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Newton's Laws Stations Activity
Inertia Ring of Destiny (student handout)
Background Information, Activity Setup:
Newton proposed the concept of inertia. According to him, an object at rest stays at rest and an
object in motion stays in motion unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. This is the principle of
inertia. The tendency of the body to resist a change in motion is called its inertia. You can demon-
strate this principle with a simple experiment.
Materials:
• Marker cap
• Inertia ring
• Narrow neck bottle
Step-by-Step Procedure:
1. Place the bottle with its base flat on the table.
2. Place the ring so that it is balanced on top of the opening of the bottle. (It should look like the
letter "O".)
3. Place the marker cap on top of the ring so that it is lined up directly over the opening of the bottle.
Based upon what you know about Newton's laws, can you get the chalk to fall into the bottle without touching the chalk or the
bottle, and why?
Hypothesis:
Using this information, form a hypothesis that includes your reasoning. You can use the following template…
Based upon Newton's ________________________________________________ law,
the chalk ( will will not) fall
into the bottle because ________________________________________________.
TEST IT.
1. Try removing the ring so that the chalk falls into the bottle.
2. Record your tries and what worked and what didn't.
3. Explain your results using Newton's laws.
Name: Class: Date:
