Newtonian Mechanics

Question 1

Isaac Newton

Answer 1

Contributed perhaps more than anyone to our understanding of physics. Born in the year Galileo died, 1642. His ground breaking work in mechanics, gravity, optics, and calculus changed everything.

Question 2

Newton’s First Law of Motion

Answer 2

Objects tend to remain in motion at a constant velocity unless acted on by a net force.

Question 3

Newton’s Second Law of Motion

Answer 3

F = ma or a = F/m Acceleration is directly proportional to force and indirectly proportional to mass.

Question 4

Newton’s Third Law of Motion

Answer 4

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

Question 5

System

Answer 5

The object we choose to analyze.

Question 6

Environment

Answer 6

Everything outside the system, which consists of objects that might interact with the system (touch, push, or pull it) and affect its motion through external interactions.

Question 7

Force

Answer 7

A physical quantity that characterizes how hard and in what direction an external object pushes or pulls on the system object.

Question 8

Force diagram (free-body diagram)

Answer 8

Represents the forces that objects in a system’s environment exert on it.

Question 9

Normal force

Answer 9

Contact force (due to touching objects)

Question 10

Mass

Answer 10

m characterizes the amount of matter in an object.

Question 11

F_EonO

Answer 11

m_Og = m_O(9.8 m/s²)