PHY 130

CHAPTER 4

NEWTON’S LAW OF MOTION

4.1 Introduction of Force

 A force is an agent that produces or tends to produce acceleration in an

object.
 Example, an object moving with a variable speed in a straight line is
accelerating because the magnitude of the velocity is changing. Force is
Force required to produce this acceleration.
 It is a vector quantity.
 If several forces act simultaneously on the same object, it is the net force
that determines the motion of the object; it is the net force that determines
the motion of the object. The net force is the vector sum of all the forces
acting on the object and it is often called resultant force.

 The tendency of an object to maintain its state of rest or uniform motion in

a straight line is called inertia.
 In order to move the object at rest, external force has to be applied to
overcome inertia of the object. Similarly, in order to change the state of
Inertia motion for an object moving in uniform motion, external force is needed.
 The inability of an object to change its state of rest or motion by itself in the
absence of any applied force is called inertia of rest.
 The inability of an object to change its state of uniform motion along a
straight line, when no external force acts on it is called inertia of motion.

 Mass is a measure of the inertia of an object. The greater the mass means
the greater the inertia.
 The more mass an object has, the more difficult it is to change its state of
Mass motion, i.e., it is more difficult to start its motion from rest or to change it
direction of motion.
 Example, a truck has much more inertia than a car since the car is much
easier to set in motion than the truck.

 The gravitational force acting on an object is called the weight of the object,
Weight and it is represented by the product of its mass, m and the acceleration due
to gravity, g.
 Using F = ma, the weight, W = mg
 The unit of weight is in Newton (N).
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4.2 Definition Law of Motion

4.2.1 Newton’s First Law of Motion (Law of Inertia)

 Newton’s First Law of motion states that every object continues in its state of rest
or of uniform motion in a straight line unless it is compelled by some external
force to change the state.

 In other word, an object at rest remains at rest as long as no net force acts on it or an
object moving with constant velocity continues to move with the same speed in the
same direction as long as no net force acts on it.

 “No net force” can either means:

 No force acts on the object

 Forces act on the object, but their sum is zero

 If the net force on an object is zero, the object moves with constant velocity.

Fnet = 0

What does this mean?

 Basically, an object will “keep doing what it was doing” unless acted on by
an unbalanced force.

 If the object was sitting still, it will remain stationary. If it was moving at a
constant velocity, it will keep moving.

 It takes force to change the motion of an object.

What is meant by unbalanced force?

If the forces
on an object
are equal
and
opposite,
they are
said to be
balanced,
and the
object
experiences
no change
in motion.
If they are
not equal
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and
opposite,
then the
forces are
unbalanced
and the
motion of
the object
changes.

 Newton’s First Law is also known as the law of inertia.

 The First Law states that all objects have inertia. The more mass an object has the
more inertia it has (and the harder it is to change its motion).

Example 1:

A pendulum of mass 200 g is hung from a ceiling with a light string. It is then pulled
horizontally with another light string so that the pendulum makes an angle of 30˚
with the vertical. Using Newton’s First Law calculate the tensions in both the strings.

30˚ T1

T2

mg
Solution:

Example 2:

What are the tension forces acting on each of the weightless strings in the figure?

3 kg

2 kg
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Linear Momentum

 The linear momentum of an object with mass m traveling with velocity v is

defined as the product of mass and velocity of an object.
 It is a vector quantity, having both the magnitude and direction.
 The formula of momentum:

p = mass x velocity
p = mv
 SI unit for momentum is kg m s-1 @ N s.
 It is important to note that a constant linear momentum p is the momentum of
an object of mass m moving in a straight line with velocity v.

4.2.2 Newton’s Second Law of Motion

 Newton’s second law of motion states that the rate of change of momentum of an
object with time is directly proportional to the net force acting on it.

P
 Fnet
t One Newton is
defined as the
mv  mu force that gives a
 Fnet
t mass of 1kg an
acceleration of 1
v u  ms-2.
Fnet  km 
 t 
Hence, if F = 1N,
m = 1kg and a =
Fnet  kma 1 ms-2, then k =1
and F=ma
Fnet  ma
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 The object moves in the direction of the net force acting on it.

Examples 3:

What force is required to accelerate 1000 kg car from 5 ms -1 to 25 ms-1 in a time of 5

s?

