by Tarek Musslimani

Created on: October 11, 2010   Last Updated: October 12, 2010

Isaac Newton was an English scientist who formulated three laws of mechanics based on his observations of the nature of macroscopic objects with a mass (m).  He has ascribed himself to three basic laws that continue to be valid in spite of the long time that has passed since their discovery.  It is known nowadays that Newton laws of mechanics apply only to macroscopic objects that are either at rest or are traveling at a speed much lower than the speed of light.

The discovery of the theory of relativity for systems that are traveling at speeds close to the speed of light and the formulation of the quantum theory of atomic particles and light did not cancel the theory of classical mechanics by Isaac Newton.  The difference is in the systems these theories apply to. 

Classical mechanics is still a valid theory of motion of macroscopic objects that is used particularly in all our areas of lives such as in car development  and in airplane technology and many other applications in the area of engineering in addition to its application in the construction of bridges and various types of buildings. 

Also classical laws of mechanics are still used in the physics calculations for spaceships that travel in the outer space such as the calculation of the velocity that is required for a shuttle to escape the earth's gravitational force.  Many other applications of Newton laws are applicable, such as the technology of parachutes, which are used for making safe landing from high altitudes to the earth surface.  The principle of action of a parachute relies on a differential equation that is called the Langevan equation.  This equation includes terms that represent a frictional force that inhibits the free falling of the object from the sky.  This is but one of many applications of these laws of mechanics.

Two other scientists called Hamilton and Lagrange have both formulated two separate theories of mechanics that basically are other forms of the same laws by Newton.  These concepts are used today in the area of mechanics that is called analytical mechanics.  Hamilton and Lagrange formalisms of classical mechanics have analogous formalisms to the theory of quantum mechanics.  Special operators in quantum mechanics bear the name of these scientists as Hamiltonian and Lagrangian operators. 

The first law of mechanics that was

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