Newton's Laws Worksheet – Sort Everyday Examples

All 24 examples

First law 8

a ball sitting still on grass It stays at rest until a kick or another unbalanced force moves it.
a probe coasting through space Far from any planet, with its engine off, it keeps to a straight line.
a puck gliding on an air table With almost no friction to slow it, the puck keeps its speed and its direction.
a seat belt at a sudden stop The car stops, and the rider's body keeps moving forward until the belt supplies the force that stops it.
coffee spills as a car starts The cup moves off with the car, and the coffee, which was at rest, is left behind.
ketchup shaken down a bottle The bottle is swung downward and stopped short. The ketchup inside keeps moving toward the opening.
plates left by a yanked cloth The tablecloth is pulled away so fast that the plates, which were at rest, stay behind.
water spilling as a dish stops Carry a full dish and stop short: the dish stops and the water keeps going, over the front edge.

Show all 24 examples (16 more)

Second law 8

a foam brick is easy to shove It has far less mass than a clay brick, so the same push speeds it up more.
a full truck speeds up slowly With the same engine force, more mass means less acceleration.
a light cart is quick to start Less mass, so the same push gives more acceleration.
gentle pushes give slow starts A small force gives a small acceleration.
harder kicks make faster balls More force on the same ball gives it more acceleration.
heavy balls need harder throws To speed up a ball of greater mass by the same amount, the arm has to supply more force.
pedaling harder to speed up A bigger force on the same bike and rider gives a bigger acceleration.
two pushers speed a sled more Twice the force on the same sled gives twice the acceleration.

Third law 8

a fish pushing water backward The fins push water back, and the water pushes the fish forward.
a rocket pushing gas downward The rocket pushes gas out of its engine, and the gas pushes the rocket up.
air rushing out of a balloon The balloon pushes air out of its neck, and the air pushes the balloon the other way.
feet pushing down to jump up Just before a jump the feet push down on the ground, and the ground pushes up on the jumper.
jumping off a skateboard The rider goes one way and the skateboard rolls off the other way.
stepping off a small boat Your foot pushes the boat away from the pier as the boat pushes you toward it.
tires pushing back on the road The spinning wheels push the road backward, and the road pushes the car forward.
wings pushing air downward A bird's wings push air down, and the air pushes the bird up.

How this list was compiled: List written for this site on 2026-10-16. Each example stands under one law only and was checked that day against these pages. The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Glenn Research Center: Newton's Laws of Motion (https://www1.grc.nasa.gov/beginners-guide-to-aeronautics/newtons-laws-of-motion/), for the wording of the three laws and the rule that for equal forces a heavier object gains speed more slowly than a lighter one; Rocket Principles (https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/rocket/TRCRocket/rocket_principles.html), for the ball at rest on the ground, the spacecraft that travels in a straight line, the balloon, the rocket and its gas, the small boat at a pier and the rider who jumps off a skateboard; and The First and Second Laws of Motion (https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/WindTunnel/Activities/first2nd_lawsf_motion.html), whose exercise sets an empty truck beside a loaded one. The Physics Classroom, Newton's Laws (https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/newtlaws): the lesson Newton's First Law for the seat belt, the dish of water, the cup of coffee in a car and the ketchup bottle; Inertia and Mass for the two bricks given an identical push and for the book that would slide on without friction; Newton's Second Law for doubling the force and for doubling the mass; Newton's Third Law for the fish, the bird and the wheels of a car. The English Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/), whose text is under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license: Tablecloth (the trick relies on inertia), Air hockey (a puck that glides on a cushion of air with very little friction), Inertia, and Reaction (physics) for the jump, the wheels and the rule that the two forces of a pair act on two different objects. The line after each example is from the same pages. Licence: own work

How it works

This Newton's laws worksheet prints twelve everyday examples, such as a seat belt at a sudden stop, a full truck speeding up slowly and a fish pushing water backward, above three headings: First law, Second law and Third law. A key is the last page.

Read the full guide

The three laws in plain words

First law: a thing at rest stays at rest, and a thing in motion keeps moving in a straight line at the same speed, unless an unbalanced force acts on it. Second law: how fast an object speeds up depends on its mass and on the force applied to it. Third law: when one object pushes on a second, the second pushes back on the first just as hard, the opposite way.

First law rows keep their motion, second law rows compare pushes or masses, third law rows show a push and the push back.

Questions and answers

Is there a Newton's laws worksheet for 4th grade and 5th grade?

The sheet carries no grade and needs no formula: every example is an everyday thing, such as a skateboard, a ketchup bottle or a sled. Saved from the print window as a PDF, it is two pages, the sheet and its key.

What is inertia?

Inertia is an object's resistance to any change in its motion: a thing at rest tends to stay put, and a moving thing tends to keep going. More mass means more inertia. The first law is often called the law of inertia.

What does F = ma mean?

Force equals mass times acceleration. Double the force on an object and its acceleration doubles; double the mass and the same force gives half the acceleration. Force is measured in newtons, mass in kilograms, acceleration in meters per second squared.

What are action and reaction forces?

The two forces of one push or pull. If object A pushes on object B, B pushes on A with equal strength the opposite way. The two forces act on two different objects, and either one may be called the action.

Which of Newton's laws explains how a rocket works?

The third. A rocket pushes gas out of its engine and the gas pushes the rocket the other way, so it needs no air to push against. The second law explains why it speeds up faster as fuel burns away and its mass falls.