Inertia

The Law of Inertia states that an object in motion will stay in motion and an object at rest will stay at rest.

What do I need?

A mug, glass, plastic or paper cup, or small Tupperware
An index card, a piece of cardstock
A coin, washer, or checker

What do I do?

Place the card flat over the top of your cup or mug
Place your weight on top
Move the card slowly and observe what happens
Pull the card away quickly while keeping it flat

What's going on?

This is an example of Newton’s 1st Law of Motion: The Law of Inertia. The Law of Inertia states that an object in motion will stay in motion and an object at rest will stay at rest. The weight is at rest. When you move the card slowly, the weight moves with it because of friction acting like a grip. When you move the card fast, not enough friction builds up to create that grip and the weight stays put. It falls into the cup once the card is out of the way because of gravity.

Explore

Try stacking more weights on top of the card.

Try pulling the card out even faster.

Try using your fingers to flick the card out of its place. This one takes more practice.

Can you think of ways to change the variables?

What might affect how well you can accomplish this trick?

Type

Activities

Subject

Science