Physics 20

Unit B – Dynamics
Summary Notes

Dynamics
Dynamics asks the question of why an object moves through the examination of forces acting on
the object.

The unit of force is the newton (N) named in honour of Sir Isaac Newton. The newton in
fundamental units is kg·m/s2.

Common Forces
In Physics 20, the common forces you will see are:

 applied force ( F A ) – force supplied by a person, animal, machine – anything external to
the object 
 normal force ( F N ) – contact force acting perpendicular to the shared surface directed
towards the object

 frictional force ( F f ) – force that opposes the direction of (intended) motion when two
surfaces (attempt to) move relative to one another

 gravitational force ( F g ) – force of attraction between two objects with mass; the force of
gravity between Earth and any object is sometimes referred to as “weight”

 spring force ( F s ) – force that restores an elastic object to its equilibrium position; it is
always opposite to the applied force that caused the stretching or compression of the
elastic material

 tension force ( F T ) – force applied through a rope, cable, or string that always acts away
from the object

Free-Body Diagrams
A major task in dynamics (and the remainder of physics) will be to examine the forces acting on
an object and using this to build a net force equation. To do this, we use a free-body diagram
(FBD). An FBD shows the forces acting on an object using a dot to represent the object and
arrows drawn in proportion to the magnitudes of the forces originating from the dot. It is
important to ensure the directions of the forces are correct on the diagram for it to be useful.

When the FBD is drawn, set your sign convention to denote the positive direction(s).

Newton’s Laws of Motion

Newton’s First Law
When the net force acting on an object is zero (i.e., forces are balanced), the object will move
with constant velocity. If the object is already moving, it will continue to move with the same
non-zero speed in a straight line; if the object is at rest, it will continue to remain at rest.

If we wish to change the speed or direction of an object, a non-zero net force is needed.

It is possible (and common) to have the forces balanced in one direction but unbalanced in
another direction (e.g., a car accelerating on a flat road – the forces are balanced in the vertical
direction but unbalanced in the vertical direction).
Newton’s Second Law
This is the law most commonly used in Physics 20 and 30. It establishes the relationship between
mass, acceleration, and net force.

 F net
a
m
It can be used in a variety of contexts. In Physics 20 and 30, to use Newton’s second law, we
assume the mass of the object remains constant.

Relationships
 Constant acceleration: net force is directly proportional to the mass (i.e., linear
relationship)
 Constant net force: acceleration is inversely proportional to the mass (i.e., inverse
relationship)

Newton’s Third Law

When two objects interact, there are two forces that act simultaneously on the objects separately
that are equal in magnitude but opposite direction. This is usually written as:
 
F AB   F BA
The two forces are referred to as a Newton’s third law pair. The third law pair must be the same
type of force.

Friction
There are two types of friction: static friction and kinetic friction. Static friction acts on an object
that has not yet moved; kinetic friction acts on an object that is in motion.

Regardless of the type of friction, the force of friction can be calculated using:
 
Ff   FN

where:

F f is the magnitude of the force of static friction (N)
µ is the coefficient of friction (no units)
 for static friction, use the coefficient of static friction
 for kinetic friction, use the coefficient of kinetic friction

F N is the magnitude of the normal force (N)

This equation cannot tell you anything about the direction of the force of friction. You must be
mindful of this and put in a negative sign if your sign convention requires it.

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Static Friction
For static friction problems, as the object is not moving, the net force is zero and forces in all
directions are balanced.

We will calculate the maximum force of static friction as it can vary from 0 N up to a maximum
value that once exceeded, will cause the object to move and then we must discuss kinetic
friction.

The direction of static friction is in the direction opposite to the direction of intended motion.
The key phrase involving static friction problems is “the object just begins to move” or similar
wording.

Kinetic Friction
For kinetic friction problems, if the object is moving with constant velocity, the net force is zero;
if the object is accelerating, the net force is non-zero and is in the direction of the acceleration.

The direction of kinetic friction is opposite to the direction of motion.

