How Is Physics Shown In The Lacrosse Game

Physics was observed during a DHS girls lacrosse game by Newton’s Laws and in free-fall. Newton’s Laws consist of 3 different laws, the law of inertia, F=ma, and action-reaction forces. Free-fall was observed in the game when the lacrosse ball falls, and only gravity acts upon it. All in all, Newton’s Laws and free-fall was portrayed during the lacrosse game. First, Newton’s Law of Inertia was present in the game when the ball was at rest or being passed. To start, the Law of Inertia is that an object will continue to be at rest until a net force acts upon it, which accelerates the object. Likewise, an object that is moving will continue to move until a force stops the object. At the beginning of the game, two midfielders take the draw to

The 3rd law states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite action force. This is portrayed during the game when the ball is passed into another player’s stick. If the ball is thrown to the right, the stick catches the ball. Therefore, the ball must ‘catch’ the stick. The forces of the ball and the stick are equal and act in opposite directions, therefore, there is no net force. The force of the pass was found by Newton’s 2nd law, F=ma, where .1 kg was multiplied by 10 m/s^2. If the force of the pass was 1 N, this means that the stick caught the ball at +1 N, and the ball ‘caught’ the stick at -1 N. The force has the same magnitude and is constant and equal during the pass, but have different directions. Newton’s 3rd Law relates to the equation, momentum=mass X velocity. To start, the change in momentum is impulse. If the impulse of the pass is force X time, the impulse must by 2 Ns, since the pass took 2 seconds. Therefore, the change in momentum of the pass must also by 2 kg m/s. The ball during the pass had momentum, which would be the .1 kg times 20 m/s. The momentum of this pass down the field was 2 kg m/s as well. Overall, this one pass down the field involved Newton’s 3rd Law of action-reaction forces, which relates to impulse and momentum. All in all, Newton’s Laws are portrayed during the DHS lacrosse