laws of physics essay

Laws of Physics

The laws of physics are fundamental rules that describe how everything in the universe behaves. From the motion of planets to the forces acting on a soccer ball. These laws help us understand and predict the outcomes of natural and experimental phenomena. By studying these laws, such as Newton’s laws of motion and the law of conservation of energy, we can explain the workings of the natural world in clear, mathematical terms. These principles are essential for exploring everything from quantum mechanics to cosmic events.

What are Laws of Physics?

Laws of physics: history.

The history of the laws of physics traces back to ancient civilizations, where early thinkers pondered the workings of the natural world. In ancient Greece, philosophers like Aristotle laid foundational ideas about physics, although many of his assertions were later proven incorrect. The real scientific approach to physics began with the Renaissance.

During the 17th century, Sir Isaac Newton revolutionized physics with his laws of motion and universal gravitation, which described the behavior of objects both terrestrially and astronomically. His work laid the groundwork for classical mechanics. Providing a comprehensive framework that could predict the movement of celestial bodies and everyday objects alike.

The 19th century brought about further advancements with the development of thermodynamics and electromagnetism. Figures like James Clerk Maxwell and Ludwig Boltzmann expanded our understanding of heat, energy, and electromagnetic fields, which in turn set the stage for the 20th-century.

The 20th century witnessed the development of quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity. Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity reshaped our understanding of gravity as a curvature of spacetime rather than a traditional force. Quantum mechanics emerged from the works of Max Planck, Niels Bohr, and many others, dealing with physics at the atomic and subatomic level.

Laws derived from Definitions

Fundamental definitions in physics lead directly to testable laws. Newton’s first law, or the law of inertia, states that an object remains at rest or in constant motion unless acted upon by an external force. The law of conservation of energy declares that energy in a closed system remains constant, changing form but never created or destroyed. These laws help predict natural phenomena accurately, showing how interconnected physical principles are.

Laws derived from Approximations

Many physics laws simplify complex systems for practical analysis. The ideal gas law, 𝑃𝑉=𝑛𝑅𝑇 PV = nRT . The approximates the behavior of gases, assuming particles move randomly and have negligible volume. Hooke’s Law, 𝐹=−𝑘𝑥 F =− kx . The force on a spring to its displacement, applying accurately within the elastic limit. These approximations help predict system behaviors accurately within certain limits, aiding in the study of more complex phenomena.

Laws derived from Symmetry Principles

Symmetry principles offer deep insights into physical systems. The conservation of momentum arises from translational symmetry, suggesting that physical laws remain consistent across different spatial positions. This leads to the conservation of total momentum in isolated systems with no external forces. Similarly, the conservation of angular momentum stems from rotational symmetry, indicating that in systems with no external torques, angular momentum stays constant.

Different Types of Law Of Physics

1) newton laws of motion.

Newton Laws of Motion provide the foundation for classical mechanics, explaining how forces influence the motion of objects. These laws encompass inertia, the relationship between force and acceleration, and action and reaction principles, which together describe the predictable behavior of all physical systems under various forces.

• Newton’s First Law of Motion (Law of Inertia): An object at rest stays at rest, and an object in motion continues in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.
• Newton’s Second Law of Motion: The acceleration of an object is dependent upon two variables – the net force acting upon the object and the mass of the object.
• Newton’s Third Law of Motion: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

2) Laws of Mechanics

Laws of Mechanics govern the motion and interaction of physical objects, from simple machines to complex structures. These laws include concepts such as gravitational forces, elasticity, buoyancy, and principles that explain how forces affect fluids and solids.

• Law of Universal Gravitation: Every mass attracts every other mass in the universe with a force that is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between their centers.
• Hooke’s Law of Elasticity: The force exerted by a spring is proportional to the distance it is stretched.
• Archimedes’ Principle: The upward buoyant force on a body immersed in a fluid is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the body.
• Pascal’s Law: A change in pressure applied to an enclosed fluid is transmitted undiminished to every point in the fluid and to the walls of its container.
• Bernoulli’s Principle: An increase in the speed of a fluid occurs simultaneously with a decrease in pressure or a decrease in the fluid’s potential energy.
• Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion: Describe the orbits of planets around the sun.
• Doppler Effect: The change in frequency or wavelength of a wave in relation to an observer who is moving relative to the wave source.

3) Laws of Thermodynamics

Laws of Thermodynamics describe the principles of energy transfer within physical systems. These laws explain how energy converts between forms, the impact of temperature changes, and the fundamental limits of energy efficiency, which are crucial for understanding biological systems, engines, and the universe itself.

• Stefan-Boltzmann Law: The total energy radiated per unit surface area of a black body is proportional to the fourth power of its temperature.
• Black Hole Thermodynamics: Relate the laws of thermodynamics to the behavior of black holes.

4) Electromagnetism

Electromagnetism encompasses the laws that describe the interaction between electric and magnetic fields. These include Maxwell’s equations, which unify light, electricity, and magnetism into one theoretical framework, explaining everything from electromagnetic waves to the electrical properties of materials.

• Maxwell’s Equations: Four partial differential equations that describe how electric and magnetic fields are generated by charges, currents, and changes of each other.
• Coulomb’s Law: The magnitude of the electrostatic force between two point charges is directly proportional to the product of the magnitudes of charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.
• Ohm’s Law: The current through a conductor between two points is directly proportional to the voltage across the two points.
• Faraday’s Law of Electromagnetic Induction: A change in magnetic field within a loop of wire induces a voltage across the wire.
• Lenz’s Law: The direction of an induced electromotive force (and therefore the direction of any induced current) is always such that it opposes the change in magnetic flux that produced it.
• Kirchhoff’s Circuit Laws: Rules for the conservation of charge and energy in electrical circuits.
• Gauss’s Law: The total electric flux out of a closed surface is equal to the charge enclosed divided by the permittivity.
• Lorentz Force Law: The force on a charged particle in an electromagnetic field is the sum of the electric and magnetic forces on it.

5) Laws of Wave and Optics

Laws of Wave and Optics deal with the behavior of waves, including light and sound. These laws cover phenomena such as refraction, reflection, interference, and diffraction, providing a basis for technologies ranging from optical instruments to modern telecommunications.

• Snell’s Law: Describes how light bends (refracts) when it enters a different medium.
• Young’s Double Slit Experiment: Demonstrates the wave nature of light through interference patterns.
• Beer-Lambert Law: The absorption of light by a medium is proportional to its concentration and the path length of light.
• Malus’s Law: The intensity of polarized light transmitted through a polarizer is proportional to the cosine squared of the angle between the light’s initial polarization direction and the axis of the polarizer.
• Bragg’s Law: Predicts the angles at which light or X-rays are diffracted by a crystal lattice.
• Fermat’s Principle of Least Time: Light takes the path that requires the least time when it travels from one point to another.

6) Laws of Quantum Mechanics

Laws of Quantum Mechanics explore the behavior of particles at the smallest scales. These laws introduce concepts such as wave-particle duality, quantum entanglement, and uncertainty principles, fundamentally changing our understanding of matter and energy.

• Planck’s Law: Describes the spectral density of electromagnetic radiation emitted by a black body in thermal equilibrium at a given temperature.
• Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle: States that the more precisely the position of particles is determined. The less precisely its momentum can be known, and vice versa.
• Schrödinger’s Equation: Describes how the quantum state of a physical system changes over time.
• Pauli Exclusion Principle: No two electrons in an atom can have identical quantum numbers.
• De Broglie Hypothesis: Matter particles, such as electrons and protons, also exhibit wave-like behavior.
• Fermi-Dirac Statistics: Describes the statistical distribution of fermions over energy states in thermal equilibrium.
• Bose-Einstein Statistics: Describes the statistical distribution of bosons over energy states.
• Quantum Field Theory: The theoretical framework for constructing quantum mechanical models of subatomic particles in particle physics and quantum field theory.

7) Laws of Relativity

Laws of Relativity, including Einstein’s theories of special and general relativity, redefine the concepts of space and time. These laws explain how speed and gravity affect time and space. By influencing everything from GPS systems to our understanding of black holes and the universe’s expansion.

8) Laws of Fluid Dynamics

Laws of Fluid Dynamics describe the flow and behavior of fluids, both liquids and gases. These laws, which include the Navier-Stokes equations, are crucial for studying weather patterns, designing aircraft, and understanding blood circulation.

• Navier-Stokes Equations: Describe how the velocity field of a fluid substance behaves under various forces.

9) Laws of Statistical Mechanics:

• Boltzmann Distribution: Gives the probability distribution of the energy states of a system in thermal equilibrium.

9) Laws of Statistical Mechanics

Laws of Statistical Mechanics provide a framework for relating the microscopic properties of individual atoms and molecules to the macroscopic or bulk properties of materials. These laws help explain phenomena across physics, chemistry, and biology, particularly in phase transitions and equilibrium systems.

• Rydberg Formula: Used to describe the wavelengths of spectral lines of many chemical elements.
• Saha Ionization Equation: Relates the ionization state of a gas in thermal equilibrium to the temperature and pressure.

10) Laws of Cosmology and Astrophysics

Laws of Cosmology and Astrophysics address the larger-scale structures and dynamics of the universe. From the behavior of galaxies to the Big Bang theory, these laws help us understand the origin, evolution, and large-scale structure of the cosmos.

• Friedmann Equations: Describe the expansion of the universe in the context of general relativity.

11) Laws of Solid State Physics

Laws of Solid State Physics focus on the properties of solid materials, especially their electronic, optical, and mechanical properties. These laws underpin the design and functioning of most modern electronic devices, from semiconductors to solar cells.

• Bloch’s Theorem (Electron Waves in Crystals): Electrons in a periodic lattice behave as if they were free electrons modulated by a wave function with the periodicity of the lattice.
• Band Theory of Solids: Describes the range of energy levels that electrons can have within a solid.

12) Laws of Electrodynamics

Laws of Electrodynamics describe the dynamics of electric and magnetic fields interacting with charged particles and their conductors. These laws are fundamental to understanding how electric motors, generators, and transformers work.

• Lambert’s Cosine Law: The intensity of light from a surface to an observer is proportional to the cosine of the angle between the observer’s line of sight and the surface normal.

13) Laws of Nuclear Physics

Laws of Nuclear Physics explain the interactions and behavior of the components within an atomic nucleus. These laws are crucial for nuclear power generation, understanding stellar processes, and the mechanisms of nuclear reactions in weapons technology.

• Semi-Empirical Mass Formula: Describes the approximate nuclear binding energy of an atomic nucleus based on its number of protons and neutrons.

What Are Some Basic Laws of Physics?

The basic laws of physics are fundamental principles that explain the natural world. These include:

• First Law (Law of Inertia) : An object remains at rest or in constant motion unless acted upon by an external force.
• Second Law : Acceleration depends on the forces acting upon an object and its mass.
• Third Law : Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
• Law of Universal Gravitation : It states that every mass attracts every other mass with a force proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.
• First Law : Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed.
• Second Law : The entropy of any isolated system always increases.
• Third Law : The entropy of a system approaches a constant value as the temperature approaches absolute zero.
• Maxwell’s Equations : These equations describe how electric and magnetic fields are generated and altered by charges and currents.
• Conservation Laws : These assert that in an isolated system, properties like energy, momentum, and angular momentum are conserved.

These laws help us understand everything from subatomic particles to galaxies.

What Is Law of Physics 3?

The term “Law of Physics 3” typically refers to a specific set’s third law. That refer to Newton’s Third Law of Motion. “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” This principle is vital for understanding how forces work between interacting bodies.

What Are the 5 Scientific Laws?

Five fundamental scientific laws crucial across various disciplines are:

• Newton’s First Law of Motion : Describes how an object’s motion remains constant unless disrupted by an external force.
• Law of Conservation of Energy : States that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only changed.
• Law of Conservation of Mass : Asserts that the mass of an isolated system remains constant over time.
• Second Law of Thermodynamics : Indicates that the entropy of any isolated system tends to increase.
• Hooke’s Law : Explains that the force to extend or compress a spring is proportional to the distance moved.

AI Generator

Text prompt

• Instructive
• Professional

10 Examples of Public speaking

20 Examples of Gas lighting

Introduction to Dynamics: Newton’s Laws of Motion

Chapter outline.

Motion draws our attention. Motion itself can be beautiful, causing us to marvel at the forces needed to achieve spectacular motion, such as that of a dolphin jumping out of the water, or a pole vaulter, or the flight of a bird, or the orbit of a satellite. The study of motion is kinematics, but kinematics only describes the way objects move—their velocity and their acceleration. Dynamics considers the forces that affect the motion of moving objects and systems. Newton’s laws of motion are the foundation of dynamics. These laws provide an example of the breadth and simplicity of principles under which nature functions. They are also universal laws in that they apply to similar situations on Earth as well as in space.

