AP-C Mechanics

Newton’s Laws
Learning Guide
Enduring Understanding
The summation of forces determines the motion of an object.

Essential Questions
1. When should a free-body diagram, FBD, be drawn?
2. Are Newton's Laws of Motion always applicable?
3. Is the mass or masses responsible for the net force the same masses that are accelerating?
4. How are angles measured?
5. Can kinetic and static friction produce the same effect?
6. What forces can act centripetally?
7. What does a negative sign mean?

Readings - https://openstax.org/details/books/university-physics-volume-1
Chapters 5 and 6

Vocabulary
Understand and apply the definitions of the following terms.
1. Action-Reaction Pair 20. Incline 36. Radius
2. Air Resistance 21. Inertia 37. Relative Motion
3. Atwood Machine 22. Kinetic Friction 38. Restoring Force
4. Banked Curve 23. Lever Arm 39. Resultant
5. Centrifugal Acceleration 24. Magnitude 40. Right Triangle
6. Centrifugal Force 25. Mass 41. Scalar
7. Centripetal Acceleration 26. µ 42. Spring Constant
8. Centripetal Force 27. Net Force 43. Static Friction
9. Coefficient of Friction 28. newton (unit) 44. Tangential Velocity
10. Dynamics 29. Newton's First Law of 45. Tension Force
11. Equilibrium Motion 46. Terminal Speed
12. Force 30. Newton's Second Law 47. Terminal Velocity
13. Force of Tension of Motion 48. Unbalanced Force
14. Free Body Diagram 31. Newton's Third Law of 49. Uniform Circular Motion,
(FBD) Motion UCM
15. Frequency 32. Normal Force 50. Vector
16. Frictional Force 33. Period 51. Weight (Force of
17. Gravitational Force 34. Proportional Gravity, Fg)
18. Hooke’s Law 35. Pythagorean Theorem
19. Hypotenuse

Equations
Understand and memorize the equations below along with any equations derived in class.
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/Physics_equation_tables.pdf
𝑣(
𝑎' =
! 𝑭 = 𝑭!"# = 𝑚𝒂 𝑟

𝑭) = −𝑘𝒙
𝐹$%&' ≤ 𝜇𝑁
1
𝑇=
𝑓
 Learning Targets
Static Equilibrium (First Law)
1. Students should be able to analyze situations in which a particle remains at rest, or moves with constant
velocity, under the influence of several forces.
Dynamics of a Single Object (Second Law)
2. Students should understand the relation between the force that acts on an object and the resulting change
in the object’s velocity so they can:
(A) Calculate, for an object moving in one direction, the velocity change that results when a constant force
F acts over a specified time interval.
(B) Calculate, for an object moving in one dimension, the velocity change that results when a force F(t)
acts over a specified time interval.
(C) Determine, for an object moving in a plane whose velocity vector undergoes a specified change over a
specified time interval, the average force that acted on the object.
3. Students should understand how Newton’s Second Law, SF = Fnet = ma, applies to a object subject to
forces such as gravity, the pull of strings, or contact forces, so they can:
(A) Draw a well-labeled diagram showing all real forces that act on the object.
(B) Write down the vector equation that results from applying Newton’s Second Law to the object, and take
components of this equation along appropriate axes.
4. Students should be able to analyze situations in which an object moves with specified acceleration under
the influence of one or more forces so they can determine the magnitude and direction of the net force, or
of one of the forces that makes up the net force, such as motion up or down with constant acceleration.
5. Students should understand the significance of the coefficient of friction so they can:
(A) Write down the relationship between the normal and frictional forces on a surface.
(B) Analyze situations in which an object slides down a rough inclined plane or is pulled or pushed across
a rough surface.
(C) Analyze static situations involving friction to determine under what circumstances a object will start to
slip, or to calculate the magnitude of the force of static friction.
Systems of Two or More Objects (Third Law)
6. Students should understand Newton’s Third Law so that, for a given force, they can identify the object on
which the reaction force acts and state the magnitude and direction of this reaction.
7. Students should be able to apply Newton’s Third Law in analyzing the force of contact between two objects
that accelerate together along a horizontal or vertical line, or between two surfaces that slide across one
another.
8. Students should know that the tension is constant in a light string that passes over a massless pulley and
should be able to use this fact in analyzing the motion of a system of two object joined by a string.
9. Students should be able to solve problems in which application of Newton’s Laws leads to two or three
simultaneous linear equations involving unknown forces or accelerations.
 Circular Motion
10. Students should understand the uniform circular motion of a particle so they can:
(A) Relate the radius of the circle and the speed or rate of revolution of the particle to the magnitude of the
centripetal acceleration.
(B) Describe the direction of the particle’s velocity and acceleration at any instant during the motion.
(C) Determine the components of the velocity and acceleration vectors at any instant, and sketch or
identify graphs of these quantities.
(D) Analyze situations in which an object moves with specified acceleration under the influence of one or
more forces so they can determine the magnitude and direction of the net force, or of one of the forces
that makes up the net force, in situations such as the following:
(i) Motion in a horizontal circle (e.g., mass on a rotating merry-go-round, or car rounding a banked
curve).
(ii) Motion in a vertical circle (e.g., mass swinging on the end of a string, cart rolling down a curved
track, rider on a Ferris wheel).
© The College Board – Visit the College Board on the Web: www.collegeboard.org