Solution:
Given m = 1000 kg,
v  u 25  5
a   4ms 2
t 5
 F  ma  (1000)( 4)  4000 N

Example 4:

An object of mass 30 kg acted upon by a net force of 15 N will experiences what

acceleration?

Solution:
According to Newton’s Second Law,
F = ma
15 N = (30 kg) a
a = 0.5 ms-2

4.2.3 Newton’s Third Law of Motion

 Newton’s third law of motion states that for every action, there is an equal and
opposite reaction; action and reaction forces act on different objects.

 When two objects A and B are touching each others, if object A exerts a force F on
object B, then object B will exerts a force –F on object A, i.e., F are equal in
magnitude but opposite in direction.

 In other words, the action and reaction forces are of the same magnitude but in the
opposite direction.

FAB = - FBA

Force by the floor

(reaction)

Force onto the floor

(action)
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 The action-reaction forces are called contact forces.

 Examples of Newton’s Third Law of Motion:

i. The car is accelerating forward because its tires are pushing backward on the
road and the road is pushing forward on the tires.
ii. When a boy jumps, he exerts downward force on the ground and the ground
exerts an equal upward force on the boy.
iii. The rocket exerts a strong force on the gases, expelling them. The gasses exert
an equal and opposite force on the rocket and it is this force which moves the
rocket forward.
 Some important points about Newton’s third law of motion:
i. The third law involves two separate, distinct objects.
ii. Action and reaction are equal in magnitude but opposite in direction.
iii. Action and reaction act on different objects and they cannot cancel each other.

Friction force, f

 Friction: A force that prevents motion from occurring or that impedes a motion in
progress.

 The principles of friction are:

 Friction occurs between two surfaces in contact.
 Friction opposes the forces that try to move the body.
 Friction opposes the motion of the body
 Its direction is parallel with the plane
 It is proportional to the normal reaction to the plane of motion.
 It does not depend on the area of contact.

 Consider a wooden block with a mass of m is placed on a horizontal surface as shown

in Figure (a).

At rest About to Continues

N N N
slide to slide

F m F m F
m

fs fs=max fk
W W W
(a) (b) (c)

 The block pushes down on the supporting surface with a force equal to the weight of
the block, W. The supporting surface pushes back with an equal and opposite force of
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N and so N = W. N is called normal force. The normal force is perpendicular to the

surface.

 When we apply a small horizontal force, the block does not move. There is a friction
force exerted on the block by the surface. This friction force is called the static
friction.

 As we gradually increase the applied force, a point is eventually reach at which the
block is about to slide. The maximum force of static friction which comes into play
before a body just starts to slide is called limiting friction (Figure b).

 The static friction will always adjust itself equal to the applied force up to the value
of limiting factor. Therefore, static friction denoted by fs, is the friction that acts on
the object at rest until motion is about to begin.
 The equation is:
f s = μsN where μs is static coefficient of friction.

 As soon as sliding begins, the frictional force will decrease. This new frictional force
is called kinetic friction or sliding friction (Figure c).

 Thus, kinetic friction denoted by fk, is the friction that acts on the object when it is in
motion.

 The formula is :
fk = μkN where μk is kinetic coefficient of friction.

Free-Body Diagram

 A free-body diagram shows an object and all forces acting on it (but not forces acting
on any other objects).

 A single point may represent the object.

 For example, a free body diagram for the object shown in Figure (a) is given in
Figure (b).

y
N a
N

F2 F1 F2 x
f F1
f
W W
(a) (b)
where, N = Normal reaction, f = friction force, F1 & F2 = external forces,
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a = acceleration.

Example 5:

Based on Figure below, draw a free body diagram and construct the equation for the
net force that causes the block to move to the right.

N a

F2 F1

f
W
Solution:

Example 6:

Based on Figure below, draw the free body diagram and construct the equation for the
net force that causes the block moves to the right. Assuming that there is a kinetic
friction between the block and the track.

F2
θ

T
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Solution:

Example 7:

Based on Figure below, calculate the acceleration of the block. Assuming that the
block moves to the right.
Given μk = ¼, mb = 2.5 kg, θ = 40˚, F1 = 50 N

N a
F1
θ

fk
W

Multiple Blocks System

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 Two blocks are in contact with each other on frictionless horizontal surfaces as shown
in the Figure.

