Newton's Laws of Motion

Syllabus tag: KCSE | Physics | Form 3 | Topic 23 Newton's Laws of Motion

Lesson objectives

By the end of this topic, you should be able to:

• State and explain Newton's three laws of motion.
• Define momentum and impulse and apply F = ma.
• State and apply the law of conservation of linear momentum.
• Distinguish elastic from inelastic collisions and explain applications.

Summary

Newton's first law defines inertia: a body stays at rest or in uniform motion unless a resultant force acts. The second law gives F = ma and shows that force equals the rate of change of momentum. The third law states that action and reaction are equal and opposite. Momentum is conserved in every collision.