"EXPLORING THE INTERNET: ROLLER COASTER PHYSICS"

ONE TWO THREE ISAAC NEWTON AND ME

Exploration Four

Space: Newton's Final Frontier

PURPOSE:

How do Newton's Laws apply to flight and space travel?

RESOURCES/MATERIALS:

• Pencil and paper
• The NASA video Space Basics

  ---

  ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES:

  1. Apply the principles of Newton's Laws to the description of:
     • A plane taking off and climbing to 2000 feet while accelerating to 120 mph.
     • A three stage rocket launched into orbit around the Earth and then sent on to the moon.
     • The flight of a shuttle from lift off to touch down.

     ---

     WHICH OF NEWTON'S LAWS ARE BEING APPLIED IN EACH CASE AND AT WHAT POINT ARE THEY BEING APPLIED?

  2. Write your descriptions and then watch the video Space Basics. How close were your descriptions to the actual results?

  ---

  ONE TWO THREE ISAAC NEWTON AND ME

  Roller Coaster Physics