Newton

Station Lab

Name: ________________________
Period:

You must answer using complete sentences.

The Immovable Penny:
Set up: Place an index card on top of a beaker. Place a penny on top of the index card.
1) Before you flick the index card, what forces are acting on the penny?
2) What happens to the penny?
Challenge #1: Flick the index card out from under the penny.
3) Sketch what happens to the card and the penny. Use arrows to represent the forces acting on
the card and penny and to show the direction of motion of each object.

4) Describe the motion of the penny? (Be Specific)

5) How much force did you apply to the penny?
6) What would happen if you gently tap the card? Why? (Try it.)
Challenge #2: Flick the index card out from under the penny so that the penny rests on the lip of
the beaker.
7) Is it theoretically possible to get the penny to rest on the lip? Why would it be so hard to
accomplish?

Pennies on your Elbow:

Set up: Hold your palm up to the ceiling. Keeping your palm to the ceiling, bend your elbow so
that your forearm is parallel to the floor and place a penny on your elbow.
1) Before you remove your elbow, what forces are acting on the pennies?
2) What happens to the pennies? Why?
Challenge: Can you stack 10 pennies on your right elbow, drop your right elbow and catch the
10 pennies in your right hand before they hit the floor? (Start with 1 and work your way up to 10.
DO NOT face anyone when you are performing this challenge.
3) What direction did the pennies move in when you dropped your elbow? (Be specific)
4) What caused them to move in that direction?
5) What do you have to do to successfully catch the pennies?

Block Challenge:
Set up: Stack blocks one upon the other.
1) While the blocks are sitting there, what forces are acting on them?
2) What happens to the blocks? Why?
Challenge: Without touching the other blocks, can you remove the bottom block with a stir rod
so that the other blocks stay stacked one upon the other. DO NOT allow the bottom
block to hit anyone when you remove it.
3) What method worked?
4) What method(s) did not work (or would not have worked)?
5) On the successful attempts, what force(s) were applied to the blocks that rested above the
bottom block?
6) Explain why the bottom block moves differently than the blocks above it?

Food Coloring:
Set up: Place some (cold) water in a beaker and add a drop of food coloring.
Challenge: See if you can get the beaker to rotate 360 without the food coloring mixing into the water.
1) What were you doing to make the beaker move?
2) What were you doing to keep the food coloring stationary?
3) Why do you think the beaker moves, but not the food coloring in the center of the beaker?

Tray and Marble:

Set up: 1 complete circular tray and 1 with a cut out section.
Challenge #1: With a single push, can you get the marble to travel completely around the full
tray twice in a row? DO NOT let the marble roll or fly off of the table.
1) What keeps the marble inside the tray?
Challenge #2: After making a prediction below, attempt the same thing with the cut-out tray.
DO NOT let the marble roll or fly off of the table.
2) Prediction: What direction will the marble follow when it reaches the cut out section of the 2nd
tray?
3) Describe the motion of the marble when it left the cut out section of the 2nd tray.

4) In theory, what should happen to the speed of the marble after it leaves the tray? (Think
about Galileos Inclined Plane Thought Experiments.)
5) In theory, how long will the marble travel for?
Spin the Can:
Set up: Fill the can half full of water. Put a cork in the water.
Challenge: Swing the can vertically 360 around without letting the cork or water out of the can.
CAUTION: Make sure you have enough room to complete this challenge. It is
YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to not hit anyone with the can, water or cork.
1) If you just hold the can and tip it, the water will spill out. What acts on the water and cork
to pull them toward the ground?
2) If you let go of the rope while the can is spinning, which way will the can go? (include a
description of the path the can will follow) Which way will the water go?
3) While the can is actually spinning, what prevents the can and water from flying outward?
4) How is this challenge similar to the tray and marble challenge?

Pull the Tablecloth:

Set up: Fill a beaker about half full of water. Completely dry off the outside of the beaker.
Place a piece of wax paper about 45cm long on a dry lab table surface. Place the
beaker on the wax paper.
1) While the beaker is sitting there, what force is acting on it?
2) What happens to the beaker? Why?
Challenge: Can you jerk the wax paper out from under the beaker without breaking the beaker?
3) Where did the beaker end up?
4) How much force did you apply to the beaker?
5) So Explain why the beaker does not move?
6) What would happen if you slowly pulled the wax paper instead of jerking it?
7) Why isnt this a good trick to try with your parents expensive dishes and tablecloth?

Areodynamic Drag Race:

Set up: Cut a piece of paper so that it is exactly the same size as the metal plate provided.
Challenge: Drop the metal plate and slip of paper from the same height at the same time so that
both hit the ground at the same time.
1) What methods proved unsuccessful? Describe what did happen in those attempts?
2) Why doesnt the paper always fall at the same rate as the metal object?
3) What happens to the speed of the metal object as it falls?
4) What happens to the speed of the paper during the unsuccessful attempts?
5) What acts on the washer and paper to pull them down?
6) What acts on the washer and paper to slow them down?
7) What method proved successful? Why?

Flick the Hoop:

Set up: Balance the hoop on top of an Erlenmeyer Flask. Balance a rubber eyedropper top on
top of the hoop.
1) While the rubber eyedropper top is sitting there, what force is acting on it?
2) While the hoop is sitting there, what force is acting on it?
3) What happens to the rubber eyedropper top and hoop? Why?
Challenge: Flick the hoop out from under the eyedropper top so that the eyedropper top falls
into the Erlenmeyer Flask.
4) On the unsuccessful attempts, draw a sketch of the path the eyedropper top and hoop
follow? (Watch the eyedropper top closely.) Using arrows, include in your sketch the forces
(and the direction they came from) that were applied to the hoop and the eyedropper top.
5) On the successful attempts, what was the only force that acted on the eyedropper top?
6) Explain why the attempts that were unsuccessful failed and why the attempts that succeeded
worked.