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16: Newton’s Laws of Motion

Last updated

Aug 8, 2024
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- 15.3: Weight, Tension and Normal Force
- 16.1: First Law of Motion

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Classical mechanics (sometimes called Newtonian mechanics) is based on three laws of motion described by physicist Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727) in his monumental work Philosophice Naturalis Principia Mathematica ("Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy”) in 1687.

Figure $\PageIndex{1}$ : Sir Isaac Newton.

Newton's three laws of motion are, in modern language and notation: ${ }^{1}$

Law of Inertia. A body at rest will remain at rest, and a body moving with constant velocity will continue moving with that velocity, unless acted upon by some outside force.
$F=m a$ : If a force $F$ is applied to a body of mass $m$ , it will accelerate with acceleration $a=F / m$ .
Forces always come in pairs that act in opposite directions. If body 1 acts on body 2 with a force $F$ , then body 2 will act back on body 1 with force $F$ (equal in magnitude and opposite in direction).

1. Appendix R gives Newton's laws of motion in their original form.

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