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STEM General Physics 1

Quarter 1 – Module 13
INERTIAL REFERENCE FRAME &
ACTION-REACTION PAIR

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General Physics 1 – Senior High School
Quarter 1 – Module 13: INERTIAL REFERENCE FRAME &
ACTION-REACTION PAIR

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from their respective copyright owners. The publisher and authors do not represent
nor claim ownership over them.
Regional Director: Gilbert T. Sadsad
Assistant Regional Director: Jessie L. Amin

Development Team of the Module

Writer: Lalaine L. Jarical

Editors: Benjie L. Cadag

Voltaire G. Furio
Alex Barrameda
Edgardo J. Bungcag

Reviewers: Benjie L. Cadag

Voltaire G. Furio
Alex Barrameda
Edgardo J. Bungcag

Language Editor: Ronnalyn N. Jalmasco

Layout Artist: Ma. Rachel B. Espino, Antonio L. Morada

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Most Essential Learning Competency

• Define inertial frames of references (STEM_GP12N- ld-28)

• Identify action-reaction pairs (STEM_GP12N- ld-31)

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Introduction

INERTIAL REFERENCE FRAME &

ACTION-REACTION FORCE

In this module, you will learn about

inertial frame of reference and action-reaction
force.
At the end of the module, you should be
able to:

define inertial frames of references;

cite real life situation of an inertial reference frame;
identify action-reaction forces in different situations; and
describe the magnitude and direction of the action-
reaction forces.

So, let’s ride, read, enjoy, and discover

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Before we start our lesson,
try to answer these
five (5) questions below.

Pre-Test

Directions: Choose the correct answer. Write your answer on a separate

sheet

1. Which of the following statement is TRUE about action-reaction force?

A. Every action force upon an object there must have an equal and opposite
reaction force
B. Every action force upon an object there must have an unequal and opposite
reaction force
C. Every action force upon an object there must have an equal and complete
reaction force
D. Every action force upon an object there must have an unequal and complete
reaction force

2. When a horse pulls a wagon, what force causes the horse to move forward?
A. The force the horse exerts on the wagon
B. The force the wagon exerts on horse
C. The force the horse exerts on the ground
D. The force the ground exerts on horse

3. A woman whose weight is 500N is standing on the ground. What is the force the ground
exerts on her?
A. Less than 500 N
B. Equal to 500 N
C. More than 500N
D. Any of the above, depending on her location on the earth’s surface

4. Which of the following statement is NOT TRUE about inertial frame of reference?
A. An inertial frame of reference is a frame of reference which is at rest
B. An inertial frame of reference is a frame of reference with constant velocity.
C. An inertial frame of reference is an accelerating frame of reference.
D. An inertial frame of reference is a frame of reference in which the law of
Inertia holds.

5. Which of the following NOT an example situation is an inertial frame of reference?

A. Hot air balloon hovering over valley
B. Sudden brake in a car
C. Satellite moving in outer space without spinning
D. Driving in a downhill at 50km/h

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How did you find the test? Do you think you were able to get all
the correct answer? It’s okay if you’re not yet sure with your answers.
You may check your answers at the answer key section. Don’t worry if
you got a low score, it only means that you will learn more from this
module. So come on and let us start our adventure!

Learning Activities

E L I C I T!
Before we start our lesson for this
module, let’s review your understanding
on Newton’s first law of motion by
answering the activity below.

If a man riding a motorcycle with a constant speed is about to hit a wall suddenly applied
brakes (see illustration 1 below) 1. What do you think will happen to his body?
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
2. What cause/s his body to behave or move that way? ________________________
___________________________________________________________________.
3. What if a man seating in a stationary motorcycle accidentally hit the gasoline and
accelerates the motorcycle (see illustration 2). What do you think will happen to his
body? _______________________________________________________________.
4. What cause/s his body to behave or move that way?_________________________
____________________________________________________________________.

Illustration 1 Illustration 2

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Newton’s First Law of Motion states that “ A body at rest or
moving with constant velocity will continue to remain at rest or
keep moving with constant velocity unless an external force is
applied to it.”
If you were able to explain the motion of a body in the
given situation using this Law of inertia then you are
CORRECT! I guess you are now ready to dig deeper about
motion specifically on inertial reference frame and action-
reaction forces.

E N G A G E!
Hello guys, the illustration below shows a boy
holding a ball while riding in a truck moving to westward
with a constant velocity. Juan, Pedro and Maria were
arguing about the direction of the ball once it is directly
thrown upward. To whom statement you will agree and
why?

The ball will The ball The ball will

fall near the will fall fall near left
right hand of directly to hand of the
the boy the hand boy
of the boy
Juan Pedro Maria

I agree with the idea of ___________________________________________________

because____________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________.
___________________________________. 5
Good job in finishing the activity but take time to process
the information given in the concept cartoon because you will
go back to your answer after the succeeding activity. For the
mean time let’s move on the next activity.