Isaac Newton’s (1642–1727) laws of motion were just one part of the monumental work that has made him legendary. The development of Newton’s laws marks the transition from the Renaissance into the modern era. This transition was characterized by a revolutionary change in the way people thought about the physical universe. For many centuries natural philosophers had debated the nature of the universe based largely on certain rules of logic with great weight given to the thoughts of earlier classical philosophers such as Aristotle (384–322 BC). Among the many great thinkers who contributed to this change were Newton and Galileo.

Galileo was instrumental in establishing observation as the absolute determinant of truth, rather than “logical” argument. Galileo’s use of the telescope was his most notable achievement in demonstrating the importance of observation. He discovered moons orbiting Jupiter and made other observations that were inconsistent with certain ancient ideas and religious dogma. For this reason, and because of the manner in which he dealt with those in authority, Galileo was tried by the Inquisition and punished. He spent the final years of his life under a form of house arrest. Because others before Galileo had also made discoveries by observing the nature of the universe, and because repeated observations verified those of Galileo, his work could not be suppressed or denied. After his death, his work was verified by others, and his ideas were eventually accepted by the church and scientific communities.

Galileo also contributed to the formation of what is now called Newton’s first law of motion. Newton made use of the work of his predecessors, which enabled him to develop laws of motion, discover the law of gravity, invent calculus, and make great contributions to the theories of light and color. It is amazing that many of these developments were made with Newton working alone, without the benefit of the usual interactions that take place among scientists today.

It was not until the advent of modern physics early in the 20th century that it was discovered that Newton’s laws of motion produce a good approximation to motion only when the objects are moving at speeds much, much less than the speed of light and when those objects are larger than the size of most molecules (about 10 − 9 m 10 − 9 m in diameter). These constraints define the realm of classical mechanics, as discussed in Introduction to the Nature of Science and Physics . At the beginning of the 20 th century, Albert Einstein (1879–1955) developed the theory of relativity and, along with many other scientists, developed quantum theory. This theory does not have the constraints present in classical physics. All of the situations we consider in this chapter, and all those preceding the introduction of relativity in Special Relativity , are in the realm of classical physics.

Making Connections: Past and Present Philosophy

The importance of observation and the concept of cause and effect were not always so entrenched in human thinking. This realization was a part of the evolution of modern physics from natural philosophy. The achievements of Galileo, Newton, Einstein, and others were key milestones in the history of scientific thought. Most of the scientific theories that are described in this book descended from the work of these scientists.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's permission.

Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution License and you must attribute OpenStax.

Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/college-physics-2e/pages/1-introduction-to-science-and-the-realm-of-physics-physical-quantities-and-units

• Authors: Paul Peter Urone, Roger Hinrichs
• Publisher/website: OpenStax
• Book title: College Physics 2e
• Publication date: Jul 13, 2022
• Location: Houston, Texas
• Book URL: https://openstax.org/books/college-physics-2e/pages/1-introduction-to-science-and-the-realm-of-physics-physical-quantities-and-units
• Section URL: https://openstax.org/books/college-physics-2e/pages/4-introduction-to-dynamics-newtons-laws-of-motion

© Jan 19, 2024 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.

• school Campus Bookshelves
• menu_book Bookshelves
• perm_media Learning Objects
• login Login
• how_to_reg Request Instructor Account
• hub Instructor Commons
• Download Page (PDF)
• Download Full Book (PDF)
• Periodic Table
• Physics Constants
• Scientific Calculator
• Reference & Cite
• Tools expand_more
• Readability

selected template will load here

This action is not available.

4.3: Newton’s Laws

• Last updated
• Save as PDF
• Page ID 14454

The First Law: Inertia

Newton’s first law of motion describes inertia. According to this law, a body at rest tends to stay at rest, and a body in motion tends to stay in motion, unless acted on by a net external force.

learning objectives

• Define the First Law of Motion

Sir Isaac Newton was an English scientist who was interested in the motion of objects under various conditions. In 1687, he published a work called Philosophiae Naturalis Principla Mathematica , which described his three laws of motion. Newton used these laws to explain and explore the motion of physical objects and systems. These laws form the basis for mechanics. The laws describe the relationship between forces acting on a body and the motions experienced due to these forces. The three laws are as follows:

• If an object experiences no net force, its velocity will remain constant. The object is either at rest and the velocity is zero or it moves in a straight line with a constant speed.
• The acceleration of an object is parallel and directly proportional to the net force acting on the object, is in the direction of the net force, and is inversely proportional to the mass of the object.
• When a first object exerts a force on a second object, the second object simultaneously exerts a force on the first object, meaning that the force of the first object and the force of the second object are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction.

The First Law of Motion

You have most likely heard Newton’s first law of motion before. If you haven’t heard it in the form written above, you have probably heard that “a body in motion stays in motion, and a body at rest stays at rest.” This means that an object that is in motion will not change its velocity unless an unbalanced force acts upon it. This is called uniform motion. It is easier to explain this concept through examples.

Example \(\PageIndex{1}\):

If you are ice skating, and you push yourself away from the side of the rink, according to Newton’s first law you will continue all the way to the other side of the rink. But, this won’t actually happen. Newton says that a body in motion will stay in motion until an outside force acts upon it. In this and most other real world cases, this outside force is friction. The friction between your ice skates and the ice is what causes you to slow down and eventually stop.

Let’s look at another situation. Refer to for this example. Why do we wear seat belts? Obviously, they’re there to protect us from injury in case of a car accident. If a car is traveling at 60 mph, the driver is also traveling at 60 mph. When the car suddenly stops, an external force is applied to the car that causes it to slow down. But there is no force acting on the driver, so the driver continues to travel at 60 mph. The seat belt is there to counteract this and act as that external force to slow the driver down along with the car, preventing them from being harmed.

Newton’s First Law : Newton’s first law in effect on the driver of a car

Sometimes this first law of motion is referred to as the law of inertia. Inertia is the property of a body to remain at rest or to remain in motion with constant velocity. Some objects have more inertia than others because the inertia of an object is equivalent to its mass. This is why it is more difficult to change the direction of a boulder than a baseball.

Doc Physics – Newton : Newton’s first law is hugely counterintuitive. You may have learned it in gradeschool, though. Let’s see it for the mind-blowing conclusion it really is.

The Second Law: Force and Acceleration

The second law states that the net force on an object is equal to the rate of change, or derivative, of its linear momentum.

• Define the Second Law of Motion

English scientist Sir Isaac Newton examined the motion of physical objects and systems under various conditions. In 1687, he published his three laws of motion in Philosophiae Naturalis Principla Mathematica . The laws form the basis for mechanics—they describe the relationship between forces acting on a body, and the motion experienced due to these forces. These three laws state:

• If an object experiences no net force, its velocity will remain constant. The object is either at rest and the velocity is zero, or it moves in a straight line with a constant speed.
• The acceleration of an object is parallel and directly proportional to the net force acting on the object, is in the direction of the net force and is inversely proportional to the mass of the object.

The first law of motion defines only the natural state of the motion of the body (i.e., when the net force is zero). It does not allow us to quantify the force and acceleration of a body. The acceleration is the rate of change in velocity; it is caused only by an external force acting on it. The second law of motion states that the net force on an object is equal to the rate of change of its linear momentum.

Linear Momentum

Linear momentum of an object is a vector quantity that has both magnitude and direction. It is the product of mass and velocity of a particle at a given time:

\[\mathrm{p=mv}\]

where, \(\mathrm{p=momentum, m=mass,}\) and \(\mathrm{v=velocity}\). From this equation, we see that objects with more mass will have more momentum.

The Second Law of Motion

Picture two balls of different mass, traveling in the same direction at the same velocity. If they both collide with a wall at the same time, the heavier ball will exert a larger force on the wall. This concept, illustrated below, explains Newton’s second law, which emphasizes the importance of force and motion, over velocity alone. It states: the net force on an object is equal to the rate of change of its linear momentum. From calculus we know that the rate of change is the same as a derivative. When we the linear momentum of an object we get:

Force and Mass : This animation demonstrates the connection between force and mass.

\[\begin{align} \mathrm{F \; } & \mathrm{=\dfrac{dp}{dt}} \\ \mathrm{F \;} & \mathrm{=\dfrac{d(m⋅v)}{dt}} \end{align}\]

where, \(\mathrm{F = Force}\) and \(\mathrm{t = time}\). From this we can further simplify the equation:

\[\begin{align} \mathrm{F \;} & \mathrm{=m\dfrac{d(v)}{dt}} \\ \mathrm{F \;} & \mathrm{=m⋅a} \end{align}\]

where, a=accelerationa=acceleration. As we stated earlier, acceleration is the rate of change of velocity, or velocity divided by time.

Newton’s Three Laws of Mechanics – Second Law – Part 1 : Here we’ll see how many people can confuse your understanding of Newton’s 2nd law of motion through oversight, sloppy language, or cruel intentions.

Newton’s Three Laws of Mechanics – Second Law – Part Two : Equilibrium is investigated and Newton’s 1st law is seen as a special case of Newton’s 2nd law!

The Third Law: Symmetry in Forces

The third law of motion states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

• Define the Third Law of Motion

Sir Isaac Newton was a scientist from England who was interested in the motion of objects under various conditions. In 1687, he published a work called Philosophiae Naturalis Principla Mathematica , which contained his three laws of motion. Newton used these laws to explain and explore the motion of physical objects and systems. These laws form the bases for mechanics. The laws describe the relationship between forces acting on a body, and the motion is an experience due to these forces. Newton’s three laws are:

Newton’s Third Law of Motion

Newton’s third law basically states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. If object A exerts a force on object B, because of the law of symmetry, object B will exert a force on object A that is equal to the force acted on it:

\[\mathrm{FA=−FB}\]

In this example, F A is the action and F B is the reaction. You have undoubtedly witnessed this law of motion. For example, take a swimmer who uses her feet to push off the wall in order to gain speed. The more force she exerts on the wall, the harder she pushes off. This is because the wall exerts the same force on her that she forces on it. She pushes the wall in the direction behind her, therefore the wall will exert a force on her that is in the direction in front of her and propel her forward.

Newton’s Third Law of Motion : When a swimmer pushes off the wall, the swimmer is using the third law of motion.

Take as another example, the concept of thrust. When a rocket launches into outer space, it expels gas backward at a high velocity. The rocket exerts a large backward force on the gas, and the gas exerts and equal and opposite reaction force forward on the rocket, causing it to launch. This force is called thrust. Thrust is used in cars and planes as well.

Newton’s Third Law : The most fundamental statement of basic physical reality is also the most often misunderstood. As your mom if she’s clear on Newton’s Third. Then ask her why things can move if every force has a paired opposite force all the time, forever.

• Newton’s three laws of physics are the basis for mechanics.
• The first law states that a body at rest will stay at rest until a net external force acts upon it and that a body in motion will remain in motion at a constant velocity until acted on by a net external force.
• Net external force is the sum of all of the forcing acting on an object.
• Just because there are forces acting on an object doesn’t necessarily mean that there is a net external force; forces that are equal in magnitude but acting in opposite directions can cancel one another out.
• Friction is the force between an object in motion and the surface on which it moves. Friction is the external force that acts on objects and causes them to slow down when no other external force acts upon them.
• Inertia is the tendency of a body in motion to remain in motion. Inertia is dependent on mass, which is why it is harder to change the direction of a heavy body in motion than it is to change the direction of a lighter object in motion.
• Newton’s three laws of motion explain the relationship between forces acting on an object and the motion they experience due to these forces. These laws act as the basis for mechanics.
• The second law explains the relationship between force and motion, as opposed to velocity and motion. It uses the concept of linear momentum to do this.
• Linear momentum \(\mathrm{p}\), is the product of mass \(\mathrm{m}\), and velocity \(\mathrm{v: p=mv}\).
• The second law states that the net force is equal to the derivative, or rate of change of its linear momentum.
• By simplifying this relationship and remembering that acceleration is the rate of change of velocity, we can see that the second law of motion is where the relationship between force and acceleration comes from.
• If an object A exerts a force on object B, object B exerts an equal and opposite force on object A.
• Newton’s third law can be seen in many everyday circumstances. When you walk, the force you use to push off the ground backwards makes you move forward.
• Thrust is an application of the third law of motion. A helicopter uses thrust to push the air under the propeller down, and therefore lift off the ground.
• inertia : The property of a body that resists any change to its uniform motion; equivalent to its mass.
• friction : A force that resists the relative motion or tendency to such motion of two bodies in contact.
• uniform motion : Motion at a constant velocity (with zero acceleration). Note that an object in motion will not change its velocity unless an unbalanced force acts upon it.
• net force : The combination of all the forces that act on an object.
• momentum : (of a body in motion) the product of its mass and velocity.
• acceleration : The amount by which a speed or velocity increases (and so a scalar quantity or a vector quantity).
• symmetry : Exact correspondence on either side of a dividing line, plane, center or axis.
• thrust : The force generated by propulsion, as in a jet engine.

