WEEK 4

FORCES AND NEWTONS

LAWS OF MOTION

THE OUTLINE
Forces
Newtons Three Laws of Motion
The Gravitational Force
Contact Forces (normal, friction, tension)
Application of Newtons Second Law
Apparent Weight
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Net Force
The net force is the vector sum of all the forces acting on
a body.
What are the
Fnet F F1 F2 F3
other units of
force?
The net force is the resultant of this vector addition.

Bold letters represent vectors. The units of Force are Newtons, or

the abbreviation N, which represent the SI units: kg-m/s 2

Free Body Diagrams

The free body diagram (FBD):
a simplified representation of an object, and the
forces acting on it.
It is called free because the diagram will show the
object without its surroundings; i.e. the body is free
of its environment.

Constructing Free Body Diagram.

Follow the procedure given below:
(1)Isolate the body of interest.
Draw a dotted circle around the object that separates our
object from its surroundings.
(2) Draw all external force vectors acting on that body.
(3) You may indicate the bodys assumed direction of
motion. This does not represent a separate force acting
on the body.
(4) Choose a convenient coordinate system.
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Free Body Diagram

y

N1
F

w1
The force directions are as indicated in the diagram.
The magnitudes should be in proportion if possible.
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Newtons First Law of Motion:

Inertia and Equilibrium
Newtons 1st Law (The Law of Inertia):
If no force acts on an object, then the speed and
direction of its motion do not change.

Inertia is a measure of an objects resistance to changes

in its motion.
It is represented by the inertial mass.
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Newtons First Law of Motion

If the object is at rest, it remains at rest (velocity = 0).
If the object is in motion, it continues to move in a straight
line with the same velocity.
No force is required to keep a body in straight line motion
when effects such as friction are negligible.
An object is in translational equilibrium if the net force
on it is zero and vice versa.

Translational Equilibrium
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Newtons Second Law of Motion

Net Force, Mass, and Acceleration
Newtons 2nd Law:
The acceleration of a body is directly proportional to the
net force acting on the body and inversely proportional
to the bodys mass.
Mathematically:

Fnet
a
or Fnet ma
m

An objects mass is a measure of its

inertia/resistance to changes in motion.

This is the workhorse of mechanics

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The net force is just the vector sum of all of the forces
acting on the body, often written as F.

NOTES:
If a = 0, then F = 0. This body can have:
Velocity = 0, which is called static equilibrium, or
Velocity 0, but constant,
which is called dynamic equilibrium.

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Newtons Third Law of Motion

Interaction Pairs
Newtons 3rd Law:
When two bodies interact, the forces on the bodies, due
to each other, are always equal in magnitude and
opposite in direction.
In other words, forces come in pairs.
Mathematically:

F21 F12 .

designates the force on object 2 due to object 1.

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Types of Forces
Contact forces: Normal Force & Friction
Tension
Gravitational Force

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Contact Forces

are forces that arise due to of an interaction between the

atoms in the surfaces of the bodies in contact.

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Normal Forces
this force acts in the direction perpendicular to the contact
surface.
N

Normal force of the

ground on the box

N
w

Normal force
of the ramp
on the box

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Normal Forces
y

Example:
Consider a box on
a table.

N
FBD for
box
Apply
Newtons
2nd law

N w0

So that N w mg

This just says the magnitude of the

normal force equals the magnitude of
the weight; they are not Newtons third
law interaction partners.
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Frictional Forces
Friction: a contact force parallel to the contact surfaces.
Static friction acts to prevent objects from sliding.

f smax = sN
Kinetic friction:
acts to make sliding objects slow down.
Sometimes called Dynamic friction.

f d = dN
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Frictional Forces

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Tension
This is the force transmitted through a rope from one end
to the other.

An ideal cord has zero mass, does not stretch, and the
tension is the same throughout the cord.

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Example:
A pulley is hung from the ceiling by a rope. A block of mass M is
suspended by another rope that passes over the pulley and is attached to
the wall. The rope fastened to the wall makes a right angle with the wall.
Neglect the masses of the rope and the pulley.
Find the tension in the rope from which the pulley hangs and the
y
angle .