E XPLORE

Activity 1: INERTIAL REFERENCE FRAME

and VECTOR ADDITION

What will you do?

You are now going to do the activity to learn about inertial
reference frame. Here, you will use your previous learning on
Newton’s first law of motion in analyzing each situation and
answering the guide questions..

SITUATION 1. A box is found inside a vehicle that is moving eastward with a constant
velocity.

The box is moving at rest because the

net force acting on it is zero. The box is moving at
constant velocity
because the net force
acting on it is zero.

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SITUATION 2. A box is found inside a vehicle that is at rest and it was thrown directly
upward.

When the box is thrown directly

upward falls directly the same
point where it was throw up.

SITUATION 3. A box is found inside a vehicle moving in a straight path with a constant
velocity and the box is directly thrown upward.

When the box is thrown

directly upward falls directly
the same point where it was
throw up.

SITUATION 4. A box is found inside a vehicle moving in a straight path suddenly stop.

The box seem to fly forward

and fall in front of it’s original
position.

SITUATION 5. A box is found inside a vehicle moving in a curve path.

The box seem to continue

moving in a straight line as
the vehicle turn.

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Guide Questions:
1. what are the conditions needed for the box to fall directly into its original place? _____
____________________________________________________________________.
2. Base on the illustrations, what could be the possible condition/s why the box did not fall
into it’s original place? _______________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________.
3. In which situation/s does Newton first law of is at play? ________________________
____________________________________________________________________
4. How will you describe the reference frame of observer in 4th and 5th illustrations?
____________________________________________________________________
5. How will you describe the reference frame of observer in illustrations 1, 2 and 3?
____________________________________________________________________

Activity 2: ACTION-REACTION FORCES

Lets answer the second activity. What you are going

to do is identify the two interacting objects and describe the
force on one of the object and the force on the other object.

Example 1:
A book is at rest on the table.
Two objects: BOOK and TABLE .
Interaction Force Pair
Action Force: Book exerts force on table
Reaction Force: Table exert force on book___

1. A swimmer freestyles through the water.

Two objects: ____________ and _____________
Interaction Force Pair
Action Force: __________________________
Reaction Force:_________________________

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2. A bird uses its wings to fly.
Two objects: ____________ and _____________
Interaction Force Pair
Action Force: __________________________
Reaction Force:_________________________

3. Skaters A and Skater B playing.

Two objects: ____________ and _____________
Interaction Force Pair
Action Force: __________________________
Reaction Force:_________________________

4. A cannon ball is fired from a cannon.

Two objects: ____________ and _____________
Interaction Force Pair
Action Force: __________________________
Reaction Force:_________________________

5. A stone is drop from a cliff.

Two objects: ____________ and _____________
Interaction Force Pair
Action Force: __________________________
Reaction Force:_________________________

6. Releasing a balloon full of air has an equal and opposite reaction.

Two objects: ____________ and _____________
Interaction Force Pair
Action Force: __________________________
Reaction Force:_________________________

Great job! You have completed the activity. You may

take your time to review and analyze your answers.

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E XPLAIN

The first activity tells us about a frame of reference in which Newton’s first law is
va-lid is called an inertial frame of reference. The given activity shows us how we can
use Newton’s first law to understand what we experience when riding in a vehicle. When
a vehicle is at rest or is moving at a constant velocity, observer (passenger) is in its inertial
frame of reference. There are several ways to describe an inertial frame.
Moreover, if a vehicle increases/decrease its speed or does not travels a straight
path the observer (passenger) in the vehicle’s frame of reference might be tempted to
conclude that there is a net force acting on him. This conclusion is simply wrong; the net
force on the observer (passenger) is zero. The observer’s (passenger) mistake is in trying
to apply Newton’s first law in the vehicle’s frame of reference, which is not an inertial frame
and in which Newton’s first law is not valid.

Here are a few descriptions:

• An inertial frame of reference is a frame of reference which is at rest (stationary).
• An inertial frame of reference is a frame of reference with constant velocity.
• An inertial frame of reference is a non-accelerating frame of reference.
• An inertial frame of reference is a frame of reference in which the law of inertia
holds.
• InThe
an inertial
secondframe of reference
activity noafictitious
tells us that forces
force acting onarise.
a body is always the result of its
interaction with another body, so force always come in pairs. You can’t pull a doorknob
without the doorknob pulling back on you. If you kick a boulder, he pain you feel is due to
the force that the boulder exerts on your foot in each cases, the force that you exert Is in
the opposite direction to the force that body exert on you. Experiments show that whenever
two bodies interact, the two forces that they exert on each other are always equal to
magnitude and opposite in direction. This fact is called Newton’s third law of motion. In
Figure 1, F A on B is the force applied by body A on body B, and F B on A is the force applied by
body B on body A. the mathematical statement of Newton’s third law is
F A on B = F B on A