LICENSES AND ATTRIBUTIONS

CC LICENSED CONTENT, SHARED PREVIOUSLY

• Curation and Revision. Provided by : Boundless.com. License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike

CC LICENSED CONTENT, SPECIFIC ATTRIBUTION

• OpenStax College, Newtonu2019s First Law of Motion: Inertia. September 18, 2013. Provided by : OpenStax CNX. Located at : http://cnx.org/content/m42130/latest/ . License : CC BY: Attribution
• Newtons first law. Provided by : Wikipedia. Located at : en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Newtons_first_law . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
• Free High School Science Texts Project, Forces: Newton's First Law. September 18, 2013. Provided by : OpenStax CNX. Located at : http://cnx.org/content/m38960/latest/ . License : CC BY: Attribution
• friction. Provided by : Wiktionary. Located at : en.wiktionary.org/wiki/friction . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
• inertia. Provided by : Wiktionary. Located at : en.wiktionary.org/wiki/inertia . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
• uniform motion. Provided by : Wikipedia. Located at : en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/uniform%20motion . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
• Doc Physics - Newton. Located at : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cliJbHYpNic . License : Public Domain: No Known Copyright . License Terms : Standard YouTube license
• Free High School Science Texts Project, Forces: Newton's First Law. January 18, 2013. Provided by : OpenStax CNX. Located at : http://cnx.org/content/m38960/latest/ . License : CC BY: Attribution
• net force. Provided by : Wiktionary. Located at : en.wiktionary.org/wiki/net_force . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
• Sunil Kumar Singh, Newton's Second Law of Motion. September 18, 2013. Provided by : OpenStax CNX. Located at : http://cnx.org/content/m14042/latest/ . License : CC BY: Attribution
• momentum. Provided by : Wiktionary. Located at : en.wiktionary.org/wiki/momentum . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
• acceleration. Provided by : Wiktionary. Located at : en.wiktionary.org/wiki/acceleration . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
• Newton's Three Laws of Mechanics - Second Law - Part 1. Located at : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFybXASirwQ . License : Public Domain: No Known Copyright . License Terms : Standard YouTube license
• Elastischer stou00df3. Provided by : Wikipedia. Located at : en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Elastischer_sto%C3%9F3.gif . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
• Newton's Three Laws of Mechanics - Second Law - Part Two. Located at : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z7qivqbSBI . License : Public Domain: No Known Copyright . License Terms : Standard YouTube license
• OpenStax College, Newtonu2019s Third Law of Motion: Symmetry in Forces. September 17, 2013. Provided by : OpenStax CNX. Located at : http://cnx.org/content/m42074/latest/ . License : CC BY: Attribution
• symmetry. Provided by : Wiktionary. Located at : en.wiktionary.org/wiki/symmetry . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
• thrust. Provided by : Wiktionary. Located at : en.wiktionary.org/wiki/thrust . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
• Elastischer stou00df3. Provided by : Wikipedia. Located at : http://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Elastischer_sto%C3%9F3.gif . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
• OpenStax College, Newtonu2019s Third Law of Motion: Symmetry in Forces. January 25, 2013. Provided by : OpenStax CNX. Located at : http://cnx.org/content/m42074/latest/ . License : CC BY: Attribution
• Newton's Third Law. Located at : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR7NfNWuPLk . License : Public Domain: No Known Copyright . License Terms : Standard YouTube license

Introductory essay

Written by the educators who created The Edge of Knowledge, a brief look at the key facts, tough questions and big ideas in their field. Begin this TED Study with a fascinating read that gives context and clarity to the material.

Particle physicists are nothing if not ambitious. And the aim of particle physics is to understand what everything's made of, and how everything sticks together. And by everything I mean, of course, me and you, the Earth, the Sun, the 100 billion suns in our galaxy and the 100 billion galaxies in the observable universe. Absolutely everything. Brian Cox

To the outside observer, it may seem that physics is in some ways the opposite of art and that physicists must sacrifice their artistic intelligence to make way for cold rationality and logic. But nothing could be farther from the truth: Each step forward in our understanding of the universe could not have been conceived without an enormous dose of intuition and creativity.

Physicists are on a quest to figure out how nature works at the most fundamental level. This is a romantic story, penned in what may seem the least emotive of languages: mathematics. What's surprising is that the immeasurable beauty of the world is far from lost once its inner workings are expressed in this abstract language. Moreover, there remains something deeply intriguing about the fact that the universe is governed by the rules of mathematics in the first place. As we'll hear from Murray Gell-Mann in the first of the TEDTalks in The Edge of Knowledge, these beautiful mathematical laws are "not merely a conceit of the human mind" — instead, they're an intrinsic part of nature.

Many successful ideas in science can be described as beautiful and very often this is a reference to the simplicity and conciseness of nature's laws. Einstein's special and general theories of relativity, which describe how space, time and gravity behave, are based on only three brief postulates. The laws of electromagnetism, which govern every aspect of how we experience the worldthrough sight, sound, smell, taste or touch, are so concise thatthey can be written on the front of a T-shirt. The Standard Model of Particle Physics, which describes all of the known particles and three of the four forces that act between them, fits on the side of a coffee mug. As we will hear from Garrett Lisi, looking for beauty in the patterns that emerge in the laws of physics can tell us about how the universe works at the most fundamental level.

Science is a collaborative discipline and a global one too. It is the extent to which scientists cooperate that allows science to move at an incredible pace. The majority of the ideas presented in these TEDTalks have been around no longer than 50 years; some less than a decade. Since these speakers featured in The Edge of Knowledge delivered their TEDTalks, scientists working in global collaborations have developed and implemented several new experimental measurements. Most recently, the European Space Agency's Planck satellite has made precise measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB): the results are in agreement with the predictions of the Standard Cosmological Model, which describes how the universe evolved from the Big Bang to what we see today. In Brian Cox's TEDTalk, we'll hear about the search for new elementary particles at CERN's Large Hadron Collider, encompassing the work of over 10,000 physicists from over 100 countries. This search is underway, and appears already to have yielded one of the most important scientific results of the 21st century: the discovery of the Higgs boson, the final ingredient predicted by the Standard Model of Particle Physics.

Notwithstanding the significance of these recent discoveries and their agreement with predictions, our picture of the fundamental structure of the universe is far from complete: a number of big mysteries remain in both particle physics and cosmology. As we'll hear from Patricia Burchat, many of these mysteries link together the physics of the smallest elementary particles and the largest distances of the cosmos. One of the most enduring mysteries is how to reconcile a complete theory of gravity with our understanding of the fundamental particles. From Brian Greene, we'll hear about the potential of string theory to solve this problem and the possible existence of tiny, curled up, extra spatial dimensions.

However, fundamental laws are not enough on their own. Aristotle said that "all human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsion, habit, reason, passion, and desire." It's the first of these — chance — that is not decided by the laws of physics; in fact, chance is not decided at all. The fundamental laws of physics cannot predict what will happen; they can only tell us what might happen. This uncertainty is built into the laws of quantum mechanics.

As we'll hear from Aaron O'Connell, the most striking feature of quantum mechanics is that it's weird. For example, we're challenged to contemplate the possibility that a thing can be in more than one place at the same time. It's quantum mechanics, more than any other idea in fundamental physics, which forces us to question our intuition about how everyday objects behave. For the microscopic constituents of the universe, our everyday observations simply do not hold. In spite of its counter-intuitiveness, quantum mechanics has come to define our modern world through the technologies that it underpins. From the tiny switches crammed by the billions onto microchips to medical scanners and laser therapies, all rely upon the weirdness of quantum mechanics.

Ultimately, science remains an empirical discipline. Thinking up beautiful theories is not enough on its own: every theory must stand up to the experimental observations of how nature actually works. If it doesn't, then the theory can't be correct and we must try again. If, on the other hand, our observations and predictions agree, then we're encouraged and — if the evidence is sufficient — we might even dare to claim some measure of understanding.

Through our human creativity, expressed in a process of trial and improvement, incremental advances in our understanding accumulate and scientific progress is made. As the chess grandmaster Gary Kasparov puts it, our success is "the ability to combine creativity and calculation...into a whole that is much greater than the sum of its parts." With each of these steps forward, science closes one more door and moves on to try one of the many, many doors that remain open.

This series of TEDTalks discusses some of the toughest questions and the most profound ideas in fundamental physics. The concepts not only challenge us to think objectively and rationally, but also require us to put aside many of our everyday preconceptions and intuitions about how nature works. Be prepared to re-watch the talks and re-read the supporting material; trying to get your head around 13.8 billion years of the universe's history isn't something you can do in an afternoon!

Let's begin with CalTech physicist Murray Gell-Mann for an introduction to the Standard Model of particle physics and the quest for a unified theory.

Murray Gell-Mann

Beauty, truth and ... physics, relevant talks.

Brian Greene

Making sense of string theory.

Garrett Lisi

An 8-dimensional model of the universe.

CERN's supercollider

Patricia Burchat

Shedding light on dark matter.

Aaron O'Connell

Making sense of a visible quantum object.