Flowcharts and Help Sheets – www.GravityKills.net

 AP-C Mechanics
Newton’s Laws
Practice Multiple-Choice Test
Multiple Choice
Select the best answer.

1. You are standing in a moving bus, facing forward, and you suddenly fall forward as the bus comes to an
immediate stop. The force acting on you that causes you to fall forward is
a) the force of gravity.
b) the normal force due to your contact with the floor of the bus.
c) the force due to static friction between you and the floor of the bus.
d) the force due to kinetic friction between you and the floor of the bus.
e) No forces were acting on you to cause you to fall.
2. Two objects, each of weight W, hang vertically by spring scales as shown in the figure. The pulleys and the
strings attached to the objects have negligible weight, and there is no appreciable friction in the pulleys.
The reading in each scale is

a) W.
b) more than W, but not quite twice as much.
c) less than W.
d) 2W.
e) more than 2W.

3. Two objects have masses m and 5m, respectively. They both are placed side by side on a frictionless
inclined plane and allowed to slide down from rest.
a) It takes the lighter object 5 times longer to reach the bottom of the incline than the
heavier object.
b) It takes the lighter object 10 times longer to reach the bottom of the incline than
the heavier object.
c) It takes the heavier object 5 times longer to reach the bottom of the incline than
the lighter object.
d) It takes the heavier object 10 times longer to reach the bottom of the incline than
the lighter object.
e) The two objects reach the bottom of the incline at the same time.
4. When a parachutist jumps from an airplane, he eventually reaches a constant speed, called the terminal
speed. Once he has reached terminal speed
a) his acceleration is equal to g.
b) the force of air drag on him is equal to zero.
c) the force of air drag on him is equal to g.
d) his speed is equal to g.
e) the force of air drag on him is equal to his weight.
5. A 60.0-kg person rides in an elevator while standing on a scale. The scale reads 400 N. The acceleration
of the elevator is closest to
a) 3.13 m/s2 downward.
b) 6.67 m/s2 downward.
c) zero.
d) 9.80 m/s2 downward.
e) 6.67 m/s2 upward.
6. A 4.00-kg block rests on a 30.0° incline as shown in the figure. If the coefficient of static friction between
the block and the incline is 0.700, what magnitude horizontal force F must act on the block to start it
moving up the incline?

a) 34.0 N
b) 51.1 N
c) 54.7 N
d) 84.0 N
e) 76.4 N

7. In the figure, a block of mass M hangs at rest. The rope that is fastened to the wall is horizontal and has a
tension off 52 N. The rope that is fastened to the ceiling has a tension of 91 N, and makes an angle θ with
the ceiling. What is the angle θ?