Applications of Newton’s Second Law

Net Force Equation
When solving any problem involving forces, the first step is to draw a free-body diagram of all
the forces acting on the object. The second step is to build the net force equation. This equation
is the vector addition of all the forces acting on the object in a particular direction.

For example, if we have forces acting on an object in both the horizontal and vertical directions,
we will have a net force equation for the horizontal direction (which would only add the forces in
the horizontal plane) and a net force equation for the vertical direction (which would only add
the forces in the vertical plane).

The net force equation is a vector equation so direction must be considered.

Horizontal and Vertical Dynamics

For objects that only move horizontally or vertically, one needs to examine the forces in the two
planes separately. If the question has both horizontal and vertical forces and you find that you are
having trouble solving for a quantity in one plane, examine the net force equation in the other
plane to see if something can be solved there that would help you to move forward with the
problem.

Pulley Systems
Pulley systems change the direction of the force but do not change its magnitude. In Physics 20,
we will attach two masses by a rope or place the rope on a pulley. If we let the masses freely
hang, we have an Atwood’s pulley; if one mass can freely hang but the other mass is supported
by a surface, we have a Fletcher’s trolley.

The key to these problems is to “straighten out” the pulley to examine the forces and set the
direction of motion as the positive direction.

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Atwood’s Pulley
An Atwood’s pulley has two masses connected by a rope that freely hang over a pulley system.
The difference in the masses is what drives the pulley system.

The magnitude of the acceleration of an Atwood’s pulley system is always:

m2  m1
a g
m1  m2

Both masses have the same magnitude of acceleration: one will go up while the other goes down.

If asked to determine the force of tension in the rope, isolate one of the masses and draw a free-
body diagram for it and solve the appropriate net force equation. Ensure that the mass you use is
only the mass for the part you isolated.

Fletcher’s Trolley
A Fletcher’s trolley has two masses connected by a rope passing over a pulley but only one mass
is allowed to freely hang while the other mass is supported by a surface (e.g., tabletop).

Again, one can examine the entire system by “straightening out” the pulley system to examine
the forces and setting the direction of motion as the positive direction. The one thing that makes
Fletcher’s trolley more complicated is the mass supported by the surface may experience a force
of friction which would need to be accounted for in the net force equation.

Applied Force at an Angle

If the applied force acting on an object is neither in the horizontal nor vertical planes, it must be
resolved into its components. The components will be what are used in the appropriate net force
equations.

When there is an applied force acting at an angle, care must be taken in the vertical direction if
asked to determine the normal force as it will no longer be equal to the magnitude of the force of
gravity. If there’s a component of the applied force directed upwards, the magnitude of the
normal force will be less than the magnitude of the force of gravity; if there’s a component of the
applied force directed downwards, the magnitude of the normal force will be greater than the
magnitude of the force of gravity.

Please note that applied forces at an angle are not the same as an inclined plane. Pay careful
attention to whether the force being applied to move the object is acting at an angle relative to
the surface or if the surface itself is inclined – the two problems have different approaches.

Inclined Planes
When the entire surface is inclined relative to the horizontal, instead of examining horizontal and
vertical planes, we will realign our coordinate system: parallel to the surface of the plane and
perpendicular to the surface of the plane.

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In inclined planes, the force of gravity will neither be parallel nor perpendicular to the surface of
the plane, so it must be resolved into its respective components:

Magnitude of the Force of Gravity Parallel Magnitude of the Force of Gravity

to the Surface of the Plane Perpendicular to the Surface of the Plane
   
F g  F g sin  F g  F g cos 
 
F g  mg sin  F g  mg cos 

In both sets of equations above, the angle is the same as the angle of inclination of the plane.

Resolving the force of gravity into its components will not tell you about its direction so you
must place negative signs as appropriate consistent with your sign convention.

Equilibrium
An object in equilibrium means the net force acting on it is zero (it also means the net torque
acting on it is zero – that is outside our scope). These problems can be complicated but if some
assumptions are valid, we can simplify the problem.

