ST.

MARY’S ENGLISH SCHOOL

CLASS – IX SUBJECT – PHYSICS
CH – 3 and 4 CH NAME – Laws of Motion and Gravitation

Non-Contact Force
A non-contact force is a force applied to an object by another body that is not in direct
contact with it. Non-contact forces come into play when objects do not have physical contact
between them or when a force is applied without any interaction. When compared to the
types of contact forces, there are very few non-contact forces.
Non-Contact Forces Types

Gravitational Force

Gravitational force is responsible for bringing the items we toss into the air back to earth.
When an object is resting on a surface it is exerting a downward force equal to its weight and
this downward force is known as Gravitational force. The gravitation is a force of attraction
that exists between all bodies that have mass. The gravitational force of the sun keeps the
Earth and all the other planets of the solar system is a fixed orbit. Gravitational force does
not need to be in contact to exert its downward force.

Electrostatic Force

The electrostatic force is very similar to gravitational force, the difference here being that
gravitational force acts between masses and electrostatic force acts between two charged
bodies. If you rub a comb on your clothes and then hold it near tiny pieces of paper you will
see the bits of paper standing on their end attracted to the comb. We are made of tiny
positive, negative and neutral particles. The opposite charges attract each other and like
charges repel. This is the result of electrostatic forces.

Magnetic Force

Have you ever used a magnet? Doesn’t it feel like magic? If you ever have two magnets, try
joining their ends. In one case, the ends will attract each other vigorously. In another case, no
matter how hard you try, the ends will never make contact. Even if you push the ends
together, the second you leave it, it will bounce off. This is the result of Magnetic force. It is
also responsible for the attraction of iron by a magnet. The magnetic force exerted by a
magnet decreases with the increase in the distance from a magnet.

Contact Force
Contact force is a force that is applied by objects in contact with each other. The contact
force acts on a point of direct contact between the two objects. This force can either be
continuous as a continuous force or can be momentary in the form of an impulse. Contact
force is governed by Newton’s Laws.

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Types of contact force:

1. Frictional Force: Friction is a force exerted by a surface against the motion of a body
across its surface. Friction is the reason why your car comes to a standstill if you don’t
press the accelerator. The frictional force is opposing the rotation of the wheels of
your car. Therefore, if you leave the accelerator, the friction slowly removes all the
force from the car and when it has removed the last bit of force, the car comes to a
standstill.

2. Normal Force: The normal force is the support force exerted upon an object that is in
contact with another fixed or stable object. For example, if a book is resting upon a
surface, then the surface is exerting an upward force upon the book in order to support
the weight of the book. The solid ground provides the normal force for all of us live.
The normal force is proportional to the weight of the body. Larger the body larger the
normal force. If a very high weight is kept on a table and it cannot provide a normal
force that large, then it breaks.

3. Tension Force: The tension force is defined as the force that is transmitted through a
rope, string or wire when pulled by forces acting from opposite sides. The tension
force is directed over the length of the wire and pulls energy equally on the bodies at
the ends. Cables and Ropes can be used for exerting forces since they can transfer a
force over a specific distance efficiently (e.g. the rope length). Please note that tension
is the pulling force since ropes cannot push effectively. Pushing with a rope causes the
rope to go slack and lose the tension that allowed it to pull in the original place.

4. Force exerted by a spring: The force exerted by spring to restore its relaxed state is

known as Spring force.

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Figure (a) shows a spring in its relaxed state that is, neither compressed nor extended.
If we stretch the spring by pulling, the block to the right as in Fig. (b), the spring pulls on the block
toward the left. Because a spring force acts to restore the relaxed state.
If we compress the spring by pushing the block to the left as in Fig. (c), the spring now pushes on
the block toward the right.
Because a spring force acts to restore the relaxed state, it is sometimes said to be a restoring
force.

5. Force exerted during collision: When two bodies collide each other, they push each
other. As a result, equal and opposite forces act on each body. These forces are the
force of action and reaction.

