Newton's Laws of Motion

Newton’s
Laws of
Motion
I. Law of Inertia
II. F=ma
III. Action-Reaction
While most people know
what Newton's laws say,
many people do not know
what they mean.
Free-body diagrams
Free-body diagrams
are used to show
the relative
magnitude and
direction of all
forces acting on an
object.
So forces are a
vector!
Problem 1
A book is at rest on a table top. Diagram the
forces acting on the book.
Problem 1
In this diagram, there
are normal and
gravitational forces
on the book.
Problem 2
A rightward force is applied to a book in order to
move it across a desk. Consider frictional
forces. Neglect air resistance. Construct a free-
body diagram. Let’s see what this one looks
like.
Note the applied force arrow pointing to
the right. Notice how friction force
points in the opposite direction.
Finally, there is still gravity and normal
forces involved.
Problem 3
A car runs out of gas and is coasting down a hill.

Newton’s Laws of Motion
 1st Law – An object at rest stays at rest
& an object in motion keeps moving with
the same velocity unless an unbalanced
force acts on it.
 2nd Law – The amount of force needed
to make an object change its velocity
depends on the mass of the object.
 Force = mass * acceleration
 3rd Law – When 1 object exerts a force
on a 2nd object, the 2nd object exerts an
equal and opposite force back on the 1st
object.
1st Law of Motion
(Law of Inertia)
An object at rest will stay at

rest, and an object in motion
will stay in motion at
constant velocity, unless acted
upon by an unbalanced force.
1st Law
 Inertia is the
tendency of an
object to resist
changes in its
velocity:
whether in
motion or These pumpkins will not move unless acted on
motionless. by an unbalanced force.

1st Law
 Once airborne,
unless acted on
by an
unbalanced force
(gravity and air
– fluid friction),
it would never
stop!
1st Law
 Unless acted
upon by an
unbalanced
force, this golf
ball would sit on
the tee forever.
Why then, do we observe every
day objects in motion slowing
down and becoming motionless
seemingly without an outside
force?
It’s a force we sometimes cannot see –
friction.
Objects on earth, unlike the
frictionless space the moon
travels through, are under the
influence of friction.
What is this unbalanced force that acts on an object in motion?
 There are four main types of friction:

 Sliding friction: ice skating
 Rolling friction: bowling
 Fluid friction (air or liquid): air or water resistance
 Static friction: initial friction when moving an
object
 Static friction: initial friction when moving an object
Slide a book
across a table and
watch it slide to a rest
position. The book
comes to a rest
because of the
presence of a force -
that force being the
force of friction -
which brings the book
to a rest position.
 In the absence of a force of friction, the book
would continue in motion with the same speed
and direction - forever! (Or at least to the end
of the table top.)
Newtons’s 1st Law and You
Don’t let this be you. Wear seat belts.

Because of inertia, objects (including you) resist changes
in their motion. When the car going 80 km/hour is stopped
by the brick wall, your body keeps moving at 80 m/hour.
2nd Law
 A “push” or “pull”
 Measured in Newtons (N) in the metric
 Measured in pounds (lbs) in the English

system
 A vector quantity
 Represented by drawing arrows on a

diagram (remember the Force diagrams)
2nd Law
The net force of an object is
equal to the product of its mass
and acceleration, or F=ma.
2nd Law
 When mass is in kilograms and acceleration is

in m/s/s, the unit of force is in newtons (N).
 One newton is equal to the force required to
accelerate one kilogram of mass at one
meter/second/second.
2nd Law (F = m x a)
 How much force is needed to accelerate a
1400 kilogram car 2 meters per second/per
second?
 Write the formula
 F=mxa
 Fill in given numbers and units
 F = 1400 kg x 2 meters per second/second
 Solve for the unknown
 2800 kg-meters/second/second or 2800 N
Newton’s 2nd Law proves that different masses
accelerate to the earth at the same rate, but with
different forces.
• We know that objects

with different masses
accelerate to the
ground at the same
rate.
• However, because of
the 2nd Law we know
that they don’t hit the
ground with the same
force.
F = ma F = ma
98 N = 10 kg x 9.8 m/s/s 9.8 N = 1 kg x 9.8 m/s/
s
Check Your Understanding
 1. What acceleration will result when a 12 N net force applied to a 3 kg
object? A 6 kg object?
 2. A net force of 16 N causes a mass to accelerate at a rate of 5 m/s2.

