Newton's Laws of Motion
First LawEvery object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it.
There is an important condition that must be met in order for the first law to be applicable to any given motion. The condition is described by the phrase "... unless acted upon by an external force." As the long as the forces are not unbalanced - that is, as long as the forces are balanced - the first law of motion applies. This law can be applied to everyday life situations such as skateboarding. |
Second LawPossibly the easiest law to remember, Newton’s Second Law states the relationship between an object's mass m, its acceleration a, and the applied force F is F = ma. Acceleration and force are vectors (as indicated by their symbols being displayed in slant bold font); in this law the direction of the force vector is the same as the direction of the acceleration vector.
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Third LawSometimes referred to as the ‘action-reaction law’, Newton’s Third Law states that; for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This means that there is no directional force that only acts on one body at a given time.
Why is it sometimes referred to as the ‘action - reaction law’? Consider A as the action force and B is the reaction force. Newton’s First Law states that; every object will be in a state of uniform motion unless an external force is applied on it. This means that when A is applied, -B will be applied so they can both cancel out, which proves the Third Law. |
Recent News
Over 400 years ago, the story goes, Galileo stood atop the Leaning Tower of Pisa and dropped two balls of different masses over the edge. As we all know, both balls smacked the ground at the same time, proving that gravity affects objects’ acceleration regardless of mass...
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Astronomers have discovered a new class of 'dark' globular star clusters around the giant galaxy Centaurus A. These mysterious objects look similar to normal clusters, but contain much more mass and may either harbor unexpected amounts of dark matter...
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