Physics 111: Lecture 4

Today’s Agenda

 Recap of centripetal acceleration

 Newton’s 3 laws

 How and why do objects move?

 Dynamics

Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 1

 Review: Centripetal Acceleration

 UCM results in acceleration:

 Magnitude: |a| = v2 / R =  R
 Direction: ^ - r (toward center of circle)

v=R
Useful stuff:
R a
f = rotations / sec
T=1/f 
ω = 2 / T = 2 f = rad/sec

Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 2

Isaac Newton (1643 - 1727) published Principia Mathematica in 1687
Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 3
 Dynamics
 In this work, he proposed three “laws” of motion:

Law 1: An object subject to no external forces is at rest or moves

with a constant velocity if viewed from an inertial reference
frame.

Law 2: For any object, FNET = F

F = ma
a

Law 3: Forces occur in pairs: FA ,B = - FB ,A

(For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.)

Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 4

 1. Dishes
Newton’s First Law 2. Monkey
 An object subject to no external forces is at rest or moves with a constant velocity if viewed from an inertial reference frame.
frame
 If no forces act, there is no acceleration.

 The following statements can be thought of as the definition of inertial reference frames.
 An IRF is a reference frame that is not accelerating (or rotating) with respect to the “fixed stars”.
 If one IRF exists, infinitely many exist since they are related by any arbitrary constant velocity vector!

Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 5

 Ice
Is Urbana a good IRF? puck
 Is Urbana accelerating?
 YES!
 Urb ana is on the Earth .
 The Earth is rotating.

 Wh at is th e centripetal accele ra tion of Urban a?

 T = 1 day = 8.64 x 1 0 4 sec,
 R ~ R E = 6.4 x 10 6 me ters .

 Plu g this in: aU = .034 m/s 2 ( ~ 1/300 g)

 Clo se e nough to 0 that we will ig nore it.
 Urb ana is a pretty good IRF.

2
v2 2  2 
aU   R  R
R T 

Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 6

 Newton’s Second Law
 For any object, FNE T = F
F = ma
a.
 The acceleration a of an object is proportional to the
net force FNE T acting on it.
 The constant of proportionality is called “mass”, denoted m.
» This is the definition of mass.
» The mass of an object is a constant property of that
object, and is independent of external influences.

 Force has units of [M]x[L / T2] = kg m/s 2 = N (Newton)

Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 7

 Newton’s Second Law...

 What is a force?
 A Force is a push or a pull.
 A Force has magnitude & direction (vector).
 Adding forces is like adding vectors.

a
a
F1 FNET = ma
F1 FNET
F2
F2

Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 8

 Newton’s Second Law...

 Components of F = ma :
FX = maX
FY = maY
FZ = maZ

 Suppose we know m and FX , we can solve for aX and apply

the things we learned about kinematics over the last few
weeks:
1
x = x0 + v 0 x t + ax t 2
2
v x = v 0 x + ax t

Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 9

 Example: Pushing a Box on Ice.

 A skater is pushing a heavy box (mass m = 100 kg) across

a sheet of ice (horizontal & frictionless). He applies a force
of 50 N in the i direction. If the box starts at rest, what is its
speed v after being pushed a distance d = 10 m?

v=0
F
m a

Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 10

 Example: Pushing a Box on Ice.

 A skater is pushing a heavy box (mass m = 100 kg) across

a sheet of ice (horizontal & frictionless). He applies a force
of 50 N in the i direction. If the box starts at rest, what is its
speed v after being pushed a distance d = 10m ?

F
m a

i
d

Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 11

 Example: Pushing a Box on Ice...

 Start with F = ma.

 a = F / m.
 Recall that v2 - v02 = 2a(x - x0 ) (Lecture 1)
2 Fd
 So v2 = 2Fd / m v
m

F
m a

i
d

Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 12

 Example: Pushing a Box on Ice...

2 Fd
v
m

 Plug in F = 50 N, d = 10 m, m = 100 kg:

 Find v = 3.2 m/s.

F
m a

i
d

Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 13

 Lecture 4, Act 1
Force and acceleration
 A force F acting on a mass m1 results in an acceleration a1.
The same force acting on a different mass m2 results in an acceleration a2 = 2a1.

m1 m2
F a1 F a2 = 2a1

 If m1 and m2 are glued together and the same force F acts

on this combination, what is the resulting acceleration?

m1 m2
F a=?