Newton’s First Law of Motion

The first law of motion simply means that things cannot start, stop, or change direction all by
themselves. It requires some force from the outside to cause such a change. This property of
massive bodies to resist changes in their state of motion is called inertia. Newton’s first law
is also known as the law of inertia.
Newton’s first law of motion states that “A body at rest or uniform motion will continue to
be at rest or uniform motion until and unless a net external force acts on it”. Suppose a
block is kept on the floor, it will remain at rest until we apply some external force to it. Also,
we know that it takes us more effort or force to move a heavy mass. This is directly related to
the property known as Inertia. Hence, the first law of motion is also known as the law of
inertia.

Let us Understand First Law of Motion by an Example

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 Let us take a block on a smooth surface. By smooth, we mean that there is no friction acting
on the surface. The block is at rest, that is, it is not moving.
Now, let us examine the forces acting on the block. The only forces acting on the block are
the force of gravity and the normal reaction by the surface. There is no force acting on it in
the horizontal direction. Since the forces in the vertical direction are equal to each other in
magnitude, they cancel each other out, and hence there is no external force on the block.
Since this block is at rest, we can say that it confirms Newton’s first law of Motion.
Now, if we apply a constant force F on the block in a horizontal direction, it will start
moving with some constant acceleration, in the direction of the applied force.
Inertia
Inertia is a property or tendency of every object to resist any change in its state of rest or of
uniform Force and Laws of Motion.
It is measured by the mass of an object. The heavier the object, the greater will be its inertia.

Types of Inertia

Inertia is of the following two types

(1) Inertia of rest and (2) Inertia of motion

(1) Inertia of rest: If a body is at rest, it will remain at rest unless an external force is
applied to change its state of rest. This property of the body is called inertia of rest.
(2) Inertia of motion: If a body is in a state of motion, it continues to be in uniform
motion until an external force is applied on the body. This property of the body is
called inertia of motion.
Inertia of Rest Examples
Now that you know what inertia of rest is, explore several examples.

 If pulled quickly, a tablecloth can be removed from underneath the dishes. The dishes have
the tendency to remain still as long as the friction from the movement of the tablecloth is not
too great.
 If a stopped car is hit by a moving car from behind, the passengers inside may
experience whiplash as a result of the body moving forward but the head lagging behind. The
head is experiencing inertia.
 A balloon in a car will appear to move when the car moves forward, but the balloon is
actually attempting to stay in the place it was, it is only the car that is moving.
 When a car is abruptly accelerated, drivers and passengers may feel as though their bodies
are moving backward. In reality, inertia is making the body want to stay in place as the car
moves forward.
 If an index card is placed on top of a glass with a penny on top of it, the index card can be
quickly removed while the penny falls straight into the glass, as the penny is demonstrating
inertia.

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 Inertia of Motion Examples

Objects in motion stay in motion or want to, just like these examples.

 Seat belts tighten in a car when it stops quickly.

 Men in space find it more difficult to stop moving because of a lack of gravity acting against
them.
 When playing football, a player is tackled, and his head hits the ground. The impact stops his
skull, but his brain continues to move and hit the inside of his skull. His brain is showing
inertia.
 If one drove a car directly into a brick wall, the car would stop because of the force exerted
upon it by the wall. However, the driver requires a force to stop his body from moving, such
as a seatbelt. Otherwise, inertia will cause his body to continue moving at the original speed
until his body is acted upon by some force.
 When a baseball is thrown, it will continue to move forward until acted upon by gravity. The
greater the force of the throw, the harder it is for gravity to act upon it.

From Newton’s first law, definition of force can be given as-

Force is that external cause which tends to change the state of rest or state of motion of an
object.

Linear Momentum

Linear momentum is defined as the product of a system’s mass multiplied by its velocity. In
symbols, linear momentum is expressed as p = mv.

Momentum is directly proportional to the object’s mass and also its velocity. Thus the
greater an object’s mass or the greater its velocity, the greater its momentum.
Momentum p is a vector having the same direction as the velocity v. The SI unit for
momentum is kg · m/s.

