May the “Force” be with you! Newton's Laws & NASA’s GLAST/Fermi Space Telescope Teena Della Astrophysical Ambassador, NASA, Sonoma State University E/PO

Water Slide video

Play time: For the next half hour play through as many of the hands-on stations as possible. Fill out your reflection sheets at each station. Be sure to PREDICT first. BE the student. Work together and have fun. Later we will reflect as a group.

Figure Skater To begin moving, a figure skater must apply a force using her skates. Once in motion, she’ll continue to glide along the ice in a straight line for a long time unless she applies another force.

Snowboarder A snowboarder experiences a force due to gravity which pulls her down. She will move in a straight line unless she applies a force to the board, changing her direction.

Train A train is a very massive object, and therefore has a lot of inertia. Once in motion, it is very difficult to stop, requiring a very large force to slow it.

Car Hitting a Wall A car rolling down a hill is being moved by the force of gravity. When the car hits the wall, the greater inertia of the wall stops it. But anything not attached to the car will still move forward, So the man running after the car will lose his coffee, his lunch, and his briefcase.

GLAST/Fermi & Newton’s 1st Law of Motion On June 11, 2008, the GLAST satellite was sealed in the nose- cone of a Delta 2 rocket, ready for launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Immediately prior to launch, GLAST was ‘an object at rest’, and so was the rocket. There was no unbalanced force on GLAST or the rocket, so both remained at rest.

GLAST Launch June 11, 2008 Click on picture for launch video

GLAST/Fermi & Newton’s 1st Law of Motion When were GLAST and the rocket at rest? When were GLAST and the rocket in motion in a straight line?

Tug of War When each end of a rope is pulled, the rope will move in the direction of whomever is pulling harder, whomever is applying more force. In this case, the magnitude or strength of A (on the right) is greater than that of B (on the left), so the rope accelerates to the right.

Waterfall As the water flows over the edge of the rocks, gravity, which exerts a downward force on it, causes it to accelerate downward. The water moves faster the longer it falls.

Trucker and Ramp When the man pushes the heavy box up the ramp, he applies a force to the box. The box reacts by pushing back. If the man pushes hard enough, he can overcome gravity and friction, accelerating the box up the ramp..

Throwing a Ball When the girl throws the ball, she is applying a force to it and accelerating it. As soon as she lets go, gravity, which also applies a force, accelerates the ball downward.

Cube being Pulled A heavy cube sits on a surface. If someone applies a force to it that is stronger than the effect of gravity and the frictional forces on it, then the object will accelerate..

Swinging When a girl swings, gravity accelerates her downward from the top of her arc. Her inertia keeps her moving at the bottom, and the force of the tension in the ropes makes her move in an arc upwards. Gravity then pulls her down, decelerating her until she stops, and the motion repeats.

Swivel Chairs The velocity of an object includes its speed and its direction. Acceleration is the change in velocity, so changing the speed and/or the direction of an object is an acceleration. In a swivel chair, the woman feels an acceleration because her direction is constantly changing as she spins.

Baseball Player A baseball player applies a large force to a baseball, accelerating it to high velocity. If the ball had more mass, that same force would not accelerate the ball to such a high velocity.

Cars When a driver hits the gas, the wheels apply a force on the ground due to friction. This force accelerates the car forward. The brakes apply a force to the wheels, which in turn apply a frictional force to the ground, decelerating the car. So the gas pedal and the brakes are both accelerators, since they change the speed of the car. Because velocity is the combination of speed and direction, the steering wheel is an accelerator too! It changes the direction, and therefore the velocity of the car.

GLAST/Fermi & Newton’s 2nd Law of Motion GLAST has a mass of 2557 kg, about the total mass of 36 people. To get GLAST into orbit, it was launched from a Boeing Delta rocket which is about 232,000 kg. When the rocket fires, an unbalanced force acts on the rocket, this changes the velocity by changing its speed & direction – acceleration. An unbalanced force on an object produces acceleration.

Jogger A jogger experiences many forces while running: Gravity The push of her feet, Friction of her shoes on the ground, Air resistance. The ground pushes back with an equal and opposite force propelling her forward.

Rocket A rocket works by propelling mass out the back end at high velocity. The action of the mass of the burning fuel accelerating out the back end applies an opposite reaction force to the rocket, moving it forward. The rocket is not simply pushing against the ground. This works even in the vacuum of space.

