Forces & Motion

Carlos uses one golf ball to set another golf ball in motion. The following diagram shows how Carlos designs his experiment.

Carlos releases the ball on the string from different heights. Each time, the first ball strikes the second ball, which then rolls down the track. Which force causes the first ball to swing downward?

• a pull due to gravity

• a pull from the string

• a push from Carlos’s hand

• friction between air and the golf ball

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-1

NGSS.MS-PS2-2

NGSS.MS-PS2-4

Mindy wants to find out the average distance that each of her six friends can throw a ball. She asks six friends of similar sizes and ages to throw a ball as far as possible from the same starting point. Mindy notices that one friend throws the ball much farther than the other five do. She wants her results to be accurate. What should Mindy do?

• Repeat the experiment for the person with the unusual result.

• Repeat the experiment using a different friend as a replacement.

• Repeat the experiment and ignore the results of the first experiment.

• Repeat the experiment two more times and find averages for each of the six throwers.

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-2

Bobby draws pictures to show how force and motion are involved in his daily activities. Which drawing provides evidence that Bobby is using a pulling force to affect motion?

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Tags

NGSS.3-PS2-1

Jane likes to play many types of sports. During the course of a week, she goes bowling and plays soccer, baseball, and volleyball. Jane thinks the bowling ball requires the most force to move. Which claim explains why it would require the most force?

• It has the most mass.

• She has to throw it indoors.

• She has to hold it in her hand.

• It is all black and the other balls have white on them.

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-2

The amount of friction exerted when an object moves across a surface depends on how the object and the surface rub together. For which of these surfaces will friction be greatest when a block of wood slides across it?

• wet ice

• glass mirror

• thick carpet

• waxed wood

Mary Lou is pushing her younger brother, Steve, in his toy car. Steve gets out of the car. Steve’s friend, who has more mass than he does, gets into the car. If Mary Lou wants to make the car go the same distance that it did when she pushed Steve, what should she do?

• Push the car with less force.

• Push the car with more force.

• Push the car with the same amount of force.

• Add more mass to the car and push it with the same amount of force.

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-2

This spring scale is measuring the force on a block hanging from the hook. What would be the reading on the scale if an identical second block were added?

• 2.2 N

• 2.2 g

• 4.4 N

• 4.4 g

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-2

NGSS.MS-PS2-4

Lin-Yuan placed each of the objects on a smooth surface. He then used a spring device that applied 10 N of force to each object. Assume that the friction experienced by each object is the same.

Object: metal washer plastic disk rock wooden block

Mass (g): 1.5 34 16 22

Which object traveled farthest?

• metal washer

• plastic disk

• rock

• wooden block

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-2

A rock is balanced on the side of a hill. Although the rock is heavy, a gentle push moves it. Which reasoning explains how a small force can cause a large mass to move?

• The direction of the force is important to make an object move, but the amount of force is not.

• The push on the rock increased the amount of friction, so the rock moved.

• The small push balanced the forces that were keeping the rock in place and caused it to move.

• The forces on the rock were balanced, and a small additional force caused them to be unbalanced.

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-2

On two different days, two students measured the force required to hold a pair of scissors using a spring scale. Which claim describes how the results should compare?

• The results should be the same because the mass of the scissors and the force of gravity are the same.

• The results should be the same because friction does not change between the two experiments.

• The results should be different because two people never perform an experiment exactly the same way.

• The results should be different because changes in conditions between different days will cause the results to change.