Newton’s First Law states an object in motion will stay in motion unless a force acts upon it. Let’s explore how this affects our every day lives!
Find a line on the floor (or mark one with floor safe tape). To attempt this experiment, move back a few paces from the line. Then, move quickly towards the tape line and try to stop on the line. Can you do it? What happens to your body when you try to stop your forward momentum? Your feet will stop (with some help from friction from the floor) but your upper body has no external force acting upon it. Without a force to change your motion, you will continue to move forward.
Can you figure out why seat belts are so important? If you are moving forward in a car and the car stops suddenly, you are still moving forward unless a force stops you. What could that force be? Hopefully it’s your seat belt! Can you design a seat belt for a toy car that will keep an object safe?
