2.

5 PHYSICAL APPLICATIONS, MAT 2280

If an object moves along a straight line with position function 𝑠(𝑡), then the force 𝐹 pn the
object (in the same direction) is defined by:

𝑑2𝑠
𝐹=𝑚 Force = mass × acceleration
𝑑𝑡 2

If 𝑎 (𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛) is generally on earth the 𝐹 = 𝑚𝑔 where 𝑔 = 9.8 𝑚/𝑠 2

Mass is measured in kg.

What is force measured with?

Newton – named after Newton → 𝑁

SI metric system Force is measured in newtons (𝑁 = 𝑘𝑔 ∙ 𝑚/𝑠 2 )

US Customary system Force is measured in pounds (lbs)

𝑊 = 𝐹 ∙ 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒

This is for straight line motion, with a constant force and constant acceleration.

If I move a marker across the board, then if you multiply the force times the distance, you get
the work I just did.

SI metric system Work us measured in newton-meters, or Joules (J)

US Customary system Work is measured in food-pound (ft-lb)
Example 1. Supposed a 2-lb book is lifted up to a height of 1.5 feet. Find the work done.

Definition of Work
If a force 𝑓(𝑥) acts on an object, then the work done in moving the object from 𝑥 = 𝑎 to 𝑥 = 𝑏
is
𝑏
𝑊 = ∫ 𝑓(𝑥)𝑑𝑥
𝑎

Example 2. A particle is moved along the x-axis by a force that measures 5𝑥 2 + 1 pounds at a
point 𝑥 feet from the origin. Find the work done in moving the particle from the origin to a
distance of 10 ft.
Hooke’s Law – The force 𝐹 required to compress or stretch a spring (within its elastic limits) is
proportional to the distance 𝑑 that the spring is compressed or stretched from its original length.

𝐹 = 𝑘𝑑 where 𝑘 is the spring constant.

Example 3. A force of 200 newtons stretches a spring 25 centimeters. How much work is done
in stretching the spring from 15 cm to 40 cm?

Example 4. Ignoring air resistance and the wright of the propellant, how much work is needed
to send a 9 ton satellite 200 miles above the earth. The radius of the earth equals 3959 miles.
From Newton’s Law we know the weight will vary inversely to the distance from the center of
the earth squared.
 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠
𝐷𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 = → 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 = (𝐷𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦)(𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒)
𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒

Example 5. I want to pump the water out of this cone and I want to know how much work is
required to move the water. The radius at the top of the cone is 4m and the height of the cone is
10m. The cone starts with 8m of water in it.