 Newton’s Laws of Motion

 Inertial Reference Frames

 Action at a distance forces
 Mass and Weight
 Types of contact forces: tension, normal force, kinetic and static friction, fluid
resistance
 Action-Reaction Pairs
 Free-Body Diagrams
 Applications of Newton’s Laws to single-body and multibody dynamics
 Fluid resistance
 Experiment on forces
 Problem solving using Newton’s Laws

 Define inertial frames of reference

 Differentiate contact and noncontact forces
 Distinguish mass and weight
 Identify action-reaction pairs
 Draw free-body diagrams
 Apply Newton’s 1st law to obtain quantitative and qualitative conclusions about the
contact and noncontact forces acting on a body in equilibrium (1 lecture)
 Differentiate the properties of static friction and kinetic friction
 Compare the magnitude of sought quantities such as frictional force, normal force,
threshold angles for sliding, acceleration, etc.
 Apply Newton’s 2nd law and kinematics to obtain quantitative and qualitative
conclusions about the velocity and acceleration of one or more bodies, and the
contact and noncontact forces acting on one or more bodies
 Analyze the effect of fluid resistance on moving object
 Solve problems using Newton’s Laws of motion in contexts such as, but not limited
to, ropes and pulleys, the design of mobile sculptures, transport of loads on conveyor
belts, force needed to move stalled vehicles, determination of safe driving speeds on
banked curved roads
 Plan and execute an experiment involving forces (e.g., force table, friction board,
terminal velocity) and identifying discrepancies between theoretical expectations and
experimental results when appropriate
FORCE

A force is a push or pull of an object. It is an interaction between two objects or

between an object and its environment. Force is a vector quantity, it has magnitude and
direction.

FOUR COMMMON TYPES OF FORCES

NORMAL FORCE - When an object pushes on a surface, the surface pushes back on the
object perpendicular to the surface. This is a contact force.

FRICTION FORCE - This force occurs when a surface resists sliding of an object and is
parallel to the surface. Friction is a contact force.
 TENSION FORCE - A pulling force exerted on an object by a rope or cord. This is a
contact force.

WEIGHT - The pull of gravity on an object. This is a long-range force.

GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF FORCES

Use a vector arrow to represent the magnitude and direction of the given forces.
 Several forces acting at a point on an object have the same effect as their vector
sum acting at the same point.

The vector sum of all the forces on an object is called the resultant of the forces or
the net forces.

NEWTON’S FIRST LAW OF MOTION

The first law of motion stated that when an object is at rest, it tends to stay at rest, and
when the object is on motion, it stays in motion. More properly, “A body acted on by zero
net force moves with constant velocity and zero acceleration.”

In the figure (a), a net force acts, In part (b) the net force is zero,
causing acceleration. resulting in no acceleration.
NEWTON’S SECOND LAW OF MOTION

If the net force on an object is not zero, it causes the object to accelerate.

The acceleration of an object is

directly proportional to the net force F
on the object. Whatever the direction
of the force, that is also the direction
of the acceleration.

The acceleration of an object is

inversely proportional to the object’s
mass if the net force remains fixed.
 Thus, the second law of motion states that, the acceleration of an object is directly
proportional to the force and inversely proportional to its mass. And it is given by the
equation,

∑ ⃑𝑭 = 𝒎𝒂
⃑

SI unit: Newton (N)

1Newton = 1 kg m/s2

MASS AND WEIGHT

The weight of an object (on the earth) is the gravitational force that the earth exerts on
it. The weight W of an object of mass m is

⃑
𝐖 = 𝐦𝐠

The value of g depends on altitude. Newton is a unit of Force and weight is a force. Thus,
mass and weight are not the same.

NEWTON’S THIRD LAW OF MOTION

A force and its reaction force have the same magnitude but opposite directions.
These forces act on different bodies.

Example: An apple rests on a table. Identify the forces that act on it and the action-
reaction pairs.
 A person pulls on a block across the floor. Identify the action-reaction pairs.

