Gravity and Balance

1. Gravity and Balance Newton’s Toy Box Activity 2

2. Vocabulary • Gravity • Gravity support force • Newton (N) • Pound (lb) • Weight

3. What forces are acting on you right now? • Gravity (pulling us downward to Earth) • Magnetism (Earth’s magnetic field)

4. Are you actually falling at this moment because of gravity force? • No, there is a force that opposes gravity. • This force is called the gravity support force. This is an upward force. • Gravity support force is equal in strength to gravity’s downward pull. These forces are balanced.

5. What is the source of gravity support force (sitting in your chair)? • The chair and/or the floor

6. Is the force of gravity on you equal to the support force of the chair on you? How do you know? • Each of us is not moving; so, the two forces acting on each of us are balanced.

7. What happens if a chair leg is weak and the chair cannot produce a support force equal to your weight? Why? • The chair would break, and we would fall to the ground. The two forces, gravity and the gravity support force, would be unbalanced.

8. Activity Sheet 2 • We will be using a spring scale, wooden ball, and a bag. • We will be working in groups of 4. • Read the activity sheet and begin the activity. • Remember to read the scale on the Newton side instead of grams.

9. Newton (N); Pound (lb) • Newton is a metric unit of weight. • Pound is a standard or customary unit of weight in the English system.

10. Weight • Weight is the strength of the gravity force pulling down on an object.

11. Exit Slip or Homework • Architects and engineers must keep gravity in mind when they design building. For example, the gravity support force of the walls must be strong enough to hold up the roof. • Find examples in your neighborhoods where the gravity support force was not strong enough (hint: any object that has collapsed)