INTRODUCTION • We all know that how motion is described in terms of velocity and acceleration. We now investigate the cause of motion. • What causes a body at rest to move? What causes a moving body to come to a stop? What causes a body to accelerate or decelerate? What is involved when an object moves in a circle? • Our answer is that in each case, a force is required. The relation between force and motion is described in Newton’s three laws of motion. • These laws are very simple statements and enable us to describe the future (or past) motion of a body if we know the forces acting on it. • Since basic cause of motion is the force, we shall discuss this important physical quantity first before dealing with Newton’s laws of motion. FORCE • In physics, a force is any influence (have effect on) that causes an object to undergo a change in direction, or a change in shape. • In everyday language, a force is defined as under: “A Force is a push or pull which produces or tends to produce, a stop or tends to stop motion in a body. “ • This is the intuitive (idea obtained by your feelings rather than by considering the facts.) definition of force. • For example, a rubber ball lying on the ground is at rest but when it is pushed, it begins to move. • Similarly, when u apply your hand to a moving ball, it is stopped. Sometimes, this push or pull tends to produce or stop motion but fails to do so e.g., a man cannot move or stop a truck. • The above notion of fore is all right in everyday conversation but not for the applications of Newton’s laws of motion to problems in physics. We have coined a clear definition of force. • We know that a body at rest or moving with a constant velocity (i.e., with constant speed in a straight line) has zero acceleration. • If the velocity of the body is changing (in magnitude or in direction or both) , it is accelerating. • It has been found experimentally that if a body has zero acceleration, no net force acting on it. On the other hand, force is required to produce acceleration in a body. • Thus a force is an agent that produces or tends to produce acceleration (or retardation) in a body. • Since force has magnitude as well as direction, 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. • The net force is the vector sum of all the forces acting on the object. We often call the net force as the resultant force or the unbalanced force. SI Unit of force F=ma • The SI unit of ‘m’ is 1 kg and that of ‘a’ is 1 ms-2. ∴ SI unit of force F = 1 kg × 1 ms-2 = 1 kg ms-2 or 1 N • Hence one Newton (1 N) is that force which produces an acceleration of 1 ms-2 in a mass of 1 kg. The CGS unit is dyne or gm cms-2. • The dimensional formula of force is [F] = [M] [L T-2] = [MLT-2]. Resolution of forces • When we add two forces such as AandB, we can replace the separate forces by a single equivalent resultant force, R A B . • We can do this in reverse i.e., we can replace a single force by any two (or more) forces whose sum gives us back the original force. This is called resolution of a force. • The process of splitting a single vector into two or more vectors in different directions in a plane such that their sum gives back the original vector is called resolution of a force. • For simplicity instead of force, here we take two vectors into account. The vectors into which the given vector F is resolved (or splitted) are called the vector components of F . • Figure shows that the original vector resolved into two non-parallel vectors A and B such that : F A B • Thus, Aand B are the vector components of F . • As any number of vectors can be combined to give a single equivalent vector, therefore, a vector can be resolved into any number of vector components. • The resolution of a vector into its components often simplifies many problems related to vectors. NEWTON’S LAW OF MOTION • Newton’s laws of motion are three physical laws that form the basis for classical mechanics. • They describe the relationship between the force acting on a body and its motion due to those forces. • This three laws of motion were first given by Sir Issac Newton and first published on July 5, 1687. Newton’s First Law Of Motion
• Newton’s first law of motion may be stated as
under : Everybody continues in its state of rest or of uniform motion in a straight line unless it is compelled by some external force to change that state. • In other words, if a body is at rest or moving with a constant velocity (i.e, with constant speed in a straight line), no net force is acting on it. • Note : Net force means vector sum of all the forces acting on the body. • Newton’s first law of motion has two parts. The first part states that a body at rest will remain at rest unless some external force acts on it to change its state of rest. • The second part states that a moving body continues to move with constant velocity unless some external force acts on the body to change its uniform motion (i.e., motion with constant velocity). • The first part of the law is consistent with everyday experience. • It appears that second part of the law contradicts everyday experience. For example, a boll rolling on a road stops after covering some distance. The ball has stopped because external frictional force is acting on it. • If a body is at rest or moving with a constant velocity (i.e., with a constant speed in a straight line) , the net force acting on a body is zero. • Now state of rest or motion with constant velocity means zero acceleration. Hence Newton’s first law of motion can also be expressed as under : • If no net force acts on a body, then body’s acceleration is zero (i.e., either the body is at rest or is moving with a constant velocity). Law of Inertia : • Newton’s first law of motion is also called law of inertia. The reason is simple. Now inertia of body means the resistance of the body to change in its state of rest or of uniform motion in a straight line. • According to Newton’s first law of motion, a body at rest will remain at rest and if it is moving, it will continue to move with constant velocity unless some external force changes its state of rest or of uniform motion in a straight line. • In other words, a body of its own cannot change its state of rest or of uniform motion. • The statement of Newton’s first law of motion and definition of inertia are equivalent. • Hence Newton’s first law of motion is rightly called law of inertia. Example of Newton’s First Law of Motion :