F
A
B

 Assume the blocks are accelerating to the right. If a horizontal force of F pushes them
to the right,
(a) Draw a free-body diagram for the system
(b) Construct and evaluate the Fnet for each block.

 First, draw the contact forces between the blocks before drawing a free body diagram
for the system,

a
F
A
B
FBA FAB

 The free-body diagrams for each block are shown in Figure below:

For block A: For block B:

FBA F FAB

By using the Newton’s 2nd Law: By using the Newton’s 2nd Law:

Fnet = mAa Fnet = mBa

F – FBA = mAa FAB =mBa

Example 8:

A box of mass 15.0 kg rests on a smooth, horizontal floor next to a box of mass 8.0 kg as
indicated in Figure below. If we push on the 15.0 kg box with a 36.0 N horizontal force,
calculate:

F A
15.0 kg B
8.0 kg
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(a) The acceleration of the boxes

(b) The contact force between the boxes

Linked Objects

 Linked objects are connected physically and have the same acceleration.
 Two boxes are connected by a string and pulled by a force of magnitude F as
indicated in Figure below:

T1 T1
m1 m2 F

 In this case, the string has a tension, T and the two boxes have the same
acceleration, a. If the masses of the boxes and the applied force, F are given, both
the tension in the string and the acceleration of the boxes can be determined.

 First, sketch the free-body diagram for each box and write the force equation.

For m1: For m2:

T1 T1 F
By using the Newton’s 2nd Law: By using the Newton’s 2nd Law:
Fnet = m1a Fnet = m2a
T1= m1a --------(1) F – T1 =m2a -----------(2)

Substitute equation (1) in (2) and finally solve the acceleration:

F – T1 = m2a
F – m1a = m2a
F = m2a+ m1a
F
a
(m2  m1 )
Substitute this expression of a, into either equation (1) or (2) and solve for the
tension, T.
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T1= m1a

 F 
T1  m1  
 (m1  m 2 

Example 9:

Two blocks, each of mass m1 and m2, connected by a light string are pulled towards
right as shown in Figure below. Assume they lie on a smooth, horizontal surface.

T1 T1
m1 m2 F

Given m1 = 3.5 kg, m2=2 kg and acceleration of the system is 2 ms-2.

a) Draw a free-body diagram for each block.
b) Write the force equation for each block.
c) Calculate the tension in each string.

Solution:
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Example 10:

For an Atwood’s machine with masses m1 = 15.0 kg and m2 = 7.0 kg, calculate:
a) The acceleration for each block
b) The distance moved by each block in 2 s
c) The tension in each string T T

a m1 m2 a

W1 W2
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An object on an inclined surface

y  Figure shows the force diagram of an object on an

Sliding up direction
Top
N x inclined plane.

Sliding down  Choose the x-axis to be parallel to the incline

direction Wsin θ Wcos θ surface and the y-axis to be perpendicular to the
θ
incline surface, as shown in Figure. With this
W
θ choice of coordinate system, there is no motion in
Bottom
the y direction.

 If the object slides on the inclined surface, its motion is purely in the x direction. The
block can slides up or down the inclined surface. The motion of block depends on the
resultant force, Fnet. If the block is about to slide down the incline, the friction force
is maximum and in the upward of x direction.

 Whenever a surface is inclined by an angle θ, the weight W makes the same angle θ
with respect to the negative y axis as shown in Figure. as a result, we can solve for the
x and y components of weight as:
Wx = W sin θ
Wy= W cos θ

Example 11:

A block is released from an incline plane as shown in Figure. The block experiences a
sliding friction force with coefficients of friction force, μ k.
a) Draw the force diagram for the system
b) Write the equation using Newton’s 2nd Law of motion. The equation must
consists of μk, m, g, θ and a.
y
x

θ
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Example 12:

A force F of 30 N is applied on to a block parallel to an inclined plane of 30˚. The

weight of the block is 20 N. assume that the block experiences a sliding friction force
with μk = 0.02.
a) Draw the force diagram for the system y
x
b) Calculate the acceleration of the block.

Solution:
F
θ

Example 13:
y A horizontal force F is exerted on a block for it to slide
x up an inclined plane as shown in the Figure. Assume that
the block slides upward and experiences a sliding friction
F force with μk = 0.01. The weight of the block is 15 N, F =
θ 20 N and θ = 20˚.

θ a) Draw the force diagram for the system

b) Calculate the acceleration of the block

Solution: