Introduction for Newton laws

INTRODUCTION

Newton's laws of motion are three physical laws that, together, laid the foundation for classical mechanics. They describe the relationship between a body and the forces acting upon it, and its motion in response to those forces. More precisely, the first law defines the force qualitatively, the second law offers a quantitative measure of the force, and the third asserts that a single isolated force doesn't exist. These three laws have been expressed in several ways, over nearly three centuries.

Each law of motion Newton developed has significant mathematical and physical interpretations that are needed to understand motion in our universe. The applications of these laws of motion are truly limitless.

Essentially, Newton's laws define the means by which motion changes, specifically the way in which those changes in motion are related to force and mass.

Origins and Purpose of Newton's Laws of Motion

Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) was a British physicist who, in many respects, can be viewed as the greatest physicist of all time.

Though there were some predecessors of note, such as Archimedes, Copernicus, and Galileo, it was Newton who truly exemplified the method of scientific inquiry that would be adopted throughout the ages.

For nearly a century, Aristotle's description of the physical universe had proven to be inadequate to describe the nature of movement (or the movement of nature, if you will). Newton tackled the problem and came up with three general rules about the movement of objects which have been dubbed as "Newton's three laws of motion."

In 1687, Newton introduced the three laws in his book "Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica" (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), which is generally referred to as the "Principia." This is where he also introduced his theory of universal gravitation, thus laying the entire foundation of classical mechanics in one volume.