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NLM - Introduction to Newton's Laws of Motion

Newton's Laws of Motion Overview

NLM_IntroImage.pngIntroduction

Newton's three laws are deceptively simple, but they are the underpinning of all of physics and govern the mechanics all of your actions in everyday life. Rising from bed, brushing your teeth, driving your car, listening to the radio, and so on, are all governed in some way by Newton's Laws. Many of the most complex equations in advanced engineering and physics trace their roots to Newton's Second Law. Newton's classic work, the Principia, archived at the second oldest university in the world, Cambridge University, sets forth the three equations that govern the whole of mechanics. While it is true, with the advent of Relativity and Quantum mechanics, these equations require modification at extreme speeds and extreme magnifications, Newton's three laws have stood the test of time for over 300 years and are still used by scientists and engineers today to provide a very accurate model of everyday experience.

Essential Questions

  1. Which new fundamental unit is introduced to develop Newton's three laws?
  2. What is inertia?
  3. What is "statics"?
  4. What is "dynamics"?
  5. What is an inertial reference frame?
  6. Which quantity is a measure of inertia?
  7. How is a free-body diagram drawn?
  8. How is a free-body diagram translated into a mathematical expression?
  9. What is meant by an object in equilibrium?
  10. What is the difference between weight and mass?
  11. What is apparent weight?
  12. What is the normal force?

Key Terms

  1. apparent weight - The weight of an object when acceleration is taken into consideration it is the normal force.
  2. dynamics - The study of forces and torques associated with objects or systems not in equilibrium.
  3. equilibrium - An object or system in which all forces sum to zero resulting in objects either being stationary or traveling at a constant velocity
  4. force - An influence on an object that, acting alone, would cause a change in the object's velocity.
  5. free body diagram - A diagram used to analyze the motion of an object in which all of the mass is assumed to be concentrated at a point at the center of mass of the object and showing all of the forces acting on that point, represented by arrows.
  6. inertia - An object's resistance to a change in its motion.
  7. inertial reference frame - A reference frame in which Newton's laws apply, which requires that the reference frame is in equilibrium.
  8. mass - The quantity that measure inertia.
  9. net force - The vector sum of individual forces.
  10. Newton - The SI derived unit of force, equal to 1kg m/s2.
  11. normal - A vector perpendicular to a surface (normal vector).
  12. normal force - The force exerted on an object by a surface, always perpendicular to the surface.
  13. statics - The study of forces and torques associated with objects or systems that are in equilibrium.'
  14. weight - The force on an object due to gravity.

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