Newtons second law

State Newtons second law of motion.

The net force on an object is proportional to that objects acceleration and acts in
the same direction.
F=ma
When jumping down, knees bend to increase the time of deceleration (to v=0).
With increased time, the rate of deceleration decreases and therefore the force
decreases.
The net force must be calculated through vector addition as necessary.
This law explains why the equality of action and reaction forces is sometimes not
immediately apparent. Since a = F/m, the acceleration resulting from a given force
varies inversely with the mass of an object. A person who steps off a cliff
experiences an acceleration g resulting from the gravitational force exerted by the
earth on the person. The earth experiences a force of equal magnitude, but its
acceleration is much smaller because of its great mass. Similarly, when a small
car and a large truck collide, the forces on each vehicle are equal in magnitude, but
the acceleration of the car is much greater than that of the truck.

Solve problems involving Newtons second law.

1. A 70 kg person rests on the floor of an elevator. Find the force experienced
when the elevator (a) is still; (b) moves up with a constant speed of 3 m s-1;
(c) accelerates up at 4 m s-2; (d) accelerates down at 4 m s-2 (700 N; 700 N;
980 N; 420 N)
2. An ice hockey player strikes a puck of mass 0.17 kg with his stick,
accelerating it along the ice from rest to a speed of 20 m s-1 over a distance
of 0.5 m. What force must he exert if the frictional force between the puck
and the ice is negligible? (68 N)
3. Two blocks of mass 4 kg and 6 kg joined by a string are at rest on a
frictionless horizontal table. If a force of 100 N is applied horizontally on one
of the blocks, find the acceleration of the system. (10 m s-2)
4 kg

6 kg

100 N

4. Two masses of m=4 and M=6 are joined together by a string which
passes over a pulley. The masses are held steady and suddenly
released. What is the acceleration of each mass? What is the
tension in each string?

T
mg

Mg

Newtons third law

State Newtons third law of motion.
When two objects interact, they exert equal and opposite forces on one another.

Discuss examples of Newtons third law.

1. A car pulling a trailer accelerates from rest to a speed of 8 m s-1 in 40 s. If the

masses of the car and trailer are 1000 kg and 200 kg respectively, calculate
(a) the least thrust force to give this acceleration, and (b) the tension in the
tow bar. (240 N; 40 N each way)