Shopper The woman pushing a shopping cart feels an opposite force applied by the cart on her.

Baseball Player When the baseball player hits the ball with her bat, the ball reacts by pushing back on her. The player feels this as a jerk backwards when the bat contacts the ball.

Fish Fish propel themselves forward by pushing water back with their tails. The water reacts by pushing the fish in the opposite direction, forward.

Hand Pulling On Rope Connected to a Weight When the hand pulls the rope attached to the weight, it applies a force to the weight. The weight reacts by applying a force in the opposite direction. The hand feels a resistance.

Bridge Suspension bridges are all about actions and reactions. The main cables push the support poles down, and the poles react by pushing back with an equal but opposite force. Cables hanging down from the main cables pull the main cables down, which react by pulling back on the vertical cables. The roadway hangs from the vertical cables, pulling them down, and the vertical cables react by holding the roadway up.

Soccer Player When the boy runs up to the ball and kicks it, he applies a force to the ball, moving it forward. The ball reacts by pushing back against the boy, which he feels as pressure on his foot when he kicks the ball.

Hammer and Nail The hammer hitting the nail applies a large force to it. The nail reacts by pushing back against the hammer. The carpenter feels this as a jolt backwards against his hand.

GLAST/Fermi & Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion At launch, the exhaust exits from the base to propel it upwards through the atmosphere. There is an equal and opposite force directed on the rocket – the rocket pushes the exhaust stream down with the same force as the exhaust stream pushes the rocket upwards.

The parts of GLAST Large Area Telescope (LAT)‏ GLAST Burst Monitor (GBM)‏

GLAST/Fermi & Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion GLAST will slew so that the telescopes on board turn and point at the gamma ray bursts (GRB.)‏ To begin to slew the satellite spins the attached flywheels to point at the GRB. This turns GLAST in the opposite direction, another example of Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion.

Song Time “Laying Down the Laws of Motion” A cute song about Newton’s 3 Laws of Motion An alternative/fun way to present topics – students love music and remember lyrics Play Song lyrics next page

The physicist will not insist you learn the wizard's potion But minds will grow if students know of Newton's Laws of Motion Isaac Newton studied forces; forces make things start and stop Students taking science courses learn these laws to stay on top Things in motion stay in motion; things at rest will stay at rest. Inertia's our initial notion; know it and you'll pass the test. We're laying down the law; we're laying down the law; We're laying down the laws of motion. The next law's also worth a mention so wisdom will accelerate. Although I sense your apprehension, a speedy lesson is your fate. page 1 of 2

With your elbow, wrist and shoulder, here is how you must proceed: Throw a ball and throw a boulder, greater mass means lesser speed. We're laying down the law; we're laying down the law; We're laying down the laws of motion. One last law we'll be explaining, says forces always come in pairs. Newton's law will leaving you straining when you're climbing up the stairs. Each step you take is called an action; push a wall, it pushes back. When you act, expect reaction; equal and opposite, that's a fact. We're laying down the law; we're laying down the law; We're laying down the laws of motion. We're laying down the law; we're laying down the law; We're laying down the laws of motion.

Solar System All the planets in the solar system orbit the Sun due to its gravity. The inner planets are closer to the Sun and feel more gravity, so as a result they move faster.

Astronaut Gravity goes on forever; an astronaut in orbit is accelerated by Earth’s gravity. Without the balancing upward force from the ground, he falls freely. Some people call this “weightlessness,” but that’s not really true. “Free fall” is a better term.

Sir Isaac Newton Isaac Newton realised that all massive objects in the Universe apply the force of gravity to all other massive objects. An apple didn’t really fall on his head, but he did realise that the force causing an apple to fall is the same as the force causing the Moon to orbit the Earth – The Earth’s gravity.

Cyclist Bicyclists climbing a hill – or speeding down one – are certainly aware of gravity!

GLAST Satellite Why does GLAST not fall to the Earth? GLAST moves horizontally in its orbit at just the right rate so that as it falls toward Earth, its horizontal motion creates a circular path around the Earth. This balance between ‘horizontal’ and ‘vertical’ motion is what is meant by being ‘in orbit’.

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Another fun, space related activity: –Create groups of about 5 people –Count the beads in your container –Note that each colour represents different elements (see card) –Guess what object is in your container –See my webpage for a link to this activity too