𝑝 = 𝑚𝑣

Rate of change in linear momentum

An object of mass m is moving with initial velocity u and after time interval ∆t it is gaining
the velocity v.
The change in momentum is, ∆𝑝 = 𝑝2 − 𝑝1
= 𝑚𝑣 − 𝑚𝑢
𝑚𝑣 −𝑚𝑢 𝑚 (𝑣−𝑢)
The rate of change of momentum, ∆𝑝/∆t= = = 𝑚𝑎
∆𝑡 ∆𝑡

Newton’s second law of motion

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The rate of change of linear momentum of a body is directly proportional to the force applied
to it and the change in momentum takes place in the direction in which the force is applied.
The SI unit of force is newton (N).

According to second law,

𝑐𝑕𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑢𝑚
𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 ∝
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
𝑚𝑣 − 𝑚𝑢
𝑜𝑟, 𝐹 ∝
𝑡
𝑚 𝑣−𝑢
𝑜𝑟, 𝐹 ∝
𝑡
𝑣−𝑢
𝑜𝑟, 𝐹 ∝ 𝑚𝑎 𝑎𝑠, =𝑎
𝑡
𝑜𝑟, 𝐹 = 𝑘𝑚𝑎 ; 𝑘 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡

𝑏𝑦 𝑝𝑢𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑘 = 1

𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎

Units of force:
The S.I unit of force is newton (N)

1𝑁 = 1𝑘𝑔 × 1𝑚𝑠 −2
It can be defined as:

One newton is the force which when acts on a body of mass 1 kg, produces an acceleration
of 1 m/s2.

The C.G.S unit of force is dyne.

1𝑑𝑦𝑛𝑒 = 1𝑔 × 1𝑐𝑚𝑠 −2
It can be defined as:

One dyne is the force which when acts on a body of mass 1 g, produces an acceleration of 1
cm/s2.

Relation between newton and dyne:

1𝑁 = 1𝑘𝑔 × 1𝑚 𝑠 −2

= 103 𝑔 × 102 𝑐𝑚 𝑠 −2

= 105 𝑑𝑦𝑛𝑒

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𝑠𝑜, 1 𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑡𝑜𝑛 = 105 𝑑𝑦𝑛𝑒

In terms of rate of change of momentum:

∆𝑝
Rate of change of momentum = ∆𝑡
𝐴𝑠, 𝑝 = 𝑚𝑣
∆(𝑚𝑣)
𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑕𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑢𝑚 =
∆𝑡
(i) Case-1: 𝑖𝑓 𝑣 ≪ 𝑐 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑖𝑔𝑕𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑣𝑎𝑐𝑢𝑢𝑚
𝑚∆𝑣
𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑕𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑢𝑚 = = 𝑚𝑎
∆𝑡
(ii) Case-2: 𝑖𝑓 𝑣 → 𝑐,
∆(𝑚𝑣)
𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑕𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑢𝑚 =
∆𝑡

Examples of newton’s second law of motion:

1. While catching a ball, a cricket player lowers his hands, because by doing so, he increases
the time of catch. That is, the person increases the time to bring about a given change in
momentum, and hence rate of change of momentum decreases. Thus, a small force is
exerted by ball on the hands.

2. Athletes often jumps on sand after taking a high jump because When a high jumper falls
on a soft landing site(such as cushion or a heap of sand), then the jumper takes a longer
time to come to stop. The rate of change of momentum of athlete is less due to which a
smaller stopping force acts on the athlete. And the athlete does not get hurt. Thus, the
cushion or sand, being soft, reduces the athlete’s momentum more gently. If however, a
high jumping athlete falls from a height on to hard ground, then his momentum will be
reduced to zero in a very short time. The rate of change of momentum will be large due to
which a large opposing force will act on the athlete. This can cause serious injuries to the
athlete.

