Newtons Laws

Winter sunrise on a cloudy day in 2014, (Marquette Magazine photo by Ronen Zilberman)

My father was a physicist, chemist and a mathematician.  He taught at MSHS. Loved it. I grew up with his students coming to the house and phrases such as force equals mass times acceleration.  A body at rest tends to stay at rest.  For every action there is an equal an opposite reaction.

To be specific: Newton’s Laws

First law:  an object either is at rest or moves at a constant velocity unless acted upon by an external force.
Second law:  F = ma, where F is the net force acting on the object, m is the mass of the object and a is the acceleration of the object.  This means that they have both a magnitude (size) and a direction relative to some reference frame.
Third law: When one body exerts a force on a second body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to that of the first body.
Let’s address the first law.  I tend to like my body at rest, cozy under blankets during a cold winter day.  Constant velocity, moving, working, surviving unless acted upon by an external force.  Darn those external forces.  They tend to put me at rest.  A body at rest tends to stay at rest.

Number 2.  I think this relates to law number one. F being the net force which made me not be at rest.  Mass and acceleration.  Holy smokers sometimes this force is good and sometimes it’s bad.  I remember after my roll-over car accident my father asked me, “How fast were you going?”  So we can digress to law number one and say that I was at a constant velocity until I was acted upon by an external force.  The external force would have been the guy in the other car coming head-on into my lane.  Yes, this is how I explained the accident to my father.  But I avoided the external force and then it became the tree and the creek down the embankment.

Number 3.  Does the second body necessarily exert a force equal and opposite?  This law I like.  I think it applies to life.  I have chosen not to exert a force equal in magnitude.  Ah, but it has been opposite!  My physicist father and I had this conversation as well.  While discussing a certain person in my life who was exerting a force, he brought up the third law.  This was the best advice given by a father.  A father who loved science.  “I think you should choose a force equal in magnitude and opposite.  Take the high road.  Be positive.  This person is negative.”

Winter Sunset (Marquette Magazine photo by Dawn Adamson)

I think about the things my father taught me.  I think about how I would go to him for advice and it would turn into Newtons Laws.  But he was so right.  After my third accident my father said to me, “I want to wrap you in bubble wrap and put you in a room.”

No Dad.  I’m at a constant velocity because of everything you taught me.  I miss him.

Newton’s Laws of physics applicable to life.

by Dawn Adamson

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