Newton’s Laws of Motion
Newton’s Laws of Motion
There are three Newton's Laws of Motion explained below:-
First Law:-
Every object continues in its state of rest or of uniform motion in a straight line if no net force acts upon it.
Explanation:-An unwary passenger in a fast-moving bus falls forward when it stops suddenly. This happens because the feet of the passenger come to rest suddenly whereas his body continues to be in motion. In a head-on collision between two vehicles, passengers are quite often injured when they hit the windscreen. The collision stops the vehicle suddenly but the passengers continue their straight-line motion in accordance with the first law and hence hit the screen.
A person getting down from a moving bus has to run some distance, in the direction of the bus, before stopping. If he does not run he is bound to fall because his feet come to rest whereas his body continues to be in motion. Before going on to the second law, it is necessary to understand momentum. The momentum of a body is defined as the product of its mass and velocity.
Momentum = mass x velocity
Second Law:-
This law states that “the rate of change of momentum of a body is proportional to the applied force and takes place in the direction of the force."
It implies that force is proportional to the product of mass and acceleration. If we express force (F) in newtons (SI unit of force), mass (m) in kilograms and acceleration (a) in metres per second squared, we can write the second law as:-
F = ma
Explanation:-It is obvious that if the same force acts on 1kg and 2 kg masses, the acceleration produced in the 1 kg mass will be twice of that produced in the 2kg mass. In travelling the same distance, a car consumes more fuel on a crowded road than on a free road. This happens because the car has to stop and start quite often on a crowded road. The repeated acceleration requires a force (second law), which ultimately comes from the fuel. On a free road, the car runs at an almost uniform speed requiring fewer accelerations and hence less fuel consumption.
Third Law:-
This law states that “to every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”
Explanation:-The statement means that if body A exerts a force on body B, then B exerts an equal and opposite force on A along the same line of action. Thus if a person strikes a wall with his fist, the force on the wall (action) is equal and opposite to the force on the fist (reaction) at the moment of impact.
When a bullet is fired from a gun, equal and opposite forces are exerted on the bullet and the gun. Owing to action the bullet goes in the forward direction, and because of an equal and opposite reaction, the gun experiences a recoil in the backward direction.
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