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Newton's Laws of Motion

The three fundamental laws governing classical mechanics.

Jun 12, 2026··Fork (sign in)Last verified: Jun 1, 2026

Newton's three laws that describe the relationship between a body and the forces acting upon it.

#physics#mechanics#classical-physics

Newton's Laws of Motion

First Law — Law of Inertia

An object at rest remains at rest, and an object in motion continues in motion at constant velocity, unless acted upon by a net external force.

p⃗=mv⃗=constwhenF⃗net=0\vec{p} = m\vec{v} = \text{const} \quad \text{when} \quad \vec{F}_{\text{net}} = 0p​=mv

References

  1. General Relativity
  2. Maxwell's Equations
=
constwhenFnet​=
0

Second Law

The net force on an object equals the rate of change of its momentum:

F⃗=ma⃗\vec{F} = m\vec{a}F=ma

For variable mass systems (e.g. rockets), the full form is F⃗=d(mv⃗)dt\vec{F} = \frac{d(m\vec{v})}{dt}F=dtd(mv)​.

Third Law

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction:

F⃗AB=−F⃗BA\vec{F}_{AB} = -\vec{F}_{BA}FAB​=−FBA​

See also: article-general-relativity for the relativistic extension.

The Newtonian causal chain is visualised in object-newtonian-flow.

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Related events

  • Publication of Principia Mathematica
    Jul 5, 1687Physics History