Newton's Three Laws of Motion

Isaac Newton was born on January 4, 1643, making fundamental contributions to our understanding of the universe through his work in mechanics, mathematics, optics, astronomy and physics. One of his most significant achievements is the development of three basic Laws of Motion which have been recognized by all scientists ever since they were published. These are the laws of inertia, acceleration due to gravity, and action and reaction.

The first law states that objects will continue their state of rest or uniform motion along a straight line unless acted upon by some outside force. This concept forms the basis of Newton's First Law of Inertial Motion. It is also called the principle of inertia because it describes how bodies resist changes in their motion. According to this law, an object will remain at its location if nothing acts upon it and will move at constant speed and direction when being forced to do so.

Newton's Second Law builds from this premise saying that if you push something with enough force over time, it will start moving faster. If there are two things touching each other, one can make the other move even if the second thing doesn't want to go anywhere. Likewise, if someone pushes her friend really hard across the room, she might fall into another person who happens to be standing nearby. When we say that 'force equals mass times acceleration', what this means is that whenever any kind of force starts to change your velocity, something else must happen — either your position has got to start changing too, or your velocity does.

Lastly comes Newton's Third Law stating that every action has a corresponding force acting oppositely. To understand this better, imagine sitting still while pushing against the seat below you; according to Newton's third law, whatever force you apply downwards onto the chair causes the exact same amount of force to pull upwards on you. However small these forces may be, they exist within us just like everything else – whether we know them or not. Just like people pushing back against others isn't always noticeable, reactions aren't visible until someone pays attention. They only become visible when something big is happening.

These principles governed by Newton's Three Laws of Motion form the foundation for almost all modern science today. Without them, many inventions and theories would be impossible, including rocket ships blasting off into space, cars zooming down highways at breakneck speeds, and airplanes flying thousands of miles away from where they started.