A Resource for Free-standing Mathematics Qualifications Newtonian Modelling

In 1687 Newton published the Principia in which he brought together his understanding of
mathematics and the science that we now know as physics.

Newton recognised that, when forces act, they change the motion of objects. Prior to this,
dating as far back as Aristotle (384 – 322BC), it was thought that forces caused motion.
If Aristotle and Newton were to slide stones across the ice, Aristotle would suggest they need
a force to keep them going. Newton would argue that, if a force acts on the stones, they will
accelerate. The stones actually decelerate, slowing down so that they eventually stop.

Thinking about Newton's Laws

Read the statement of each law and think about how it applies in each of the situations
suggested. Write down your thoughts in answer to the question asked. Draw diagrams to
help explain your thinking.

Apple attached
Newton's First Law to tree
A particle will remain at rest or continue to move uniformly in a
straight line unless acted upon by a non-zero resultant force. T

In Newton's words:
'Every body perseveres in its state of rest, or of
uniform motion in a right line, unless it is compelled
to change that state by forces impressed thereon.'

W
Modelling the apple as a particle, the forces acting on
it are the tension in its stalk and its weight.
There is no resultant force so the apple remains at rest.

Notes
Uniform motion is motion with constant velocity.
A body with no resultant force acting on it is in equilibrium. It is in static equilibrium if it
is not moving; it is in dynamic equilibrium if it is moving with constant velocity.

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The diagram shows a book lying on a table.

• Explain how Newton's first law applies

in this situation.
What forces act on the book?
• Draw a diagram to show the forces What is the resultant force
acting on the book. acting on the book?

This diagram shows a ball thrown through the air.

Neglect air resistance.

• Write down the forces that act on the ball.

What forces act on the ball?
What is the resultant force
acting on the ball? • What does Newton's First Law suggest will
happen to the ball? Consider horizontal and
vertical forces separately and apply Newton's
First Law in each direction.

A space probe is shown here travelling freely,

without using its rockets, in deep space.

• What does Newton's First law predict

will happen to the space probe?

This diagram shows the Moon travelling in

a nearly circular orbit about the Earth.

• What does Newton's First law predict

will happen to the Moon?

It was by thinking about such motion that Newton arrived at his three laws. He was able to
explain the motion of the Moon rotating about the Earth, and the motion of an apple falling to
the ground, using the same underlying principles.

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Newton's Second Law Apple falling

If a non-zero resultant force acts on a particle, then the from tree
particle will not be in equilibrium. A resultant force,
F newtons, acting on a particle of mass m kilograms,
will give rise to acceleration, a ms-2 , of the particle.

The acceleration is in the direction of the a = g = 9.8 ms-2

resultant force and the magnitude of the
acceleration is given by the relationship:
W = mg
F = ma
Modelling the apple as a particle, the
One newton is defined as the force resultant force acting on it is its weight,
required to give mass of 1 kg an mg newtons. It accelerates vertically
acceleration of 1 ms-2 . downwards; a = g = 9.8 ms-2 when air
resistance can be considered negligible.
In Newton's words:
'The alteration of motion is ever proportional to the motive force impressed; and is
made in the direction of the right line in which that force is impressed.'

Newton's Second Law brings the two ideas, a gravitational

force and acceleration due to gravity together. The force
of attraction due to the Earth acting on an object – that is a = g = 9.8ms -2
its weight – causes it to accelerate.
If you apply Newton's Second Law to a mass of m kilograms W = mg
near the Earth's surface, you find that it has a weight, W = mg.

The diagram shows a ball thrown through the air.

Neglect air resistance.

• Apply Newton's Second Law in both the horizontal

What is the resultant force and vertical directions to explain the motion.
acting on the ball?

One end of a light inextensible string is attached to an empty tool box

which is lying on a smooth table. The string passes over a smooth
pulley and is tied at the other end to a heavy bag as shown.
When this system is released from rest the bag falls vertically
to the ground.

• Use Newton's Second Law to explain the motion

of the tool box.

• Use Newton's Second Law to explain the motion

of the bag.

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Apple hanging from tree

Newton's Third Law
Every force arises as the action of one body on another.
T
Both tension forces are equal in magnitude. T
They act in opposite directions.

In Newton's words:
'To every action there is always
opposed an equal reaction: or the
mutual actions of two bodies upon
each other are always equal and
directed to contrary parts.' W = mg
When the apple is attached to the tree, the branch
supporting it experiences a tension force, T.
The stalk of the apple experiences a force equal in
magnitude and acting in the opposite direction.

When a book lies on a table, forces act on the book and the table.

Forces on the book Forces on the table

N1
What is the magnitude of the
What is the magnitude of force that acts on the table
the normal contact force because of the book?
acting on the book?

mg

N2

• Explain how Newton's Third Law

applies in this situation. What happens to the magnitudes
of the forces if the mass of the
book is increased?

Think about a falling ball (neglecting air resistance).

• Explain how Newton's Third Law applies in this case.

What is the resultant force acting on the ball?

What causes this?

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Worksheet
Use Newton's Laws to answer the following questions. Model all objects as particles and
take the acceleration due to gravity to be g = 9.8 ms-2 .

1 A resultant force of 6 newtons acts on a particle of mass 3 kilograms.

What is the acceleration?