• Search Menu
• Browse content in Arts and Humanities
• Browse content in Archaeology
• Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Archaeology
• Archaeological Methodology and Techniques
• Archaeology by Region
• Archaeology of Religion
• Archaeology of Trade and Exchange
• Biblical Archaeology
• Contemporary and Public Archaeology
• Environmental Archaeology
• Historical Archaeology
• History and Theory of Archaeology
• Industrial Archaeology
• Landscape Archaeology
• Mortuary Archaeology
• Prehistoric Archaeology
• Underwater Archaeology
• Urban Archaeology
• Zooarchaeology
• Browse content in Architecture
• Architectural Structure and Design
• History of Architecture
• Residential and Domestic Buildings
• Theory of Architecture
• Browse content in Art
• Art Subjects and Themes
• History of Art
• Industrial and Commercial Art
• Theory of Art
• Biographical Studies
• Byzantine Studies
• Browse content in Classical Studies
• Classical History
• Classical Philosophy
• Classical Mythology
• Classical Literature
• Classical Reception
• Classical Art and Architecture
• Classical Oratory and Rhetoric
• Greek and Roman Papyrology
• Greek and Roman Epigraphy
• Greek and Roman Law
• Greek and Roman Archaeology
• Late Antiquity
• Religion in the Ancient World
• Digital Humanities
• Browse content in History
• Colonialism and Imperialism
• Diplomatic History
• Environmental History
• Genealogy, Heraldry, Names, and Honours
• Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing
• Historical Geography
• History by Period
• History of Emotions
• History of Agriculture
• History of Education
• History of Gender and Sexuality
• Industrial History
• Intellectual History
• International History
• Labour History
• Legal and Constitutional History
• Local and Family History
• Maritime History
• Military History
• National Liberation and Post-Colonialism
• Oral History
• Political History
• Public History
• Regional and National History
• Revolutions and Rebellions
• Slavery and Abolition of Slavery
• Social and Cultural History
• Theory, Methods, and Historiography
• Urban History
• World History
• Browse content in Language Teaching and Learning
• Language Learning (Specific Skills)
• Language Teaching Theory and Methods
• Browse content in Linguistics
• Applied Linguistics
• Cognitive Linguistics
• Computational Linguistics
• Forensic Linguistics
• Grammar, Syntax and Morphology
• Historical and Diachronic Linguistics
• History of English
• Language Evolution
• Language Reference
• Language Acquisition
• Language Variation
• Language Families
• Lexicography
• Linguistic Anthropology
• Linguistic Theories
• Linguistic Typology
• Phonetics and Phonology
• Psycholinguistics
• Sociolinguistics
• Translation and Interpretation
• Writing Systems
• Browse content in Literature
• Bibliography
• Children's Literature Studies
• Literary Studies (Romanticism)
• Literary Studies (American)
• Literary Studies (Asian)
• Literary Studies (European)
• Literary Studies (Eco-criticism)
• Literary Studies (Modernism)
• Literary Studies - World
• Literary Studies (1500 to 1800)
• Literary Studies (19th Century)
• Literary Studies (20th Century onwards)
• Literary Studies (African American Literature)
• Literary Studies (British and Irish)
• Literary Studies (Early and Medieval)
• Literary Studies (Fiction, Novelists, and Prose Writers)
• Literary Studies (Gender Studies)
• Literary Studies (Graphic Novels)
• Literary Studies (History of the Book)
• Literary Studies (Plays and Playwrights)
• Literary Studies (Poetry and Poets)
• Literary Studies (Postcolonial Literature)
• Literary Studies (Queer Studies)
• Literary Studies (Science Fiction)
• Literary Studies (Travel Literature)
• Literary Studies (War Literature)
• Literary Studies (Women's Writing)
• Literary Theory and Cultural Studies
• Mythology and Folklore
• Shakespeare Studies and Criticism
• Browse content in Media Studies
• Browse content in Music
• Applied Music
• Dance and Music
• Ethics in Music
• Ethnomusicology
• Gender and Sexuality in Music
• Medicine and Music
• Music Cultures
• Music and Media
• Music and Religion
• Music and Culture
• Music Education and Pedagogy
• Music Theory and Analysis
• Musical Scores, Lyrics, and Libretti
• Musical Structures, Styles, and Techniques
• Musicology and Music History
• Performance Practice and Studies
• Race and Ethnicity in Music
• Sound Studies
• Browse content in Performing Arts
• Browse content in Philosophy
• Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art
• Epistemology
• Feminist Philosophy
• History of Western Philosophy
• Metaphysics
• Moral Philosophy
• Non-Western Philosophy
• Philosophy of Language
• Philosophy of Mind
• Philosophy of Perception
• Philosophy of Science
• Philosophy of Action
• Philosophy of Law
• Philosophy of Religion
• Philosophy of Mathematics and Logic
• Practical Ethics
• Social and Political Philosophy
• Browse content in Religion
• Biblical Studies
• Christianity
• East Asian Religions
• History of Religion
• Judaism and Jewish Studies
• Qumran Studies
• Religion and Education
• Religion and Health
• Religion and Politics
• Religion and Science
• Religion and Law
• Religion and Art, Literature, and Music
• Religious Studies
• Browse content in Society and Culture
• Cookery, Food, and Drink
• Cultural Studies
• Customs and Traditions
• Ethical Issues and Debates
• Hobbies, Games, Arts and Crafts
• Lifestyle, Home, and Garden
• Natural world, Country Life, and Pets
• Popular Beliefs and Controversial Knowledge
• Sports and Outdoor Recreation
• Technology and Society
• Travel and Holiday
• Visual Culture
• Browse content in Law
• Arbitration
• Browse content in Company and Commercial Law
• Commercial Law
• Company Law
• Browse content in Comparative Law
• Systems of Law
• Competition Law
• Browse content in Constitutional and Administrative Law
• Government Powers
• Judicial Review
• Local Government Law
• Military and Defence Law
• Parliamentary and Legislative Practice
• Construction Law
• Contract Law
• Browse content in Criminal Law
• Criminal Procedure
• Criminal Evidence Law
• Sentencing and Punishment
• Employment and Labour Law
• Environment and Energy Law
• Browse content in Financial Law
• Banking Law
• Insolvency Law
• History of Law
• Human Rights and Immigration
• Intellectual Property Law
• Browse content in International Law
• Private International Law and Conflict of Laws
• Public International Law
• IT and Communications Law
• Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law
• Law and Politics
• Law and Society
• Browse content in Legal System and Practice
• Courts and Procedure
• Legal Skills and Practice
• Primary Sources of Law
• Regulation of Legal Profession
• Medical and Healthcare Law
• Browse content in Policing
• Criminal Investigation and Detection
• Police and Security Services
• Police Procedure and Law
• Police Regional Planning
• Browse content in Property Law
• Personal Property Law
• Study and Revision
• Terrorism and National Security Law
• Browse content in Trusts Law
• Wills and Probate or Succession
• Browse content in Medicine and Health
• Browse content in Allied Health Professions
• Arts Therapies
• Clinical Science
• Dietetics and Nutrition
• Occupational Therapy
• Operating Department Practice
• Physiotherapy
• Radiography
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Browse content in Anaesthetics
• General Anaesthesia
• Neuroanaesthesia
• Clinical Neuroscience
• Browse content in Clinical Medicine
• Acute Medicine
• Cardiovascular Medicine
• Clinical Genetics
• Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
• Dermatology
• Endocrinology and Diabetes
• Gastroenterology
• Genito-urinary Medicine
• Geriatric Medicine
• Infectious Diseases
• Medical Toxicology
• Medical Oncology
• Pain Medicine
• Palliative Medicine
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Respiratory Medicine and Pulmonology
• Rheumatology
• Sleep Medicine
• Sports and Exercise Medicine
• Community Medical Services
• Critical Care
• Emergency Medicine
• Forensic Medicine
• Haematology
• History of Medicine
• Browse content in Medical Skills
• Clinical Skills
• Communication Skills
• Nursing Skills
• Surgical Skills
• Browse content in Medical Dentistry
• Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
• Paediatric Dentistry
• Restorative Dentistry and Orthodontics
• Surgical Dentistry
• Medical Ethics
• Medical Statistics and Methodology
• Browse content in Neurology
• Clinical Neurophysiology
• Neuropathology
• Nursing Studies
• Browse content in Obstetrics and Gynaecology
• Gynaecology
• Occupational Medicine
• Ophthalmology
• Otolaryngology (ENT)
• Browse content in Paediatrics
• Neonatology
• Browse content in Pathology
• Chemical Pathology
• Clinical Cytogenetics and Molecular Genetics
• Histopathology
• Medical Microbiology and Virology
• Patient Education and Information
• Browse content in Pharmacology
• Psychopharmacology
• Browse content in Popular Health
• Caring for Others
• Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• Self-help and Personal Development
• Browse content in Preclinical Medicine
• Cell Biology
• Molecular Biology and Genetics
• Reproduction, Growth and Development
• Primary Care
• Professional Development in Medicine
• Browse content in Psychiatry
• Addiction Medicine
• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Forensic Psychiatry
• Learning Disabilities
• Old Age Psychiatry
• Psychotherapy
• Browse content in Public Health and Epidemiology
• Epidemiology
• Public Health
• Browse content in Radiology
• Clinical Radiology
• Interventional Radiology
• Nuclear Medicine
• Radiation Oncology
• Reproductive Medicine
• Browse content in Surgery
• Cardiothoracic Surgery
• Gastro-intestinal and Colorectal Surgery
• General Surgery
• Neurosurgery
• Paediatric Surgery
• Peri-operative Care
• Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• Surgical Oncology
• Transplant Surgery
• Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery
• Vascular Surgery
• Browse content in Science and Mathematics
• Browse content in Biological Sciences
• Aquatic Biology
• Biochemistry
• Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
• Developmental Biology
• Ecology and Conservation
• Evolutionary Biology
• Genetics and Genomics
• Microbiology
• Molecular and Cell Biology
• Natural History
• Plant Sciences and Forestry
• Research Methods in Life Sciences
• Structural Biology
• Systems Biology
• Zoology and Animal Sciences
• Browse content in Chemistry
• Analytical Chemistry
• Computational Chemistry
• Crystallography
• Environmental Chemistry
• Industrial Chemistry
• Inorganic Chemistry
• Materials Chemistry
• Medicinal Chemistry
• Mineralogy and Gems
• Organic Chemistry
• Physical Chemistry
• Polymer Chemistry
• Study and Communication Skills in Chemistry
• Theoretical Chemistry
• Browse content in Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Computer Architecture and Logic Design
• Game Studies
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Mathematical Theory of Computation
• Programming Languages
• Software Engineering
• Systems Analysis and Design
• Virtual Reality
• Browse content in Computing
• Business Applications
• Computer Security
• Computer Games
• Computer Networking and Communications
• Digital Lifestyle
• Graphical and Digital Media Applications
• Operating Systems
• Browse content in Earth Sciences and Geography
• Atmospheric Sciences
• Environmental Geography
• Geology and the Lithosphere
• Maps and Map-making
• Meteorology and Climatology
• Oceanography and Hydrology
• Palaeontology
• Physical Geography and Topography
• Regional Geography
• Soil Science
• Urban Geography
• Browse content in Engineering and Technology
• Agriculture and Farming
• Biological Engineering
• Civil Engineering, Surveying, and Building
• Electronics and Communications Engineering
• Energy Technology
• Engineering (General)
• Environmental Science, Engineering, and Technology
• History of Engineering and Technology
• Mechanical Engineering and Materials
• Technology of Industrial Chemistry
• Transport Technology and Trades
• Browse content in Environmental Science
• Applied Ecology (Environmental Science)
• Conservation of the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Environmental Sustainability
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Environmental Science)
• Management of Land and Natural Resources (Environmental Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environmental Science)
• Nuclear Issues (Environmental Science)
• Pollution and Threats to the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Environmental Science)
• History of Science and Technology
• Browse content in Materials Science
• Ceramics and Glasses
• Composite Materials
• Metals, Alloying, and Corrosion
• Nanotechnology
• Browse content in Mathematics
• Applied Mathematics
• Biomathematics and Statistics
• History of Mathematics
• Mathematical Education
• Mathematical Finance
• Mathematical Analysis
• Numerical and Computational Mathematics
• Probability and Statistics
• Pure Mathematics
• Browse content in Neuroscience
• Cognition and Behavioural Neuroscience
• Development of the Nervous System
• Disorders of the Nervous System
• History of Neuroscience
• Invertebrate Neurobiology
• Molecular and Cellular Systems
• Neuroendocrinology and Autonomic Nervous System
• Neuroscientific Techniques
• Sensory and Motor Systems
• Browse content in Physics
• Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
• Biological and Medical Physics
• Classical Mechanics
• Computational Physics
• Condensed Matter Physics
• Electromagnetism, Optics, and Acoustics
• History of Physics
• Mathematical and Statistical Physics
• Measurement Science
• Nuclear Physics
• Particles and Fields
• Plasma Physics
• Quantum Physics
• Relativity and Gravitation
• Semiconductor and Mesoscopic Physics
• Browse content in Psychology
• Affective Sciences
• Clinical Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Criminal and Forensic Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Evolutionary Psychology
• Health Psychology
• History and Systems in Psychology
• Music Psychology
• Neuropsychology
• Organizational Psychology
• Psychological Assessment and Testing
• Psychology of Human-Technology Interaction
• Psychology Professional Development and Training
• Research Methods in Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Browse content in Social Sciences
• Browse content in Anthropology
• Anthropology of Religion
• Human Evolution
• Medical Anthropology
• Physical Anthropology
• Regional Anthropology
• Social and Cultural Anthropology
• Theory and Practice of Anthropology
• Browse content in Business and Management
• Business Ethics
• Business Strategy
• Business History
• Business and Technology
• Business and Government
• Business and the Environment
• Comparative Management
• Corporate Governance
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Entrepreneurship
• Health Management
• Human Resource Management
• Industrial and Employment Relations
• Industry Studies
• Information and Communication Technologies
• International Business
• Knowledge Management
• Management and Management Techniques
• Operations Management
• Organizational Theory and Behaviour
• Pensions and Pension Management
• Public and Nonprofit Management
• Strategic Management
• Supply Chain Management
• Browse content in Criminology and Criminal Justice
• Criminal Justice
• Criminology
• Forms of Crime
• International and Comparative Criminology
• Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice
• Development Studies
• Browse content in Economics
• Agricultural, Environmental, and Natural Resource Economics
• Asian Economics
• Behavioural Finance
• Behavioural Economics and Neuroeconomics
• Econometrics and Mathematical Economics
• Economic History
• Economic Systems
• Economic Methodology
• Economic Development and Growth
• Financial Markets
• Financial Institutions and Services
• General Economics and Teaching
• Health, Education, and Welfare
• History of Economic Thought
• International Economics
• Labour and Demographic Economics
• Law and Economics
• Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics
• Microeconomics
• Public Economics
• Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics
• Welfare Economics
• Browse content in Education
• Adult Education and Continuous Learning
• Care and Counselling of Students
• Early Childhood and Elementary Education
• Educational Equipment and Technology
• Educational Strategies and Policy
• Higher and Further Education
• Organization and Management of Education
• Philosophy and Theory of Education
• Schools Studies
• Secondary Education
• Teaching of a Specific Subject
• Teaching of Specific Groups and Special Educational Needs
• Teaching Skills and Techniques
• Browse content in Environment
• Applied Ecology (Social Science)
• Climate Change
• Conservation of the Environment (Social Science)
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Social Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environment)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Social Science)
• Browse content in Human Geography
• Cultural Geography
• Economic Geography
• Political Geography
• Browse content in Interdisciplinary Studies
• Communication Studies
• Museums, Libraries, and Information Sciences
• Browse content in Politics
• African Politics
• Asian Politics
• Chinese Politics
• Comparative Politics
• Conflict Politics
• Elections and Electoral Studies
• Environmental Politics
• European Union
• Foreign Policy
• Gender and Politics
• Human Rights and Politics
• Indian Politics
• International Relations
• International Organization (Politics)
• International Political Economy
• Irish Politics
• Latin American Politics
• Middle Eastern Politics
• Political Behaviour
• Political Economy
• Political Institutions
• Political Methodology
• Political Communication
• Political Philosophy
• Political Sociology
• Political Theory
• Politics and Law
• Public Policy
• Public Administration
• Quantitative Political Methodology
• Regional Political Studies
• Russian Politics
• Security Studies
• State and Local Government
• UK Politics
• US Politics
• Browse content in Regional and Area Studies
• African Studies
• Asian Studies
• East Asian Studies
• Japanese Studies
• Latin American Studies
• Middle Eastern Studies
• Native American Studies
• Scottish Studies
• Browse content in Research and Information
• Research Methods
• Browse content in Social Work
• Addictions and Substance Misuse
• Adoption and Fostering
• Care of the Elderly
• Child and Adolescent Social Work
• Couple and Family Social Work
• Developmental and Physical Disabilities Social Work
• Direct Practice and Clinical Social Work
• Emergency Services
• Human Behaviour and the Social Environment
• International and Global Issues in Social Work
• Mental and Behavioural Health
• Social Justice and Human Rights
• Social Policy and Advocacy
• Social Work and Crime and Justice
• Social Work Macro Practice
• Social Work Practice Settings
• Social Work Research and Evidence-based Practice
• Welfare and Benefit Systems
• Browse content in Sociology
• Childhood Studies
• Community Development
• Comparative and Historical Sociology
• Economic Sociology
• Gender and Sexuality
• Gerontology and Ageing
• Health, Illness, and Medicine
• Marriage and the Family
• Migration Studies
• Occupations, Professions, and Work
• Organizations
• Population and Demography
• Race and Ethnicity
• Social Theory
• Social Movements and Social Change
• Social Research and Statistics
• Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
• Sociology of Religion
• Sociology of Education
• Sport and Leisure
• Urban and Rural Studies
• Browse content in Warfare and Defence
• Defence Strategy, Planning, and Research
• Land Forces and Warfare
• Military Administration
• Military Life and Institutions
• Naval Forces and Warfare
• Other Warfare and Defence Issues
• Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution
• Weapons and Equipment

