Have you ever wondered a soccer ball continues to move long after your foot has lost contact? Or why you can coast downhill on a bicycle but going uphill you have to pedal to get to the top? Or maybe you’ve asked, why do we use seatbelts and airbags in cars? All of these seemingly complex questions can be explained by three simple rules called Newton’s Laws.
For most, Newton’s Laws call up some hazy memory from childhood. You may have instantly remembered “An object in motion will stay in motion,” or mentally pictured a man with a white wig being hit in the head with an apple. Whatever your thoughts on Isaac Newton, his ideas on the ways things move and react to obstacles has changed the way we think about movement …show more content…
315) Indeed the study of motion goes all the way back to Aristotle at approximately 300 B.C. His definition of motion is quite confusing to say the least, “Motion is the actuality of what potentially is.” (Kosman, 1969, p. 40) Although Aristotle thought long and hard specifically about planetary motion, he never answered the question of whether celestial bodies moved, and if so, by what force. Abu ‘Ali Ibn Sina, a Muslim scholar in 1000 AD, confirmed Aristotle’s suspicions by saying, “Nobody begins to move or comes to rest of itself.” (Hecht, 2015, p. 80) Almost seven hundred years later Newton will state this fact in his First Law, but will also have an answer as to why this is …show more content…
Her job is to test the packaging of products to ensure that they get the desired product to its final destination safely. “We run lots of tests on our packages everyday,” she says. “How they respond when they sit too long in the sun, if they leak, and what happens when you drop them.” They run a variety of “drop tests” to ensure their products are in peak condition. “We drop them on flat sides and then on corners, because corners have a bigger impact because of their smaller surface area.” When asked how science relates to her job she pulled out her college Physics textbook and immediately went to Newton’s Laws. She cited Newton’s Second Law as the most important to what she does. “The total force is what we’re worried about and how fast an object is going when it comes to rest.” She argues science is important because it’s everywhere. “From cleaning products, to makeup, to your car are founded in science principles.” She encourages students to experiment in their science classrooms and explore the numerous avenues for science careers. You never know where you might end