Newton's three laws of motion are summarized as follows: 1) Newton's First Law states that objects at rest will stay at rest and objects in motion will stay in motion in a straight line unless acted on by an external force. 2) Newton's Second Law establishes the relationship between force, mass, and acceleration as F=ma, meaning force equals mass times acceleration. 3) Newton's Third Law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

1. B Y B E N J A M I N S E X T O N
NEWTON’S LAWS OF
MOTION

2. NEWTON’S FIRST LAW
Newton’s First Law of Motion states the following:
“An object at rest will remain at rest will remain at rest
unless acted on by an external unbalanced force. An
object in motion will remain in motion in a straight line
until acted on by an external unbalanced force.”
This basically means that objects won’t move until
something acts onto them. Objects in movement will
keep going in a straight line until some stronger force
acts onto it.

3. NEWTON’S FIRST LAW: EXAMPLES
Here are a few examples:
• If we shot a bullet in space, it would keep moving in a straight
line until it either reached the gravity field of another planet or
collided with something.
• When NASA sends rockets up in space, this is how they
manage to keep their orbit. There is almost a perfect amount
of earth’s gravity for the ship to not come crashing down.
• This law also proves why sound doesn’t travel infinitely. When
sound travels, it hits air molecules, which slow it down over
time.
• The simplest example would be pushing a big rock. The rock
will stay in place until you push it.

4. NEWTON’S SECOND LAW
Newton’s Second Law of Motion states the following:
“The relationship between an object‟s mass „m‟, its
acceleration „a‟ and its applied force „F‟ is F=ma.”
This basically is saying that there is a direct
relationship between the force and the mass, and
the force and the acceleration. We can reverse this
equation so that other variables are isolated, if we
wanted to know the mass or the acceleration.

5. NEWTON’S SECOND LAW: EXAMPLES
Here is some proof of concept:
• If a dog is pulling a sleigh full of rocks, the acceleration of the
sleigh is entirely dependent on the force of the dog. The mass
of the rocks doesn’t change, thus the dog must pull at a
constant force to make the sleigh accelerate.
• If a big truck and a bicycle did a short race, the bicycle would
win because it accelerates faster. On the other hand, since
mass is in direct relation with acceleration (due to the second
law), a truck would win in a long-distance race because it
accelerates more.

6. NEWTON’S THIRD LAW
Newton’s Third Law of Motion states the following:
“For every action, there is an equal and opposite
reaction.”
This means that every force in the universe has an
opposite force acting on it. This is easier to explain
with examples.

7. NEWTON’S THIRD LAW: EXAMPLES
Here are a few examples:
• Many people don’t know this, but when you jump, Newton’s
third law is at work. You push off the floor, and the floor pushes
back, making you go up. The only reason you go down again
is because of gravity.
• The only reason cars can advance is because their wheels
have friction with the ground. The wheels stick to the
ground, trying to push, and the ground exerts an opposite
force to push it.
• Rockets, much like jumping, use fuel to push on the
ground, which lifts them up. Rockets also rely on friction with
the air so that the fuel still works.