Question

name: ______
newton’s 1st law of motion: background
directions: text mark the article below. circle key vocabulary words and highlight important information about newton’s 1st law of motion.
newton’s first law plays a fascinating role on the international space station. if an astronaut needs to pass a tool to their crewmate, they simply need to apply a force to it. according to newton’s first law, the tool will float at the same velocity until the other crew member grabs it! objects in motion stay in motion and objects at rest stay at rest until acted upon by a net external force. a change in an object’s motion depends on the net external force or sum of the forces acting on the object, and the mass of the object. on the station, objects in motion will keep moving at a constant velocity until they impact a wall or another object. newton’s first law of motion is often called the law of inertia. inertia is the property of matter in which objects can resist a change in motion. how does this example translate to life in space? the space station is orbiting at approximately 17,500 mph around earth. the astronauts inside are traveling at the same speed as the space station. what would happen to the crew or any object that is not strapped down if the station’s thruster, or small engines outside the station, began to slowly accelerate the station forward?
a reboost is the process of using thrusters to increase the altitude of the space station to keep it moving along its orbital path, approximately 250 miles above earth. whenever the space station needs a reboost, a visiting spacecraft can dock and use its thrusters to keep the station going on its orbital path. why does the station need an occasional reboost from these thrusters? after all, isaac newton taught us that everything in motion tends to stay in motion, so why is a reboost necessary? just like a rolling ball slows to a stop due to friction created between it and the ground, the station also experiences friction between it and particles from earth’s atmosphere. friction is defined as the resistive force an object encounters when moving past another surface. the station is just on the edge of earth’s upper atmosphere, where few air molecules produce small amounts of friction and resist the motion of the space station. the frictional force is opposite to the direction that the station is traveling. if left unchecked, the space station’s orbit would slowly change, and the space station would fall toward earth and burn up in our atmosphere. do not fear, however! nasa makes sure that the space station and crew are safe at all times and provides regular reboosts to keep the crew safely in orbit around earth.
write a 2 sentence summary about the role of newton’s 1st law on the iss.
(blank lines for writing)
6

Explanation:

To summarize, we first identify the key points: Newton's 1st Law (objects in motion stay in motion, at rest stay at rest unless force acts) applies to ISS—tools float until grabbed, astronauts move with ISS speed. Also, atmospheric friction resists ISS motion, so reboosts (using thrusters) are needed to maintain orbit, as per the law (motion changes with net force). We combine these into two concise sentences.

Answer:

Newton’s 1st Law dictates that objects on the ISS (like tools or astronauts) move at constant velocity unless a force acts, so tools float until grabbed and crew moves with the station’s speed. Additionally, since atmospheric friction resists the ISS’s motion (a net force), periodic reboosts via thrusters are necessary to maintain its orbital path and prevent it from falling to Earth.