Interactive Video Vignettes: Newton's Third LawThis vignette features "person-on-the-street" interviews about forces in collisions. Viewers are shown various video segments of colliding carts and real cars, with same and different masses and asked about forces. Over 90 percent of the participants believe that faster objects with more mass exert more force. The dynamics cart collisions with force sensor graphs show that the forces are equal in magnitude, even though the Lego passenger on the less massive cart suffers more injury.
Goddard Space Flight Center: Newton's Third LawThis is a lesson for teaching Newton's 3rd Law within the context of NASA's Swift satellite. Students warm up with a reading excerpt that explains thrust, the force that moves the rocket through space. The Third Law comes into play as students conduct an experiment to propel a balloon along a fishing line. They must consider what force (or forces) act to counter thrust. Resource includes lesson, detailed lab procedures, Student Handout, data table, pre/post discussion questions, and answer key. View in html or download as a printable pdf.
NOVA: Lift and DragThis interactive activity examines the aerodynamic forces of lift and drag. Students explore the two principles that combine to produce lift: the Bernoulli Effect and Newton's Third Law. The tutorial discusses why wing shape alone cannot create lift. Airplanes stay aloft because the wing pushes air down; the corresponding reaction occurs as air pushes the wing up. This paired action/reaction, along with wing shape and airspeed, interact to produce flight.