F A on B
Expressed in words, If a body A exerts a force on body B A
(an action), then body B exerts a force on body A (a
reaction). These two forces have the same magnitude B
but are opposite in direction. These two forces act on F B on A
different bodies.
Figure 1

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In figure 1 the action and reaction forces are contact forces that are present only
when the two bodies are touching. But Newton’s third law also applies to long-range forces
that do not require physical contact, such as the force of gravitational attraction. A table-
tennis ball exerts an upward gravitational force on the earth that’s equals in magnitude to
the downward gravitational force the earth exerts on the ball. When you drop the ball, both
the ball and the earth accelerate toward each other. The net force on each body has the
same magnitude, but the earth’s acceleration is microscopically small because its mass is
to great. Nevertheless, it does move!

Now go back to the concept cartoon and figure it out if your

chosen statement is correct or not.

E LABORATE!
Now let us apply inertial frame of reference in the next activity.
What you will do is identify the given pictures as to inertial
frame of reference or non-inertial frame of reference and
explain your answer.

Activity 3: What is my reference frame?

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Activity 4: Who is my partner?

Now lets move on to the next activity, you have to simply

analyze the illustration and answer the following
question. Aja! You can do it!

1.
1. We know that Earth pulls on the moon. Does the moon
also pull on Earth? If so, which pull is stronger? ___
_________________________________________.
2. When a cannon ball is fire why is that a cannon ball
moves faster compared with the cannon? _______
_________________________________________.
2. 3. What are the different bodies interacting in pairs in
picture 3?. Explain how these pair of bodies interacts
in terms of action-reaction forces. _______________
__________________________________________

_______________________________________________________
3.
__.
3.

Great job! You have completed the activity. Take time to

review and analyze your answers.

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E XTEND!
Now let us deep our understanding by answering the
following questions

1. While you are siting and reading this question are you in an inertial frame of reference?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________.
2. Your weight is 100N and when you are in use a bathroom scale inside the elevator the
reading is still 100N. How will you describe the motion of the elevator? Are you in inertial
frame of reference? ______________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________.
3. If you were given the task to construct a balloon powered cart using recyclable materials.
What specific materials are you going to use? Why did you chose those materials in
constructing your balloon powered cart? What are the pairs of bodies exerting an action-
reaction forces? __________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________.

Great job! You have completed your task. If

you need some clarifications feel free to ask your
teacher.

Post-Test

EVALUATE!
1. An automobile that is towing a trailer is accelerating on a level road. How will you
describe the force that the automobile exerts on the trailer?
A. It is equal to the force the trailer exerts on the automobile.
B. It is greater than the force the trailer exerts on the automobile
C. It is equal to the force the trailer exerts on the road
D. It is equal to the force the road exerts on the trailer

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2. A swimmer exerted a of 50N on the wall of the swimming pool as she glade. What
is the exerted force and direction of the wall on swimmer?
A. Less than 50 N and opposite to the force exerted by the swimmer.
B. Equal to 50 N and opposite to the force exerted by the swimmer
C. Equal to 50 N and the same with direction of the force exerted by the
swimmer
D. More than 50N and the same with direction of the force exerted by the
swimmer

3. Which of the following statement is TRUE about action-reaction force?

A. Every action force upon an object there must have an unequal and opposite
reaction force
B. Every action force upon an object there must have an equal and opposite
reaction force
C. Every action force upon an object there must have an equal and complete
reaction force
D. Every action force upon an object there must have an unequal and complete
reaction force

4. Which of the following statement is TRUE about inertial frame of reference?

I- An inertial frame of reference is a frame of reference which is at rest
II— An inertial frame of reference is a frame of reference with constant velocity.
III- An inertial frame of reference is an accelerating frame of reference.
V- An inertial frame of reference is a frame of reference in which the law of
Inertia holds.

A. I, II, III, IV B. I, II, and III C. I, II, and IV D. II, III and IV

5.Which of the following is situations is an inertial frame of reference?

I- Hot air balloon hovering over valley
II- Sudden brake in a car
III- Driving in a down hill at 50km/h
IV– Riding a merry go round

A. I and II only B. II and III only C. I and IV only D. I and III only

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Vocabulary List

The following terms used in tis module are defined as follows:

Inertial frame of reference. A frame of reference either at rest or moving with a

uniform velocity (zero acceleration) is known as inertial frame. First laws of
motion holds valid in such a frame.

Non-inertial frame of reference. An accelerating frame of reference.

