Newton's Laws- Tablecloth Trick #2

Newton's First law of Motion (also known as the Law of Inertia) states that an object at rest wants to remain at rest. This is the explaination for the classic trick of yanking a tablecloth out from under dishes on a table. At the exhortation of author Paul G. Hewitt I started preforming this demosntration for my students, despite my frequent lack of success, rather than just talking about it. It is entertaining to the students and helps to emphasize Newton's Law.

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[mrericsully]

@arg13415 I do need a better tablecloth, but this one is actually pretty slick cloth, has no hem, and a high thread count. The main problem is that it is a stretchy material, but it is what I was able to buy cheap at the store at the time and it is also used for other demonstrations where the stretchiness is necessary.

[arg13415]

you'll have better success with a better tablecloth. Very fine threads with a very high thread count. You also need a very thin hemline. This plastic junky tablecloth is going to hold too much rigidity when you yank it out. You would probably see waves propagating down it if you looked closely in slow motion.