• < Previous
• Next chapter >

Introduction

Author Webpage

• Published: June 1983
• Cite Icon Cite
• Permissions Icon Permissions

Philosophers distinguish phenomenological from theoretical laws. Phenomenological laws are about appearances; theoretical ones are about the reality behind the appearances. The distinction is rooted in epistemology. Phenomenological laws are about things which we can at least in principle observe directly, whereas theoretical laws can be known only by indirect inference. Normally for philosophers ‘phenomenological’ and ‘theoretical’ mark the distinction between the observable and the unobservable.

Physicists also use the terms ‘theoretical’ and ‘phenomenological’. But their usage makes a different distinction. Physicists contrast ‘phenomenological’ with ‘fundamental’. For example, Pergamon Press's Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Physics says, ‘A phenomenological theory relates observed phenomena by postulating certain equations but does not enquire too deeply into their fundamental significance.’ 1

The dictionary mentions observed phenomena. But do not be misled. These phenomenological equations are not about direct observables that contrast with the theoretical entities of the philosopher. For look where this definition occurs—under the heading ‘Superconductivity and superfluidity, phenomenological theories of’. Or notice the theoretical entities and processes mentioned in the contents of a book like Phenomenology of Particles at High Energies (proceedings of the 14th Scottish Universities Summer School in Physics): (1) Introduction to Hadronic Interactions at High Energies. (2) Topics in Particle Physics with Colliding Proton Beams. (3) Phenomenology of Inclusive Reactions. (4) Multihadron Production at High Energies: Phenomenology and Theory. 2

Signed in as

Institutional accounts.

• GoogleCrawler [DO NOT DELETE]
• Google Scholar Indexing

Personal account

• Sign in with email/username & password
• Get email alerts
• Save searches
• Purchase content
• Activate your purchase/trial code

Institutional access

• Sign in with a library card Sign in with username/password Recommend to your librarian
• Institutional account management
• Get help with access

Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:

IP based access

Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.

Sign in through your institution

Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.

• Click Sign in through your institution.
• Select your institution from the list provided, which will take you to your institution's website to sign in.
• When on the institution site, please use the credentials provided by your institution. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.
• Following successful sign in, you will be returned to Oxford Academic.

If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.

Sign in with a library card

Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.

Society Members

Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:

Sign in through society site

Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:

• Click Sign in through society site.
• When on the society site, please use the credentials provided by that society. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.

If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.

Sign in using a personal account

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.

A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.

Viewing your signed in accounts

Click the account icon in the top right to:

• View your signed in personal account and access account management features.
• View the institutional accounts that are providing access.

Signed in but can't access content

Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.

For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.

Our books are available by subscription or purchase to libraries and institutions.

• About Oxford Academic
• Publish journals with us
• University press partners
• What we publish
• New features  
• Open access
• Rights and permissions
• Accessibility
• Advertising
• Media enquiries
• Oxford University Press
• Oxford Languages
• University of Oxford

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide

• Copyright © 2024 Oxford University Press
• Cookie settings
• Cookie policy
• Privacy policy
• Legal notice

This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

Home — Essay Samples — Science — Newton'S Laws of Motion — Laws of Physics in everyday life

Laws of Physics in Everyday Life

• Categories: Galileo Galilei Newton'S Laws of Motion Universe

About this sample

Words: 1262 |

Published: Oct 31, 2018

Words: 1262 | Pages: 3 | 7 min read

Table of contents

Simple mechanical devices, pointing the way toward newton., newton’s three laws of motion., mass and gravitational acceleration, works cited, transportation, modern communication, natural applications, galileo’s test, introduced by newton in his principia (1687), the three laws are:.

• Dabrowski, J. R., & Ganjehlou, F. M. (2018). Dynamics of torque and angular acceleration of a rigid body. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1109(1), 012013.
• Ghose, M. K., & Agrawal, M. (2021). Dynamics of motion of an oscillating rigid body subjected to a time-varying torque. Mechanics Based Design of Structures and Machines, 1-19.
• Gribbin, J. (2017). Six Impossible Things: The ‘Quanta’ of Physics Explained. Icon Books.
• Kaplan, S. (2021). Physics for Scientists and Engineers. Cengage Learning.
• Kozlov, V. V. (2017). Analytical mechanics: An introduction. CRC Press.
• Levine, I. N. (2019). Classical mechanics. Courier Dover Publications.
• Ohanian, H. C., & Ruffini, R. (2013). Gravitation and spacetime. Cambridge University Press.
• Reichl, L. E. (2016). A modern course in statistical physics. John Wiley & Sons.
• Serway, R. A., & Jewett, J. W. (2017). Physics for Scientists and Engineers. Cengage Learning.
• Young, H. D., & Freedman, R. A. (2017). University Physics with Modern Physics. Pearson Education.

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Dr Jacklynne

Verified writer

• Expert in: Science

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

3 pages / 1456 words

2 pages / 689 words

1 pages / 596 words

6 pages / 2684 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Newton'S Laws of Motion

Newton’s first law of motion states “An object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless acted upon by an external force”. This means that if there is no force acting on an object, it will not accelerate [...]

Sports are most easy and convenient ways for the very good physical and mental exercise. Sports bring a lot of benefits to everyone. Sports provide a person the feeling of well-being and encourage living a healthy life. It keeps [...]

This lab report delves into the fundamental principles of Newton's Second Law of Motion, exploring the interplay between mass, acceleration, and force. The primary objective of this experiment is to ascertain how Newton's second [...]

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), is a utility company based in Dubai city and mandated by the government of Dubai t provides water and electricity services to the people of Dubai. Since its inception in 1992, DEWA [...]

The concept of what it means to be secure and stable is highly contested and has entailed many different interpretations throughout history. The Cold War lasted for almost fifty years and raised important questions of security [...]

The thermocouple is a type of temperature measuring sensor or thermoelectric sensing element consisting of two dissimilar materials (metals) with two junctions. One junction is referred to as the Cold Junction or reference [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

• Introduction To Motion
• Laws Of Motion

Newton's Laws of Motion

This article will go through Sir Isaac Newton’s Laws of Motion, which revolutionised our understanding of the physical world centuries ago. This article explores Newton’s three laws and provides a deep understanding of their implications. Starting with Newton’s First Law of Motion, also known as the Law of Inertia, we delve into how objects behave when at rest or in uniform motion. Moving on to Newton’s Second Law of Motion, we unravel the relationship between mass, acceleration and external forces. Next, we explore Newton’s Third Law of Motion, shedding light on the concept of action and reaction. A concise summary of Newton’s laws offers a recap of the key concepts, while numerical examples in the Laws of Motion Numericals section demonstrate practical applications. Finally, our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section covers additional queries, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of Newton’s Laws of Motion.

Newton’s First Law of Motion

Newton’s First Law of Motion, also known as the Law of Inertia, is a fundamental principle that describes the behaviour of objects in the absence of external influences. The term “Law of Inertia” emphasizes the concept of inertia, which refers to the property of massive objects to resist changes in their state of motion. This idea stems from the observation that objects naturally maintain their current state of rest or motion, resisting any changes unless acted upon by an external force.

By naming the first law of motion the “Law of Inertia,” Newton highlighted this inherent property of objects and laid the groundwork for understanding how forces can cause changes in motion. Newton’s first law of motion states that objects persist in their current state of motion unless compelled to do otherwise by an external force. Whether an object is at rest or in uniform motion, it will continue in that state unless a net external force acts upon it.

One crucial insight provided by Newton’s First Law is that the object will maintain a constant velocity in the absence of a net force resulting from unbalanced forces acting on an object. If the object is already in motion, it will continue moving at the same speed and direction. Likewise, if the object is at rest, it will remain stationary. However, introducing an additional external force will cause the object’s velocity to change, responding to the magnitude and direction of the force applied.

Understanding Newton’s First Law of Motion sets the stage for a deeper exploration of the subsequent laws that govern the complexities of motion. By comprehending this fundamental principle, we gain crucial insights into how objects behave independently and how external forces influence their motion. The first law of motion provides a strong foundation for further understanding the dynamics and behaviour of objects in the physical world.

Newton’s Second Law of Motion

This section will explore Newton’s Second Law of Motion, which provides a deeper understanding of how bodies respond to external forces.

The second law of motion describes the relationship between the force acting on a body and the resulting acceleration. According to Newton’s second law, the force acting on an object is equal to the product of its mass and acceleration.

Mathematically, we express Newton’s Second Law as follows:

Here, F represents the force, m is the object’s mass and a is the acceleration produced. This equation reveals that the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the magnitude of the net force applied in the same direction as the force and inversely proportional to the object’s mass.

By understanding Newton’s Second Law, we can determine how much an object will accelerate when subjected to a specific net force. The equation highlights the intricate relationship between force, mass, and acceleration, providing a quantitative framework for analysing the dynamics of objects in motion.

In the second law equation, a proportionality constant is represented by the letter “k.” When using the SI unit system, this constant is equal to 1. Therefore, the final expression simplifies to:

The concise and powerful expression of Newton’s Second Law showcases the fundamental principle that governs the relationship between force and acceleration in physics. With this law, we gain a quantitative understanding of how external forces impact the motion of objects based on their mass and the resulting acceleration they experience.

By exploring Newton’s Second Law of Motion , we deepen our insights into the mechanics of motion, setting the stage for further exploration of the principles that govern the complexities of physical phenomena.

Newton’s Third Law of Motion

This section will discuss Newton’s Third Law of Motion, revealing a fascinating relationship between forces exerted by interacting bodies.

Newton’s Third Law of Motion states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. When two bodies interact, they apply forces on each other that are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction. This law highlights the concept that forces always occur in pairs.

To illustrate this principle, consider the example of a book resting on a table. As the book applies a downward force equal to its weight on the table, the table, in turn, exerts an equal and opposite force on the book. This occurs because the book slightly deforms the table’s surface, causing the table to push back on the book, much like a compressed spring releasing its energy.

This third law of motion has profound implications, including conserving momentum. Momentum is a property of moving objects determined by an object’s mass and velocity. According to Newton’s third law, the total momentum of an isolated system remains constant. This means that in any interaction, the total momentum before and after the interaction remains the same, regardless of the forces involved.

Understanding Newton’s third law of motion deepens our comprehension of the interconnectedness and equilibrium within the physical world. It provides a framework for analysing and predicting the effects of forces in various scenarios, from everyday interactions to complex mechanical systems.

As we delve further into the subsequent sections on the laws of motion, we will continue building upon the foundational principles of inertia, force, and action-reaction relationships.