a) 55 degrees
b) 35 degrees
c) 30 degrees
d) 63 degrees
e) 45 degrees
8. Two bodies P and Q on a smooth horizontal surface are connected by a light cord. The mass of P is
greater than that of Q. A horizontal force F (of magnitude F) is applied to Q as shown in the figure,
accelerating the bodies to the right. The magnitude of the force exerted by the connecting cord on body P
will be

a) zero.
b) less than F but not zero.
c) equal to F.
d) greater than F.
9. The figure shows a 100-kg block being released from rest from a height of 1.0 m. It then takes it 0.90 s to
reach the floor. What is the mass m of the other block? The pulley has no appreciable mass or friction.

a) 60 kg
b) 54 kg
c) 48 kg
d) 42 kg
10. A 6.00-kg block is in contact with a 4.00-kg block on a horizontal frictionless surface as shown in the figure.
The 6.00-kg block is being pushed by a horizontal 20.0-N force as shown. What is the magnitude of the
force that the 6.00-kg block exerts on the 4.00-kg block?

a) 6.00 N
b) 20.0 N
c) 8.00 N
d) 4.00 N
e) 10.0 N
11. A car drives over a hilltop that has a radius of curvature 0.120 km at the top of the hill. At what speed
would the car be traveling when it tires just barely lose contact with the road when the car is at the top of
the hill?
a) 45.5 m/s
b) 41.8 m/s
c) 34.3 m/s
d) 22.2 m/s
e) 27.6 m/s
12. Engineers are designing a curved section of a highway. If the radius of curvature of the curve is 194 m at
what angle should the curve be banked so that a car traveling at 29.0 m/s will stay on the road without the
aid of frictional forces?
a) 23.9 degrees
b) 16.7 degrees
c) 21.0 degrees
d) 26.1 degrees
13. The figure shows two wires tied to a 3.3 kg sphere that revolves in a horizontal circle at constant speed. At
this particular speed the tension is the SAME in both wires. What is the tension?

a) 24 N
b) 32 N
c) 44 N
d) 22 N
14. An object is moving to the right, and experiencing a net force that is directed to the right. The magnitude of
the force is decreasing with time. The speed of the object is
a) increasing.
b) decreasing.
c) constant in time.
15. A stalled car is being pushed up a hill at constant velocity by three people. The net force on the car is
a) zero.
b) up the hill and equal to the weight of the car.
c) down the hill and equal to the weight of the car.
d) up the hill and greater than the weight of the car.
e) down the hill and greater than the weight of the car.
16. A 615 N student standing on a scale in an elevator notices that the scale reads 645 N. From this
information, the student knows that the elevator must be moving
a) downward.
b) upward.
c) You cannot tell if it is moving upward or downward.
17. A woman is straining to lift a large crate, without success because it is too heavy. We denote the forces on
the crate as follows: P is the upward force the woman exerts on the crate, C is the vertical contact force
exerted on the crate by the floor, and W is the weight of the crate. How are the magnitudes of these forces
related while the woman is trying unsuccessfully to lift the crate?
a) P + C = W
b) P + C < W
c) P + C > W
d) P = C
18. A 7.0-kg object is acted on by two forces. One of the forces is 10.0 N acting toward the east. Which of the
following forces is the other force if the acceleration of the object is 1.0 m/s2 toward the east?
a) 6.0 N east
b) 3.0 N west
c) 12 N east
d) 9.0 N west
e) 7.0 N west
19. An 1100-kg car traveling at 27.0 m/s starts to slow down and comes to a complete stop in 578 m. What is
the magnitude of the average braking force acting on the car?
a) 690 N
b) 550 N
c) 410 N
d) 340 N
20. On its own, a certain tow-truck has a maximum acceleration of 3.0 m/s2. What would be the maximum
acceleration when this truck was towing a bus of twice its own mass?
a) 2.5 m/s2
b) 2.0 m/s2
c) 1.5 m/s2
d) 1.0 m/s2
21. A child on a sled starts from rest at the top of a 15° slope. If the trip to the bottom takes 15.2 s, how long is
the slope? Assume that frictional forces may be neglected.
a) 293 m
b) 586 m
c) 1130 m
d) 147 m
22. An object weighing 4.00 N falls from rest subject to a frictional drag force given by Fdrag = bv2, where v is
the speed of the object and What terminal speed will this object approach?
a) 1.78 m/s
b) 3.42 m/s
c) 1.15 m/s
d) 2.25 m/s
e) 0.75 m/s