2 What force applied to a mass of 2.5 kg will cause an acceleration of 8 ms-2 ?

a = 5 ms-2 direction of motion

3 A car of mass 400 kg travels along
a horizontal road with constant
deceleration 5 ms-2 . resistive
Find the resultant horizontal resistive force, F
force, F, acting on the car.
400 kg
4 A tennis player serves a ball of mass 55 grams. Consider the ball at any point on its path
before it bounces and assume that air resistance is negligible.
(a) What is the magnitude and direction of the ball's acceleration?
(b) What is the magnitude and direction of the resultant force that acts on the ball?

5 A train of total mass 150 tonnes decelerates

at 2 ms-2 as it approaches a station along 2 ms-2
a straight horizontal track. resistive
(1 tonne = 1000 kg) force, F
Find the magnitude of the resistive force, F. total mass 150 tonnes

6 A child is dragging a heavy load of mass 50 kg across a floor with a force of 70 N.

Modelling the floor as smooth and the load as a particle, and assuming that the rope is
horizontal, calculate the acceleration of the load.

7 (a) A particle of mass 5 kg is acted upon by a horizontal force of 80N.

Find the horizontal acceleration of the particle.
(b) A particle of mass 5 kg is acted upon by a force of 80N acting vertically upwards.
The only other force on the particle is its weight. Find the acceleration.

8 A book, of mass 200 g, rests on a table within the carriage of a train.

The train accelerates at 0.5 ms-2 out of a station.
(a) Draw the forces acting on the book.
(b) If the book does not slip, find the magnitude of the friction force that is acting on
the book.

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9 A driver of mass 57 kg is sitting in the driving seat of a car at rest. There is no contact
between the driver's back and the seat.
(a) Draw a diagram of the forces acting on the driver.
The driver now starts the car and accelerates at 1 ms-2 along a horizontal road.
(b) (i) Draw a new force diagram showing the forces that must now act on the driver.
(ii) Find the value of the resultant force acting on the driver, and state where it
comes from.

10 Horizontal forces of 5 newtons and 3 newtons act on a particle of mass 2 kilograms.

Find the acceleration produced if these forces (a) act in the same direction
(b) act in opposite directions

11 A builder raises bricks to the top of a building

using a pulley system. When both platforms,
each having mass 20 kg, are empty, they hang
in equilibrium with the lower platform just off
the ground, as shown in the diagram.
To lower platform B, the builder adds to it a load of 10 kg. B

(a) Draw force diagrams showing the forces acting on

(i) the lower platform, A
(ii) the upper platform, B
(b) Use Newton's Second Law to write down
expressions relating the forces acting on
each platform to the acceleration of each. A
Use the assumption that the platforms are
attached by a light, inextensible string passing
over a smooth pulley, so that each platform
will have the same acceleration and the
tension in both parts of the rope will be equal.
(c) Calculate the acceleration of each platform and the tension in the rope.

12 A hotel guest travels by lift from the ground floor to the fourth floor with her suitcase in her
hand. The mass of the hotel guest is 70 kg and the mass of the suitcase is 20 kg.
The lift accelerates at 0.5 ms-2 as it sets off from the ground floor and decelerates at 0.4 ms-2
as it nears the 4th floor.

(a) Draw force diagrams showing the forces acting on (i) the suitcase (ii) the hotel guest
as the lift sets off from the ground floor.
(b) Use Newton's Second Law at the time the lift sets off from the ground floor to find
(i) the force exerted by the hotel guest on her suitcase.
(ii) the normal reaction between the hotel guest and the floor of the lift.
(c) Use Newton's Second Law at the time the lift nears the 4th floor to find
(i) the force exerted by the hotel guest on her suitcase.
(ii) the normal reaction between the hotel guest and the floor of the lift.
(d) Explain briefly when, on her lift journey, the hotel guest will feel the true weight of her
suitcase.

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Teacher Notes

Unit Advanced Level, Dynamics

Notes on Activity
Pages 1 to 4 introduce Newton's Laws and ask learners to think about how these apply in a
range of real contexts. The worksheets on pages 5 and 6 give practice in using Newton's
Laws to solve a range of problems. Many of the examples used in this activity originally
appeared in the book Mechanics 1 which was funded by the Nuffield Foundation and
published by Longman in 1994 (ISBN 0-582-09979-X).

Answers (all forces shown on diagrams are in newtons)

1 2 ms-2 2 20N 3 2000N 4 (a) 9.8 ms-2 downwards (b) 0.539N downwards
5 300 000N 6 1.4 ms-2 7 (a) 16 ms-2 (b) 6.2 ms-2 upwards
N
8 (a) (b) 0.1N
direction
of motion
friction F

a = 0.5 ms-2

0.2g
N N
9 (a) (b) (i) (ii) 57N from friction
(in direction of motion)
friction F
direction
of motion

57g a = 1 ms-2 57g

10 (a) 4 ms-2 in the direction of the forces (b) 1 ms-2 in the direction of the largest force
T T
11 (a) (i) (ii) (b) T – 20g = 20a
-2
a ms 30g – T = 30a

A B (c) a = 1.96 ms-2

a ms-2 T = 235.2N

20g 30g

N
12 (a) (i) P force (ii) (b) (i) 206N (ii) 927N
from
guest
(c) (i) 188N (ii) 846N
a ms-2
a ms-2 (d) when the acceleration is 0
P + 70g
20g

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