Exploring the Fundamentals of Force and Laws of Motion with Engaging Videos

Unveiling the laws of motion: exploring galileo’s insights.

Master Newton’s Laws of Motion and Solve Your Doubts – Mission Midterm Series

Forces of Motion: Newton’s Laws and the Power of Inertia

Mastering Force and Laws of Motion: A Comprehensive Marathon Session for Students

Explaining Everyday Phenomena with Newton’s Laws of Motion

Jack wonders why his wallet falls from the passenger seat to the floor while driving to work. How can we explain this phenomenon using physics?

We can explain this to Jack using Newton’s first law of motion. Due to its inertia, the wallet tends to maintain its state of motion. As the car accelerates or decelerates, the wallet continues moving forward with the same velocity before the car’s motion changes. However, when the car suddenly stops or changes direction, an external force (in this case, the force exerted by the car floor) acts on the wallet, causing it to slide off the seat and onto the floor. This is because the wallet resists changes in its state of motion, as Newton’s first law of motion described.

Using Newton’s laws, how can we explain the magician’s ability to pull a tablecloth from underneath dishes?

Newton’s first law of motion best explains the magician’s trick of pulling a tablecloth from underneath dishes. The magician carefully applies a negligible horizontal force to the tablecloth while quickly pulling it. According to Newton’s first law, objects at rest (the dishes and glasses) tend to remain in their state of motion or rest unless acted upon by an external force. In this case, the sudden pull of the tablecloth applies a minimal frictional force on the dishes and glasses. Since the tablecloth is made extremely slippery, it reduces the friction between the tablecloth and the dishes, allowing them to remain undisturbed and stay in their original state of motion or rest.

We gain insights into various phenomena by understanding and applying Newton’s laws of motion. We can explain seemingly perplexing situations like the movement of objects in a moving car or the magician’s illusionary tricks involving objects on a table. These laws provide a solid foundation for comprehending the principles governing motion in our everyday lives.

Laws of Motion Summary

This section presents a visual summary of Newton’s Laws of Motion in the form of a flowchart. The flowchart provides an easy and digestible format to remember the key principles underlying the three laws of motion.

The flowchart highlights the three laws of motion established by Sir Isaac Newton:

• Newton’s First Law of Motion: The law of inertia states that an object at rest will remain at rest, and an object in motion will continue moving with a constant velocity, unless acted upon by an external force.
• Newton’s Second Law of Motion: This law relates the force acting on an object to its mass and acceleration. The force is equal to the product of mass and acceleration, where acceleration is the rate of change of velocity.
• Newton’s Third Law of Motion: The law of action and reaction states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. When one body exerts a force on another body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force of the same magnitude but in the opposite direction on the first body.

By referring to this flowchart, you can quickly grasp the fundamental principles of Newton’s Laws of Motion and understand how they govern the behaviour of objects in various scenarios. It serves as a useful tool for remembering Newton’s three laws of motion.

Laws of Motion Numericals

1. suppose a bike with a rider on it having a total mass of 63 kg brakes and reduces its velocity from 8.5 m/s to 0 m/s in 3.0 seconds. what is the magnitude of the braking force.

The combined mass of the rider and the bike = 63 kg Initial Velocity = 8.5 m/s Final Velocity = 0 m/s The time in which the bike stops = 3 s

The net force acting on the body equals the rate of change of an object’s momentum.

The momentum of a body with mass m and velocity v is given by  p = mv

Hence, the change in momentum of the bike is given by

Hence, the net force acting on the bike is given by

Substituting the value, we get

The magnitude of the braking force is -178.5 N.

2. Calculate the net force required to give an automobile of mass 1600 kg an acceleration of 4.5 m/s 2 .

We calculate the force using the following formula.

Substituting the values in the equation, we get

Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs

Who discovered the three laws of motion, why are the laws of motion important, what are newton’s laws of motion all about, what is the difference between newton’s laws of motion and kepler’s laws of motion, what are some daily life examples of newton’s 1st, 2nd and 3rd laws of motion.

• The motion of a ball falling through the atmosphere or a model rocket being launched up into the atmosphere are both excellent examples of Newton’s 1st law.
• Riding a bicycle is an excellent example of Newton’s 2nd law. In this example, the bicycle is the mass. The leg muscles pushing on the pedals of the bicycle is the force.
• You hit a wall with a certain amount of force, and the wall returns that same amount of force. This is an example of Newton’s 3rd law.

Stay tuned to BYJU’S and Fall in Love with Learning !

Put your understanding of this concept to test by answering a few MCQs. Click ‘Start Quiz’ to begin!

Select the correct answer and click on the “Finish” button Check your score and answers at the end of the quiz

Visit BYJU’S for all Physics related queries and study materials

Your result is as below

Request OTP on Voice Call

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your Mobile number and Email id will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Post My Comment

it is very helpful and useful i want to thank BY JU’S

Good enough

Thanks for the information

Very good super

really helpful, thanks!

Good information!

Nice exaplaination

The concepts are clear and easy to understand and to study. so, i feel comfortable with this app .

Good article

Good explanation of concept.

Thanks This really helped me😀 I will secure 🥇🏆

Super Explanation

Good to learn

This article cleared all my doubts about the laws of motion. Thanks, BYJU’S.

The best content for visualization and it cleared all my doubts. I personally think that BYJU’S is the best app in terms of e-learning. Thanks to BYJU’S

Neat and Crisp Content!

Wow! Super and very useful content provided here.

A very useful content for making notes

Thank you so much you helped in my project I ended up citing almost all my work from your website😅

It was nice 🙂

This was helpful

Very Nice Explanation!

Very interesting 🙌😍

• Share Share

Register with BYJU'S & Download Free PDFs

Register with byju's & watch live videos.

Newton’s Laws of Motion

Sir Isaac Newton’s laws of motion explain the relationship between a physical object and the forces acting upon it. Understanding this information provides us with the basis of modern physics.

What are Newton’s Laws of Motion?

An object at rest remains at rest, and an object in motion remains in motion at constant speed and in a straight line unless acted on by an unbalanced force., the acceleration of an object depends on the mass of the object and the amount of force applied..

• Whenever one object exerts a force on another object, the second object exerts an equal and opposite on the first.

Sir Isaac Newton worked in many areas of mathematics and physics. He developed the theories of gravitation in 1666 when he was only 23 years old. In 1686, he presented his three laws of motion in the “Principia Mathematica Philosophiae Naturalis.”

By developing his three laws of motion, Newton revolutionized science. Newton’s laws together with Kepler’s Laws explained why planets move in elliptical orbits rather than in circles.

Below is a short movie featuring Orville and Wilbur Wright and a discussion about how Newton’s Laws of Motion applied to the flight of their aircraft.

Newton’s First Law: Inertia

Newton’s first law states that every object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless compelled to change its state by the action of an external force. This tendency to resist changes in a state of motion is  inertia . If all the external forces cancel each other out, then there is no net force acting on the object.  If there is no net force acting on the object, then the object will maintain a constant velocity.

Examples of inertia involving aerodynamics:

• The motion of an airplane when a pilot changes the throttle setting of an engine.
• The motion of a ball falling down through the atmosphere.
• A model rocket being launched up into the atmosphere.
• The motion of a kite when the wind changes.

Newton’s Second Law: Force

His second law defines a  force  to be equal to change in  momentum  (mass times velocity) per change in time. Momentum is defined to be the mass  m  of an object times its velocity  V .

Let us assume that we have an airplane at a point “0” defined by its location  X 0  and time  t 0 . The airplane has a mass  m 0  and travels at velocity  V 0 . An external force F to the airplane shown above moves it to point “1”. The airplane’s new location is X 1 and time t 1 .

The mass and velocity of the airplane change during the flight to values  m 1  and  V1 . Newton’s second law can help us determine the new values of  V 1  and  m 1 , if we know how big the force  F  is. Let us just take the difference between the conditions at point “1” and the conditions at point “0”.

F = (m 1 * V 1 – m 0 * V 0 ) / (t 1 – t 0 )

Newton’s second law talks about changes in momentum (m * V). So, at this point, we can’t separate out how much the mass changed and how much the velocity changed. We only know how much product (m * V) changed.

Let us assume that the mass stays at a constant value equal to m . This assumption is rather good for an airplane because the only change in mass would be for the fuel burned between point “1” and point “0”. The weight of the fuel is probably small relative to the weight of the rest of the airplane, especially if we only look at small changes in time. If we were discussing the flight of a baseball, then certainly the mass remains a constant. But if we were discussing the flight of a bottle rocket, then the mass does not remain a constant and we can only look at changes in momentum. For a constant mass  m , Newton’s second law looks like:

F = m * (V 1 – V 0 ) / (t 1 – t 0 )

The change in velocity divided by the change in time is the definition of the acceleration  a . The second law then reduces to the more familiar product of a mass and an acceleration:

Remember that this relation is only good for objects that have a constant mass. This equation tells us that an object subjected to an external force will accelerate and that the amount of the acceleration is proportional to the size of the force. The amount of acceleration is also inversely proportional to the mass of the object; for equal forces, a heavier object will experience less acceleration than a lighter object. Considering the momentum equation, a force causes a change in velocity; and likewise, a change in velocity generates a force. The equation works both ways.

The velocity, force, acceleration, and momentum have both a  magnitude  and a  direction  associated with them. Scientists and mathematicians call this a vector quantity. The equations shown here are actually vector equations and can be applied in each of the component directions. We have only looked at one direction, and, in general, an object moves in all three directions (up-down, left-right, forward-back).

Example of force involving aerodynamics:

• An aircraft’s motion resulting from aerodynamic forces, aircraft weight, and thrust.

Newton’s Third Law: Action & Reaction

Whenever one object exerts a force on a second object, the second object exerts an equal and opposite force on the first..

His third law states that for every action (force) in nature there is an equal and opposite reaction . If object A exerts a force on object B, object B also exerts an equal and opposite force on object A. In other words, forces result from interactions.

Examples of action and reaction involving aerodynamics:

• The motion of lift from an airfoil, the air is deflected downward by the airfoil’s action, and in reaction, the wing is pushed upward.
• The motion of a spinning ball, the air is deflected to one side, and the ball reacts by moving in the opposite direction.
• The motion of a jet engine produces thrust and hot exhaust gases flow out the back of the engine, and a thrusting force is produced in the opposite direction.

Review Newton’s Laws of Motion

Thanks for contacting us! We will get in touch with you shortly.

What Are Newton's Laws of Motion?

Newton's First, Second and Third Laws of Motion

Getty Images / Dmitrii Guzhanin 

• Chemical Laws
• Periodic Table
• Projects & Experiments
• Scientific Method
• Biochemistry
• Physical Chemistry
• Medical Chemistry
• Chemistry In Everyday Life
• Famous Chemists
• Activities for Kids
• Abbreviations & Acronyms
• Weather & Climate
• Ph.D., Biomedical Sciences, University of Tennessee at Knoxville
• B.A., Physics and Mathematics, Hastings College

Newton's Laws of Motion help us to understand how objects behave when they are standing still; when they are moving, and when forces act upon them. There are three laws of motion. Here is a description of Sir Isaac Newton's Laws of Motion and a summary of what they mean.

Newton's First Law of Motion

Newton's First Law of Motion states that an object in motion tends to stay in motion unless an external force acts upon it. Similarly, if the object is at rest, it will remain at rest unless an unbalanced force acts upon it. Newton's First Law of Motion is also known as the Law of Inertia .

Basically, what Newton's First Law is saying is that objects behave predictably. If a ball is sitting on your table, it isn't going to start rolling or fall off the table unless a force acts upon it to cause it to do so. Moving objects don't change their direction unless a force causes them to move from their path.

As you know, if you slide a block across a table, it eventually stops rather than continuing on forever. This is because the frictional force opposes the continued movement. If you threw a ball out in space, there is much less resistance, so the ball would continue onward for a much greater distance.

Newton's Second Law of Motion

Newton's Second Law of Motion states that when a force acts on an object, it will cause the object to accelerate. The larger the mass of the object, the greater the force will need to be to cause it to accelerate. This Law may be written as force = mass x acceleration or:

F = m * a

Another way to state the Second Law is to say it takes more force to move a heavy object than it does to move a light object. Simple, right? The law also explains deceleration or slowing down. You can think of deceleration as acceleration with a negative sign on it. For example, a ball rolling down a hill moves faster or accelerates as gravity acts on it in the same direction as the motion (acceleration is positive). If a ball is rolled up a hill, the force of gravity acts on it in the opposite direction of the motion (acceleration is negative or the ball decelerates).

