The Three Laws of Motion The third law of motion is the Law of Interaction

which states that “for every action, there is always an

Force – produces change in motion equal and opposite reaction.” This law tells us that a
force exerted on any object is always exerted back by an
Motion – change in position for a particular time interval equal magnitude of force but in opposite direction.
Always remember that in this law, forces always come in
Net force – is capable of changing the state of motion of pairs. These are called action and reaction forces. The
the object. third law may seem to contradict with the second, but
always remember that the forces in each pair in the third
Acceleration – is the rate of change in velocity of law are opposing forces that do not act on the same
moving object per unit of time. object, while the forces in the second law are acting on
a particular object (or system). In determining the action
Velocity – description of the motion of an object in terms and reaction forces, be able to identify first the action
of both the speed and direction. that requires force, and then identify the reaction
force that counteracts the action force. If we are
Balanced forces – are equal forces acting in opposite
given two interacting objects 1 and 2, then according to
directions; thus, they have zero net force.
the third law of motion,
Unbalanced force – has a non-zero net force; thus it . F 1−2 + F 2−1=0
produces acceleration.
F 1−2 =−F2−1

The third law of motion always applies to two different

The Laws of Motion: bodies. The forces are equal and in opposite directions.
Newton’s first law of motion, the Law of Inertia,
states that, an object at rest remains at rest, and an
F 1−2 is the force exerted on object 1 by object 2
object in motion keeps moving. Galileo defined inertia as and - F 2−1 is the equal and opposite force exerted on
the tendency of an object to maintain its initial state object 2 by object 1. Which force may be called action
of motion. Originally, Newton called mass a quantity of or reaction does not matter.
matter, but later redefined it as a measure of inertia.
From this idea, it can be said that an object which is ~~~
more massive has more inertia or has more resistance
to change in motion than a less massive object does. Why Objects Move in Circles
Uniform circular motion is defined as motion in
The second law of motion is the Law of
a circle at constant speed. But not all motions in a
Acceleration which states that the acceleration of an
circle will have constant speeds. The speed of the
object is directly proportional to the net force acting
on it and is inversely proportional to the object’s object is the distance it covers ( 2 πr ) , divided by time
mass. (T). In symbols,
2 πr
F v=
In symbols, a ∝ T
m The time needed by an object in uniform circular
motion to complete an orbit is called its period. The
We can state Newton’s law as F net=ma distance is the circumference of the circle with radius r,
given as 2 πr .
meaning, net external force = mass X acceleration
Centripetal Force
The direction of the acceleration is in the When you whirl an object at the end of a string,
direction of the net force acting on the object. A the object tends to fly off in a straight-line path in
small force on an object causes a small acceleration, but accordance with the first law of motion. The object,
a big force causes a bigger acceleration. The second however, continues to move in a circle because there is
law of motion is a very useful tool in analyzing problems a force acting on it which deflects it from its straight-line
that involve force and motion. path. This force, which keeps pulling the object towards
the center of the circular path, is called centripetal
Units for mass, acceleration and force:
force, F c meaning “center-seeking”. In effect, the object
System Mass Acceleratio Force 2
undergoes a centripetal acceleration, a c. ( a c =
v )
n
MKS kg m/s2 N= kg. m/s2 r
CGS g cm/s2 Dyne = g.cm/s2 Newton’s second law, when applied to an object
FPS slug ft/s2 Pounds (lbs.) = slug. moving in uniform circular motion, can be expressed as:
ft/s2
F=ma
F c =mac
2
v
¿m
r
2
mv
F c=
r