Noida Institute of Engineering and Technology, Greater Noida

Newton's Laws of Motion

Lecture 3

Unit: --

Physics (Remedial class)

Dr. Manjeet Singh

Course Details
( B Tech 1st Sem. ) Department of Physics

Dr. Manjeet Singh Physics

1
04/08/2025
 Content

 Newton's first law

 Newton's second law
 Newton's third law

04/08/2025 Dr. Manjeet Singh Physics 2

 Newton’s Laws of Motion

I. Law of Inertia
II. F=ma
III. Action-Reaction

04/08/2025 Dr. Manjeet Singh Physics 3

 Background

Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727) an English scientist and mathematician famous for his
discovery of the law of gravity also discovered the three laws of motion. He published
them in his book Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (mathematic principles
of natural philosophy) in 1687. Today these laws are known as Newton’s Laws of
Motion and describe the motion of all objects on the scale we experience in our
everyday lives.

04/08/2025 Dr. Manjeet Singh Physics 4

 Newton’s Laws of Motion

• 1st Law – An object at rest will stay at rest, and an object in motion will stay in motion at constant
velocity, unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.
• 2nd Law – Force equals mass times acceleration.

• 3rd Law – For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

04/08/2025 Dr. Manjeet Singh Physics 5

 Newton’s First Law

An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted upon by
an unbalanced force.

04/08/2025 Dr. Manjeet Singh Physics 6

 What does this mean?

Basically, an object will “keep doing what it was doing” unless acted on by an unbalanced force.

If the object was sitting still, it will remain stationary. If it was moving at a constant velocity, it will keep
moving.

It takes force to change the motion of an object.

04/08/2025 Dr. Manjeet Singh Physics 7

 What is meant by unbalanced force?

If the forces on an object are equal and opposite, they are said to be balanced, and the object
experiences no change in motion. If they are not equal and opposite, then the forces are unbalanced
and the motion of the object changes.

04/08/2025 Dr. Manjeet Singh Physics 8

 Some Examples from Real Life

A soccer ball is sitting at rest. It takes an unbalanced force of a kick to

change its motion.

Two teams are playing tug of war. They are both exerting equal force on the rope in opposite
directions. This balanced force results in no change of motion.

04/08/2025 Dr. Manjeet Singh Physics 9

 Newton’s First Law is also called the Law of Inertia

Inertia: the tendency of an object to resist changes in its state of motion

The First Law states that all objects have inertia. The more mass an object has, the more inertia it has
(and the harder it is to change its motion).

04/08/2025 Dr. Manjeet Singh Physics 10

 More Examples from Real Life

A powerful locomotive begins to pull a long line of boxcars that

were sitting at rest. Since the boxcars are so massive, they have a
great deal of inertia and it takes a large force to change their
motion. Once they are moving, it takes a large force to stop them.

On your way to school, a bug flies into your

windshield. Since the bug is so small, it has very little
inertia and exerts a very small force on your car (so
small that you don’t even feel it).

04/08/2025 Dr. Manjeet Singh Physics 11

 If objects in motion tend to stay in motion, why don’t moving objects keep
moving forever?

Things don’t keep moving forever because there’s almost always an unbalanced force acting upon it.

A book sliding across a table slows down and stops because of the force
of friction.

If you throw a ball upwards it will eventually slow down and fall because
of the force of gravity.

04/08/2025 Dr. Manjeet Singh Physics 12

 If objects in motion tend to stay in motion, why don’t moving objects keep
moving forever?

In outer space, away from gravity and any sources of friction, a rocket ship launched with a certain
speed and direction would keep going in that same direction and at that same speed forever.

04/08/2025 Dr. Manjeet Singh Physics 13

 Newton’s Second Law

Force equals mass times acceleration.

F = ma

Acceleration: a measurement of how quickly an object is changing speed.

04/08/2025 Dr. Manjeet Singh Physics 14

 What does F = ma mean?

Force is directly proportional to mass and acceleration. Imagine a ball of a certain mass moving at a certain
acceleration. This ball has a certain force.

Now imagine we make the ball twice as big (double the mass) but keep the acceleration constant. F = ma says
that this new ball has twice the force of the old ball.

Now imagine the original ball moving at twice the original acceleration. F = ma says that the ball will again
have twice the force of the ball at the original acceleration.

04/08/2025 Dr. Manjeet Singh Physics 15

 More About F = ma

If you double the mass, you double the force. If you double the acceleration, you double the force.

What if you double the mass and the acceleration?

(2m)(2a) = 4F

Doubling the mass and the acceleration quadruples the force.

So . . . what if you decrease the mass by half? How much force would the object have now?

04/08/2025 Dr. Manjeet Singh Physics 16

 What does F = ma Say?

F = ma basically means that the force of an object comes from its mass and its acceleration.

Something very massive (high mass) that’s changing speed very slowly
(low acceleration), like a glacier, can still have great force.

Something very small (low mass) that’s changing speed very quickly (high
acceleration), like a bullet, can still have a great force. Something very small
changing speed very slowly will have a very weak force.

04/08/2025 Dr. Manjeet Singh Physics 17

 Newton’s Third Law

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

04/08/2025 Dr. Manjeet Singh Physics 18

 What does this Mean?

For every force acting on an object, there is an equal force acting in the opposite direction. Right now,
gravity is pulling you down in your seat, but Newton’s Third Law says your seat is pushing up against
you with equal force. This is why you are not moving. There is a balanced force acting on you–
gravity pulling down, your seat pushing up.

04/08/2025 Dr. Manjeet Singh Physics 19

 Think about it . . .

What happens if you are standing on a skateboard or a slippery floor and push
against a wall? You slide in the opposite direction (away from the wall),
because you pushed on the wall but the wall pushed back on you with equal
and opposite force.

Why does it hurt so much when you stub your toe? When your toe exerts a
force on a rock, the rock exerts an equal force back on your toe. The
harder you hit your toe against it, the more force the rock exerts back on
your toe (and the more your toe hurts).

04/08/2025 Dr. Manjeet Singh Physics 20

 Review

Newton’s First Law:

Objects in motion tend to stay in motion and objects at rest tend to stay at rest unless
acted upon by an unbalanced force.

Newton’s Second Law:

Force equals mass times acceleration (F = ma).

Newton’s Third Law:

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

04/08/2025 Dr. Manjeet Singh Physics 21

 Thank you

04/08/2025 Dr. Manjeet Singh Physics 22