Question

Gina is driving her car down the street. She has a teddy bear sitting on the back seat. A dog runs in front of Gina's car, so she quickly applies the brakes. The force of the brakes causes the car to stop, but the teddy bear continues to move forward until it hits the car's dashboard.
The teddy bear did not stop at the same time as the car because

Answer 1

Newton's 1st Law of Motion- an object (bear) will stay in motion until acted upon by an unbalanced force

Answer 2

Newton's first law of motion explains why the teddy bear in Gina's car did not stop at the same time as the car itself. The car was in motion until an external force caused the car to stop. The brakes did not act on the objects inside the car, they acted on only the car. The teddy bear, therefore, continued to stay in motion, even after the car had stopped. The teddy bear continued to move forward until it hit the dashboard of the car. The dashboard provided an outside force that stopped the motion of the teddy bear.