FBD for the

mass M

Apply Newtons 2nd

Law to the mass M.

T w0

T w Mg
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Apply Newtons 2nd Law:

FBD for the pulley:

F
F

F cos T 0

F sin T 0

T F cos F sin

x
T

This statement is true

only when = 45 and

F 2 T 2 Mg

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Gravitational Forces
Gravity is the force between two masses.
Gravity is a long-range force. No contact is needed
between the bodies. The force of gravity is always
attractive!

GM 1M 2
F
r2
M1

r is the distance between the two masses

M1 and M2
G = 6.671011 Nm2/kg2.

F21

F12
r

M2

F21 F12 .
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Gravitational Forces
GM E
F
M2
2
r

Let M1 = ME = mass of the Earth.

Here F = the force the Earth exerts on mass M 2.

This is the force known as weight, w.
GM E
w
2
r
E

where g

M 2 gM 2 .

GM E
2

9
.
8
N/kg

9
.
8
m/s
rE2

M E 5.98 10 24 kg
rE 6400 km
Near the surface
of the Earth
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Gravitational Forces
F
Note that g
m
is the gravitational force per unit mass. This is called the
gravitational field strength. It is also referred to as the
acceleration due to gravity.
What is the direction of g?
What is the direction of w?
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Example:
What is the weight of a 100 kg astronaut on the surface of the
Earth (force of the Earth on the astronaut)? How about in low
Earth orbit? This is an orbit about 300 km above the surface
of the Earth.

On Earth:

w mg 980 N

GM E
890 N
In low Earth orbit: w mg (ro ) m
2
RE h

The weight is reduced by about 10%.

The astronaut is NOT weightless!
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Applying Newtons Second Law

F ma
Sum of the forces
acting on the objects
in the system

m is the
System
Mass

a is the
System
Response

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Example:
A force of 10.0 N is applied to the right on block 1. Assume a
frictionless surface. The masses are m1 = 3.00 kg and m2 =
1.00 kg.
Find the tension in the cord connecting the two blocks as
shown.
block 2

block 1

Assume that the rope stays taut so that both blocks have
the same acceleration.
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FBD for block 2:

FBD for block 1:

y

N1

N2

w1

w2

Apply Newtons 2nd Law to each block:

F
F

T m2 a

N 2 w2 0

F
F

F T m1a

N1 w1 0
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F T m1a (1)

T m2 a (2)

These two equations contain

the unknowns: a and T.

To solve for T, a must be eliminated. Solve for a in (2)

and substitute in (1).
T

F T m1a m1
m2
T

m1
T 1
T
F m1
m2
m2

F
10 N
T

2.5 N

3 kg
m
1 1
1

1 kg
m2

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Apparent Weight
Stand on a bathroom scale.
y

FBD for the

person:

N
Apply Newtons 2nd Law:
x

N w ma y

N mg ma y
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The normal force is the force the scale exerts on you. By

Newtons 3rd Law this is also the force (magnitude only) you
exert on the scale. A scale will read the normal force.

N m g a y

is what the scale reads.

When ay = 0, N = mg. The scale reads your true weight.

When ay 0, N > mg or N < mg.

In free fall ay = -g and N = 0.

The person is weightless.
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Example:

A woman of mass 51 kg is standing in an elevator. The elevator

pushes up on her feet with 408 newtons of force.
What is the acceleration of the elevator?

FBD for
woman:

Apply Newtons 2nd Law:

N
x

(1)

N w ma y

N mg ma y
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Given: N = 408 newtons, m = 51 kg, g = 9.8 m/s 2

Unknown: ay
Solving (1) for ay:

N mg
ay
1.8 m/s 2
m

The elevator could be:

(1) traveling upward with decreasing speed, or
(2) traveling downward with increasing speed.
The change in velocity is DOWNWARD.

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WEEK 4
END

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