Physics Journal

SIR ISAAC NEWTON’S LAWS for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction

BOYLE’S BREAKTHROUGH work better under pressure

TORSION BALANCE Charles-Augustin de Coulomb and the constant

By Andrew Lim and Celine Lityo

’ Newton’s Laws of motion were first discovered by Isaac Newton, an excellent mathematician and physicist born on January 4, 1643, in Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. He discovered the laws of motion and theories of gravity. His laws were first published in 1686 and are still widely used today.

Sadly, Isaac Newton passed on March 31, 1727, at the age of 84.

The cause of death may have been mercury poisoning which explains the pain Newton was experiencing in his abdomen the day before his death. Fig 1: Isaac Newton (1643-1727)

By Andrew Lim and Celine Lityo

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An object at rest remains to be at rest.

An object in motion remains to be in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless there is an external force that disturbs the motion of the object.

’ Force is the product of mass times the gravitational acceleration acting upon the object.

• Newton’s second law of motion can also be described as objects that experience acceleration when a force is acting upon it.

In equation form: Force = Mass x Acceleration / F = m x a •

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You might’ve heard of this phrase, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”.

Well this is Newton’s third law of motion.

If object A applies a force upon object B, object B will apply a force of the same magnitude(size) but towards the opposite direction.

By Andrew Lim and Celine Lityo

’ Coulomb’s law was discovered by Charles-Augustin de Coulomb, a French physicist born on June 14, 1736, in Angoulême, France.

Charles-Augustin de Coulomb invented a device called the torsion balance, which measures the electrostatic force between two charged bodies. This led to the creation of Coulomb’s Law which was published in 1785.

Charles-Augustin de Coulomb suffered from chronic ailments. He eventually fell sick and died in Paris on August 23, 1806.

Fig 2: Charles Coulomb (1736-1806)

By Andrew Lim and Celine Lityo

The electrostatic force of attraction or repulsion between two charged particles is directly proportional to the product of the electric charges inversely proportional to the square of the distance separating the particles.

F is the electrostatic force the particle experiences. q₁q₂ is the product of the electric charges r² is the square of the distance between the particles k is Coulomb constant which is about 8.99 x 10⁹ Nm²C⁻² Fig 3: Example of the torsion balance

By Andrew Lim and Celine Lityo

’ Boyle’s Law was discovered by Robert Boyle, an Irish chemist and physicist, born on January 25, 1627 in County Waterford, Ireland.

Robert Boyle was the first to discover the impacts on the volume of ideal gasses at constant temperature due to the change in the surrounding pressure which is also known as Boyle’s Law, which was later published in 1662.

Robert Boyle passed away on December 31, 1691, at the age of 64 due to paralysis, known as stroke nowadays. His contribution has made a huge impact on the society and will never be forgotten.

Boyle’s Law reveals that the volume of gas changes as pressure in the surrounding atmosphere increases or decreases. The relationship between the volume of the gas is inversely proportional to the pressure given that temperature is kept constant. In simpler terms, if the pressure is increased, the volume of the ideal gas would decrease when temperature is uniform and vice versa.

Fig 4: Robert Boyle (1627-1691)

By Andrew Lim and Celine Lityo

The relationship above can be expressed: P₁V₁ = P₂V₂, where PV is a constant ONLY WHEN temperature is uniform.

The above equation is simply telling us that the product of the initial pressure and volume of an ideal gas is equal to the product of the final pressure and volume of an ideal gas.

By Andrew Lim and Celine Lityo