PASCO SE-8747 Kinesthetics Cart KINESTHESIA-1 - Manual (Page 23)

19
012-05787C Kinesthetics Cart
Experiment 15: Newton’s Third Law Misconception;
“Inanimate objects do not exert forces”
Some students hold on to the notion that inanimate objects do not exert forces. This misconception
is readily counteracted by demonstrating a collision with a wall. One of the collision attachments
is connected to one of the carts and the second collision attachment is mounted to a suitable wall
of the classroom. (To prevent undesirable indentations and scratches to the wall, a several foot
long 2”x12” board can be placed between the wall and the collision attachment.) Again, the stu-
dents see, experience and comprehend that the force of the cart against the wall is equal and oppo-
site to the force of the wall on the cart, independent of the mass of the cart and rider and indepen-
dent of the velocity of the cart.