3. When glass vessels fall on a hard floor, they break, but they do not break when they fall
on a carpet because when a glass vessel falls from a height on a hard floor, it comes to
rest almost instantaneously so the floor exerts a large force on the vessel and it breaks.
But if it falls on a carpet, the time duration in which the vessel comes to rest, increases
and so the carpet exerts a less force on the vessel and it does not break.

Newton’s third law of motion:

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According to Newton’s third law of motion, it states that for every action (force) in
nature there is an equal and opposite reaction. In other words, if object A exerts a force
on object B, then object B also exerts an equal and opposite force on object A.

Examples:
1. A swimmer pushes the water backward by his/her hands and in return the water
pushes the swimmer forwards, thus enabling him to go forward during swimming.
2. A man walking on the ground: While walking, a person pushes the ground in the
backward direction, and the ground in return pushes the person in the forward
direction, thus making him/her walk.

3. A bird while flying pushes the air downwards with the help of its wings. Consistent
with Newton’s third law of motion, the air pushes the bird upwards.

Question Answers
1. When a force is applied to a body, what are the two essential effects it can
produce?
Ans: (i) It can bring about the change in the state of motion of a body or

(ii) It can deform a body, i.e., it can change its shape.

2. State the Newton’s first law of motion.

Ans: If a body is in a state of rest, then it will remain in that state, and if the body is in
a state of motion, then it will continue moving with the same velocity in the same
direction unless an external force is applied to it.
3. State the relation between Mass and Inertia.
Ans: The property of inertia is because of the mass of the body. The greater the mass,
the greater is the inertia of the body.
Inertia is directly proportional to mass. Mass is a measure of inertia.
4. . Define linear momentum.
Ans: Force needed to stop a moving body in a definite time depends both on the mass
of the body (m) and its velocity (v).
The Linear momentum of a body is the product of its mass and velocity. It is denoted
by the letter p
Therefore, P = mv
5. State the S.I and C.G.S unit of linear momentum.
Ans: The S.I. unit of momentum is kg m/s
The C.G.S. unit of momentum is g cm/ s

6. State and explain the Newton's second law of motion.

Ans: The rate of change of linear momentum of a body is directly proportional to the
force applied to it and the change in momentum takes place in the direction in which
the force is applied.
The SI unit of force is newton (N)

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 By the second law, we know that
𝑐𝑕𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑢𝑚
𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 ∝
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒

Consider a body of mass m having an initial velocity u. The initial momentum of this
body will be mu. Suppose a force f, acts on this body for time t and causes the final
velocity to become v. The final momentum will become mv. Now, the change in
momentum will be (mv–mu) and the time taken for this change is t. So, according to
the 2nd law of motion,
F α (mv-mu) / t
F α m(v-u) / t
But (v-u)/t represents the change in velocity by the time taken which is known as
acceleration ‘a’ so by placing 'a' instead of( v-u)/t we get,
Fαm×a
This relation can be turned into an equation by putting in a constant k. Thus,
F=k×m×a
The value of k in SI values is 1. So the above equation becomes,
F=m×a
or Force = mass × acceleration.

7. State the Newton's third law of motion.

Ans: For every action, there is always an equal and opposite reaction. The action and
reaction never act on the same body, but they always act simultaneously on two
different bodies. Forces always occur in a pair.

8. Give two applications of Newton's third law of motion.

Ans: (i) When a bullet has fired the gun jerks back because of the reaction force acting
on the gun when the bullet moves forward at a great speed.
(ii) Jet aeroplanes and rockets use this principle of action – reaction to propel forward.

9. State the universal law of gravitation.

Ans: The force of attraction acting between two particles is directly proportional to the
product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance
between them.
If m1 and m2 are the masses of two bodies separated at r distance from each other, then
the force acting between them is, F = G m1 m2 / r2 , G is the universal Gravitational
constant.
The value of G is equal to 6.67 x 10-11N m2kg-2

10. What do you mean by acceleration due to gravity? State it's value.
Ans: The rate at which the velocity of a freely falling body increases is called the
acceleration due to gravity (g).The mean value of g at the earth’s surface is taken to be
9.8 m s-2 . The value of g at the centre of earth is zero
11. Write down the gravitational units of force.
Ans: kilogram force (kgf) and gram force (gf).

