Science Common Sense

1668 - What can Newton's three laws of motion be used to explain or calculate?

Newton's three laws of motion can be used to explain or calculate many things. Here are a few examples:

1. First Law (Inertia Law): It can help explain why things keep moving unless stopped, and why a ball keeps rolling until friction slows it down. It can also help calculate the force needed to stop or start a moving object.

2. Second Law (Force and Acceleration Law): This law helps calculate the force needed to make an object accelerate or decelerate. For example, you can use it to find out the force needed to make a bike go from 0 to 10 miles per hour in a few seconds.

3. Third Law (Action and Reaction Law): This law explains why when you kick a ball, the ball also kicks your foot with the same force. It can also help calculate the force exerted by one object on another object.

Some common things Newton's laws can be used to explain or calculate include:

• Car crashes (to calculate the force of impact)
• Rocket launches (to calculate the force needed to escape the Earth's gravity)
• Sports (to calculate the force of a ball kicked or a bat hitting)
• Bicycle safety (to calculate the force of the brakes on the road)