Newton's Third Law of Motion

Newton's Third Law of Motion states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

What this means is that pushing on an object causes that object to push back against you, the exact same amount, but in the opposite direction. For example, when you are standing on the ground, you are pushing down on the Earth with the same magnitude of force that it is pushing back up at you.

LAWS OF PHYSICS

Photo by OsakaWayne Studios/Getty

What is a law of nature?

Laws of nature are impossible to break, and nearly as difficult to define. just what kind of necessity do they possess.

by Marc Lange   + BIO

In the original Star Trek , with the Starship Enterprise hurtling rapidly downward into the outer atmosphere of a star, Captain James T Kirk orders Lt Commander Montgomery Scott to restart the engines immediately and get the ship to safety. Scotty replies that he can’t do it. It’s not that he refuses to obey the Captain’s order or that he doesn’t happen to know how to restart the engines so quickly. It’s that he knows that doing so is impossible. ‘I can’t change the laws of physics,’ he explains.

We all understand Scotty’s point (although the Enterprise does somehow manage to escape). He cannot break the laws of nature. Nothing can. The natural laws limit what can happen. They are stronger than the laws of any country because it is impossible to violate them. If it is a law of nature that, for example, no object can be accelerated from rest to beyond the speed of light, then it is not merely that such accelerations never occur. They cannot occur.

There are many things that never actually happen but could have happened in that their occurrence would violate no law of nature. For instance, to borrow an example from the philosopher Hans Reichenbach (1891-1953), perhaps in the entire history of the Universe there never was nor ever will be a gold cube larger than one mile on each side. Such a large gold cube is not impossible. It just turns out never to exist. It’s like a sequence of moves that is permitted by the rules of chess but never takes place in the entire history of chess-playing. By contrast, if it is a law of nature that energy is never created or destroyed, then it is impossible for the total energy in the Universe to change. The laws of nature govern the world like the rules of chess determine what is permitted and what is forbidden during a game of chess, in an analogy drawn by the biologist T H Huxley (1825-95).

I n our science classes, we all learned some examples of what scientists currently believe (or once believed) to be laws of nature. Some of these putative laws are named after famous scientists (such as Robert Boyle and Isaac Newton). Some are generally called ‘laws’ (such as the laws of motion and gravity), while others are typically called ‘principles’ (such as Archimedes’ principle and Bernoulli’s principle), ‘rules’ (such as Born’s rule and Hund’s rule), ‘axioms’ (such as the axioms of quantum mechanics), or ‘equations’ (such as Maxwell’s equations).

Laws of nature differ from one another in many respects. Some laws concern the general structure of spacetime, while others concern some specific inhabitant of spacetime (such as the law that gold doesn’t rust). Some laws relate causes to their effects (as Coulomb’s law relates electric charges to the electric forces they cause). But other laws (such as the law of energy conservation or the spacetime symmetry principles) do not specify the effects of any particular sort of cause. Some laws involve probabilities (such as the law specifying the half-life of some radioactive isotope). And some laws are currently undiscovered – though I can’t give you an example of one of those! (By ‘laws of nature’, I will mean the genuine laws of nature that science aims to discover, not whatever scientists currently believe to be laws of nature.)

What all of the various laws have in common, despite their diversity, is that it is necessary that everything obey them. It is impossible for them to be broken. An object must obey the laws of nature. In this respect, a law of nature differs from the fact that all gold cubes are smaller than a cubic mile, the fact that all the apples currently hanging on my apple tree are ripe, and other so-called ‘accidents’. Although this fact about gold cubes is as universal, general and exceptionless as any law, it is not necessary. It could have been false. It is not inevitable or unavoidable that all gold cubes are smaller than a cubic mile. It just turns out that way.

But although all these truisms about the laws of nature sound plausible and familiar, they are also imprecise and metaphorical. The natural laws obviously do not ‘govern’ the Universe in the way that the rules of chess govern a game of chess. Chess players know the rules and so deliberately conform to them, whereas inanimate objects do not know the laws of nature and have no intentions.

For 4 to be a prime number would require more than merely a violation of the laws of nature

Furthermore, there are lots of things that we would describe appropriately (in a given conversational context) as ‘impossible’ but that do not violate the laws of nature. It is impossible for me to wish you ‘Good morning’ in Finnish because I do not speak Finnish, to borrow an example from the philosopher David Lewis (1941-2001). But my doing so would not violate a law of nature: I could learn Finnish. My car cannot accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in less than 5 seconds, but that impossibility is not the same as the kind of impossibility involved in my car accelerating from 0 to beyond the speed of light. Now we are using the laws of nature to help us understand the kind of impossibility that is supposed to distinguish the laws of nature. We have gone around in a tight circle rather than put our finger on what makes a fact qualify as a law rather than an accident.

Moreover, although accidents lack the kind of necessity that laws of nature possess, there are other facts that possess the kind of necessity that laws possess but are not laws – or, more accurately, they are not merely laws. While accidents are too weak to be laws because it would have been too easy to make them false, certain other facts are too strong to be merely laws because they are harder to break than even the laws themselves. For instance, the fact that all objects either contain some gold or do not contain any gold is a fact that has even more necessity than a law of nature does. It is still a fact even in the Star Trek universe, where the laws of nature are different (since starships routinely accelerate beyond the speed of light). For 4 to be a prime number is likewise impossible even in the Star Trek universe. It would require more than merely a violation of the laws of nature.

The laws of nature, then, fall somewhere between the accidental facts (which lack the laws’ necessity) and the facts that possess a stronger variety of necessity than the laws do. The laws are distinguished by having the variety of necessity that distinguishes the laws. But we must do better than that if we are to understand what a law of nature is.

Philosophers do not aim to discover the laws of nature. That’s a job for scientists. What philosophers aim to do is to figure out what sort of thing scientists are discovering when they discover the laws of nature. The philosopher’s aim is not to help scientists do their job. Instead, the philosopher’s aim is to better understand the job that scientists are doing. For instance, when scientists explain why something happens by appealing to a law of nature that they have discovered, what makes a law able to answer such a ‘Why?’ question? To understand scientific understanding is a job for the philosophy of science.

Of course, it can be difficult to reach this philosophical understanding, and I will ask you to bear with me as I guide you – step by step – towards understanding what a law of nature is. I hope that as a useful byproduct, you will also enjoy seeing how a philosopher utilises a few bits of logic (paging Mr Spock!) to grapple with the question ‘What is a law of nature?’ Hold on: I hope you will find the final result to be elegant and illuminating.

T o begin understanding the variety of necessity that distinguishes the natural laws (which, for simplicity, I will call ‘natural necessity’), let’s unpack the laws’ necessity in terms of the fact that the laws not only are true, but also would still have been true under various hypothetical circumstances. For instance, since it is a law that no object is accelerated from rest to beyond the speed of light, this cosmic speed limit would still have been unbroken even if the Stanford Linear Accelerator had now been cranked up to full power. On the other hand, since it is merely an accident that every apple currently on my tree is ripe, this pattern would have been broken if (for instance) the weather this past spring had been much cooler.

I have just compared two ‘conditionals’ (that is, two if-then statements) that state facts about what would have happened under various circumstances that did not actually occur – that is, two ‘counterfactual’ conditionals. We often assert counterfactual conditionals, as in ‘If I had gone to the market today, then I would have bought a quart of milk.’ (That I went to the market today – the falsehood in the ‘if’ position of the conditional – is the ‘counterfactual antecedent’.) The laws, having natural necessity, would still have been true even if other things had been different, whereas an accident is less resilient under counterfactual antecedents.

An accident is invariant (that is, would still have been true) under some counterfactual antecedents. For instance, all of the apples on my tree would still have been ripe even if I had been wearing a red shirt this morning. But an accident seems to have less invariance in some respect than a law. After all, we use the laws to figure out what would happen if we were to pursue various possible courses of action – for instance, what would happen to an object’s acceleration if we doubled the object’s mass or doubled the force on the object. We can rely on the laws to tell us what would have happened under various hypothetical circumstances because the laws are invariant (that is, would have remained true) under those circumstances.

No matter what, the laws would still have held. (As Scotty says, nothing can break the laws of physics)

Of course, we can find some counterfactual antecedents under which the laws are not invariant. Obviously, the laws would not still have remained true under counterfactual antecedents with which the laws are logically inconsistent (that is, under antecedents contradicting the laws). For example, the laws would have been different if an object had been accelerated from rest to beyond the speed of light. But presumably, the laws would still have held under any counterfactual antecedent that is logically consistent with all of the laws. No matter what circumstances permitted by the laws may come about, the laws would still have held. (As Scotty says, nothing can break the laws of physics.) By contrast, for any accident, there is some hypothetical circumstance that is permitted by the laws and under which that accident would not still have held. After all, if it is an accident that p , then not- p (ie, that p is false) is a circumstance that is permitted by the laws and under which p would not still have held.

I’ll use lower-case letters for statements that make no reference to lawhood, necessity, counterfactual conditionals, and so forth – what I will call ‘sub-nomic’ claims. (For instance, p could be the claim that all emeralds are green, but p could not stand for ‘It is a law that all emeralds are green.’) We have arrived at the following proposal for distinguishing laws from accidents: m is a law if and only if m would still have been true if p had been true, for any p that is logically consistent with all the facts n (taken together) where n is a law.

Let’s step back and take a look at what this means. This proposal captures an important difference between laws and accidents in their resilience – that is, in their range of invariance under counterfactual antecedents. However, this proposal cannot tell us much. That is because the laws appear in it on both sides of the ‘if and only if’. The proposal picks out the laws by their invariance under a certain range of counterfactual antecedents p , but this range of antecedents, in turn, is picked out by the laws. (It consists of the antecedents that are logically consistent with the laws.) Therefore, this proposal fails to tell us what it is that makes m a law.

This proposal also fails to tell us what makes the laws so important . The laws’ invariance under the particular range of counterfactual antecedents that the proposal mentions makes the laws special only if there is already something special about having this particular range of invariance. But the laws are what pick out this range. So if there is no prior, independent reason why this particular range of counterfactual antecedents is special, then the laws’ invariance under these antecedents fails to make the laws special. They merely have a certain range of invariance (just as a given accident has some range of invariance).

In short, we have not yet managed to avoid the circularity that hobbled our initial thoughts about the laws’ particular brand of necessity. But we have made progress: now we can see precisely what problem we have to overcome!

T here is a way to overcome this problem. Our proposal was roughly that the laws form a set of truths that would still have held under every antecedent with which the set is logically consistent. In contrast, take the set containing exactly the logical consequences of the accident that all gold cubes are smaller than a cubic mile. This set’s members are not all invariant under every antecedent that is logically consistent with this set’s members. For instance, if a very rich person had wanted to have constructed a gold cube exceeding a cubic mile, then such a cube might well have existed, and so not all gold cubes would have been smaller than a cubic mile. Yet the antecedent p that a very rich person wants such a cube constructed is logically consistent with (that is, does not contradict) all gold cubes being smaller than a cubic mile.

Let’s capture this idea by defining what it would be for a set of facts to qualify as ‘stable’. Suppose we are talking about a (non-empty) set 𝚪 (gamma) of sub-nomic truths that is ‘closed’ under logical implication. (In other words, the set contains every sub-nomic logical consequence of its members.) 𝚪 is ‘stable’ if and only if for each member m of 𝚪 and for any p that is logically consistent with 𝚪’s members, m would still have held if p had held. In short, a set of truths is ‘stable’ exactly when its members would all still have held under any counterfactual antecedent with which they are all logically consistent.

In contrast to our previous proposal, stability does not use the laws to pick out the relevant range of counterfactual antecedents. Stability avoids privileging the range of counterfactual antecedents that is logically consistent with the laws. Rather, each set of truths picks out for itself the range of counterfactual antecedents under which it must be invariant in order for it to qualify as stable. The fact that the laws form a stable set is therefore an achievement that the laws can ‘brag about’ without presupposing that there is already something special about being a law.

Had the price of steel been different, the engine might have been different. This ripple effect propagates endlessly

In contrast to the set containing all and only the laws, consider the set containing all and only the fact that all gold cubes are smaller than a cubic mile (together with its logical consequences). That set is unstable: its members are all logically consistent with some very rich person wanting a gold cube larger than a cubic mile, and yet (as we saw earlier) the set’s members are not all invariant under this counterfactual antecedent.

Let us look at another example. Take the accident g (for ‘gas’) that whenever a certain car is on a dry flat road, its acceleration is given by a certain function of how far its gas pedal is being pressed down. Had the gas pedal on a certain occasion been depressed a bit farther, then g would still have held. Can a stable set include g ? Such a set must also include the fact that the car has a four-cylinder engine, since had the engine used six cylinders, g might not still have held. (Once the set includes the fact that the car has a four-cylinder engine, the counterfactual antecedent that the engine has six cylinders is logically inconsistent with the set, so the set does not have to be invariant under that antecedent in order to be stable.) But since the set includes a description of the car’s engine, its stability also requires that it include a description of the engine factory, since had that factory been different, the engine might have been different. Had the price of steel been different, the engine might have been different. And so on.

