Newtons Three Laws

For a couple centuries before Einstein, Newtons Laws were the basic principles of Physics.
These laws are still valid and they are the basis for much engineering analysis today. Formal statements
of Newtons Three Laws are given below. Informal explanations of Newtons Three Laws are given
below each formal statement.
Newtons First Law:
An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion with
the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced external force.
Inertia is a property of matter that resists changes in motion. If a mass is not moving, it will stay
that way until an unbalanced external force starts to move it; if a mass is in motion, it will stay in motion
with the same speed and direction until an unbalanced external force changes its motion characteristics
(friction could slow it down, or a force could accelerate its motion).
For example, let us consider a hockey puck on the ice (assume the ice is perfectly level and
frictionless). If the puck is placed down on the ice, it will stay motionless until someone hits it with a
stick or skate because of its inertia. Also due to inertia, when slapped, the puck will tend to move in a
straight line with constant speed until an external force (such as another player, or the goalie, or the net)
changes its motion.
As a second example of Newtons First Law, consider a car accelerating from a stoplight. As the
car accelerates from zero motion, your body tends to push back into the seat due to its inertia (trying to
remain at rest). Also, as the car is braked from a high speed back to stopping, your body is flung
forward due to its inertia in motion. Hopefully you have your seatbelt on, or else Newtons First Law
could have bad consequences.
Newtons Second Law:
The acceleration a of an object as produced by a net force F is directly proportional to the
magnitude of the net force, in the same direction as the net force, and inversely proportional to the
mass m of the object: F = ma.
A resultant external force F acting on a body will accelerate that body in the direction of F, with
acceleration a = F/m. Acceleration is the second time rate of change of position, also the first time rate
of change of velocity; acceleration is to velocity what velocity is to position. Newtons original
statement of the Second Law was that the resultant external force F is equal to the time rate of change of
momentum (mv, mass times velocity):
F=

d
(mv )
dt

If the mass is constant, this relationship becomes the familiar form of Newtons Second Law:
F =m

dv
= ma
dt

Before Newton developed his Second Law, the prevailing belief was that force was proportional
to velocity: F = mv. This appeared to be true for the motion of horse-drawn carts, since friction
dominates this problem. Newton revolutionized engineering mechanics; his laws were unchallenged
until Einsteins Relativity work. Newtons Laws are still the basis for most engineering dynamics today.

Newtons Third Law:

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
This law is familiar in everyday situations; a force cannot be applied to an object unless
something resists the reaction of that force. In order to walk across the floor, you must push back on the
floor with your foot; then, according to Newtons Third Law, the floor pushes forward on your foot,
which propels you forward. This, of course, requires friction to work. If a free-floating astronaut were
to throw a baseball, there is nothing to resist the throwing force, so as the baseball accelerates in the
direction of throwing, the astronaut would accelerate backwards, with a force equal and opposite to the
throwing force. The astronaut would accelerate at a much smaller level (by Newtons Second Law)
since her mass is much greater than the baseballs mass. The recoil of a gun during firing is another
example of Newtons Third Law. As a final example, if a person attempts to jump to a dock from a
small sailboat, they may end up landing in water if they do not understand Newtons Third Law: similar
to the astronaut example, the jumping force of the human on the boat will tend to push the boat
backwards; the equal and opposite force of the boat on the human will propel that person toward the
dock, but since the boat moves backwards, the person may end up wet. The same problem exists for
large sailboats, except with larger boat inertia, it is less noticeable.

Newtons 1st Law Example: Block on frictionless surface

To demonstrate in software Newtons First Law (the law of inertia) we consider a point-mass
block free to slide on a frictionless, perfectly flat XY plane. Gravity is normal to this plane, in the Z
direction, and hence gravity does not enter into this problem due to our frictionless surface assumption
(except for the fact that gravity keeps the block in the XY plane).
When the block is placed at rest on the plane with no net unbalanced external force, it will
remain at rest due to the blocks property of inertia. The user can then start motion by pushing on the
block with the haptic interface try single X or Y directions first, but both can occur at once. The user
feels the inertia, which is the blocks resistance to change in motion. Once the block is in motion, if the
force is removed, it will tend to remain in motion at the velocity (speed and direction) obtained when the
force stopped. A reverse force is required to return the block to rest. The user feels the blocks inertia
in motion, again resisting change in motion. With the frictionless assumption, it is not easy to return the
moving block to rest with the joystick.
For the simulated motion when a force is applied, we use Newtons 2nd Law F = ma to solve for
the resulting acceleration. The free-body diagram (FBD) is simple in this case, shown for one direction
X below:
x

