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Ball and Cup Contest

Ball and Cup Contest. Activity Objective: Students will construct a traditional toy and determine how Newton’s Laws and gravity apply to the operation of the toy. What is Microgravity?. This is a term NASA uses to describe the almost weightless condition in the in-orbit environment.

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Ball and Cup Contest

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  1. Ball and Cup Contest Activity Objective: Students will construct a traditional toy and determine how Newton’s Laws and gravity apply to the operation of the toy.

  2. What is Microgravity? • This is a term NASA uses to describe the almost weightless condition in the in-orbit environment.

  3. Have you ever played with a ball and cup?What techniques did you use to capture the ball?

  4. Activity • Materials: ruler, paper cup, wooden stick, string, and a ping pong ball • Work in groups of 2 • Complete Activity sheet 6 • Questions 1-4 (do not go on to question 5 until instructed)

  5. How does gravity affect the ball and cup? • Gravity pulls the ball down into the cup and keeps the ball from bouncing out of the cup.

  6. How do Newton’s Laws Explain the Movement of the Ball? • As you swing the ball around on the string, the string pulls inward on the ball. • According to Newton’s first law, the ball would continue in a straight path if a force is not acting on it. • According to Newton’s second law, an object moves in the direction of the force that it experiences. • The ball moves in the direction that the string pulls on it. (results in a circular motion)

  7. Circular Motion and Newton’s 3rd Law • An inward force is required to continually turn an object from its straight-line path. • Any inward-acting force is call Centripetal Force. • In this activity, the string pulling inward on the ball provides the centripetal force. • According to Newton’s 3rd Law, there is an equal and opposite reaction (force of the ball pulling back on the string)

  8. Gravity and Space • Gravity also plays a role in the ball and cup toy. • As the ball reaches the peak of the toss, it begins to free fall and is caught in the cup, where gravity holds it. • The cup applies an equal and opposite (upward) force to the ball, which is countered by gravity on Earth (Newton’s 3rd Law) • In space, the ball would strike the bottom of the cup and bounce out again. Newton’s 3rd Law predicts this (there is an equal and opposite reaction force)

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