CHAPTER 5 : LAWS OF MOTION

FORCE

Force is a push or pull which produces or tends to produce, stops or tends or stop motion in a body.

NEWTON’S FIRST LAW OF MOTION. (THE LAW OF INERTIA)

Everybody continues to be in its state of rest or of uniform motion in a straight line unless it is
compelled by some external force to act otherwise.

INERTIA

Inertia is a tendency of a body to resist any change in its state of rest or uniform motion in a straight
line.

EXAMPLES

Inertia of rest: When we beat a carpet with a stick, dust particles are removed, because the carpet is
suddenly set into motion but the dust particles tend to remain at rest due to inertia of rest.

Inertia of motion: When a running horse suddenly stops, the rider falls forwards. The lower part of the
body of the rider comes to rest, but due to inertia of motion, the upper part of the body tends to keep on
moving.

Inertia of direction: The mud from the wheels of a moving vehicle flies off tangentially. As the mud

Leaves the wheel, there is no external force acting on it. Due to inertia of direction, it flies off
tangentially.

LINEAR MOMENTUM.

It is measured as the product of mass of the body and its velocity.

p = mv

It is a vector quantity. S.I unit is kg m/s.

NEWTON’S SECOND LAW OF MOTION.

The rate of change of momentum of a body is directly proportional to the applied force and takes place
in the direction in which the force acts.

F dp/dt .

pg. 1 ICSK
F = k dp/dt.

F = k d(mv)/dt = kma.

k=1 ,F = ma.

It is a vector.

SI unit – Newton : It is the force that produces an acceleration of 1m/s2 to a mass of 1 kg,in the
direction of force. 1N = 1 kgm/s2.

IMPULSE.

It is defined as the product of force and the time for which the force acts.

I = Fx t

I = mat = mv- mu

I = change in momentum .

A large force acting for a short time to produce a finite change in momentum is called an

Impulsive force.

NEWTON’S THIRD LAW OF MOTION

To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Force always occur in pairs.

Action and reaction forces act on different bodies. Hence they do not cancel each other.

LAW OF CONSERVATION OF LINEAR MOMENTUM.

The total momentum of an isolated system of interacting particles is constant.

Consider two bodies A and B,with initial momenta pA and pB .The bodies collide and set apart, with
final momenta p’A and p’B respectively.

By the Second law of motion,

FAB t = p’A - pA

FBA t = p’B – pB.

t is the time for which the two bodies are in contact.

FAB = - FBA

pg. 2 ICSK
Hence p’A -pA = - (p’B- p B)

p’A + p’B = pA + pB

APPLICATIONS OF CONSERVATION OF LINEAR MOMENTUM.

Recoil of gun: When a bullet is fired from a gun ,the gun moves backwards. Let M be mass of the gun
and m the mass of the bullet. On firing the gun, the bullet moves with a velocity v and the gun moves

With a velocity V. By conservation of momentum,

Total momentum of gun and bullet before firing = Total momentum of gun and bullet after firing.

0 = MV+ mv (initially both gun and bullet are at rest)

V = -mv/M

The negative sign shows that the gun moves backwards. The backward motion of the gun is called
recoil of the gun, and its velocity is called recoil velocity.

EQUILIBRIUM OF CONCURRENT FORCES.

The condition that a body may be in equilibrium when a number of forces acting on the body may is

that these forces should produce zero resultant force.

Triangle law of forces

If three forces acting at a point are represented in magnitude as well as direction by the three sides of a triangle
taken in order, keep the system in equilibrium.
Proof:

Suppose , and be three forces act at O in the direction, OX, OY and OZ respectively.
Consider the . If these three forces , and be represented in magnitude as well as direction by
the sides QR, RP and PQ of . Then, show that the forces are in equilibrium. Completing the
parallelogram QRPS. Since, QS is equal to RP and QS can also represent parallel to RP. Therefore, the
force can be represented in magnitude as well as direction by QS.
Using the parallelogram law of forces, the diagonal QP of the parallelogram QRPS represents the resultant
of along QR, and along QS in magnitude as well as direction. But, PQ represents the third force in
magnitude as well as direction. Therefore, two forces and (equal and opposite) is equivalent to the

pg. 3 ICSK
resultant of , and . Therefore, they balance each other.
Therefore, , and are in equilibrium.

: In vector form

Thus, , and are in equilibrium.

FRICTION

The cause of friction is largely due to atomic and molecular forces of attraction between the two
surfaces at the point of their actual contact.

STATIC FRICTION

The static friction is the opposing force that is set up between the surfaces of contact of the two bodies,
when one body tends to slide over the surface of another body.

