Newtons Laws of Motion worksheet - Free Printable

Let's go through each scenario and determine which of Newton’s Laws of Motion it illustrates. We'll use:

- 1 for Newton’s 1st Law (Law of Inertia): An object at rest stays at rest, and an object in motion stays in motion unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.
- 2 for Newton’s 2nd Law (F = ma): The acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force acting on it and inversely proportional to its mass.
- 3 for Newton’s 3rd Law (Action-Reaction): For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

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1. A coin put on top of a paper on the table will stay in place when the paper is pulled.

- Answer: 1
- Explanation: The coin remains at rest due to inertia (1st Law). It doesn’t move with the paper unless a force acts on it.

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2. A farmer could not move his cart full of vegetables with only one horse, so he added another horse in order to move the cart.

- Answer: 2
- Explanation: More horses mean more force, increasing acceleration (F = ma). This shows how force affects motion (2nd Law).

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3. A truck with less mass will have a bigger acceleration than a truck with more mass.

- Answer: 2
- Explanation: With the same force, less mass leads to greater acceleration (a = F/m) — 2nd Law.

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4. Daddy hit the golf ball with more force than little Johnny. Daddy’s ball went the farthest.

- Answer: 2
- Explanation: Greater force → greater acceleration → farther distance. Relates to F = ma (2nd Law).

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5. When a basketball player shoots a jump shot, the ball follows an arcing path because of gravity and friction.

- Answer: 1
- Explanation: The ball continues moving after release but changes direction due to forces (gravity and air resistance), showing that forces change motion — 1st Law applies as the ball would keep going in a straight line without these forces.

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6. The harder you pedal your bicycle, the faster your bicycle will go.

- Answer: 2
- Explanation: More force from pedaling increases acceleration — 2nd Law.

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7. A book resting on the table exerts a downward force on the table while the table exerts an upward force on the book.

- Answer: 3
- Explanation: Action-reaction pair: the book pushes down, the table pushes up equally — 3rd Law.

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8. The large snowball was much harder to move than the smaller one.

- Answer: 1
- Explanation: Larger mass means more inertia (resistance to motion) — 1st Law.

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9. A ball that rolls on a flat surface will continue to roll until friction brings the ball to a stop.

- Answer: 1
- Explanation: The ball keeps moving due to inertia; friction is the unbalanced force stopping it — 1st Law.

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10. If you push a small table and a big table with the same amount of force, the small table will move faster.

- Answer: 2
- Explanation: Same force, different masses → smaller mass accelerates more — 2nd Law.

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11. When a car slams on brakes the passengers body is thrown forward until stopped by the seat belt.

- Answer: 1
- Explanation: Body wants to keep moving forward due to inertia — 1st Law.

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12. Walker hits the ball with more force than Max, so Walker’s ball went farther into the outfield.

- Answer: 2
- Explanation: Greater force → greater acceleration → more distance — 2nd Law.

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13. It takes a track runner several yards after the finish line to come to a stop.

- Answer: 1
- Explanation: Runner keeps moving due to inertia until friction slows them — 1st Law.

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14. When an air-filled balloon is set free, the air inside it rushes out and the balloon moves forward.

- Answer: 3
- Explanation: Air rushes backward (action), balloon moves forward (reaction) — 3rd Law.

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15. When walking on a sandy beach, while we exert force forward with each step, we push the sand backward.

- Answer: 3
- Explanation: Pushing sand back (action), sand pushes you forward (reaction) — 3rd Law.

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16. The bowling pins fell down when they were hit by the bowling ball.

- Answer: 1
- Explanation: Pins were at rest; force from the ball changed their state — 1st Law.

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17. A rider on a running horse is thrown forward when the horse stops suddenly.

- Answer: 1
- Explanation: Rider continues moving forward due to inertia — 1st Law.

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18. The boy had to apply extra force to move the big bag.

- Answer: 2
- Explanation: More mass requires more force to accelerate — 2nd Law.

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19. A 50 pound rock is much harder to move than a 5 pound rock.

- Answer: 1
- Explanation: More mass → more inertia → harder to start moving — 1st Law.

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20. The biker was moving at 25 miles per hour until he hit a rock that threw him over the handlebars.

- Answer: 1
- Explanation: Biker continues moving forward after collision due to inertia — 1st Law.

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Final Answers (in order):

1. 1
2. 2
3. 2
4. 2
5. 1
6. 2
7. 3
8. 1
9. 1
10. 2
11. 1
12. 2
13. 1
14. 3
15. 3
16. 1
17. 1
18. 2
19. 1
20. 1

✔ All answers are based on correct application of Newton’s Laws.