23. The figure shows two forces acting on an object, with magnitudes and What third
force will cause the object to be in equilibrium (acceleration equals zero)?

a) 52 N pointing down
b) 52 N pointing up
c) 82 N pointing down
d) 82 N pointing up
24. A box of mass m is pulled with a constant acceleration a along a horizontal frictionless floor by a wire that
makes an angle of 15° above the horizontal. If T is the tension in this wire, then
a) T = ma.
b) T > ma.
c) T < ma.
25. A fish weighing 16 N is weighed using two spring scales, each of negligible weight, as shown in the figure.
What will be the readings of the scales?

a) The bottom scale will read 16 N, and the top scale will read zero.
b) Each scale will read 16 N.
c) The top scale will read 16 N, and the bottom scale will read zero.
d) The scales will have different readings, but the sum of the two readings will be 16 N.
e) Each scale will read 8 N.
26. A brick is resting on a rough incline as shown in the figure. The friction force acting on the brick, along the
incline, is

a) zero.
b) equal to the weight of the brick.
c) greater than the weight of the brick.
d) less than the weight of the brick.
27. A 10,000-kg rocket blasts off from earth with a uniform upward acceleration of 2.00 m/s2 and feels no air
resistance. The upward thrust force its engines must provide during this acceleration is closest to
a) 20,000 N.
b) 980,000 N.
c) 118,000 N.
d) 78,000 N.
28. A 60.0-kg person rides in elevator while standing on a scale. The elevator is traveling downward but
slowing down at a rate of 2.00 m/s2. The reading on the scale is closest to
a) 589 N.
b) 708 N.
c) 469 N.
d) 120 N.
e) 349 N.
29. In a shuffleboard game, the puck slides a total of 12 m before coming to rest. If the coefficient of kinetic
friction between the puck and the horizontal board is 0.28, what was the initial speed of the puck?
a) 8.1 m/s
b) 29.0 m/s
c) 6.5 m/s
d) 7.3 m/s
30. A driver in a 1000 kg car traveling at 20 m/s slams on the brakes and skids to a stop. If the coefficient of
friction between the tires and the horizontal road is 0.80, how long will the skid marks be?
a) 26 m
b) 21 m
c) 33 m
d) 24 m
31. Two objects having masses m1 and m2 are connected to each other as shown in the figure and are
released from rest. There is no friction on the table surface or in the pulley. The masses of the pulley and
the string connecting the objects are completely negligible. What must be true about the tension T in the
string just after the objects are released?

a) T = m2g
b) T > m2g
c) T < m2g
d) T = m1g
e) T > m1g
32. Three objects are connected as shown in the figure. The strings and frictionless pulleys have negligible
masses, and the coefficient of kinetic friction between the 2.0-kg block and the table is 0.25. What is the
acceleration of the 2.0-kg block?

a) 2.5 m/s2
b) 1.7 m/s2
c) 3.2 m/s2
d) 4.0 m/s2
33. A car enters a 300-m radius horizontal curve on a rainy day when the coefficient of static friction between
its tires and the road is 0.600. What is the maximum speed at which the car can travel around this curve
without sliding?
a) 29.6 m/s
b) 33.1 m/s
c) 24.8 m/s
d) 42.0 m/s
e) 37.9 m/s
34. Future space stations will create an artificial gravity by rotating. Consider a cylindrical space station 390 m
diameter rotating about its central axis. Astronauts walk on the inside surface of the space station. What
rotation period will provide "normal" gravity?
a) 28 s
b) 40 s
c) 6.3 s
d) 4.4 s
35. A new roller coaster contains a loop-the-loop in which the car and rider are completely upside down. If the
radius of the loop is 13.2 m, with what minimum speed must the car traverse the loop so that the rider does
not fall out while upside down at the top? Assume the rider is not strapped to the car.
a) 11.4 m/s
b) 12.5 m/s
c) 10.1 m/s
d) 14.9 m/s

