Part C: Dynamics Notes

1 – Newton’s Laws Review

Newton’s 1st Law: Newton’s 2nd Law: Newton’s 3rd Law:
An object… For every…
and an object…
unless…
As a formula: As a formula:

Free Body Diagrams: (Draw one for EVERY force question)

1) Represent the object as a box and,
2) Represent all forces as arrows
 The arrows are vectors so their direction is critical
 Start in the center and draw outwards
 The size of the arrow represents the magnitude of the force

1. A puck slides along frictionless ice. 2. A dragster accelerates from rest. 3. A block of wood slides
down an incline

Ex. A student pulls straight upwards with a force of 650 Ex. A 1200kg car accelerates at 5.85 m/s2. If the
N on their 15 kg backpack. What is the backpack’s coefficient of friction acting on the car is roughly
acceleration? 0.24, how much force does the engine exert?
Ex: A boy pulls his 8.0 kg toboggan by a rope that Ex: A 1.12 kg textbook is pushed horizontally against a
angles 32o above the horizontal. If his 36.0 kg sister sits wall with a coefficient of friction of 0.465. What is the
on the toboggan, how much force does he need to exert least amount of force required to keep the book from
to accelerate them at 2.25 m/s2? Assume that friction is slipping?
negligible.

Ex: Two blocks (m1 = 2.0 kg and m2 = 3.0 kg) are Ex: A 65 kg student stands on a bathroom scale in an
connected by a rope as shown. m1 is pulled to the right elevator and notices that it reads 520 N.
with a force of 18 N along a frictionless surface. What Determine the magnitude and direction of the
is the tension in the rope connecting the two masses? acceleration of the elevator.

m2 m1

Dynamics Notes
 2 – Forces in 2-D
As with any vectors, forces must be resolved with consideration to both their ____________ and ____________.

Ex
Two students push a crate across a frictionless surface.
Student A pushes with 75 N East and Student B
pushes with 48 N South.
What is the resultant force acting on the box?

If there are more than two forces then it is best to solve for the resultant using the...

Ex
Resolve these force vectors into their x and y components and determine the total net force.

50o
F1 = 35 N
F2 = 45 N F3 = 65 N
20o

Dynamics Notes
 3 – Inclines
A ball sitting on a level surface will not roll because the However, when the ball is
forces on it are balanced (Fnet = 0). placed on an inclined
plane it will roll down the
plane.

Although the Fg pulls straight down at all times… For inclined plane questions our first step should always be
to resolve the object’s Fg into two components:

FN is always…

Two important things to notice:

1) Only the ___________________ ___________________________ pulls down the ramp.

2) The ______________________ __________________________ is equal and opposite to __________________________.

Ex Ex Ex
An 8.0 kg block slides down the How much force is required to push A 15 kg block sits on an inclined ramp
frictionless inclined plane shown. an 11 kg block up the frictionless ramp whose coefficient of friction is 0.21. Find
What is its acceleration? shown at a constant velocity? the block’s acceleration.

58o
35o
40o

Dynamics Notes
4 – Two Objects and Tension
There are a number of common force problems that involve 2 objects, that you will be expected to be able to solve. We
will focus on 3 of these.

Atwood’s Machine: Two masses suspended by a pulley

Both masses have a Fg that pull downwards,
Diagram: Include all forces at work on the two masses. but since they are connected by a pulley those
forces work in ______________
_________________.

The masses will accelerate so that the…

Since they are attached by a rope the

acceleration of the masses must be

_____________________.

Note that there is a force of TENSION (T) that exists The Strategies:
along the rope. Tension acts the same as all other  When solving these problems it is easiest for us to choose the
forces, with two important peculiarities: direction …

1) It is an internal force, acting…

 Remember that the acceleration on the two masses...

2) It cancels out…
 It can also be easier to conceptualize this problem if we
“unfold” the masses and lay them out in a line, while keeping
all of our forces as they are…I know that sounds weird so,
here’s an example.

Ex
Two masses are suspended from a lightweight rope over a frictionless pulley as shown.
What will their acceleration be once released?

8.0kg 5.0 kg

AlrightWhen
NOTE: that wasn’t too hard,
calculating but can you find
the acceleration thethe
we use tension in the rope?because the Fnet is accelerating the entire system
_____________
Strategy: To solve for tension chop your
(both masses)!
If we use the same force diagrams and equations as before we hit a diagram in half and only consider one of the
snag. The two tension forces ______________ !!! masses. Either one is fine because…

This is because tension is an___________ ____________.

In order to solve for tension we have to consider…

Ex - Find the tension in the rope in the preceding example.

Note: When finding the tension we are only considering half of the equation therefore we only use ___________.

The Hanging Mass: One mass hanging, one horizontal

Ex: (Frictionless system)

Consider the two masses shown. Find their acceleration and the tension in the rope.

8.0 kg

6.0 kg

Because one tricky concept is never enough, I give you…

Ex
Two forces are attached by a rope over a frictionless pulley as shown.
(Assume the incline is frictionless) Determine:
 Problem: What direction will they accelerate?
In earlier pulley problems it was obvious, the bigger
mass always wins. When an inclined plane is
involved this is not always the case because for the
m1 = mass on an incline only...
4.0 kg m2 = 6.0 kg
So determine the forces on each one separately
and see which one is the winner.
30o
Force 1 =_________ Force 2 = _________

Ex
In the name of physics, a monkey is attached to a sleeping sheep on a ramp. Don’t ask why.
As we all know, the coefficient of friction for a sleeping sheep on a ramp is precisely 0.15. Determine:
a. The acceleration of the system.
b. The tension in the rope.

even more adorable sheep

28 kg

40o Strategies:
adorable monkey
1. Find the forces acting on the two
24 kg
bodies separately to determine a
winner
2. Determine the friction on the
sheep. Friction can work either up
or down the ramp, because it
always opposes motion, so we
don’t know which direction it is
acting until we know the winner.
3. Based on the winner find the
acceleration using mtotal
4. Choose either body and examine it
separately to determine the
tension in the rope