Determine the mass.
 3. How much force is needed to accelerate a 66 kg skier 1 m/sec/sec?
 4. What is the force on a 1000 kg elevator that is falling freely at 9.8 m/sec/
sec?
Check Your Understanding
 1. What acceleration will result when a 12 N net force applied to a 3 kg object?
12 N = 3 kg x 4 m/s/s
 2. A net force of 16 N causes a mass to accelerate at a rate of 5 m/s2. Determine the

mass.
16 N = 3.2 kg x 5 m/s/s
 3. How much force is needed to accelerate a 66 kg skier 1 m/sec/sec?
66 kg-m/sec/sec or 66 N
 4. What is the force on a 1000 kg elevator that is falling freely at 9.8 m/sec/sec?
 9800 kg-m/sec/sec or 9800 N

3rd Law
 When 1 object exerts a force on a 2nd
object, the 2nd object exerts an equal
and opposite force back on the 1st
object.
 For every action, there is an equal and
opposite reaction.
3rd Law
According to Newton,
whenever objects A and
B interact with each
other, they exert forces
upon each other. When
you sit in your chair,
your body exerts a
downward force on the
chair and the chair
exerts an upward force
on your body.
3rd Law
There are two forces
resulting from this
interaction - a force on
the chair and a force on
your body. These two
forces are called action
and reaction forces.
Newton’s 3rd Law in Nature
 Consider the propulsion of a
fish through the water. A
fish uses its fins to push
water backwards. In turn,
the water reacts by pushing
the fish forwards, propelling
the fish through the water.

Newton’s 3rd Law in Nature
 The size of the force on the
water equals the size of the
force on the fish; the
direction of the force on the
water (backwards) is
opposite the direction of the
force on the fish (forwards).
3rd Law
Flying gracefully
through the air, birds
depend on Newton’s
third law of motion. As
the birds push down on
the air with their wings,
the air pushes their
wings up and gives
them lift.
Other examples of Newton’s
Third Law
 The baseball forces the
bat to the left (an
action); the bat forces
the ball to the right (the
reaction).
3rd Law
 Consider the motion of
a car on the way to
school. A car is
equipped with wheels
which spin backwards.
As the wheels spin
backwards, they grip the
road and push the road
backwards.
3rd Law
The reaction of a rocket is
an application of the third
law of motion. Various
fuels are burned in the
engine, producing hot
gases.
The hot gases push against
the inside tube of the rocket
and escape out the bottom
of the tube. As the gases
move downward, the rocket
moves in the opposite
direction.

Newton's Laws of Motion

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Newton's Laws of Motion

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Newton's Laws of Motion

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Newton’s

A car runs out of gas and is coasting down a hill.

An object at rest will stay at

motionless. by an unbalanced force.

 There are four main types of friction:

Don’t let this be you. Wear seat belts.

 Measured in pounds (lbs) in the English

 Represented by drawing arrows on a

 When mass is in kilograms and acceleration is

• We know that objects

 2. A net force of 16 N causes a mass to accelerate at a rate of 5 m/s2.

 3. How much force is needed to accelerate a 66 kg skier 1 m/sec/sec?

 2. A net force of 16 N causes a mass to accelerate at a rate of 5 m/s2. Determine the

 3. How much force is needed to accelerate a 66 kg skier 1 m/sec/sec?

 9800 kg-m/sec/sec or 9800 N

You might also like