one) the friction.
Questions:
Describe how the puck moved when you turned the air on.
Describe how the puck moved when you turned the air off.
When the air was turned on, what made the puck stop?
When the air was turned off, what made the puck stop?
(Complete this sentence) An object will continue to move unless…
Galileo stated that all objects will hit the ground at the same time, regardless of mass, if air friction is
removed.
Activity 7
Design an experiment to prove that Galileo was correct.
Carry out your experiment.
Film the ‘drop’ to prove that both objects did or did not hit the ground at the same time.
Write a conclusion for your findings.

3. Newton’s Experiments
Activity 8
Meet Sir Isaac Newton – Newton is an important scientist who merged mathematics and
science to learn more about ways things in our world move.
Click here to see a picture of him and read his biography
Activity 9
Exploring Newton’s First Law – the law of inertia
Read Newton's First Lawand write it in your own words.
Find out what inertia is from The Physics Classroom, and write what inertia is in your own
words.
Go visit Science Court to read a comic, answer a quiz question and conduct experiments
about inertia. What happened when you did the table cloth trick? Explain why you think this
happened. What happened when you did the wagon and tennis ball trick? Explain why you
think this happened.
Need more information. This site gives you another explanation.
This animated movie shows how Newton’s First Law applies to moving vehicles. Watch the
ladder to see what happens to objects in motion. Why would you not want to be behind a
truck with a poorly tied on ladder?
This simple demonstration show how when a hammer falls, the head keeps travelling
toward the ground even after it hits. Explain why this happens.
Activity 10
Moving Magical Marbles with More Momentum than Most
Inertia means that a rolling ball on a smooth, level surface will roll forever if nothing stops it.
In fact, friction and air pushing against the moving ball will eventually bring it to a stop. But
interesting things happen when a motionless object gets in the way of a moving one. Try
this and see for yourself.
1. Tape the metre rules to a tabletop so they're parallel and about 1cm apart
2. Put 2 marbles in the middle of the sticks (our 'track') about 6cm apart
3. Flick a marble so that it rolls and hits the other one. Notice that the one that had
been rolling stops while the one that had been still now rolls! The momentum of the
rolling marble transfers to the other one, stopping the first and setting the second in
motion.
4. Now put two marbles on the track so they touch, and a third several inches away.
Flick the single marble into the other two.
What happens?
5. Try other combinations: two marbles into three still marbles, or three into three.
What happens?

4. Activity 11
Explore Newton’s Second Law – The Law of Acceleration
Read Newton's Second Law and write it in your own words. Give three concepts that this
covers.
o Go to PHET and open “Forces in one dimension” This allows you to chose
how much force you want to use to push different objects. Pick the dog. Turn
friction on and apply a force of 25N, then 200N. Use the velocity and the
position graph to help you watch what happens. Describe your observations
below.
o Re-create a similar experiment in your classroom. Use a forcemeter and
some wooden blocks. Write up your experiment in your book. Use the titles
AIM, INDEPENDENT VARIABLE (variable you will change), DEPENDENT
VARIABLE (Variable you will measure). METHOD, RESULTS, CONCLUSION.
Your aim should be “To compare the speed of a block with force pulling it”
o How does Newton's Second Law apply to you in a car. Look at the videos
here. You will need the username smcscience and the password rainbow.
o What happens if you don’t wear your seatbelt?
o What happens to you if you are sat in a stationary car without seatbelts and
you are hit from behind?
o Do you like bumper cars? These will demonstrate how Newton's Laws predict
which car will take the force of the hit.