Answers
1. E 10. C 19. A 28. B
2. A 11. C 20. D 29. A
3. E 12. A 21. A 30. A
4. E 13. A 22. C 31. C
5. A 14. A 23. A 32. A
6. D 15. A 24. B 33. D
7. A 16. C 25. B 34. A
8. B 17. A 26. D 35. A
9. A 18. B 27. C
 AP-C Mechanics
Newton’s Laws
Test and QUEST Breakdown

Test Breakdown QUEST Breakdown

Multiple-Choice Test Fundamentals #1-19
• 25 AP Level and Style Questions 1-Mass Systems #20-22
Free Response Test 2-Mass Systems #23-25
• 2-3 Free Response Level and Style Questions Friction #26-31
Inclines #32-35
Multiple-Choice Questions UCM #36-41
Practice multiple-choice questions with answers are available on the
Learning Guide.

Free Response Problems

One or more of the free response problems below, in part or in whole, will be integrate into the Free Response
test. In addition, one or more free response problems will be selected from past AP exam problems, QUEST,
in-class activities or class notes.

Unequal Accelerations
Block m1 has a pulley attached to its side. It is connected by string
to block m2 as shown to the right. Friction between block m1 and
the table prevents the system from moving. All strings and pulleys
are massless and pulleys are frictionless.

Let m1 = ____ kg and m2 = ____ kg m1 > m2 and Let g = 10 m/s2

IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THAT YOU DRAW FBDs.

a) Calculate the tensions: T1, T2, T3.

b) Calculate the minimum coefficient of friction needed to prevent the blocks from moving.
The friction between block m1 and the table is reduced to zero.
a) Draw the FBDs for both masses
b) Calculate the acceleration of block m1. (HINT – Solve as a system of equations; a1 ≠ a2)
c) Calculate the acceleration of block m2. (HINT – Solve as a system of equations; a1 ≠ a2)
Lift Up
A student weighing Ws wants to reach a piece of fruit without climbing the
tree. The student ties a piece of rope to a chair weighing Wc then throws the
rope over a high reaching branch. A spring scale is then attached to the free
end of the rope. Assume the rope passing over the branch behaves as a
massless and frictionless pulley.

IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THAT YOU DRAW FBDs.

Let Ws = ____ N and Wc = ____ N Wc < Ws and Let g = 10 m/s2

a) If the chair and the student are suspended above the ground at rest,
calculate the tension in the rope?
The student now pulls on the rope so that the acceleration of the student
and the chair is 2 m/s2 upward.
b) Calculate the tension in the rope under these new conditions?
c) Under these conditions, calculate the force exerted by the chair on the person?
After a short time, the person and the platform reach and sustain an upward velocity of 0.4 m/ s.
d) Calculate the tension in the rope.

Pull Up
Wilma, a worker of mass m1 is holding crate of mass, m2, at rest as
shown to the right. The pulley is massless and frictionless.

Let m1 = ____ kg and m2 = ____ kg; m1 > m2 and Let g = 10 m/s2

IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THAT YOU DRAW FBDs.

a) Calculate the tension in the rope.

b) Calculate the magnitude of the force exerted on Wilma by the
ground.
Wilma now lowers the crate towards the floor with an acceleration of
1.0 m/s2.
c) Calculate the tension in the rope.
The crate has been lowered to and is resting on the ground. Wilma then begins pulling on the rope.
d) Calculate the crate’s minimum acceleration to just lift her off the ground.