Gather the kids to demonstrate Newton’s first law of motion with this fun activity. This inertia demonstration will leave the kids in awe with the almost magic like action.

Supplies

• Pencil
• Penny
• Paper
• Tape
• Film Canister

What is Inertia?

​Inertia is Newton’s first law of motion, which is the principle of physics which states an object at rest will stay at rest and an object in motion will stay in motion.

Inertia Demonstration How to

 Cut a stripe of paper about 2 inches wide.  Loop the paper and secure it with a piece of tape, so that you have a paper circle.  Balance the loop of paper on top of a film canister. If you have trouble finding film canisters I found some on Amazon for a steal. (Click here to see the current price) Balance the penny on top of the loop.​ 
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Then, put a pencil through the loop and jerk it to the side.  The jerking motion should pull the paper to the side.  Allowing the penny to drop into the canister below.

How is that an Inertia Demonstration?

In this demonstration of inertia the penny is resting on the loop.  So using the principles of physics, unless the penny is touched it should not move.  This is demonstrated in this activity. When you move the loop with the pencil, you are moving it so quickly that the penny stays at rest and falls into the canister (also at rest).

More physics activities for kids

If you like this demonstration of inertia you will like the penny inertia challenge. Ask kid to remove a playing card from a stack of pennies using the concepts of inertia.

You may also like drops on a penny. This simple activity demonstrates the cohesion of water molecules while asking children to see how many drops of water they can get onto the face of a penny.