Member of the Internet Link Exchange

Free Home Pages at Geocities

Newton's First Law of Motion

• Objects tend to resist changes in motion (whether at rest or moving) due to inertia
• A change in motion will result only if a net force acts upon the object
• This has also been stated, "once in motion, always in motion; once at rest, always at rest (unless a net force acts upon the object)"
• This law is also known as the Law of Inertia

Newton's Second Law

• If a net force acts upon an object, the object will accelerate in the direction of the force
• The amount of acceleration is
  • directly proportional to the force applied
  • indirectly proportional to the mass of the object
• This law can be stated mathematically as

  F = ma

  F = force (measured in Newtons)
  m = mass (measured in kilograms)
  a = acceleration (measured in meters per second squared)

• When one object exerts a force on a second object, the second one exerts a force on the first that is equal in size and opposite in direction
• This can also be stated, "For every reaction, there is an equal and opposite reaction
• These pairs of forces can be referred to as action-reaction pairs
• Remember that these action-reaction pairs are acting on different objects
• For this reason, they are not balanced forces

Return to Barnhardt's World

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page