Newton's Laws of Motion - Summary
1. Newton's First Law (Law of Inertia):
An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion
with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.
- Explains inertia: the tendency of objects to resist changes in their state of motion.
- If net force is zero, the object maintains its velocity.
2. Newton's Second Law (Law of Acceleration):
The acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force acting on it
and inversely proportional to its mass.
- Formula: F = m * a
Where:
F = Force (in Newtons)
m = Mass (in kilograms)
a = Acceleration (in m/s^2)
- This law quantifies force.
3. Newton's Third Law (Action and Reaction):
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
- Forces always occur in pairs.
- If object A exerts a force on object B, object B exerts a force of equal magnitude
and opposite direction on object A.