Newston's Laws of Motion

Running Head: NEWTON’S LAWS OF MOTION 1
Newton’s Laws of Motion
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NEWTON’S LAWS OF MOTION
Classical mechanics is founded on three physical laws known as the Isaac Newton’s laws
of motion. Isaac Newton, a mathematician, and physicist is acknowledged as one of the best and
influential scientists who enabled the scientific revolution. Isaac Newton played a major role in
shaping the new science and physics by creating the theory which acted as the backbone of
physical research for more than two hundred years. To date, Newton’s laws are widely used by
engineers and many scientists. They illustrate the relationship of a given body, forces acting on
it, and the motion of the body in response to those forces. Over nearly three centuries, these laws
have been described in various ways. However, the meaning has not changed.
The Newton’s first law of motion states that: unless an external force is applied to a given
object that is at rest or in a uniform and continuous state of motion, it tends to remain at rest or in
its original motion. This can be summarized as below;
Balanced forces → object at rest (v = 0, a = 0) → stay at rest
Balanced forces →object in motion (v ≠ 0, a = 0) →stay in motion
It is normally considered as the definition of inertia. This implies that acceleration is the main
cause of any change in motion of an object. This law is related to Newton’s second law for
which the total net external force is equal to zero. For instance, an ice skater will continue
skating at a certain speed unless an external force is applied to stop him/her. This means that the
skater is subjected to two different forces (the force of gravity and the force normal force exerted
by the surface) that cancel out to give a net force of zero. Also, blood tends to rush from head to
the feet while one is quickly stopping from a fast descending elevator. These examples
demonstrate the second law of motion. All objects tend to resist any change in their state of
motion unless they are ‘forced’ to by unbalanced forces. The intensity of change in velocity is
described by Newton’s second law of motion.
The Newton’s second law of motion (the law of acceleration) states that: the acceleration
of a given body is directly proportional to the force acting on it. However, the relationship
between the force and acceleration is determined by considering the mass of that body. For
instance, the greater the amount of force applied the greater the body’s acceleration and vice
versa. This can be mathematically described as;
F = ma (where F, m and a are the force, the mass of the body, and the acceleration of the body
respectively)
Since the force and the acceleration are both vector quantities, the direction taken by the force
vector is identical to that of the acceleration vector. This makes Newton's first law the most
powerful of the three laws since it allows quantitative determination (calculations) of dynamics.
For instance, the changes in velocity as a result of the applied forces can be calculated. However,
this law should not be confused with the dynamics of Aristotle. The difference between the two
is that in the Newton's law, a force only produces a change in velocity but does not maintain it as
Aristotle held. The second law is, however, only applicable when the considered force is the total
external force and do not directly relate when the mass of the body is changing, either by gain or
loss of the material. Also, it does not hold directly on relatively small atoms where the
application of the quantum of mechanics is a must, or when the relativistic effects (the speed of
the object is close to the speed of light, 3*10^8 m/s) must be used. Galileo's law of fall is a good
example of the second law of motion. The distance traversed by the object relates directly to the
square of time.
The Newton’s third law of motion is the simplest laws of the three that was presented in
1686. It states that: action is equal and opposite to the reaction. This implies that the action
produced when a force is exerted on an object by a second object is identical and in opposite
direction to the reaction. This is one of the main and essential universe’s symmetry principles
and can be applied to explain counter-intuitive situations since it is obeyed by nature. For
instance, when a large truck collides with a smaller one, one might think that the smaller truck
experiences more force, which is not correct (action and reaction are equal). Another real-life
example where this law holds is the jet engine. The exhaust gasses that exit through the back of
the engine are produced by the engine, and an equal thrusting force is generated in the counter
direction. Below is a summary of the same;
Engine pushing forward←→flow pushing backwards
The Newton’s law of universal gravitation, when combined with his laws of motion describes the
Kepler's laws of planetary motion.
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Running Head: NEWTON’S LAWS OF MOTION 1

Newton’s Laws of Motion

its original motion. This can be summarized as below;

Balanced forces → object at rest (v = 0, a = 0) → stay at rest

Balanced forces →object in motion (v ≠ 0, a = 0) →stay in motion

described by Newton’s second law of motion.

versa. This can be mathematically described as;

direction. Below is a summary of the same;

Engine pushing forward←→flow pushing backwards

Kepler's laws of planetary motion.

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