Starter: Write this into your notebooks. Answer the question.

•Is gravity weak or strong?

-It is actually weak. The earth is so massive so we notice the force of attraction to it: this is weight.
Objectives.
• State & Verify Newton’s 3rd law
• Explain the difference between mass and weight and how the two quantities are
related. All masses attract.
• Explain the effect of an object’s mass on the force of gravity
• Where would you put forces on the following image?
Hopefully you would get these
But if we consider another point of view

The red arrow is also an applied force. It is applied by the box and is equal to the
applied force of the person.
Newton’s Third Law
• Forces always come in pairs. Always.
• How do we know? If you tap the table lightly, then slap the table hard, you can
feel the difference in the reaction force.
• This tells us something quantitative about the force pairs – if one increases the
other does too. In fact, experiments show that the two forces in any force pair
have the same strength. That is – the forces have the same magnitude (but
opposite directions).
 Newton’s Third Law of Motion,
The Law of Force Pairs:

Every force is an interaction between two objects, thus forces must come in
pairs. If one object exerts a force on a second object, then the second object
exerts a force on the first object. The forces have the same magnitude but
opposite directions.

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction

Draw the FBDs for each object in all of the following situations…

A hockey player checks a hockey player with a force

of .

⃑
𝐹 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛=65 𝑁
𝑚=85.0 𝑘𝑔

⃑
𝐹 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 =65 𝑁 𝑚=100.0 𝑘𝑔
Newton’s Third Law: The Law of Force Pairs

You lean against a wall with a force of .

⃑
𝐹 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛=65 𝑁
Wall

⃑
𝐹 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 =25 𝑁 Me
Newton’s Third Law: The Law of Force Pairs

You push against the ground as you walk.

Ground
⃑
𝐹 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
⃑
𝐹 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

My foot
Newton’s Third Law: The Law of Force Pairs

The Earth pulls on the Moon.

Moon
⃑
𝐹 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
⃑
𝐹 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

Earth
It is the reason rocket ships can be propelled in space.
It is also why firearms in movies are always a little fake.
Speaking of the Newton, paired forces, the Earth, the moon and rocket ships, we
are now ready to take on gravity
The story of Newton and the apple is apocryphal
Define mass and weight. How are they related to gravity?
Gravity: the force that attracts a body toward the center of the earth, or toward any
other physical body having mass.
Mass: the quantity of matter in a physical body; also a measure of the body's inertia, the
resistance to acceleration when a net force is applied. Mass also determines the strength
of gravitational attraction to other bodies.
Weight: the Gravitational force with which the Earth attracts the masses towards its
center.
 • MASS: amount of matter in an object.
Weight vs Mass • WEIGHT: force of gravity on an object
Gravity
Everything that has mass has a gravitational field
That means the Earth, the Sun, an apple, you and even an electron is attracted to
everything else with mass.
Have a look at the person next to you. Did you know that you are attracted to that
person? You are actually tugging on everything. Gravitationally at least!
In fact, this is how our Sun and planets and satellites were created – bits
of cosmic dust attract each other and combine to create larger cosmic
dust bunnies, which attract even more cosmic dust eventually creating
stars, planets and moons.
Thought Experiment:
Imagine that you and your beloved are the only two things left in the universe,
billions of kilometers apart. Would the two of you ever meet?
What if you both had a velocity that was sending you away from each other?
 ⃑𝐹 𝐺 ⃑𝐹 𝐺
Attractive force

Either way, the gravitational force would reunite you – it would just take a really
long time.
Gravity
On Earth we know that the acceleration due to gravity is about .
Using Newton’s second law, we see that the force of gravity on an object must be:

and

if gravity is the only force acting on the object

so
If you were to travel to a planet with a different mass/acceleration due
to gravity, your mass would remain the same but your weight would
change depending on the characteristics of that planet.

Gravitational acceleration on Earth is 9.8

m/s2. So if you know the mass of an
object, you can calculate its weight using
F = ma where a = 9.8 m/s2
Q: Sam has a mass of 50 kilograms. What
is his weight in Newtons?
A: F = m × 9.8 m/s2 = 50 kg × 9.8 m/s2 =
490 N
Example:
A 150-gram apple experiences gravity and falls towards the Earth.
Determine the force of gravity acting on the apple.

The force of gravity on the apple is .

 Wind Resistance vs. Gravity

When an object is in free fall, it does not necessarily accelerate towards the ground
for its entire trip. If air resistance is large enough, the downward force of gravity
will balance with the upward force of air resistance.
When this happens the object no longer “accelerates” towards the ground, instead
it moves at a constant velocity called the terminal velocity.
The terminal velocity of an object depends on many factors, including the object’s
mass and surface area, and the density of the air.
Example:
Draw the FBD, then find the acceleration of a skydiver who:
a) jumps out of a plane and experiences of air resistance
b) achieves terminal velocity

a) ⃑
𝐹 𝑎𝑟 =115 𝑁

Accelerates downward: net force -

522 N in the vertical
𝑚=65 𝑘𝑔
Example:
Draw the FBD, then find the acceleration of a skydiver who:
a) jumps out of a plane and experiences of air resistance
b) achieves terminal velocity

b) ⃑
𝐹 𝑎𝑟 =637 𝑁

𝑚=65 𝑘𝑔

So
Task
Activity: How does the gravitational force that a small mass has towards a large mass
compare to the force that a large mass has towards a small mass?
• Go to:
https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/gravity-force-lab/latest/gravity-force-lab_en.html
Complete gravity and orbits worksheet.
Reiteration of Objectives.
• State & Verify Newton’s 3rd law
• Explain the difference between mass and weight and how the two quantities are
related. All masses attract.
• Explain the effect of an object’s mass on the force of gravity
Plenary
• Can you think of a way to lose weight while maintaining your mass?
Come up with your answers in your groups.

Get out into deep space =weight of 0N

Plenary
• Read page 4 and answer the questions on page 5 of the booklet.