Physics 218

Lecture 6: Dynamics

Alexei Safonov
 Boat on the River
• You want to cross
the river so that the
boat gets exactly
from A to B. The q
river has a current
vC=4 km/h. Your
boat’s speed in still vB
water is
vB=20km/h?

• What is the angle q

you should aim at
to do that?
 In previous problem, is it
possible to get from A to B for
any values for vB and vC?
A. Yes, always possible
B. Only possible if vB>vC
C. Only possible if
vB>2vC vC
q
D. Only possible if
vB>>vC (much larger) vB
 Earth rotates, which
means we are
rotating with it. How
big is the acceleration
due to Earth's
rotation acting on us?
Earth rotates, which means we are rotating with it. How big is the
acceleration due to Earth's rotation acting on us?

R=3,959 miles T=24 hrs

Vequator= 2p R/T
 Rescue Plane
• You are the pilot of a rescue plane.
Your mission is to drop supplies to
isolated mountain climbers on a
rocky ridge a height h below. If your
plane is traveling horizontally with a
speed of VO:
• How far in advance of the recipients
(horizontal distance) must the goods
be dropped?
 Overview of Chapter 4
Where we’re going and why
– Dynamics vs. Kinematics
• Force
• Newton’s Laws of Motion
• Mass
• Normal Force
• Example problems
– Note: It’s important to be good at 2-
Dimensional motion at this point
 Where we’re going and why
Moving from: “How things move” Kinematics
To: “Why things move that way” Dynamics
• Why do you care? Different questions:
– Old: What acceleration do you need to go
from 0 to 60mi/hr in 6 sec?
– New: How much force does your car engine
need to exert?
• Use all the kinematics, vectors and calculus from
Chapters 1-3
• Plan: Do the concepts, then do the problems
 Newton’s Laws
• You shouldn’t memorize them, rather you
need to be able to understand and use
them
• Don’t write them down from the
overheads, they’re in your book.
• We’re going to translate them into English
• Big picture:

Force
 Force: Our First Concept
What is a Force?
• Examples:
– Push
– Pull
– Slap
– Gravity
– Others?
 Newton’s First Law

“Every body continues in it’s

state of rest or of uniform
speed in a straight line
unless acted on by a non-
zero net force”
 Translate that into English:
Force
To cause an acceleration (change
the velocity) requires a Net Force
or
If there is an acceleration, there
must be a net Force
• Force is a Vector
• Add up all the forces (vectors) to find the
Net (or total) force
 Newton’s First Law
• Example of non-zero net forces:
– Friction: Makes a moving block slow down
– Gravity: Makes a ball fall toward the earth
• Example of zero net force
– Car just sitting on the pavement
• No velocity, no acceleration→ no net force
– Rocket ship in outer space
• Nothing to slow it down → constant velocity
→no net force
 Newton’s Second Law
“The acceleration of an object is
directly proportional to the net
force acting on it and is inversely
proportional to its mass. The
direction of the acceleration is in
the direction of the net force
action on the object”
 Translate: Newton’s Second
Law
The acceleration is in the
SAME direction as the
NET FORCE Vector Equation :
 
® This is a VECTOR F  ma
equation
 If I have a force, what is Fx  ma x , Fy  ma y
my acceleration?  
® More force → more Weight  W  mg
acceleration
® More mass → less
acceleration
 Newton’s 2 Law nd

Acceleration is caused by force.

A bigger mass requires more force to achieve the same acceleration

 If an object is moving with
acceleration, then the net force
acting on it is not zero.

A. True
B. False
 CheckPoint
• The net force on a box is in the positive x
direction. Which of the following
statements best describes the motion of
the box :

A) Its velocity is parallel to the x axis

B) Its acceleration parallel to the x axis
C) Both its velocity and its acceleration are parallel
to the x axis
D) Neither its velocity or its acceleration need be
parallel to the x axis
 CheckPoint
• The net force on a box is in the positive x direction.
Which of the following statements best describes the
motion of the box :

A) Its velocity is parallel to the x axis

B) Its acceleration parallel to the x axis
C) Both its velocity and its acceleration are parallel to the x axis
D) Neither its velocity or its acceleration need be parallel to the x
axis

B) Net force causes acceleration, but it does not

necessarily say anything about the direction of the
velocity.
C) The force creates an acceleration in the positive x
direction parallel to the x axis. Since the box is
accelerating in the positive x direction, the velocity is
also in the positive x direction and parallel to the x axis.
 Pre-lecture Question 1:
 A lot of requests to go over the first question
 Velocity and Acceleration
 Acceleration a=dv/dt
 Change in velocity: Dv= v1-v0=a x dt
 This is a vector equation where Dv, v1, v0 and a are vectors
 Force to stop a car
You are a car designer. You must develop a
new braking system that provides a constant
deceleration. What constant net force is
required to bring a car of mass m to rest from
a speed of V within a distance of D?