12.15. Define one kilogram force and State its relation with S.I unit of force.
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 Ans: One kilogram force is the force due to gravity on a mass of 1 kilogram.
1 kgf = 9.8 N.
13. Define one gram force and State its relation with C.G.S unit of force.
Ans: One gram force is the force due to gravity on a mass of 1 gram,
1 gf = 980 dyne.

14. Find the relation between g and G.

Ans: F = G m1 m2 / r2
Now if the mass of the earth is M and mass of an object placed on earth surface is m
then, force applied on the object due Earth,
F = G Mm/R2 , where as R is the radius of the earth.
Now the force applied on the object due Earth is nothing but the weight of the object.
Hence
W = mg = G Mm/R2
or, g = GM / R2

15. A ball is hanging by a string from a roof. Draw a diagram and show the forces
acting on the ball and the string.
Ans: The forces are,
The tension force and its weight are shown in the diagram.

16. Two equal and opposite forces act on a body, will they move? Give reason.
Ans: No.
Because the net force applied on the body is zero. Hence the body will be stationary.

17. Why does a person fall when he jumps out of a moving train?
Ans: Inside the train, the whole body of the person is in motion. But outside the train,
when his feet touch the ground, the lower part of the body tries to be at rest but the
upper part has a tendency to remain in motion due to inertia of motion. As a result he
falls in the direction of moving train.

18. State one factor on which magnitude of non-contact force depend and how?
Ans: The magnitude of non-contact force depends on the distance between the objects.
The force will decrease with the increase of distance between the objects.

19. Give two examples which show that greater the mass greater is the inertia.

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 Ans: Example-1: The cricket ball is massive than a tennis ball. So when they are
pushed for the same duration by applying same force, the cricket ball acquires more
velocity than the tennis ball. In case when they are moving with same velocity, it is
more difficult to stop the cricket ball than tennis ball.
Example-2: It is difficult to set a loaded trolley in motion than an unloaded trolley.
Similarly if both of them are moving with same velocity initially, then it is difficult to
stop the loaded trolley than an unloaded trolley.

20.Two bodies A and B of equal mass are moving with velocity v and 2v respectively.
Compare (i) their inertia, (ii) momentum and (iii) force needed to stop them.
Ans: (i) As both of them are of same mass, their Inertia will be same. So ratio of their
inertia is 1:1
(ii) Ratio of their momentum is
mv : 2mv = 1:2
(iii) Ratio of force needed to stop = 1:2.

21. How does the acceleration produced by a given force depend on mass of the
object? Draw a graph to represent this variation between acceleration and mass.
Ans: acceleration is inversely proportional to mass when net force is constant…
a ∝ 1/m
That is, greater the mass of the body less is the acceleration of the body.

22. Define the following terms Newton and Dyne. Also find the relation between
them.
Ans: Newton: 1 Newton is the amount of force which when acts on a body of mass
1kg to produce the acceleration of 1m/s2 .
Dyne: 1dyne is the amount of force which when acts on a body of mass 1gram to
produce the acceleration of 1 cm/s2 .
1 Newton= (1 kg) × (1 m/s²)
= (1000 g) × (100 cm/s²)
= 100000 × (1 g)× (1 cm/s²)

= 100000 dyn =105 dyne.

23. How much net force is required to accelerate a

1000 kg car at 4 m/s2?
Ans: m = 1000 kg,
a = 4 m/s2
F = ma
= 1000 × 4
= 4000 N

24. If a net force of 7 N was constantly applied on 400 g object at rest, how long
will it take to raise its velocity to 80 m/s?
Ans: u = 0, v = 80 m/s, F = 7 N, m = 400 g = 0.4 kg
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 F × t = m(v-u)
t = mv/ F = (0.4×80)/7
= 32/7
= 4.57 second.