A shortcut method works if the following conditions are true:

 The object is in equilibrium
 There are only three forces acting on the object
 Two of the forces make a right angle

If all of the above are satisfied, when we draw our vector diagram for the problem, our shape will
be a right triangle. This is significantly easier to solve than examining two net force equations.

You should, however, still be able to solve these questions the more formal, detailed way using
components and net force equations.

Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation

A simplified way of determining the magnitude of the force of gravity acting on an object is:

F g  mg

However, if we do not know the acceleration due to gravity at a particular location, this equation
will not serve us well. It is useful for us on the surface of Earth as we know on the surface of
Earth the magnitude of the acceleration due to gravity is 9.81 m/s2.

Newton established two important ideas regarding the force of gravity:

1. It is directly proportional to the masses of the objects interacting (i.e., linear relationship)
2. It is proportional to the inverse square of the distance between the two objects interacting

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Putting these ideas together, Newton (along with some later work done by Henry Cavendish)
formulated a universal law for the force of gravity:

 Gm1m2
Fg 
r2
where:

F g is the magnitude of the force of gravity (N)
G is the universal gravitational constant (= 6.67 × 10–11 N·m2/kg2)
m1 and m2 are the masses of the objects interacting (kg)
r is the distance between the centres of the two objects interacting (m)

The force of gravity two objects exert on each other are equal but opposite in direction (per
Newton’s third law).

Multiple Objects
When there are multiple objects, draw a free-body diagram for the object of interest. In terms of
force of gravity, it is always an attractive force, so the object of interest will always want to go
towards the other masses.

Once the FBD has been drawn, the individual forces of gravity acting on the object of interest
can be calculated using Newton’s law of universal gravitation. Finally, depending on the
geometry of the problem, the forces are added together using the appropriate vector technique
(simple addition with appropriate negative signs for one-dimension; Pythagorean theorem and
SOH CAH TOA for two-dimensions).

Altitude
In problems involving altitude, care must be taken when using
Newton’s law of universal gravitation as r is the distance between the
centres of the two objects. If the object is above the surface of some
type of body (e.g., planet, star), the relationship between altitude and r
is:

r  rb  h

where:
r is the distance between the centres of the objects (m)
rb is the radius of the body (m)
h is the altitude (m)

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Gravitational Field
A gravitational field is a three-dimensional region of influence surrounding a mass where the
force of gravity is permitted to act. It is a mathematical model of our observations of how
gravitational forces act.

What we have called the acceleration due to gravity can be equivalently thought of as the
gravitational field strength. On the surface of Earth, the gravitational field strength is 9.81 N/kg.

To test for a gravitational field, we use a test mass. The test mass can be any object with mass as
we know from the work of Galileo the acceleration due to gravity (gravitational field strength) is
independent of the mass of the object being influenced by the field.

If we are not on the surface of Earth, we can calculate the gravitational field strength:

 Gm
g  2
r
where:

g is the gravitational field strength (N/kg or m/s2)
G is the universal gravitational constant (= 6.67 × 10–11 N·m2/kg2)
m is the mass of the source producing the field (kg)
r is the distance between the centres of the source and test masses (m)

The above equation allows us to determine the gravitational field strength for any object in the
presence of a source mass at any location relative to the source mass.

Multiple Objects
When there are multiple masses, imagine a hypothetical test mass at the point where you are
asked to determine the gravitational field strength and draw a free-body diagram for the test mass
(it will want to go towards the other objects as the force of gravity is attractive). Once you know
the directions of the gravitational forces, you know the directions of the gravitational fields (as
they are the same).

Once the directions of the fields are known, calculate the individual gravitational fields due to
the objects in the system. Finally, depending on the geometry of the problem, the fields are
added together using the appropriate vector technique (simple addition with appropriate negative
signs for one-dimension; Pythagorean theorem and SOH CAH TOA for two-dimensions).

Do not confuse gravitational forces with gravitational fields. Gravitational forces are measured
in newtons (N) whereas gravitational fields are measured in newtons per kilogram (N/kg).

Lastly, the force of gravity acting on an object will change depending on its position relative to
the field. However, the mass of an object will remain constant.