Newton ‘slaws

of motion
 Sir Isaac Newton (1642 – 1727)
• Worked out the “three laws of
motion” governing the movement
of all objects at all times an in all
circumstances.

• He published them in his book

Philosophiae Naturalis Principia
Mathematica (mathematic
principles of natural philosophy) in
1687.
“If I have ever made any valuable
discoveries, it has been owing more to
patient attention, than to any other
talent.”
 Newton’s First Law

An object at rest tends to stay at rest

and an object in motion tends to stay
in motion unless acted upon by an
unbalanced force.
Newton’s 1st Law of Motion
 What does this mean?
Basically, an object will “keep doing what it
was doing” unless acted on by an
unbalanced force.

If the object was sitting still, it will remain

stationary. If it was moving at a constant
velocity, it will keep moving.

It takes force to change the motion of an

object.
 What is meant by unbalanced
force?

If the forces on an object are equal and opposite, they are said
to be balanced, and the object experiences no change in
motion. If they are not equal and opposite, then the forces are
unbalanced and the motion of the object changes.
Some Examples from Real Life
A soccer ball is sitting at rest. It
takes an unbalanced force of a kick
to change its motion.

Two teams are playing tug of war. They are both

exerting equal force on the rope in opposite
directions. This balanced force results in no
change of motion.
1st Law
 THE COIN
WOULD BE IN
REST UNLESS
ACTED UPON BY
AN UNBALANCED
FORCE
 1st Law
 Once airborne,
unless acted on
by an
unbalanced force
(gravity and air
– fluid friction),
it would never
stop!
Why was it so difficult
to stop the TITANIC
from colliding with the
iceberg?
 The mass of
the Titanic is
very large.
Inertia is
proportionate
to mass.

The Titanic could not

change its direction because
its extremely high inertia
forces it to continue in a
straight line, thereby
colliding with the iceberg.
men
u
 Newton’s Second Law

The acceleration of an object is

directly proportional to the net
force acting on it and inversely
proportional to its mass.
 What does F = ma mean?
Force is directly proportional to mass and acceleration.
Imagine a ball of a certain mass moving at a certain
acceleration. This ball has a certain force.

Now imagine we make the ball twice as big (double the

mass) but keep the acceleration constant. F = ma says
that this new ball has twice the force of the old ball.

Now imagine the original ball moving at twice the

original acceleration. F = ma says that the ball will
again have twice the force of the ball at the original
acceleration.
 More about F = ma
If you double the mass, you double the force. If you
double the acceleration, you double the force.

What if you double the mass and the acceleration?

(2m)(2a) = 4F

Doubling the mass and the acceleration quadruples the

force.

So . . . what if you decrease the mass by half? How

much force would the object have now?
 What does F = ma say?
F = ma basically means that the force of an object
comes from its mass and its acceleration.
Something very massive (high mass)
that’s changing speed very slowly (low
acceleration), like a glacier, can still
have great force.

Something very small (low mass) that’s

changing speed very quickly (high
acceleration), like a bullet, can still
have a great force. Something very
small changing speed very slowly will
have a very weak force.
 What is the
function of the
hand glove of
this baseball
player?
 F = ma
Force is inversely proportional to time

= m (v-u)

The hand glove increases the

t
time of the collision, thereby
reducing the force.

men
u
 Check Your Understanding
 1. What acceleration will result when a 12 N net force applied to a 3
kg object? A 6 kg object?

 2. A net force of 16 N causes a mass to accelerate at a rate of 5

m/s2. Determine the mass.

 3. How much force is needed to accelerate a 66 kg skier 1

m/sec/sec?
 Check Your
Understanding
• 1. What acceleration will result when a 12 N net force applied to a
3 kg object?
12 N = 3 kg x 4 m/s/s

 
• 2. A net force of 16 N causes a mass to accelerate at a rate of 5
m/s2. Determine the mass.
16 N = 3.2 kg x 5 m/s/s
 
• 3. How much force is needed to accelerate a 66 kg skier 1
m/sec/sec?

66 kg-m/sec/sec or 66 N
 Newton’s Third Law

For every action there is an equal and

opposite reaction.
3rd Law
According to
Newton, whenever
objects A and B
interact with each
other, they exert
forces upon each
other. When you sit
in your chair, your
body exerts a
downward force on
the chair and the
chair exerts an
 3 Lawrd

There are two forces

resulting from this
interaction - a force
on the chair and a
force on your body.
These two forces are
called action and
reaction forces.
 3 Law
rd

Flying gracefully
Reaction through the air, birds
depend on Newton’s
third law of motion. As
the birds push down on
the air with their wings,
the air pushes their
wings up and gives
Force them lift.
3rd Law
The reaction of a rocket is
an application of the third
law of motion. Various
fuels are burned in the
engine, producing hot
gases.
The hot gases push against
the inside tube of the rocket
and escape out the bottom
of the tube. As the gases
move downward, the rocket
moves in the opposite
direction.
How does a rocket work?
Rocket Pushes Gas
How does a jet plane work?
 Review
Newton’s First Law:
Objects in motion tend to stay in motion and objects at
rest tend to stay at rest unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.

Newton’s Second Law:

Force equals mass times acceleration (F = ma).
Newton’s Third Law:
For every action there is an equal and opposite
reaction.

EXIT
 H N YO U
T A K
V A N K UMAR
By PA

09P1254
1 PCME ‘I’