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INTRODUCTION
Newton’s laws of motion, relations between the forces acting on a body and
the motion of the body, first formulated by English physicist and
mathematician Sir Isaac Newton.

Newton’s first law states that, if a body is at rest or moving at a constant speed in a
straight line, it will remain at rest or keep moving in a straight line at constant
speed unless it is acted upon by a force. This postulate is known as the law
of inertia. The law of inertia was first formulated by Galileo Galilei for horizontal
motion on Earth and was later generalized by René Descartes. Before Galileo it
had been thought that all horizontal motion required a direct cause, but Galileo
deduced from his experiments that a body in motion would remain in motion
unless a force (such as friction) caused it to come to rest.

Newton’s second law is a quantitative description of the changes that a force can
produce on the motion of a body. It states that the time rate of change of
the momentum of a body is equal in both magnitude and direction to the force
imposed on it. The momentum of a body is equal to the product of its mass and its
velocity. Momentum, like velocity, is a vector quantity, having both magnitude and
direction. A force applied to a body can change the magnitude of the momentum,
or its direction, or both. Newton’s second law is one of the most important in all
of physics. For a body whose mass m is constant, it can be written in the
form F = ma, where F (force) and a (acceleration) are both vector quantities. If a
body has a net force acting on it, it is accelerated in accordance with the equation.
Conversely, if a body is not accelerated, there is no net force acting on it .

Newton’s third law states that when two bodies interact, they apply forces to one
another that are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction. The third law is also
known as the law of action and reaction. This law is important in analyzing
problems of static equilibrium, where all forces are balanced, but it also applies to
bodies in uniform or accelerated motion. The forces it describes are real ones, not
mere bookkeeping devices. For example, a book resting on a table applies a
downward force equal to its weight on the table. According to the third law, the
table applies an equal and opposite force to the book. This force occurs because the
weight of the book causes the table to deform slightly so that it pushes back on the
book like a coiled spring
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OBJECTIVE
To verify Newton’s Second Law of Motion

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THEORY

Newton's Second Law of motion states that the rate of change of momentum of an
object is proportional to the applied unbalanced force in the direction of the force.
𝑭 = 𝑚𝒂
Where F is the force applied, m is the mass of the body, and a, the acceleration
produced.
If a body is subjected to multiple forces at the same time, then the acceleration
produced is proportional to the vector sum (that is, the net force) of all the
individual forces.
The Second Law can also be shown to relate the net force and the momentum p of
the body:

Therefore, Newton's Second Law also states that the net force acting on a body is
equal to the rate of change of momentum of the body.
The First Law of Motion indicates that when an unbalanced external force acts on
an object, its velocity changes, i.e., the object are accelerated. Now, let’s study
how the acceleration of an object depends on the force applied. Consider
the example. A car at rest does not require much attention when parked along
a road side. But the moving car, even at a low speed, may kill a person
standing in its path. A small mass, such as a bullet may kill a person
when fired from a gun. From these examples it is clear that the impact
produced by the objects depends on their mass and velocity. When we
combine the mass and velocity of an object, we get another quantity
called momentum, which was introduced by Newton.

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Momentum has both direction and magnitude. Its direction is the same as that of
velocity. When an unbalanced force is applied on an object, it changes the velocity
of an object, which in turn changes its momentum. So, it is concluded that the
force necessary to change the momentum of an object depends on the time rate at
which the momentum is changed.
The acceleration of a moving object can be calculated by:

MATERIALS REQUIRED
1. Table
2. Trolley with smooth wheels
3. Pan
4. Weights
5. Stop clock
6. Pulley
7. String
8. Ruler

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PROCEDURE
PART1 (To verify force is proportional to acceleration)
1. Place the trolley on the table, such that the distance the trolley and the edge
of the table is 1metre.
2. Fix a frictionless pulley on the edge of the table
3. Attach a light inextensible string to the hook of the trolley and pass it over
the pulley
4. Attach the pan to the other end of the string.
5. Place a few identical weights on the trolley; also, place a standard weight on
the pan.
6. Initially the pan doesn’t move. Gradually increase the weight in the pan such
that the trolley just begins to move
7. Note the time taken to move using the stop clock.
8. Record the distance covered.
9. Calculate the acceleration by using the formula

2𝑆
𝑎=
𝑡^2
10.Repeat the experiment by changing the weights on the pan. Also calculate

F/a in each case.

11. Record the observations in the table.

PART 2 ( To verify force is proportional to mass)

1. Place 4 weights of equal mass on the trolley.
2. Place sufficient weights on the pan such that the trolley just slides.
3. Note the time take and the distance covered.
4. Record the values in the observation table.
5. Calculate the acceleration using the formula mentioned earlier.
6. Calculate the product of mass and acceleration.
7. Repeat the experiment by removing certain amount of weight on the
trolley.
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OBSERVATIONS

PART1
(Verify Force is proportional to acceleration)

Force Distance Time taken a=2s/t2 F/a

F=mg travelled(s) (sec) (m/s2) (approx)
(N) (in m)

20 0.25 0.5 2 10
40 0.50 0.5 4 10
55 0.17 0.25 5.5 10

The F/a is constant on repeated trials.

Therefore F α a.

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PART 2
(Verify force is proportional to mass)

Mass on the Distance Time taken a=2S/t2 Ma

trolley travelled(s)
(sec) (m/s2)
(kg) (in m)
8x10-3 0.25 1.05 0.52 4.12
6x10-3 0.50 1.20 0.74 4.32
4x10-3 0.80 1.25 1.02 4.09

The product of mass and acceleration is (approx) constant

Therefore, F α m.

CONCLUSION
From the experiment we the get the following results
Fαa
Fαm
Thus
F α ma

Thus verifying the Second Law of Motion.

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Applications of Laws of Motion

Newton’s First Law of Motion

A car travelling on a highway at a fixed speed tends to maintain uniformity in its

motion and everything else inside the car. When a force from outside is applied to the
car in motion, like a sudden change in direction, the car will respond to this sudden
change on its own, although the passengers in the car or the objects inside it are still
responding to inertia, wherein their motion will still be in a straight line. When in fact
the direction has already changed causing the passengers or the objects to be thrown
off. This event is explained by the first law of motion.

Newton’s Second Law of Motion

The application of the second law of motion can be seen in determining the amount
of force needed to make an object move or to make it stop. For example,

 Stopping a moving ball or pushing a ball.

 A skydiver jumps from a plane and accelerates until he reaches the highest
velocity possible, when this happens his acceleration is equal to nothing,
this happens when air resistance is equal to the downward force of the
skydiver.

Newton’s Third Law of Motion

The application third law of motion can be seen via an illustration wherein let’s say a
glass is on a table, even though the glass is at rest it is actually exerting a force on the
table and the table, on the other hand, is exerting equal opposite force thus making
the glass stay.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
https://sciencing.com/science-newtons-second-law-motion-6158774.html
https://www.seminarsonly.com/Engineering-Projects/Physics/newtons-second-law.php
https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Newton%E2%80%99s_laws_and_their_applications
https://www.toppr.com/guides/physics/force-and-laws-of-motion/newton%27s-laws-of-motion/
https://www.britannica.com/science/Newtons-laws-of-motion

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