Sir Isaac Newton, is said to be, the greatest English mathematicians of his generation. He laid the foundation for differential and integral calculus. His work on optics and gravitation make him one of the greatest scientists the world has known. Newton's laws of motion are three physical laws that form the basis for classical mechanics, and describe the relationship between the forces acting on the body and its motion due to these forces. Newton's laws affect every aspect of our life, therefore they affect volleyball, and every other sport, greatly. I'm going to inform you on just how the laws do affect volleyball. Newton's first law states that, " An object at rest will stay at rest, and an object in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by an unbalanced force."  How does this affect Volleyball? : Newton's first law of motion affects every volleyball player who botches a serve and sends the ball snacking into the net. Every player who blocks a hard-hit ball from an opposing player feels the law's effect on her stinging arms. The server's hand, the net, and the blocker's forearms acted as an unbalanced force that stopped, or changed, the direction of the ball, the object in motion.  Newton's second law states that, " The acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net external force acting on the object and inversely proportional to the mass of the object."  How does this relate to Volleyball? : Newton's second law of motion is a mathematical equation that explains the relationship between force, mass, and acceleration. Mass multiplied by acceleration equals net external force. A spiked volleyball creates a net external force that stings your hands when you stop it. But your hands hurt even more when you stop a ball hit by a different, stronger opponent. The harder-hit ball's higher acceleration rate results in a stronger net external force. Newton's third law states that, " To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction."  How does this relate to Volleyball? : Newton's third law explains that every action creates a force that is met by an equal reaction force from the opposite direction. When two objects interact, they exert a force on each other. The action force of a spiked ball meets the reaction force of a player's block. A team scores a point when the action force of a spiked ball meets the reaction force of the opposing team's court. The hard floor has more force than the soft ball, so the ball bounces off the court to equalize the reaction of the impact.  The next time you're playing or watching a game of Volleyball, think about all of the elements of physics involved. Without gravity, acceleration, velocity, work, and Newton's laws, Volleyball wouldn't be challenging at all.