Forces can be balanced or unbalanced. Balanced forces do not cause motion but can change an object's shape, while unbalanced forces produce or stop motion. Newton's laws state that objects at rest stay at rest and objects in motion stay in motion unless acted on by an unbalanced force. Force equals mass times acceleration, and for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Momentum is the product of mass and velocity, and the total momentum in a system remains constant if no external forces act on it.