Fx

N
The resulting acceleration is simply ax = Fx/m, while the force is applied (for Y motion, ay = Fy/m). We
can use kinematics to determine the resulting motion; we start with the known, constant acceleration and
integrate twice (the constants of integration are zero if we start from rest and measure the x displacement
from the initial position). The left expressions are for the motion when the force is applied; the right
expressions are for the constant velocity motion phase when the force has been removed. The below
expressions are for X motion, but apply equally (independently but simultaneously) to Y motion.
a x (t ) =

Fx

v x (t ) = a xt
x(t ) =

a xt 2

a x (t ) = 0

v x (t ) = vC

x(t ) = x0 + vC t

In the right expressions above, vC is the constant velocity achieved at the instant the force is removed:
vC (t ) = a x t MAX , where tMAX is the time when the force is removed. Also, x0 is the displacement achieved
2

in the first motion phase, x0 = a x t MAX .

2

Inertial force is defined to be F0 x = ma x in the X direction (similar for Y). Here force is in
quotes since it has units of force, N, but it is not a true force, rather an effect of acceleration that can be
felt. Inertial force gives the user the feel of the masss inertia during the simulation.

User inputs:

Forces Fx and Fy via the haptic interface (directions commanded by user,

magnitudes all assumed to be 10 N).

Computer sets:

m = 10 kg

Visualize:

point mass in motion, plus kinematics plots for ax, vx, x; also ay, vy, y

Numerical Display: Nothing.

User Feels:

Block inertial forces F0 x = ma x in X and F0 y = ma y in Y; feels nothing during

constant velocity motions.

When the user pushes with Fx = 10 N and Fy = 0 for three seconds (tMAX = 3 sec),
followed by Fx = Fy = 0 for three more seconds, the numerical results are:
First motion phase: ax = 1 m/s2
Second motion phase: vC = 3 m/s, x0 = 4.5 m

Example:

The associated kinematics plots vs. time are shown below:

10
5

0
0

3
time

2
0
0

1
0.5
0
0

Kinematics Plots for motion in the X direction, Newtons First Law Simulation
In the first three seconds when the constant force is applied to the block, the resulting constant
acceleration (from Newtons Second Law) is ax = 1 m/s2; in this motion range, the block velocity
increases linearly and the blocks position increases parabolically. In the remaining three seconds of
motion, the constant force has been removed so there is a constant velocity (vC = 3 m/s, the maximum
value from the first three seconds) according to Newtons Second Law. In the constant velocity motion
range, acceleration is zero, and position x linearly increases from its previous ending value of x0 = 4.5 m.
You can see that the x position changes by 3 m every 1 sec, which is the constant velocity of 3 m/s.

Newtons 2nd Law Example: Two-mass acceleration

In this software simulation, two masses are connected by an ideal cable (massless, perfectly stiff)
as shown in the diagram. For this point-mass problem, we ignore the pulley rotational inertia. The
system is released from rest and we wish to calculate the resulting system motion using Newtons 2nd
Law. The dynamic coefficient of friction between m1 and the motion surface is . The free-body
diagrams, one for each point mass, are shown following the system diagram.

x
Y

m1

y
m2

W1

m1

m2

Ff

W2

N
For each free-body diagram, we apply Newtons 2nd Law,

F i = mAi .

For mass 1, this vector

equation yields one equation in the X and one in the Y direction; for mass 2, only one equation, in the Y
direction, results:
X : T F f = m1a1x
Y : N W1 = m1a1y

Y : W2 T = m2 a2 y

The same cable tension T is applied to each mass, by Newtons 3rd Law (since we are not
considering pulley dynamics). The friction force is F f = N , opposing the direction of motion; N is the
normal force of the motion surface acting on mass 1.
acceleration vectors are:
a1x a
A1 = =
a1 y 0

