High School

Laws of Motion, force, acceleration

Explore Newton’s Second Law of Motion and see it in action!  Build a rocket out of a balloon and straw to see how mass affects the acceleration of an object!

 

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Learning Objectives

Students will know

  • Newton’s First Law
  • Newton’s Second Law
  • Newton’s Third Law

Students will understand

  • The mathematical relationship between force, acceleration, and mass of an object.

Students will be able to

  • Build and modify a balloon rocket to determine what effect mass has on acceleration
  • Analyze provided data to explain if the data supports Newton’s Second Law
Standards Alignment + Connections

Next Generation Science Standards Connections

HS-PS2-1: Analyze data to support the claim that Newton’s second law of motion describes the mathematical relationship among the net force on a macroscopic object, its mass, and its acceleration.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills Connections

P.4B: Describe and analyze motion in one dimension using equations and graphical vector addition with the concepts of distance, displacement, speed, average velocity, instantaneous velocity, frames of reference, and acceleration

P.4C: Calculate the effect of forces on objects, including the law of inertia, the relationship between force and acceleration, and the nature of force pairs between objects using methods, including free-body force diagrams

How to Run the Experiment

Materials You Will Need

  • Tape
  • Balloon
  • String
  • Straw
  • Small Items (coins, buttons, etc.)

Additional Resources