Centripetal Force: Roller Coaster Loops

This video segment explains centripetal force and illustrates how roller coasters rely on it to give you a thrilling ride.

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Collisions on an Air Track

In this interactive activity adapted from the University of Toronto, observe the effect of mass on momentum in elastic and inelastic collisions.

The Deployable Energy Absorber

Watch how engineers stage a crash to test a new helicopter safety design technology in this video from NASA.

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Galileo: A Different Thinker

Students examine four of the experiments that Galileo used to discover the effects of gravity and inertia on moving objects.

Galileo: His Experiments

This interactive activity from the NOVA Web site samples Galileo's experiments with falling objects, projectiles, inclined planes, and pendulums.

Galileo: His Place in Science

Einstein called Galileo the "father of modern physics." This media-rich essay from the NOVA Web site looks at Galileo's quest to understand the mathematics of motion.

Galileo on the Moon

Watch Apollo 15 astronaut David Scott perform Galileo's falling objects experiment on the Moon in this video segment from NASA.

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Galileo's Big Mistake

Scientists don't always get it right. This video segment adapted from NOVA looks at Galileo's failed theory for the motion of the tides.

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Galileo's Inclined Plane

How did Galileo figure out the mathematics of falling bodies? This video segment adapted from NOVA examines Galileo's work on motion.

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Galileo's Thought Experiment

How can Earth move through space without our feeling its motion? This video segment adapted from NOVA answers this question by dramatizing one of Galileo's thought experiments.

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Galileo: Timeline of His Life

This illustrated timeline from the NOVA Web site turns back the clock to the late 1500's to relive the dramatic life of one of the world's most renowned scientists.

Gravity and the Expanding Universe

This video segment, adapted from NOVA, traces the evolving history of theories about gravity and a force that may oppose it, and the impact of both on our expanding universe.

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Kinematics

This overhead view of an animated car illustrates its velocity and acceleration as it starts up, moves in a straight line, and turns.

Lift and Drag

In this interactive activity from NOVA, learn about the aerodynamic forces of lift and drag and how critical they are to the operation of all sorts of devices.

Mass vs. Weight: Accelerating Mass

Astronauts on the International Space Station demonstrate Newton’s Second Law of Motion in this video from NASA's Teaching From Space initiative.

Mass vs. Weight: Air Powered Mass

In this video from NASA's Teaching From Space initiative, astronauts on board the International Space Station conduct an experiment using an air gun to exert a consistent force on two difference masses -- an empty water bag and a full water bag.

Mass vs. Weight: Introduction

Two astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) describe mass and weight and the differences between the two in this video from NASA’s Teaching From Space initiative.

Mass vs. Weight: Stretching Mass

In this video from NASA's Teaching From Space series, an astronaut on board the International Space Station demonstrates weightlessness by comparing two water bags - one full and one empty - tethered to a line by stretchable bands.

Momentum

In this interactive activity adapted from Wake Forest University, observe the effect of mass on velocity and momentum in elastic and inelastic collisions.

More on Galileo's Big Mistake

Even great scientists make mistakes! This illustrated essay from the NOVA Web site looks at Galileo's theory of the tides, which, while well thought out, was wrong.