Newton’s First law of motion states that “ A body at rest or moving with constant
velocity will continue to remain at rest or keep moving with constant velocity
unless an external force is applied to it.”
Newton’s Third law of motion. If a body A exerts a force on body B (an action),
then body B exerts a force on body A ( a reaction). These two forces have the
same magnitude but are opposite in direction. These two forces act on different
bodies.
Fictitious Force. Also called a pseudo force is a force that appears to act on a
mass whose motion is described using a non-inertial frame of reference, such as
an accelerating or rotating reference frame.

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Answer Keys

Pre-Test Answer Keys

1. A
2. D
3. B
4. C
5. B

Learning Activities Answer Keys

EXPLORE

Activity 1
1. The condition needed for the box to fall directly into its original place is a vehicle
must be either at rest or moving in a straight path with constant velocity.
2. The possible condition why the box did not fall directly into its original place is that
a vehicle is moving in a curve path and the vehicle suddenly stop..
3. The situation where Newton’s first law of motion is observed are situations 1, 2 and
3.
4. The observer’s reference frame in situation 4 and 5 change its states of motion.
5. The observer’s reference frame in situation 1, 2 and 3 did not change its states of
motion.

Activity 2

1. swimmer and water; 5. stone and earth

swimmer pushes water backward stone is pulled down by the earth
water pushes swimmer forward earth is pulled up by the stone
2. bird and air 6. balloon and air
bird pushes air downward Balloon is push up by the air
air pushes bird upward Air is pushed out of the balloon
3. Skater girl and skater boy
Skater girl pushes skater boy
Skater Boy pushes skater girl
4. cannon ball and cannon
Cannon pushes cannon ball forward
Cannon ball pushes cannon backward
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ELABORATE

Activity 3

1. Inertial frame of reference 5. Non- Inertial frame of reference

2. Non- Inertial frame of reference 6. Inertial frame of reference
3. Inertial frame of reference 7. Non- Inertial frame of reference
4. Inertial frame of reference

Activity 4

1. Yes both earth and moon pull each other with equal and opposite forces.
2. The cannon ball moves faster compared with the cannon because we will consider
the masses of cannon ball and cannon. Remember that acceleration is inversely
proportional to the mass hence the cannon ball moves faster than cannon.
3. The elephant's feet push backward on the ground; the ground pushes forward on
its feet. The right end of the right rope pulls leftward on the elephant's body; its
body pulls rightward on the right end of the right rope. The left end of the right
rope pulls rightward on the man; the man pulls leftward on the left end of the right
rope. The right end of the left rope pulls leftward on the man; the man pulls
rightward on the right end of the left rope. The tractor pulls leftward on the left end
of the left rope; the left end of the left rope pulls rightward on the tractor.

EXTEND

1. Yes because since I are at rest we, I am not accelerating. Therefore I am in inertial
frame of reference. On the other hand since the earth is spinning therefore I am
accelerating however acceleration is vey small compare to gravity in
approximation we are in an inertial frame of reference. But technically speaking
its really a non-inertial because I am moving in a circle.
2. The elevator is either at rest or moving in a constant velocity therefore I am in an
inertial frame of reference.
3. Balloon and light materials like small plastics bottle, drinking straw, bottle cap, and
tape. (Answer my vary) Because this are light materials it will have lesser mass
and therefore this can have greater acceleration applying the second law of
motion. Balloon and air, wheel (bottle cap) and floor,

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Post-Test Answer Keys

1. A
2. B
3. B
4. C
5. D

References

https://isaacphysics.org/concepts/cp_frame_reference

http://web2.uwindsor.ca/courses/physics/high_schools/2005/Special_relativity/INERTIA
LFRAMES.html
https://study.com/academy/lesson/identifying-action-and-reaction-force-pairs.html
https://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/newtlaws/Lesson-4/Identifying-Action-and-
Reaction-Force-Pairs

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-osuniversityphysics/chapter/5-5-newtons-third-
law/

http://www.theveryspringandroot.com/blog/2012/11/lesson-plan-exploring-newtons-3rd-
law-in-sports/

https://study.com/academy/lesson/action-and-reaction-forces-law-examples-quiz.html

https://www.physicsclassroom.com/Physics-Video-Tutorial/Newtons-Laws/Interaction-
Force-Pairs/Lecture-Notes

https://mammothmemory.net/physics/newtons-laws-of-motion/newtons-first-law--
Beiser, Arthur. Modern Technical Physics. 6th Edition.1992. Echanis Press Inc. 760
examples/newtons-first-law-examples.html
BoniAve., Mandaluong City

Caintic, Helen E. 2017. General Physics 1 for Senior High School. First Edition. C & E
Publishing, Inc.

Young, Hugh D. and Freedman, Roger A. Universoty Physics wih Modern Physics11th
Edition. 2004. Pearson EducationInc., Addision Wesley, 1301Sansome St., San
Francisco CA 9411
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