Hey there. How's it going? Oh, I'm just struggling with a video idea for NASA.
Hey, whatcha got here, an apple? Yeah. It's a good study snack. I'm trying to read up
on Newton's first law, but something doesn't quite make sense.
I thought an object at rest doesn't have any forces acting on it. See, that's a
common misconception, but I have a way of explaining it.
So we can use this apple
to explain Newton's first law. Look at how the apple moves.
You see here the apple fell towards the ground. That is gravity and it keeps you on this Earth.
Now look at the apple again on the table. It isn't moving right now but gravity
is still acting on it. This is Newton's first law where there isn't only gravity
acting on the apple, but there is a force from the table keeping the apple
stationary. This brings up the first thing to always keep in mind when you're
looking at forces. They always come in pairs.
Hey, thanks for explaining that.
So forces are just properties of objects right? Actually that is also a
misconception. Wait, narrator, what are you doing here? I'm here to explain that
forces are just interactions. Here let me show you.
An apple cannot become a force unless something else applies an acceleration
to it. The Earth's pole gives a gravitational force, the desk gives the
apple a normal force resisting Earth's gravity, and the bat applies a force on
the apple giving an applied force. Even though the table may give the apple a
friction force resisting the apple's applied force, the friction force is
overwhelmed by the apple's applied force, which results in a net force in the
applied force direction -- which causes the apple to go in the direction of the
applied force. This causes the apple to have motion
since it has an initial starting point, a direction it is going to, and how far
in force it will go, called magnitude.
Wow, thanks for going out of your way to get this narrator and scientist to explain to me how forces work.
Anytime.