V0 = V V=0

X0 = 0 XF = D
 Getting to Newton’s Third Law

How does one apply a

force?
• Applying a force requires
another object!
–A hammer exerts a force on
a nail
 Newton’s Third Law
“Whenever one object exerts a
force on a second object, the
second exerts an equal and
opposite force”
OR
“To every action there is an equal
and opposite reaction”
 Skater
• Skater pushes on a wall
• The wall pushes back
– Equal and opposite
force
• The push from the wall is
a force
– Force provides an
acceleration
– She flies off with some
non-zero speed
 Walking

FGround on the Person  - FPerson on the Ground
• She pushes on the
ground and the
ground PUSHES
her forward
• Equal and opposite
force
 Normal Force
Consider a pen sitting on a table:
– Is the force of gravity acting on it?
– Is the pen accelerating?
– What is the Force? What is the difference
between a force and the Net Force
– What keeps the pen from accelerating?

Clearly, there is a second force that keeps

it from accelerating
Call this the “normal” force!
 My laptop has mass m and is
sitting on the table. What is the
net force acting on the table?
A. Net force acting on the table is equal to mg and acts
down, g=9.8 m/s2
B. Net force acting on the table is zero because normal
force exerted by the table onto the laptop exactly
compensates the force exerted by the laptop (=mg)
C. Net force acting on the table is zero because normal
force exerted by the floor on the table compensates the
force exerted by the laptop on the table.
D. Net force acting on the table is F=2mg and acts down
because it is a sum of gravity and normal force exerted
by the laptop on the table, and each is equal to mg.
 Clicker Question
• A force F is applied to a small block, that pushes a
larger block. The two blocks accelerate to the right.
Compare the NET FORCE on the block with mass M,
to the net force on the block with mass 5M.

• A) FM < F5M
• B) FM = F5M
• C) FM > F5M

a
F 5M
M
 Clicker Question
• A force F is applied to a small block, that pushes a
larger block. The two blocks accelerate to the right.
Compare the NET FORCE on the block with mass M,
to the net force on the block with mass 5M.
 
• A) FM < F5M  F  ma
• B) FM = F5M
• C) FM > F5M Net Force
Same acceleration, so larger
mass has larger net force.

a
F 5M
M
 Pre-Lecture Question 2

A
B
C
D
E
You tie a brick to the end of a rope and whirl
the brick around you in a horizontal circle.
Which best describes the path of the brick
after you suddenly let go of the rope.
A. The brick drops directly straight down
to the ground.
B. The brick continues in its circular
path.
C. The brick spirals outward.
D. The brick flies off in a straight line.
Pre-Lecture Question 2
 CheckPoint
• You are driving a car with constant speed around a horizontal circular
track. The net force acting on your car

• A) Points radially inward toward the center of the circular track

• B) Points radially outward, away from the center of the circular track
• C) Points forward in the same direction your car is moving
• D) Points backward, opposite to the direction your car is moving
• E) Is zero.
•
CheckPoint Responses
You are driving a car with constant speed around a horizontal circular track. The net
force acting on your car

• A) Points radically inward toward the center of the circular track

• B) Points radically outward, away from the center of the circular track
• C) Points forward in the same direction your car is moving
• D) Points backward, opposite to the direction your car is moving
• E) Is zero.

A) Force is in the same direction as

acceleration (in this case, centripetal).
B) the acceleration is outwards, therefore the
force is outwards
C) The car is moving forward so the net force must
be forward.
E) Because the car is moving at a constant speed,
so there is no a. We get the net force is zero.
 Aside: Centripetal acceleration
and force
• 1) Objects moving in a circle always have a
component of acceleration, called centripetal,
which is toward the center of the circle.*
• 2) Centripetal acceleration must be caused by a
force:
– Friction, gravity – whatever force keeps it moving in a
circle.
– This force is often called the “centripetal force”
• 3) There is no “new” kind of force here.
• 4) There is no such thing as centrifugal force.
* They can have also have tangential acceleration if their speed is not constant
 Free Body Diagrams
Same tricks as in Chapters 1-3:
1. Draw a diagram: Draw each force on an
object separately! Force diagram!
2. Break each force into the X and Y-
components, THEN sum!!!
– Show your TA that you know the difference
between a force, and a component of force
– GREAT way to pick up partial credit
 Pulling a box
A box with mass m is pulled along a frictionless
horizontal surface with a force FP at angle Q as given
in the figure. Assume it does not leave the surface.
a)What is the acceleration of the box?
b)What is the normal force? FP
Q
2 boxes connected with a string
Two boxes with masses m1 and m2 are placed on a
frictionless horizontal surface and pulled with a
Force FP. Assume the string between doesn’t
stretch and is massless.
a)What is the acceleration of the boxes?
b)What is the tension of the strings between the
boxes?

M2 M1
A crate is suspended from the end
of a vertical rope. The tension in
the rope is greater when:
A. The crate is at rest.
B. The crate is moving up at a constant
speed.
C. The crate is moving down at a
constant speed.
D. The tension for A, B and C are the
same.