Overview:
Sir Isaac Newton is well-known for his work on creating the three laws of motion based on the theories of previous scientists as well as his own speculations. These 3 simple, intuitive laws lay the foundation for the basics of classical, Newtonian mechanics. The following are Newton’s three laws in more detail:
1. Newton’s First Law of Motion: The Law of Inertia
The first law of motion states that objects will remain in their current state of motion unless acted upon by an external, unbalanced force. This means that objects that are at rest, will remain at rest unless acted upon by an external, unbalanced force while objects that are moving, will continue in a constant state of movement unless acted upon by an external, unbalanced force.
In order to understand the law of inertia, we can imagine that a hockey puck is on ice (which in this case is frictionless). At first, the hockey puck is not moving, and we can assume that if it is not moving, it will stay that way. However, an unbalanced, external force such as a hockey player hitting the puck with their stick could cause the hockey puck to come out of rest and start to move.
In another scenario, we can imagine that a hockey puck is moving at a constant speed on frictionless ice. It will continue to move in constant motion unless something gets in its way and stops the motion, such as a hockey player stopping the puck.
2. Newton’s Second Law of Motion
The second law is based on the following equation:
F = m * a
In this equation, “F” represents a force measured in joules, “m” represents mass in kg and “a” represents acceleration in m/s2.
This law states that the acceleration of the object is dependent upon the magnitude of the force, and the size of the mass. The acceleration of any object is directly proportional to the force applied to the object. That is, a stronger force applied to the object will result in a larger acceleration. The acceleration of any object is also inversely proportional to the mass of the object. That is, the larger the mass of the object, the lower the acceleration will be.
3. Newton’s Third Law of Motion
Newton’s third law of motion states that “every action has an equal and opposite reaction.”
This law states that if object A applies a force to object B, object B will, in turn, apply a force of equal magnitude on object A. is applied from one body to another, no matter how large the force is, there will always be an equal force applied right back in the opposite direction but with the same amount of force. For example, when an individual punches a wall, they will feel the force of that punch hit them right back with the same magnitude, causing pain.
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