FRICTIONAL FORCES

When a body rests or slides on a surface, the friction force is parallel to the surface.
Friction between two surfaces arises from interactions between molecules on the surfaces.

KINETIC FRICTION - acts when a body slides over a surface. Its equation is given
by

𝒇𝒌 = 𝝁𝒌 𝑵

STATIC FRICTION - acts when there is no relative motion between bodies. The
static friction force can vary between zero and its
maximum value

𝒇𝒔 ≤ 𝝁𝒔 𝑵
 Before the object slides, static friction force exists then once the object moves, kinetic
friction force acts. Static friction only has its maximum value just before the box “breaks
loose” and starts to slide.

FLUID RESISTANCE AND TERMINAL SPEED

The fluid resistance on a body depends on the speed of the body. A falling body
reaches its terminal speed when the resisting force equals the weight of the body. The figure
shows the effects of air drag.
Sample Problem

1. Two horizontal forces, 225 N and 165 N, are exerted in the same direction on a crate. Find
the net horizontal force on the crate.

2. The 225-N force is exerted on the crate toward the north and the 165-N force is exerted
toward the east. Find the magnitude and direction of the net force.

3. On Earth, a scale shows that you weigh 585 N. What is your mass?

4. A boy exerts a 36-N horizontal force as he pulls a 52-N sled across a cement sidewalk at
constant speed. What is the coefficient of kinetic friction between the sidewalk and the metal
sled runners? Ignore air resistance.

5. A 873-kg (1930-lb) dragster, starting from rest, attains a speed of 26.3 m/s (58.9 mph) in
0.59 s.
a. Find the average acceleration of the dragster during this time interval.
b. What is the magnitude of the average net force on the dragster during this
time?
c. Assume that the driver has a mass of 68 kg. What horizontal force does the
seat exert on the driver?
6. You place a 7.50-kg television set on a spring scale. If the scale reads 78.4 N, what is the
acceleration due to gravity at that location?

7. If you use a horizontal force of 30.0 N to slide a 12.0 kg wooden crate across a floor at a
constant velocity, what is the coefficient of kinetic friction between the crate and the floor?

8. A hockey puck having a mass of 0.30 kg slides on the horizontal, frictionless surface of an
ice rink. Two hockey sticks strike the puck simultaneously, exerting the forces on the puck
shown in figure. The force has a magnitude of 5.0 N, and the force has a magnitude of 8.0 N.
Determine both the magnitude and the direction of the puck’s acceleration.
9. A traffic light weighing 122 N hangs from a cable tied to two other cables fastened to a
support as in the figure shown. The upper cables make angles of 37.0° and 53.0° with the
horizontal. These upper cables are not as strong as the vertical cable and will break if the
tension in them exceeds 100 N. Does the traffic light remain hanging in this situation, or will
one of the cables break?

10. Two blocks of masses m1 and m2, with m1 has greater mass than m2, are placed in contact
with each other on a frictionless, horizontal surface as shown in the figure. A constant
horizontal force is applied to m1 as shown. Find the magnitude of the acceleration of the
system.
11. When two objects of unequal mass are hung vertically over a frictionless pulley of negligible
mass as in the figure shown, the arrangement is called an Atwood machine. The device is
sometimes used in the laboratory to calculate the value of g. Determine the magnitude of the
acceleration of the two objects and the tension in the lightweight cord.

12. A ball of mass m1 and a block of mass m2 are attached by a lightweight cord that passes over
a frictionless pulley of negligible mass as in the figure shown. The block lies on a frictionless
incline of angle 𝜃. Find the magnitude of the acceleration of the two objects and the tension
in the cord.
13. A block of mass m1 on a rough, horizontal surface is connected to a ball of mass m2 by a
lightweight cord over a lightweight, frictionless pulley as shown in the figure. A force of
magnitude F at an angle 𝜃 with the horizontal is applied to the block as shown and the block
slides to the right. The coefficient of kinetic friction between the block and surface is 𝜇𝑘 .
Determine the magnitude of the acceleration of the two objects.