This ripple effect propagates endlessly. Take the following antecedent (which, perhaps, only a philosopher would mention!): had either g been false or there been a gold cube larger than a cubic mile. Under this antecedent, is g preserved? Not in every conversational context. This counterfactual antecedent pits g ’s invariance against the invariance of the fact about gold cubes. It is not the case that g is always more resilient. Therefore, to be stable, a set that includes g must also include the fact that all gold cubes are smaller than a cubic mile (making the set logically inconsistent with the antecedent I mentioned, and so the set does not have to be invariant under that antecedent in order to be stable). A stable set that includes g must also include even a fact as remote from g as the fact about gold cubes. The only set containing g that might be stable is the set of all sub-nomic truths. (Let’s call it the ‘maximal’ set.)

Every non-maximal set of sub-nomic truths containing an accident is unstable. We have now found a way to understand what makes a truth qualify as a law rather than an accident: a law belongs to a non-maximal stable set. No set containing an accident is stable (except, perhaps, for the maximal set , considering that the range of antecedents under which it must be invariant in order to be stable does not include any false antecedents, since no falsehood is logically consistent with all of this set’s members).

W e saw earlier that the sub-nomic facts that are laws should be distinguished from two other sorts of sub-nomic facts. On the one hand, accidents are easier to break than laws. Unlike the accidents, laws possess natural necessity. On the other hand, some facts are even more necessary (harder to break) than the laws, such as the fact that all objects either contain some gold or do not contain any gold. Such a fact possesses an even stronger variety of necessity than natural necessity. (Let’s call it ‘broadly logical’ necessity.) By thinking of natural laws in terms of stability, we can understand how the laws differ from both the accidents and the broadly logical necessities.

Let’s investigate whether there are any other non-maximal stable sets besides the set of laws. Consider the set of all and only the sub-nomic truths possessing broadly logical necessity. It includes the truths of mathematics and logic. This set is stable since its members would all still have held under any broadly logical possibility. For instance, 2 plus 3 would still have been equal to 5 even if there had been a gold cube larger than a cubic mile – and even if there had been a means of accelerating an object from rest to beyond the speed of light.

There is a nice little argument demonstrating that, for any two stable sets, one of them must entirely contain the other. The stable sets, however many there are, must fit one inside the other like a series of matryoshka dolls. The argument’s strategy is to consider a counterfactual antecedent like the one involving g (concerning the gas pedal) and the fact about gold cubes – namely, an antecedent pitting the invariance of the two sets against each other. Here’s how the argument goes.

First, assume that there are two stable sets, 𝚪 and 𝚺 (sigma), where neither set fits completely inside the other. In particular, suppose that t is a member of 𝚪 but not of 𝚺, and s is a member of 𝚺 but not of 𝚪. Now we can show that this assumption must be false because it leads to a contradiction. (Ready? Here we go…)

Let’s start with 𝚪. Since s is not a member of 𝚪, the counterfactual antecedent not- s is logically consistent with 𝚪, and hence so is the counterfactual antecedent (not- s or not- t ). Therefore, since 𝚪 is stable, as we have assumed, every member of 𝚪 would still have been true, if (not- s or not- t ) had been true. In particular, t would still have been true, if (not- s or not- t ) had been true. So t and (not- s or not- t ) would both have been true, if (not- s or not- t ) had been true. Hence, if (not- s or not- t ) had been true, then not- s would have been true; s would have been false.

Laws of nature can explain why something failed to happen by revealing that it cannot happen

Now we can make the analogous argument regarding 𝚺. Since t is not a member of 𝚺, the counterfactual antecedent not- t is logically consistent with 𝚺, and hence so is the counterfactual antecedent (not- s or not- t ). Therefore, since 𝚺 is stable, as we have assumed, no member of 𝚺 would have been false, if (not- s or not- t ) had been true. In particular, it is not the case that s would have been false, if (not- s or not- t ) had been true. But now we have arrived at a contradiction with the result reached at the end of the previous paragraph. So we have proved that the initial assumption is impossible: there cannot be two stable sets, 𝚪 and 𝚺, where neither fits completely inside the other.

What we have just demonstrated is that the stable sets must form a nested hierarchy. There are at least three members of this hierarchy: the truths with broadly logical necessity (the smallest of the three), the set of laws (which also contains all the broadly logical necessities), and the maximal set (which contains all the sub-nomic truths). There are no stable sets larger than the set of laws but smaller than the maximal set, since any such set would have to contain accidents, but we have already seen that no set containing accidents (except for the maximal set) is stable.

We can now understand what makes the natural laws necessary and how their variety of necessity differs from broadly logical necessity. By the definition of ‘stability’, the members of a stable set would all still have held under any sub-nomic counterfactual antecedent with which they are all logically consistent. That is, a stable set’s members would all still have held under any sub-nomic counterfactual antecedent under which they could (ie, without contradiction) all still have held. In other words, a stable set’s members are collectively as resilient under sub-nomic counterfactual antecedents as they could collectively be. They are maximally resilient. That is what makes them necessary .

There is a one-to-one correspondence between non-maximal stable sets and varieties of necessity. A smaller stable set is associated with a stronger variety of necessity because the range of antecedents under which a smaller stable set’s members are invariant, in connection with that set’s stability, is wider than the range of antecedents under which a larger stable set’s members are invariant, in connection with that set’s stability. Stability associated with greater invariance corresponds to a stronger variety of necessity – that is, greater unavoidableness.

Scientists discover laws of nature by acquiring evidence that some apparent regularity is not only never violated but also could never have been violated. For instance, when every ingenious effort to create a perpetual-motion machine turned out to fail, scientists concluded that such a machine was impossible – that energy conservation is a natural law, a rule of nature’s game rather than an accident. In drawing this conclusion, scientists adopted various counterfactual conditionals, such as that, even if they had tried a different scheme, they would have failed to create a perpetual-motion machine. That it is impossible to create such a machine (because energy conservation is a law of nature) explains why scientists failed every time they tried to create one.

Laws of nature are important scientific discoveries. Their counterfactual resilience enables them to tell us about what would have happened under a wide range of hypothetical circumstances. Their necessity means that they impose limits on what is possible. Laws of nature can explain why something failed to happen by revealing that it cannot happen – that it is impossible.

We began with several vague ideas that seem implicit in scientific reasoning: that the laws of nature are important to discover, that they help us to explain why things happen, and that they are impossible to break. Now we can look back and see that we have made these vague ideas more precise and rigorous. In doing so, we found that these ideas are not only vindicated, but also deeply interconnected. We now understand better what laws of nature are and why they are able to play the roles that science calls upon them to play.

Alien life is no joke

Not long ago the search for extraterrestrials was considered laughable nonsense. Today, it’s serious and scientific

History of ideas

Reimagining balance

In the Middle Ages, a new sense of balance fundamentally altered our understanding of nature and society

What would Thucydides say?

In constantly reaching for past parallels to explain our peculiar times we miss the real lessons of the master historian

Mark Fisher

The environment

Emergency action

Could civil disobedience be morally obligatory in a society on a collision course with climate catastrophe?

Rupert Read

Return of the descendants

I migrated to my ancestral homeland in a search for identity. It proved to be a humbling experience in (un)belonging

Jessica Buchleitner

Metaphysics

The enchanted vision

Love is much more than a mere emotion or moral ideal. It imbues the world itself and we should learn to move with its power

Mark Vernon

Laws of Physics and Bowling Essay

Introduction, forces involved in the activity of bowling, factors affecting the ball’s movement, inertia, impulse, work, kinetic energy, momentum, and friction.

Physics is the science that is concerned with the characterization and discovery of different universal laws that govern space, time, matter, forces, movement, and other features of nature. Various formulas and rules can explain the appearance of rainbows, the fall of an apple, the refraction of light, and many other phenomena. In sports games such as football, table tennis, basketball, and badminton, the laws of physics are also involved. Bowling is not an exception, and various factors may modify the motion of the ball. The purpose of this paper is to identify those forces that are involved in the activity of bowling, define them, and then provide an example of how inertia, impulse, work, kinetic energy, momentum, and friction apply to this game.

Various forces are involved in the activity of bowling and may affect or change the movement of the ball. One such power is the contact one; when the ball is thrown, it becomes an unbalanced force and uses contact when reaching the pins to knock them down. Another force involved in bowling is gravitational; it comes from a lane’s crowns, depressions, and tilts, and influences the ball’s motion. The anatomical forces of the player are also a significant part of the game and have an effect on the ball’s movement and whether it reaches and knocks the pins. Finally, the force of distance is a critical factor that affects the game of bowling. The distance between the pins, the player’s position, and the point from which the ball is thrown defines its motion, speed, and final destination.

Several factors may affect or change the ball’s movement. They include the initial axis of rotation, initial axis tilt, initial ball speed off of one’s hand, and initial rev-rate. These are the factors that may be controlled and adjusted by the player. The lane oil pattern, the friction factor of the lane surface, and the ball drilling layout are those factors that a person cannot control but has to take into account while throwing the ball.

• Inertia is the force that keeps the object at rest or moving in a straight line and helps it to resist the changes in its motion. In bowling, the pins’ inertia at the end of the lane resists the inertia of the ball. Also, inertia stops the rolling down the lane ball to change its motion.
• Impulse is the integral of a force over the time interval for which it acts. In bowling, the ball hits the pins, and its impulse causes a change in its momentum.
• Work is the force that causes the movement or displacement of the object. When the player is sliding the ball forward to get it rolling, he or she uses the workforce.
• Kinetic energy is the energy in use or motion. The ball gets this power when the player pushes it away from his or her body. When the bowler starts the backswing, then swings and rolls the ball forward down the lane, and it continues to roll until hits the pins, the ball has the kinetic energy. When it hits the pins, the ball gives them kinetic energy, which causes them to hit each other.
• Momentum is a special measure of how challenging it is to stop or slow down the object. In bowling, when the ball encounters the pins, it loses momentum that is equal to the one the pins gain.
• Friction is a particular force that is opposed to motion when two different surfaces start rubbing against each other. Friction slows the ball down, and the combination of its friction on the carpet and the force of it hitting the pins stops the ball. Moreover, the force of friction helps the pins not to slide off the lanes.
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2022, February 19). Laws of Physics and Bowling. https://ivypanda.com/essays/laws-of-physics-and-bowling/

"Laws of Physics and Bowling." IvyPanda , 19 Feb. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/laws-of-physics-and-bowling/.

IvyPanda . (2022) 'Laws of Physics and Bowling'. 19 February.

IvyPanda . 2022. "Laws of Physics and Bowling." February 19, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/laws-of-physics-and-bowling/.

1. IvyPanda . "Laws of Physics and Bowling." February 19, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/laws-of-physics-and-bowling/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Laws of Physics and Bowling." February 19, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/laws-of-physics-and-bowling/.

• Tenpin Bowling Company's Marketing Plan
• Bowling Game: Product Assessment
• Geometry Web Quest for Soccer, Baseball, Basketball, Bowling, Golf, Volleyball and Pool
• Product Reassessment: Bowling Challenges and Solutions
• Michael Moore’s Documentary “Bowling for Columbine and Elephant”
• Jeff Bowling at the Delta Companies
• “Bowling for Columbine” and “Elephant”: The Problem of School Violence
• The “Bowling Alone” Article by Putnam
• Modern Community in Putnam's Bowling Alone
• "On Pins and Needles Defending Artistic Expression" by Carol Rose
• Time Travel to the Past and Related Theories
• Time Travel: The Paradoxical Effects
• The Solar Energy and Photovoltaic Effect
• Risk and Safety Management: Nuclear Life Cycle
• Radiation Protection Principles

Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.

To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to  upgrade your browser .

•  We're Hiring!
•  Help Center

Laws of Physics.

• Most Cited Papers
• Most Downloaded Papers
• Newest Papers
• Save to Library
• Escuela Nacional Preparatoria Follow Following
• Mexico History Follow Following
• Constructal law of design in nature Follow Following
• Physics Follow Following
• Nature Follow Following
• History Follow Following
• Evolution Follow Following
• Derecho Contractual Follow Following
• Historia de la Enfermería Follow Following
• Geophysics Follow Following

Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link.

• Academia.edu Publishing
•   We're Hiring!
•   Help Center
• Find new research papers in:
• Health Sciences
• Earth Sciences
• Cognitive Science
• Mathematics
• Computer Science
• Academia ©2024