(a) 2/3 a1 (b) 3/2 a1 (c) 3/4 a1

Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 14
 Lecture 4, Act 1
Force and acceleration

m1 m2
F a = F / (m1+ m2)

 Since a2 = 2a1 for the same applied force, m2 = (1/2)m1 !

 m1+ m2 = 3m1 /2

 So a = (2/3)F / m1 but F/m1 = a1

a = 2/3 a1

(a) 2/3 a1 (b) 3/2 a1 (c) 3/4 a1

Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 15
 Forces
 We will consider two kinds of forces:
 Contact force:
» This is the most familiar kind.
 I push on the desk.
 The ground pushes on the chair...

 Action at a distance:
» Gravity
» Electricity

Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 16

 Contact forces:

 Objects in contact exert forces.

 Convention: Fa,b means “the

force acting on a due to b”.

 So Fhead,thumb means “the force on

the head due to the thumb”.
Fhead,thumb

Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 17

 Action at a distance

 Gravity:

Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 18

 Gravitation
(Courtesy of Newton)
 Newton found that amoon / g = 0.000278
 and noticed that R E 2 / R2 = 0.000273

 This inspired him to propose the

Universal Law of Gravitation: |F Mm |= GMm / R 2

amoon g

R RE

where G = 6.67 x 10 -11 m3 kg-1 s-2

Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 19

 Gravity...

 The magnitude of the gravitational force F12 exerted on an

object having mass m1 by another object having mass m2
a distance R12 away is:
m m
F12  G 1 2 2
R12

 The direction of F12 is attractive, and lies along the line

connecting the centers of the masses.

m1 m2
F12 F21

R12

Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 20

 Gravity...
 Near the Earth’s surface:
 R12 = RE
» Won’t change much if we stay near the Earth's surface.
» i.e. since RE >> h, RE + h ~ RE.

m
Fg ME m
h Fg  G
RE2
M
RE

Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 21

 Leaky Cup
Gravity...

Near the Earth’s surface... ME m  ME 

Fg  G 2  m G 2 


RE  RE 

=g
 So |Fg| = mg = ma

 a=g

All objects accelerate with

acceleration g, regardless of
their mass!

ME 2
Where: g  G  9 . 81 m / s
RE2

Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 22

 Example gravity problem:

 What is the force of gravity exerted by the earth on a

typical physics student?

 Typical student mass m = 55kg

 g = 9.8 m/s2.
 Fg = mg = (55 kg)x(9.8 m/s2 )

 Fg = 539 N
 The force that gravity exerts on any object is
Fg
called its Weight
W = 539 N

Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 23

 Lecture 4, Act 2
Force and acceleration
 Suppose you are standing on a bathroom scale in 141 Loomis and it says that your weight is W. What will the same scale say your weight is on the surface of the mysterious Planet X ?
 You are told that RX ~ 20 REarth and MX ~ 300 MEarth.

(a) 0.75 W

(b) 1.5 W

(c) 2.25 W

X
Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 24
 Lecture 4, Act 2
Solution
 The gravitational force on a person
of mass m by another object (for instance
a planet) having mass M is given by:
Mm
F G
R2

W X FX
 Ratio of weights = ratio of forces: 
WE FE
MX m
G 2
R X2 M R 
  X  E 
M m ME  RX 
G E2
RE

2
WX 1
 300     .75
WE  20 

Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 25

 Newton’s Third Law:
Newton’s
 Forces occur in pairs: FA ,B = - FB ,A.
Sailboard
 For every “action” there is an equal and opposite “reaction”.

 We have already seen this in the case of gravity:

m1
m2
m1 m2
F12  G  F21
F12 F21 2
R12

R12

Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 26

 Newton's Third Law...
2 Skateboards
 FA ,B = - FB ,A. is true for contact forces as well:

Fm,w Fw,m

Ff,m

Fm,f

Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 27

 Example of Bad Thinking

 Since Fm,b = -Fb,m, why isn’t Fnet = 0 and a = 0 ?

Fm,b Fb,m
a ??

ice

Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 28

 Example of Good Thinking
 Consider only the box as the system!
 Fon box = ma
abox = Fb,m
 Free Body Diagram (next time).

Fm,b Fb,m
abox

ice

Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 29

 Lecture 4, Act 3
Newton’s 3rd Law
 Two blocks are stacked on the ground. How many action-reaction
pairs of forces are present in this system?

(a) 2
a
(b) 3

b (c) 4

Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 30

 Lecture 4, Act 3
Solution:

a a a a
Fa,E Fb,a

b b Fa,b
b b
Fb,E Fb,g
Fg,b

FE,a FE,b

(c) 4

Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 31

 Recap of today’s lecture
Extinguisher
Cart
 Newton’s 3 Laws:
Law 1: An object subject to no external forces is at rest or
moves with a constant velocity if viewed from an
inertial reference frame.

Law 2: For any object, FNET = F = ma

Law 3: Forces occur in pairs: FA ,B = - FB ,A.

Physics 111: Lecture 4, Pg 32