25. A driver accelerates his car first at the rate of 4 m/s2 and then at the rate of 8
m/s2. Calculate the ratio of the forces exerted by the engines?
Ans: Mass (m) of the car is remaining same.
So the ratio of the forces = 4m: 8m
= 1:2

26. Explain, why is it difficult for a fireman to hold a hose, which ejects large
amounts of water at a high velocity.
Ans: For the hose to eject water at high velocities, a force must be applied on the
water (which is usually done with the help of a pump or a motor). Now, the water
applies an equal and opposite force on the hose. For the fireman to hold this hose, he
must apply a force on it to overcome the force applied on the hose by the water. The
higher the quantity and velocity of the water coming out of the hose, the greater the
force that must be applied by the fireman to hold it steady.

27. Why does a ball, thrown vertically upwards in a moving train come back to
thrower’s hand?

Ans: The reason is that when the ball is thrown, the ball is in motion along with the
person and train. Due to the inertia of motion, during the time the ball remains in air,
the person and ball move ahead by the same distance. This makes the ball fall back
into the thrower's hand.
28. Two equal and opposite forces act on a moving object. How is its motion
affected? Give reason.
Ans: The motion remains unaffected because the net force acting on it is zero.
29. Two balls A and B of masses m and 2 m are in motion with
velocities 2v and v, respectively. Compare:
(i) Their inertia.
(ii) Their momentum.
(iii) The force needed to stop them in the same time.
Ans: (i) Inertia of body A:Inertia of body B = m:2m
Or, Inertia of body A:Inertia of body B = 1:2.

(ii) Momentum of body A = m ( 2v) = 2mv

Momentum of body B = (2m) v = 2mv
Momentum of body A: Momentum of body B = 2 mv: 2mv
Or, Momentum of body A: Momentum of body B = 1:1.

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 (iii) According to Newton's 2nd law of motion, rate of change of momentum
is directly proportional to the force applied on it. Therefore,
Force needed to stop A: Force needed to stop B = 1:1.
30. A force causes an acceleration of 10 m s-2 in a body of mass 500 g. What
acceleration will be caused by the same force in a body of mass 5 kg?
Solution :
Let the force be F.
Force F causes an acceleration, a = 10 m/s2 in a body of mass, m = 500 g or 0.5 kg
Thus, F = ma
Or, F = (0.5) (10) = 5 N

Let a' be the acceleration which force F (=5N) cause on a body of mass, m' = 5 kg.
Then, a' = F/m'.
Or, a' = (5/5) ms-2.
Or, a' = 1 ms-2.

31. A force acts for 0.1 s on a body of mass 2.0 kg initially at rest. The force is
then withdrawn and the body moves with a velocity of 2 m s-1. Find the
magnitude of the force.
Solution
Mass, m = 2 kg
Initial velocity, u = 0
Final velocity, v = 2 m/s
Time, t = 0.1 s

Acceleration = Change in velocity/time

Or, a = (v u) /t
Or, a = (2 0)/ 0.1 = 20 ms-2.
Force = Mass Acceleration
Or, F = (2) (20) = 40 N.

32. How is the gravitational force between two masses affected if the separation
between them is doubled?
Solution:

If the distance between the masses becomes half, the force reduces to one-fourth.

33. A ball is released from a height and it reaches the ground in 3 s. If g= 9.8 m s-2,
find the value for the following variables:
(a) The height from which the ball was released.
(b) The velocity with which the ball will strike the ground.
Solution:
Let 'S' be the height.
Time taken, t = 3s; g = 9.8 m/s2

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Initial velocity, u = 0 (because the body starts from rest)
(a) Using the second equation of motion,
S = ut + (1/2) gt2
We get,
S = 0 + (1/2) (9.8) (3) (3)
S = 44.1 m
(b) Let 'v' be the velocity with which the ball strikes the ground.
Using the third equation of motion,
v2 u2 = 2gs
or, v2 - 02 = 2(9.8) (44.1)
or, v2 = 864.36
or, v = 29.4 m/s

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