Newton's Laws of Motion

Interactive demonstrations of classical mechanics.

1st Law: Inertia

An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced external force.

Current State: Resting

Click the button to apply a momentary force and overcome the object's inertia. The object will keep moving until friction stops it.

2nd Law: Force and Acceleration

The acceleration ($a$) of an object is directly proportional to the net force ($F$) acting upon it and inversely proportional to its mass ($m$). ($F = ma$).

Calculated Acceleration ($a$)

5.00 $m/s^2$

Visual Representation: The size of the force vector and the object's resulting speed illustrate $F=ma$.

3rd Law: Action and Reaction

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. When one object exerts a force on a second object, the second object simultaneously exerts a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction on the first object.

Block A: Resting

Block B: Resting

Watch the collision: The force Block A exerts on B is *equal and opposite* to the force Block B exerts on A.