Newton’s Laws of Motion: Explanation with Examples

by Benjamin Sexton

1. By Benjamin Sexton Newton’s Laws of Motion

2. Newton’s first law Newton’s First Law of Motion states the following: “ An object at rest will remain at rest will remain at rest unless acted on by an external unbalanced force. An object in motion will remain in motion in a straight line until acted on by an external unbalanced force.” This basically means that objects won’t move until something acts onto them. Objects in movement will keep going in a straight line until some stronger force acts onto it.

3. Newton’s first law: Examples Here are a few examples: If we shot a bullet in space, it would keep moving in a straight line until it either reached the gravity field of another planet or collided with something. When NASA sends rockets up in space, this is how they manage to keep their orbit. There is almost a perfect amount of earth’s gravity for the ship to not come crashing down. This law also proves why sound doesn’t travel infinitely. When sound travels, it hits air molecules, which slow it down over time. The simplest example would be pushing a big rock. The rock will stay in place until you push it.

4. Newton’s second law Newton’s Second Law of Motion states the following: “The relationship between an object’s mass ‘m’, its acceleration ‘a’ and its applied force ‘F’ is F=ma.” This basically is saying that there is a direct relationship between the force and the mass, and the force and the acceleration. We can reverse this equation so that other variables are isolated, if we wanted to know the mass or the acceleration.

5. Newton’s second law: Examples Here is some proof of concept: If a dog is pulling a sleigh full of rocks, the acceleration of the sleigh is entirely dependent on the force of the dog. The mass of the rocks doesn’t change, thus the dog must pull at a constant force to make the sleigh accelerate. If a big truck and a bicycle did a short race, the bicycle would win because it accelerates faster. On the other hand, since mass is in direct relation with acceleration (due to the second law), a truck would win in a long-distance race because it accelerates more.

6. Newton’s third law Newton’s Third Law of Motion states the following: “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” This means that every force in the universe has an opposite force acting on it. This is easier to explain with examples.

7. Newton’s third law: Examples Here are a few examples: Many people don’t know this, but when you jump, Newton’s third law is at work. You push off the floor, and the floor pushes back, making you go up. The only reason you go down again is because of gravity. The only reason cars can advance is because their wheels have friction with the ground. The wheels stick to the ground, trying to push, and the ground exerts an opposite force to push it. Rockets, much like jumping, use fuel to push on the ground, which lifts them up. Rockets also rely on friction with the air so that the fuel still works.