The first Newton’s law of motion states, “a body at rest or moving in a straight line in a constant speed will remain at rest or in a constant speed unless another force acts on it”. This assumption is referred to as the law of inertia. The concept of inertia was first done by Galileo Galilei for level motion on Earth and generalized later by Rene Descartes.
The second Newton’s law of motion is based on the explanation of the changes that can be created by force a moving body. The law states that “the time rate of change of the momentum of a body is equal in both magnitude and direction to the force imposed on it”. An object’s momentum is calculated by multiplying its velocity and its mass. Just like velocity, momentum of an object is a vector quantity because it has both mass and direction. Therefore, the magnitude of the momentum of an object can be changed by a force being applied to it.
The third Newton’s law of motion is also referred to as the law of reaction and action. The law states that “when two bodies interact, they apply force to each other that is in opposite direction and equal in magnitude”. This law is significant in evaluating static equilibrium problems, where there is the balance between all forces. It also applies to bodies either in accelerated or uniform motion. Therefore, a plate resting on top of a table will apply a downward force on the table which is equal to its weight on the table.
Newton’s laws are vital because they are applied in everything we see in our daily lives. For instance, these laws tell us how things sit still or move. They control the working of cars, water flows, how buildings never fall down, and essentially how everything surrounding us moves. It is obviously very important how these laws are because using them in certain scenarios requires one to understand a lot of things such as the shape of one’s toothpaste tube, how one ought to squeeze it as well as what makes the toothpaste. Generally, Newton’s laws explain everything, and using them requires knowledge of all forces involved.
