Motion Madness
To the untrained eye, a playground may seem like the last place to find physics examples. It’s for
kids to relax, right? Yes, it is, but don’t let the relaxation catch you off guard. There are plenty of phys-
ics equations, laws, examples, and anything you could dream of. There is Newton’s first law of motion,
the second, and the third. All of them are in a children’s playground.
Starting with Newton’s first law, have you ever sat at the top of the slide waiting to go down?
Most of the time, you have to push yourself against the slide a little bit to get down. That is your
body’s mass resisting the change in motion. This is inertia. Inertia is what Newton’s first law is all about.
An object’s resistance to change in motion. Maybe you have been playing soccer, and the ball was on
the field motionless until someone kicked it. When the ball was not moving, it was in a state of inertia.
Newton’s first law is about inertia, and on a playground it is everywhere you can look.
Newton’s second law of motion introduces us to the formula to find force. F=ma. Or, force is
equal to mass times acceleration. This law is apparent when you are on a zip line. The mass of your
body, and the force applied directly affects the acceleration you have on your zip line. So if you want
to be a speed demon, apply a lot of force.
Finally, Newton’s third and final law of motion tells you that every action has an equal and
opposite reaction force. So if you find yourself playing basketball and you bounce the ball, that is
Newton’s third law. The force that the ball puts on the ground is equal to the force that the ground
puts on the ball, which launches it back up. You could also be playing with a ball and throwing on a
wall. The ball puts a force on the wall, that is then reapplied the other way back on to the ball, causing
it to fly back to you.
Next time you’re on a playground, don’t think that you are free from physics. You can
never be free. Think about Newton’s laws during recess today. Newton’s first law can be found while
about to go on a slide with the most potential energy, his second law is found while on a zip line, and
number three is shown while shooting some hoops. Hopefully, with this information, you can be the
smartest one on your local playground.
Henry Orlowski, Eighth Grade
31
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker