S 123: Physics for Engineers

V. Laws of Motion

Force

The word force refers to an interaction with an object by means of muscular

activity and some change in the object’s velocity. Forces do not always cause motion,
however. For example, when you are sitting, a gravitational force acts on your body and
yet you remain stationary. As a second example, you can push (in other words, exert a
force) on a large boulder and not be able to move it.

Figure 5.1. Some examples of applied forces. In each case, a force is exerted on the object
within the boxed area. Some agent in the environment external to the boxed area exerts a
force on the object.

 Contact forces involve physical contact between two objects. Other examples of
contact forces are the force exerted by gas molecules on the walls of a container
and the force exerted by your feet on the floor.
 Field forces do not involve physical contact between two objects. These forces act
through empty space.

 Newton’s First Law of Motion

Newton’s first law of motion is close to Galileo’s conclusions (that is if no force is applied to
a moving object, it will continue to move with constant speed in a straight line. An object
slows down only if a force is exerted on it), it states that:

“Every object continues in its state of rest, or of uniform velocity in a straight line, as long
as no net force acts on it.”

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FIGURE 5.2. 𝐹⃗ represents the force applied by the person and 𝐹

⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑓𝑟 represents the force of
friction.

As a result, Newton’s first law is often called the law of inertia.

 Mass is a property of an object itself (a measure of an object’s inertia, or its

“quantity of matter”).
 Weight, on the other hand, is a force, the pull of gravity acting on an object.

 Newton’s Second Law of Motion

“The acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force acting on it, and is
inversely proportional to the object’s mass. The direction of the acceleration is in the
direction of the net force acting on the object.”

FIGURE 5.3. The bobsled accelerates because the team exerts a force.

Newton’s second law can be written as an equation:

where stands 𝑎⃗ for acceleration, m for the mass, and for the ∑ 𝐹⃗ net force on the object.
We rearrange this equation to obtain the familiar statement of Newton’s second law:

Table 5.1. Units for Mass and Force

 Newton’s Third Law of Motion

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 S 123: Physics for Engineers

“Whenever one object exerts a force on a second object, the second object exerts an equal
force in the opposite direction on the first.”
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝐹12 = −𝐹 21

FIGURE 5.4. If your hand pushes against the edge of a desk (the force vector is shown in
red), the desk pushes back against your hand (this force vector is shown in a different
color, violet, to remind us that this force acts on a different object).

Example 5.1. Estimate the net force needed to accelerate (a) a 1000-kg car at 0.5g (b) a
200-gram apple at the same rate.

Solution:

a)

b)

Example 5.2. A hockey puck having a mass of 0.30 kg slides on the frictionless, horizontal
surface of an ice rink. Two hockey sticks strike the puck simultaneously, exerting the
forces on the puck. The force ⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝐹1 has a magnitude of 5.0 N, and is directed at u 20° below
⃗⃗⃗⃗
the x axis. The force 𝐹2 has a magnitude of 8.0 N and its direction is 60° above the x axis.
Determine both the magnitude and the direction of the puck’s acceleration.

Solution:

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 S 123: Physics for Engineers

Example 5.3. A friend has given you a special gift, a box of mass 10.0 kg with a mystery
surprise inside. The box is resting on the smooth (frictionless) horizontal surface of a table,
(a) Determine the weight of the box and the normal force exerted on it by the table. (b) Now
your friend pushes down on the box with a force of 40.0 N. Again determine the normal
force exerted on the box by the table. (c) If your friend pulls upward on the box with a force
of 40.0 N, what now is the normal force exerted on the box by the table?

Solution:

The normal force on the box, exerted by the table, is 98.0 N upward, and has magnitude
equal to the box’s weight.

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 S 123: Physics for Engineers

Example 5.4. A traffic light weighing 122 N hangs from a cable tied to two other cables
fastened to a support as in figure below. The upper cables make angles of 𝜃1 =37.0° and
𝜃1 =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?

Solution:

Both values are less than 100 N ( just barely for T2), so the cables will not break.

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