Newton's Three Laws of Physics

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Newtons First Law

Newtons first laws states that :

"An object in motion tends to stay in motion

and an object at rest tends to stay and rest

unless acted upon by and outside force."

When in space, Newtons first law is very obvious. When an object in space is set on a course, it stays on that course unless it is acted upon by some outside force. Newtons first law is also present in every day life here on earth. The place where we may experience it the most is in our vehicles. If you are driving your car down the road and you come to a sudden stop, then you are going to go through the widshield unless you are wearing a seatbelt! The reason that you keep moving is because some outside force has stopped your car, but it has not stopped you. This may be a good reason to wear your seatbelt. This concept is also know as inertia.

Newtons Second Law

Newtons second law states that:

"The force exerted on an abject is equal

to the accelertaion multiplied by the mass

of the object on which the force is acting"

Newtons second law can be indentified more easily using the equation F=ma. This is an equation that is very familiar to those of us that wish to do well in any physics class! This equation tells us many things. First it tells us the net force that is being exerted on an object, but it also tells us the acceleration of that object as well as its mass. The force on an object is measured in Newtons (I wonder where they got that from). One Newton is equal to one (kg)(m)/s^2. For example, if superman pushes on a 10,000kg truck and it is moving at a rate of 2m/s^2, then the force that superman is exerting on the truck is 20,000N. For those of us that wish to move on in the field of physics, Newtons second law (F=ma) will forever haunt us!

Newtons Third Law

Newtons third law states that:

"For every action, there is

an equal and opposite reaction."

This law is very interesting. According to this law, when you push against a wall, it also pushes back on you. However odd this may seem, it is very important to us in everyday life. If this law was not true then the force of gravity would pulls us straight to the center of the earth.

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