The world and the Universe are action-packed. People and animals are always on the move. The planets are constantly circling the Sun. Are there any rules to all this activity? Yes! Our world and the whole Universe are governed by the laws of nature. Scientists who try to understand and learn about these laws are called physicists. Here are some questions that physicists across history have wondered about: When you drop a ball, why does it fall on the ground? Why doesn’t it float up? If you spin a top, why doesn’t it spin forever? Why does it eventually stop? Maybe you have wondered about these things, too.
To answer those questions, physicists needed to discover the laws of motion. What is motion? Motion is movement in any direction. You can move up, down, forwards, backwards, and sideways. You can move in circles. You can wiggle, wave, twist, turn, roll, flip, sway, bend, pivot, shake, and spin.
10 Topics in this unit
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Force, Motion, and Friction
The world and the Universe are action-packed.
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Gravity and Magnetism
Some forces are invisible and can make objects move without touching them.
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Newton's First Law of Motion
Isaac Newton was a famous scientist who was interested in all sorts of things, from gravit ...
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It’s the Law
Your eyes as you read these words. Leaves fluttering in the breeze. The atoms that make up ...
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Move It!
A force is a push or a pull. If a force is strong enough, it can cause an object to move.
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The Human Advantage
An ant can lift more than 20 times its own weight. An elephant can carry more than a thous ...
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Forces in Sports
Sports injuries are no joke.
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The Body Moves
The force of your heartbeat, the movement of blood passing through your veins and arteries ...
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Forces in Nature
Tornadoes, hurricanes, avalanches, landslides, and mudslides – name almost any kind ...
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Surviving Nature
It’s the job of engineers to solve problems.
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