Newtons laws of motion are:
1. Every body remains in a state of constant velocity unless acted upon by an external force.
2. A body of mass subject to a net force undergoes an acceleration that has the same direction as the force and a magnitude that is directly proportional to the force and inversely proportional to the mass.
3. For every action there is an equal and opposite action.
This video of one of my favorite basketball players, Ron Artest, blocking a shot is a good example of Newton's laws of motion. As the ball goes up, it remains in the state of a constant velocity, as he hits it away, it is being acted on by an external force. When Ron hits the ball, the acceleration of the ball accelerates in the same direction as the force applied to it is going. And finally, there is an equal and opposite action for hitting the ball. The equal action would be hitting the ball in the same way, the opposite action would cause the ball to accelerate in the opposite direction. While researching this topic, I began to realize how much Newton's three laws apply in our life. Almost everything we do incorporates this in one way or another.
Great example. Although i think you mean the ball has a constant increasing velocity when it goes up right? Because if the ball had a constant velocity it would be stationary, but i may be wrong!
ReplyDeleteAnd your last sentence is so true! I start to see physics everywhere and it's a good thing we are learning about these laws because it is standard physics and it applies to everything in daily life.
I also found out that Newton's 1st and 3rd laws are the most well known: common knowledge, while the 2nd isn't widely known.
ReplyDeleteNewton's 1st law is also called "the law of inertia". It seems to make more sense to call the rule that name, since naming a rule after a description, versus a name of a person, makes the rule clearer in my opinion.
sandra: you're right, i did mean what you said
ReplyDeleteSean: you're right about the second not being widely known, I don't remember that one. It was also a bit hard to explain.