Forces and the Laws of Motion

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 What is force?
• Force is a push or pull exerted on an object.

Push Pull

• Symbol of force is F

• SI unit of force is Newton (N)

• Force is a vector quantity (It has magnitude and direction)

 What does force do?
• A force can cause the motion of an object to change
or the object to deform (change its shape).

• Change in motion may include:

- A moving object may speed up or slow down.
- A moving object may change its direction.
In other words, force causes acceleration.
 Force and Motion
• When considering how a force
affects motion, it is important to
identify the object of interest (the
object on which forces act). This
object is called the system.

• Everything around the object that

may exert force on it is called the
external world.

• Everything around the object and exerts force on it is called an

agent.
• In the above picture, the book is the system. The table, earth and
the hand are the agents
 F

F
F
 Contact forces and field forces
• Forces could be one of two types:
1- Contact forces 2- Field forces

F
F
 Contact forces and field forces
contact forces: (forces that are exerted by touching the object).
Examples:
 Contact forces and field forces
Field forces: (forces that are exerted without touching the object).
Examples:

Gravity force Electrical force

Magnetic force
Earth’s gravity force
 Force and Motion
• Examples of common known forces are:
- Applied forces (FApp) (by people, by animals, by engines and motors).
Their direction depends on how they are applied.

- Earth’s gravity force (FGrav). Its direction is always towards earth

center.

- Normal force (FNorm) exerted by a surface on object. Its direction is

always perpendicular to surface away from it.

- Friction force (FFric) between moving objects and surfaces they move
on. Its direction is always opposite to direction of motion.

- Air resistance force (FAir) on objects moving in air. Its direction is

always opposite to direction of motion.

- Tension force (FTens) in ropes, cables and strings. Its direction is with
 Free Body diagrams
• A free body diagram is a diagram that shows all the forces acting
on a single object.
F1 push of
• In a free body diagram the
boy on trolley
object (system) is drawn as
F5
a dot (point). air resistance

on trolley

F3
• All the forces acting on the F4 friction
push of

road on trolley
object (system) are drawn as between road
F2 (Normal force)
pull of earth’s
arrows starting from the point and trolley
gravity on
that represent the object and in trolley
Free body diagram
the appropriate directions. F3
F1
F5
F4
F2
 Free Body diagrams
• Example:
A ball is suspended motionless from the ceiling by a rope.
Draw A free-body diagram that shows the forces acting on
the ball.

Answer:
FTens

Fgrav
 Free Body diagrams
• Example:
A book is at rest on a tabletop. Draw A free-body diagram that
shows the forces acting on the book.

Answer:

FNorm

Fgrav
 Free Body diagrams
• Example:
A rock is free-falling from a cliff. Neglect air resistance.
Draw A free-body diagram that shows the forces acting on
the rock.

Answer:

Fgrav
 Free Body diagrams
• Example:
A rightward force is applied to a book in order to move it across
a desk at constant velocity. Consider frictional forces. Neglect air
resistance. Draw A free-body diagram that shows the forces
acting on the book.

Answer:
FNorm

FFric FApp

Fgrav
 Free Body diagrams
• Example:
A force is applied to the left to drag a sled across loosely packed
snow with a leftward acceleration. Consider frictional forces.
Consider air resistance. Draw A free-body diagram that shows
the forces acting on the sled.

Answer:
FNorm

FApp FFric
FAir

Fgrav
 Net force
• Net force is the combination of two or more forces acting on
one object.
• Symbol for net force is Fnet or F.

• When two forces are in the 3N

same direction, their net force 5N
is their addition.
Net force = 3 + 5 = 8 N
In this case the direction of
net force is the same as the direction of the two forces
To the right

• When two forces are in

opposite directions, their 3N 5N
net force is the difference
between them.
Net force = 5 - 3 = 2 N
In this case the direction of To the right
net force is the same as the direction of the greater force.
 Net force
Example:
Find the net force for
8N 5N
the forces in the
opposite diagram.
Net force = 8 – 5 = 3 N
To the left
Example:
Find the net force for 4N
the forces in the 5N
opposite diagram
Net force = 4 + 5 = 9 N
To the right
 Net force
Example:
Find the net force for 5N
8N
the forces in the 6N
opposite diagram.
Net force = (5 + 6) – 8 = 3 N
To the right
Example:
Find the net force 3N
9N
for the forces in 4N
the opposite diagram
Net force = 9 – (3 + 4) = 2 N
To the left
 Net force
Example:
Find the net force for
6N 6N
the forces in the
opposite diagram.
Net force = 6 – 6 = 0

Example:
Find the net force 4N
8N
for the forces in 4N
the opposite diagram Net force = 8 – (4 + 4) = 0
 Balanced forces
In the last two examples we saw that the net force is zero

4N
6N 6N 8N
4N

Net force = 6 – 6 = 0 Net force = 8 – (4 + 4) = 0

In each case the forces are called balanced forces.

Balanced forces:
(Forces that have a net force equal to zero)
 What is Inertia?
Inertia is the tendency of an object to resist changes
in velocity.
So
an object at rest tends to stay at rest unless a net force
moves it.
And
an object moving with constant velocity tends to stay
like that unless a net force changes it.
 Inertia and mass

• Inertia of an object depends on its mass.

• The greater is the mass of an object, the greater inertia
it has.
• The smaller is the mass of an object, the smaller inertia
it has.
 Newton’s First Law of Motion
An object at rest will remain at rest and an object that is
moving will continue to move in a straight line at constant
speed, if and only if the net force acting on that object is
zero
• According to Newton’s 1st Law of Motion, when the net
force on an object is zero, then the object:
is at rest or is moving with constant velocity.
And in both cases the object is said to be in equilibrium.

Newton’s first law of motion is also called Law of inertia

because inertia is the tendency of an object to resist
changes in velocity.
 Newton’s First Law of Motion
• The following are situations that could be explained by inertia
and Newton’s first law of motion:
- Why wearing seatbelt is important to save lives?

Passengers in a car have the same velocity of the car. When the
car is stopped suddenly by a force (wall or brakes), the
passengers keeps moving with the same velocity because of
their inertia.
If the passengers were wearing their seatbelts, the seatbelts
will exert force to stop them when the car stops.
 Newton’s First Law of Motion
- Why the coin in the picture falls in the cup when the paper is
pushed hard?

The coin and paper were at rest. The pushing force acted on
the paper and moved it. The coin stayed at rest because of its
inertia and felt down because of gravity.