Newton's Laws

PLEASE DO NOT EDIT THIS PAGE. COPY THIS TEMPLATE AND PASTE IT INTO A NEW PAGE FOR YOUR TOPIC.

Short Description of Topic

Preface

Newton describes the scientific process well in his book The Principia with this quote

"The constitution of particular things is known by observations and experiments; and when that is done, it is by this rule that we judge universally of the nature of such things in general."

Definitions

Density

"Quantity of Matter is the measure of the same, arising from its density and bulk conjunctly" (Newton). Newton proved that mass of an object is proportional to its weight through experiments with pendulums. With this in mind, Newton defined mass to be the density of matter in a given space. Later it has been shown to be the number of concentric lines of force that are present in a unit of volume. The density of an object can be shown with the equation: Density=Mass/Volume. The mass of an object refers to the product of the density of an object in a given volume. Thus, porous bodies such as sponges are lighter in mass when the occupy the same volume as more rigid bodies such as wood.

Motion

"The quantity of motion is the measure of the same, arising from the velocity and quantity of matter conjunctly" (Newton). Newton defines motion to be the absolute translation of all the matter in an object. The motion of the whole body is the sum of the motion of all of its parts. Thus, a body with mass M and velocity V the motion is equivalent to MV. A body double in mass but with equal velocity has absolute motion of 2MV. This is the principle of momentum. The motion of the whole.

Inertia

"Vis insita, or innate force of matter, is a power of resisting by which everybody, as much as it lies, endeavors to preserve its present stat, whether it be of rest or of moving uniformly forward in a straight line" (Newton). This is the basis of the first law of motion that we will be exploring soon. Inertia is the amount of resistance that a body has to a change in velocity and this is quantified by its mass. An object in motion will maintain its rectilinear (straight) motion unless a force changes its motion in a different direction. When this is done, each component of the motion of the object will be added/subtracted separately, which is why it is useful to understand vector notations.

Connectedness

1. How is this topic connected to something that you are interested in?
2. How is it connected to your major?
3. Is there an interesting industrial application?

History

Put this idea in historical context. Give the reader the Who, What, When, Where, and Why.

See also

Are there related topics or categories in this wiki resource for the curious reader to explore? How does this topic fit into that context?

Further reading

Books, Articles or other print media on this topic

External links

[1]

References

This section contains the the references you used while writing this page