• In everyday life, there are a large number of
examples of Newton’s first law of motion ( or law of inertia ) but only few are given below by way of illustration :
(1) When a train suddenly starts, the passengers
standing in the compartment tend to fall backward. It is because the lower part of the body of the passenger, which is in contact with the train, comes in motion but the upper part tends to be at rest due to inertia. Consequently, the passengers tend to fall backward. (2) When a moving bus is suddenly stopped, the passengers tend to fall forward. It is because the lower part of the body of the passenger which is in contact with the bus comes to rest but the upper part of the body tends to be in motion due to inertia. As a result, the passengers tend to fall forward. (3) When we beat a carpet with a stick, dust particles are removed. It is because the carpet is suddenly set into motion but the dust particles tend to remain at rest due to inertia. Therefore, dust particles get removed from the carpet. (4) When we shake a mango tree, the mangoes fall down. It is due to the fact that shaking brings the branches of the tree in motion while the mangoes tend to be at rest due to inertia. Consequently, the mangoes get detached. Newton’s Second Law of Motion
• According to Newton’s second law of motion,
the rate of change of linear momentum of a body with time is directly proportional to the net external force applied on it and this change takes place in the direction of the applied force i.e., Applied force ∝ Time rate of change of linear momentum • Consider a body of mass m moving with a velocity v in a straight line. The linear momentum of the body is p = m v . Let F be the external force applied on the body in the direction of motion of the body. If dp is the small change in the linear momentum of the body in small time dt due to this force, then according to Newton’s second law of motion, dp F dp or F k dt dt • Where k is a constant of proportionality and its value depends on the choice of unit for the force. In SI units, the unit of force is so selected that k=1. dp d (mv) dv F m dt dt dt but dv a , the acceleration produced in dt the body. F m a • The magnitude of the force is F = ma. SI Unit of Force : F=ma • The SI unit of m is 1 kg and that of a is 1 m/s2. SI unit of force F = 1 kg × 1 ms-2 = 1 kg ms-2 or 1 N • Hence one Newton (1 N) is that force which produces an acceleration of 1 ms-2 in a mass of 1 kg. • Discussion : The following conclusion can be drawn from Newton’s second law of motion : (1) Newton’s second law gives us the relation between force, mass and acceleration viz. F=ma Since m is constant, F α a . Therefore, Newton’s second law of motion provides us the definition of force. “A Force is that which produces or tends to produces acceleration (or retardation) in a body.” (2) If no net force is acting on a body, then according to Newton’s second law of motion the rate of change of linear momentum with time is zero i.e., dp F 0 dt or p mv constant
Thus the object’s linear momentum
remains constant when the net force acting on it zero. • Since m is constant p and is also constant, it means is v constant. What does constant v mean? • It means either the body is at rest or it is moving with constant velocity. Thus when net force on a body is zero, the body is either at rest or moving with constant velocity. This is Newton’s first law of motion. Therefore, Newton’s first law is contained in the second law. (3) F = m a or a = F/m • Clearly, second law tells us that mass of a body is a measure of its inertia. For given net force, an object with a larger mass will have smaller acceleration i.e., smaller change in the velocity of the object. • Therefore, the mass of an object is that property of the object which causes it to resist any change in its velocity. Since inertia means resistance to change, the mass of a body is a measure of its inertia. Newton’s Third Law Of Motion
• According to Newton’s third law of motion : To
every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. • It simply means that if one body exerts a force (action) on the second body, then second body exerts an equal and opposite force (reaction) on the first body. • We can restate Newton’s third law of motion in more quantitative terms as under : • If body A exerts a force FAB on a body B (action)and body B exerts a force FBA on a body A (reaction), then according to Newton’s third law of motion, FAB FBA • Note that F (action) and F (reaction) are AB BA
equal in magnitude but opposite in direction.
Two things are worth noting about Newton’s third law of motion. • First, action and reaction act on different bodies and, therefore, they cannot cancel each other. • Thus in the above case, action ( FAB ) is on body B and reaction (F ) is on body A. BA
• Secondly, action and reaction involve a pair of
bodies. It does not matter which force in such a pair is called the action and which the reaction. Example of Newton’s Third Law of Motion :
• In everyday life, there are a large number of
practical examples of the applications of Newton’s third law of motion. However, we shall discuss only a few by way of illustration. (1)Walking : when a person walk on a ground, he or she exerts a force on the ground and in turn ground exerts an equal force on the person. It is this force on the person which moves him or her forward. (2) The working of rockets is based on newton’s third law : The rocket exerts a strong force on the gases, expelling them. The gases exert an equal and opposite force on the rocket and it is this force which moves the rocket forward. (3)When a gun is fired, the force exerted on the bullet is equal to the reaction force exerted on the gun : Since the forces are equal in magnitude, why does not gun recoil with the same speed as that of bullet. Recall that a = F/m. Since the gun is much more massive than the bullet, the change in its acceleration is very small as compared to that of the bullet.