Sir Isaac Newton lived during the 1600s.

Like all scientists, he made observations

about the world around him.
Some of his observations were about
motion. His observations have been
supported by more data over time,
and we now call these
Newton's Laws of Motion. 

Two astronauts are playing catch in

space. One of them misses a throw.
Describe the motion of the ball after the
astronaut misses the catch.
An object at rest stays at rest or an object in
motion, stays in motion (in the same
direction/at the same speed) unless acted
upon by an unbalanced force.

Also called the Law of Inertia.

Inertia
A property of matter

The tendency of an
object to resist any
change in its motion

The greater the mass the

greater the inertia

The greater the speed

the greater the inertia
 Examples of Newton’s 1st Law
a) car suddenly stops and you strain against the seat belt

b) when riding a horse, the horse suddenly stops and you fly
over its head

c) the magician pulls the tablecloth out from under a table full of
dishes

d) the difficulty of pushing a dead car

e) car turns left and you appear to slide to the right

Figure Skater

To begin moving,
A figure skater must apply a force using her skates.
Once in motion,
She’ll continue to glide along the ice in a straight line for a long time
Unless she applies another force.
Snowboarder
A snowboarder experiences
a force due to gravity
which pulls her down.

She will move in

a straight line
unless she applies
a force to the board,
changing direction.
Train

A train is a very massive object,

and therefore has a lot of inertia.
Once in motion, it is very difficult to stop,
requiring a very large force to slow it.
Car Hitting a Wall

A car rolling down a hill is being moved by the force of gravity.

When the car hits the wall, the greater inertia of the wall stops it.
But anything not attached to the car will still move forward,
So the man running after the car
will lose his coffee, his lunch, and his briefcase.
Remember those astronauts who are hanging out in space?
Imagine that one of them is a bigger person and the other is a
smaller person. Describe each astronaut’s motion if they
press each others’ hands and push off of each other.
 The greater the force, the greater the acceleration

The greater the mass, the greater the force needed

for the same acceleration

Calculated by: F = ma
(F = force, m = mass, a = acceleration)

This man This lady

would need would need
50 Newtons 100 Newtons
of force to of force to
accelerate accelerate
this 1000 kg this 2000 kg
car 0.05 m/s2. car 0.05 m/s2.
 The second law states that
unbalanced forces cause
objects to accelerate with an
acceleration which is directly
proportional to the net force
and inversely proportional to
the mass. (yikes!)

This one is telling us that big heavy objects don’t move as

fast or as easily as smaller lighter objects.

In other words, it takes more to slow down a charging bull

then to slow down a charging mouse.
 Mass and Acceleration
are inversely proportional to one another

As mass INCREASES, acceleration DECREASES.

(The boy would need a much larger
FORCE to accelerate this truck.)
 Examples of Newton’s 2nd Law
a) hitting a baseball: the harder the hit, the faster the ball
goes

b) accelerating or decelerating a car

c) The positioning of football players: massive players on

the line with lighter (faster to accelerate) players in
the backfield

d) a loaded versus an unloaded truck

Waterfall
As the water flows over
the edge of the rocks,
gravity, which exerts a
downward force on it,
causes it to accelerate
downward:
The water moves faster
the longer it falls.
Throwing a Ball
When the girl throws the ball, she is
applying a force to it and
accelerating it.

As soon as she lets go,

gravity, which also applies a force,
accelerates the ball downward.
Baseball Player
A baseball player applies a
large force to a baseball,
accelerating it to high velocity.

If the ball had more mass, that

same force would not
accelerate the ball to such a
high velocity.
Racecars
Racecars are made of lightweight materials like fiberglass
to quicken their acceleration. Also, the force of friction
required to slow down a moving car needs to be greater
as the mass of the car increases.

As MASS decreases, acceleration INCREASES.

Now picture the astronauts pushing off of one another again.
In which direction are they applying their force? Describe the
motion that occurs in response.
For every action
force, there is an
equal and opposite
reaction force.

(Forces are always paired.)

 Examples of Newton’s 3rd Law

a) rockets leaving earth

b) guns being fired

c) two cars hit head on

d) astronauts in space

e) a game of pool

f) jumping out of a boat

onto the dock
Rocket A rocket works by propelling
mass out the back end at
high velocity.

The action of the mass of the

burning fuel accelerating out
the back end applies an
opposite reaction force to
the rocket, moving it
forward.

The rocket is not simply

pushing against the ground.
Trucker and Ramp
When the man pushes the heavy box
up the ramp, he applies a force to
the box.

The box reacts by pushing back.

If the man pushes hard enough,

he can overcome
gravity and friction,
accelerating the box up the ramp.
Shopper
The woman
pushing a
shopping cart
feels an
opposite force
applied by the
cart on her.
Softball Player
When the softball player hits the
ball with her bat,
the ball reacts by pushing back
on her.

The player feels this as a jerk

backwards when the bat
contacts the ball.
Fish
Fish propel themselves forward
by pushing water back, behind them.
The water reacts by pushing the fish in the opposite
direction, forward. (Propeller motion!)
Soccer Player
When the boy runs up to the ball and kicks it, he applies a
force to the ball, moving it forward.

The ball reacts by pushing back against the boy, which he

feels as pressure on his foot when he kicks the ball.
 Even as a young kid, you
already sort of understand
the laws of the universe!

Some of the funniest things in

cartoons follow physics that
have been exaggerated or just
plain ignored.

Wile E. Coyote hangs suspended in space over that canyon

for a lot longer than an object would in reality, but it is the
anticipation of the drop and Wyle's facial recognition of the
upcoming pain that is so classically cartooney.
So some laws are stretched for comical effect.
Can You Spot Newton's Laws in this Cartoon?
Let’s Review!

TEDed video clip: Newton's Three Laws with a Bicycle

So, remember that question?....

Two astronauts are playing catch in space. One of them misses a throw.
Describe the motion of the ball after the astronaut misses the catch.
What would happen according to Newton’s Laws of Motion?