It comes into play only when the applied for tends to move the body.

The static friction is a self-adjusting force

The maximum value of the force of friction which comes into play before a body just begins to slide
over the surface of another body is called limiting value of static friction.

KINETIC FRICTION

The kinetic friction is the opposing force that is set up between the surfaces of contact of the two
bodies, when one body is in relative motion over the surface of another body.

The kinetic friction is always less than the limiting static friction.

LAWS OF LIMITING STATIC FRICTION

1. The value of the limiting static friction depends upon the nature of the two surfaces in contact
and their state of roughness.
2. The force of friction is tangential (parallel) to the two surfaces in contact and acts opposite to
the direction in which the body would start moving on applying the force
3. The value of limiting static friction between two given surfaces is directly proportional to the
normal reaction between the two surfaces.

The coefficient of static friction is defined as the ratio of limiting friction the normal reaction.
pg. 4 ICSK
The value of limiting friction for any two given surfaces is independent of the shape or area of the
surfaces in contact so long as the normal reaction remains the same.

ANGLE OF FRICTION

The angle of friction may be defined as the angle which the resultant of the limiting friction and
normal reaction makes with the normal reaction.

ANGLE OF REPOSE

The angle of repose is defined as the angle of the inclined plane at which a body placed on it just
begins to slide.

Let us consider a body of mass ‘m’ resting on a plane.

Also, consider when the plane makes ‘θ’ angle with the horizontal, the body just begins to
move.

Let ‘R’ be the normal reaction of the body and ‘F’ be the frictional force.
Here,
mgsinθ = F ——> (i)
mgcosθ = R ——>(ii)
Dividing equation (i) by (ii)

Or, Tanθ = µ, where ‘µ’ is the coefficient of friction

Or, Tanθ = Tanɑ (tanɑ = µ)
pg. 5 ICSK
where ‘ɑ’ is the angle of friction
θ=ɑ
Angle of repose is equal to angle of friction.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF FRICTION

Advantages

1. Friction helps us to walk.

2. Friction helps us to tie knots in ropes
3. Treading of tyres of vehicles is done in order to increase friction
4. Friction helps to transmit power from the motors and engines to other machines by making use
of belts and clutches.

Disadvantages

1. The friction causes unnecessary wear and tear of the machinery

2. Due to friction between the moving parts of a machines, heat is produced, which in a way
affects the working as well as the life of the machine
3. A part of useful energy is dissipated in overcoming the function
4. A part of the fuel in the engines and other vehicles is used up to overcome friction.

METHODS TO REDUCE FRICTION:

1.By proper selection of materials

2. By polishing

3. By lubrication

4. By air cushion

5. By streamling

6.By using ball bearings in machines.

DYNAMICS OF CICULAR MOTION

A VEHICLE TAKING A CIRCULAR TURN ON A LEVEL ROAD.

pg. 6 ICSK
Consider a car of weight ‘mg’ going around on a circular turn of radius R with constant velocity v on
a level road as shown in following figure. The force of static friction produces necessary centripetal force
required for the vehicle to take the turn.

( The frictional force will provide the necessary centripetal force ie, f = (mv 2/r)
Hence, mv2/r ≤ μsN)

,where μs is the coefficient of static friction between the tyre and the road.

Therefore, the maximum velocity (Vmax) with which a car can travel on level curved road is given by

V max = √(μsrg)

If the car is driven at a speed greater than Vmax, then the car will skip and go off the road in a circle of

radius greater than R. This is because even the maximum available friction will be in adequate to

provide the necessary centripetal force.

BANKING OF TRACKS

The value of the maximum velocity for a vehicle to take a circular turn (without skidding) on a level
road is quite low .This limiting value of velocity decrease further due to decrease in the value of
coefficient of friction on a slippery road. If any attempt is made to run at a greater speed, the vehicle is
likely to skid and go off the track.

pg. 7 ICSK
For a vehicle to go round the curved track at a reasonable speed without skidding, the sufficient
centripetal force is obtained by raising the outer edge of the track a little above the inner one. It is
called banking of the circular track.

VEHICLE ON A BANKED ROAD.

[Free Body Diagram of a Car Travelling in a Curved Path]

pg. 8 ICSK
The value of v is the maximum allowable velocity.

Therefore, the best angle of banking θ so that there is absolutely nil wear and tear due to frictional
force for the given values of v and r can be determined by putting μ = 0 in this formula.

If we put μ = 0 ,

we get tan θ = v2/rg

Further, for zero frictional wear and tear, the velocity for the given values of θ and r

will be v = √rgtanθ. This is called optimum speed.

pg. 9 ICSK