Dynamics: Laws of motion

Answers the question: why do objects move?

Interesting questions to think about:

• What causes objects to move?

• Can inanimate objects move on their own?

• If an object is stationary, does this mean that other

objects or the environment have no influence on it?

• Can an object be in a state of perpetual motion and

under what conditions this is possible?

• Can an object stay in rest if many objects have influence over it?
 Dynamics: Laws of motion
Some historical facts….

Dynamics before the 16th century

Ancient nations - European, Middle Eastern, Asian, etc.
made conclusions about the what causes the motion of
objects based on observations and intuition.

Renaissance Dynamics
In the 15th-18th century many scientists such as Copernicus, Brache, Keppler, etc.
have extracted abstract concepts and conclusions about the motion of objects.
However, Galileo was the first scientist to systematically conduct experiments
and draw abstract conclusions about the cause and result of motion.

Newtonian Dynamics
Isaac Newton was the first scientist to summarize the experimental
findings of Galileo, Keppler, Hooke, Brache, etc. in
clearly verbalized and mathematically stated laws of motion-
What we currently call Newtons’s laws….
 Force

• Definition

• Measurement unit: N (Newton)

• Vector quantity: has magnitude and direction

• Application point / surface

• Type of forces
• Internal and External
• Contact and Non-contact (Field)
 Examples of Contact forces

• Pushing and puling forces;

• Tension in a string;

• The Normal force (keeps us from sinking through the

ground);

• Frictional and resistance forces.

 Fundamental forces

• Types
– Strong nuclear force
– Electromagnetic force
– Weak nuclear force
– Gravity

• Characteristics
– All field forces
– Listed in order of decreasing strength
– Only gravity is apparent but all forces are present
 Internal and external forces

• Consider a balloon filled with air and is stationary.

• All air molecules inside the balloon are in constant motion and each air
molecule is a particle with specific mass and velocity.

• When an air particle hits the rubber surface of the balloon, it exerts a
force on it. If we consider only a small section of the balloon’s rubber
surface, the force exerted by the air molecule will make the rubber
surface move (stretch). In this case the force is considered external to
the rubber surface of the balloon.

• If we consider the forces exerted on the entire balloon by all air

molecules inside it, the net force will be zero (the balloon is stationary).
In this case, the forces exerted by the air molecules onto the balloon’s
surface are considered internal for the balloon.
 Newton’s First law

• Statement: In the absence of external forces, an object

preserves its state of rest or state of motion
with constant velocity.
 Mass and Inertia

• Inertia is the property of an object that causes it to resist changes

in motion - i.e change in velocity or direction

• Mass is how we measure inertia….

• Measurement units: kg, lb, ton…
• Scalar: it has only magnitude

m1 a2

m2 a1

F
m
a
 Newton’s Second law

• Statement: The acceleration of an object is directly

proportional to the net force acting on it
and inversely proportional to its mass.


 Fi  

a i  Fi  M a
M i

   kg .m
F  Ma  F   1N  2
  s
 Gravitational force
• Attractive force
• Interaction dependent of masses of the objects
• Non-contact (field) force
• Inversely proportional to the square of the distance
between the objects
 
Fg Fg 
M1 M2 M1 M 2
Fg  G  2
R
R

 N .m 2 
G  U n iv e r s a l G r a v ita tio n a l C o n s ta n t G  6.67  10  11  2 
 kg 
 Weight

• Weight: Equivalent to the gravitational force exerted

on a mass m by the Earth’s gravitational field

 ME m
W  G 2
R

 ME
g  G 2
R

 
W  mg
 More about Weight

Weight is not an inherent property of the object;

It depends on the source and strength of the gravitational field!
 Newton’s Third Law

• Statement: When 2 objects interact, the force F12 exerted

by object 1 on object 2 is equal in magnitude
opposite in direction to the force F21 exerted
by object 2 on object 1.
 Newton’s Third Law
Contact forces exist in pairs and are referred to as ACTION and REACTION

• F12 may be called

the action force and
F21 the reaction
force
– Actually, either
force can be the
action or the
reaction force
• The action and
reaction forces act
on different objects
 Newton’s Third Law

VTruck = 100km/h VCar = 100km/h

MTruck = 10,000 kg MCar = 1,000 kg

Q. Is the force exerted on the car by the truck

A. Larger than the force exerted by the car on the truck?

B. Smaller than the force exerted by the car on the truck?

C. Equal to the force exerted by the car on the truck?

 Normal force
Q. Why doesn't the box of mass M sink to the centre of the earth under the
force of gravity?


FN

 
Fg  M g
 Normal force - equilibrium

 
 i
Fi  M a

   FN

i
Fi  F N  M g  0
 
FN  M g  0
  
FN   M g 
Fg  M g
 Contact forces
Three boxes, 2kg, 3kg and 5kg are placed on a flat surface next Given:
to each other. A force of 80N is applied to the smallest box. • M1 = 2 kg
• M2 = 3 kg
Q1. What is the acceleration of the system of boxes?
Q2. How large are the contact forces acting on each box? • M3 = 5 kg
• F = 80 N
M3
Find:
M2 • a= ?
F32 F23 a
F • F1 , F2 =?
M1 F21 F12

 
 Fi  Ma
i
i5 F12  F21 F 2 3  F3 2
F m
F  F1 2  F 2 1  F 2 3  F 3 2   M 1  M 2  M 3  a a 8 2
 M1  M 2  M 3 s
Box 1 Box 2 Box 3
F  F21  M 1a F1 2  F 3 2  M 2 a F23  M 3 a
F21  F  M 1a  6 4 N F 3 2  F1 2  M 2 a  4 0 N F23  M 3 a  4 0 N