The weight forces are Wi = mi g , i=1,2. The

a2 x 0
A2 = =
a2 y a

That is, mass 1 does not accelerate in the Y direction and mass 2 does not accelerate in the X direction;
also, since the point masses are connected by an ideal cable, their accelerations are the same:
a1x = a2 y = a . Using this information, the above three dynamics equations of motion become:
T N = m1a

m2 g T = m2 a

N m1 g = 0

Substituting the Y equation ( N = m1 g ) into the X equation for mass 1 yields: T = (a + g )m1 . Further
substituting this cable tension for T in the Y equation for mass 2, we can solve for the system
acceleration a:
(m m1 )g
a= 2
m1 + m2
Having solved for the acceleration using Newtons 2nd Law, we can use kinematics to determine the
resulting motion; we start with the known, constant acceleration and integrate twice (the right
expressions assume zero initial conditions since the system was released from rest and we can measure
the displacements from the initial locations):
a1x (t ) = a

a1x (t ) = a

v1x (t ) = v1x 0 + at
x1 (t ) = x10 + v1 y 0t + at

v1x (t ) = at

x1 (t ) = at

The Y acceleration, velocity, and displacement expressions for mass 2 are identical, where the positive
indicates downward motion here, starting from the initial displacement of zero.
Note: If m1 m2 , the above equation for a predicts that the acceleration is zero (for =) or
negative (for >). In this case there will be no motion since the combination of and m1 are too large for
the given m2.
0 m1 10
User sets:

masses m1 and m2, plus dynamic coefficient of friction :

0 m2 10
0 1

Computer sets:

g = 9.81 m/s2, in the Y direction.

Visualize:

point masses in motion, plus kinematics plots for a, v, x (same as y).

Numerical Display: a, T, Ff
User Feels:

Inertial forces m1a or m2 a (user chooses), opposite to a direction.

Example:
are:

When the user enters m1 = 10 kg, m2 = 5 kg and = 0.15 , the numerical results
a = 2.29 m/s2; T = 37.6 N; Ff = -14.7 N

The associated kinematics plots vs. time are (this simulation was run for an X (and Y) displacement of 10
2x f
m, with a final time of t f =
= 20
= 2.96 sec):
a
2.29

0
0

0.5

1.5

2.5

0.5

1.5

2.5

0.5

1.5
tim e

2.5

4
2
0
0
3

2.5
2
1.5
0

Kinematics Plots for m1 in the X direction (identical to m2 in the Y direction)

The resulting constant acceleration (from Newtons Second Law) is a = 2.29 m/s2; the block
velocity increases linearly from zero and the blocks position increases parabolically. The same exact
plots apply to Y motion, where the displacement is down, measured from the initial location of the
second mass.

Comprehension Assignment:
Once you get the feel for this simulation, run the program several times to collect and plot data:
for a fixed value of the dynamic coefficient of friction , vary the mass ratio m1/m2 over its allowable
range and determine the resulting acceleration a. Plot a vs. m1/m2. Repeat these plots for various values
of over its allowable range. Discuss the trends you see do the results make sense physically?

Newtons 3rd Law Examples

There are two simulations in the software to demonstrate Newtons Third Law.
The first one is simply a linear spring that may be compressed (or extended) via the haptic
interface. The user then feels the equal and opposite force of the virtual spring pushing (or pulling) on
the hand. A linear spring obeys Hookes law: F = Kx , where K is the spring constant (N/m) and x is
the amount the spring is stretched from its neutral position. As the user moves the joystick to compress
the virtual spring, the spring feels the force and moves accordingly. At the same time, a force pushes on
the users hand, of the same magnitude, but reversed in direction. Thus, the force of the user acting on
the spring is equal and opposite to the force of the spring acting on the user. This equal and opposite
force exists whether the user compresses or extends the spring. Try it and you will see and feel the
effects of Newtons Third Law.
The second simulation involves a projectile fired from a cannon on the water in attempt to hit a
target on land. There are two cannons; one is a rigid base, fixed to a dock whose pilings are sunk deep
into bedrock under the water. The second is a cannon mounted to a free-floating boat. Both cannons
have the same shooting angle and the same initial muzzle velocity, calculated to successfully hit the
target from a fixed-based cannon. Try the first, fixed-based, cannon and you will see the target is hit.
By Newtons Third Law, there will be an equal and opposite reaction force from the cannon back on its
base. When the base is fixed, this reaction force will be resisted successfully, in this case by the fixed
pilings. When you try the second, boat-mounted cannon you will see the cannon projectile falls short of
the target. In this case, the equal and opposite reaction force from firing the cannon causes the boat to
move away from the shore. Unless a new cannon angle and muzzle velocity is calculated for this case,
the projectile will fall short of the target due to Newtons Third Law.