Newton's Laws

Sir Issac Newton formed three laws using observations of the world around him, called Newton's Laws. His three laws explain rest, constant motion, accelerated motion, and describe how balanced and unbalanced forces act to cause these states of motion. Newton's first law is often termed "Law of Inertia." His first law states if an object is at rest will remain at rest and an object in motion will remain in motion unless external force is applied to it. For example, if you slam suddenly on the brakes of a car, you will jerk forward or move your body forward. If you're not wearing a seatbelt, you could go flying through the windshield! Sir Issac Newton's second law states the relationship between force, mass and acceleration, F = MA or force = mass x acceleration meaning, the force of an object is equal to its mass times its acceleration. For instance, who would have the largest impact, on the bed, if a 265 pound person (M1) and a 128 pound person (M2) both jumped at the same accelertion (A) and landed on the mattress? The 265 pound person would make a larger dent (F1) than the 128 pound person (F2) because 265 pound person is heavier and has more mass, therefore, producing a greater amount of force. Lastly, Newton's third law states for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. For example, you shoot a gun, the bullet will go forward, but the force that makes the bullet shoot out, causes you to feel a "kick" backward.

Three interesting facts that I learned are:

1) Newton's first law is often termed "Law of Inertia."

2) Sir Issac Newton's laws weren't as famous as they are today.

3) Sir Issac Newton's work is considered to be one of the most important contribution to science.

For more information go to:

http://www.usoe.k12.ut.us/CURR/Science/sciber00/8th/forces/sciber/newtons.htm

http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/history/newton3laws.html