Applying Newton’s Laws of Motion

 Newton's laws of motion are strong tools to understand the motion of objects
with forces acting upon them
 Below are two worked examples demonstrating different situations involving
the application of Newton's laws

Worked example

Two blocks of mass 1 kg and 4 kg respectively are attached by a tight massless rope
between them. The 1 kg block sits on the left and the 4 kg block sits on the right. The
1 kg mass has a 100 Newton force applied to it pulling it to the left. What is the
acceleration of both blocks and the tension in the rope as they move across a
frictionless surface?

A The acceleration is 15 m s–2 to the left and the tension is 20 N

B The acceleration is 20 m s–2 to the left and the tension is 40 N

C The acceleration is 15 m s–2 to the left and the tension is 60 N

D The acceleration is 20 m s–2 to the left and the tension is 80 N

Step 1: Consider the whole of the system


o Together the 1 kg and 4 kg blocks are both being pulled along by the
100 N force (since the rope is tight)
o This is a frictionless flat surface, therefore the only forces in the system
are the pulling force and the tension force(s) in the rope
o Therefore the acceleration can be found using Newton's second law

Step 2: Find the acceleration


o Using Newton's second law:

F=m×a


o Rearrange for a
 a=F÷m

a = 100 ÷ 5 = 20 m s–2 to the left

Step 3: Examine the 4 kg mass only


o Since the system is moving with an acceleration of 20 m s–2 to the left,
the force on only the 4 kg mass can be found

F=m×a

F = 4 × 20 = 80 N to the left


o The only force acting on the 4 kg mass is the rope and therefore
tension force
o This means there is 20 N pulling force on the 1 kg block only

Step 4: State your answer


o Since acceleration, a = 20 m s–2 to the left and the tension force = 80 N
to the left
o Therefore, the answer is option D

Worked example

A stationary object is subject to a 300 N force towards the left and at 55 degrees
leftwards with respect to the vertical and a 450 N force to the right and 35°
downwards with respect to the horizontal.Calculate what is the magnitude and
direction of the third force that would make this object remain stationary (to the
nearest N).

Step 1: Recall Newton's first law

 
o Newton's First Law states:

A body will remain at rest or move with constant velocity unless acted on by a
resultant force


o Therefore, for this object to remain stationary, the resultant force must
have a magnitude of 0 Newtons

Step 2: Resolve the 300 N force into its horizontal and vertical components


o The horizontal component can be resolved from:

sin(55°) × 300 = 246 N


o This is directed to the left


o The vertical component can be resolved from:

cos(55°) × 300 = 172 N


o This is in an upwards direction

Step 3: Resolve the 450 N force into its horizontal and vertical components
 
o The horizontal component can be resolved from:

cos(35°) × 450 = 369 N


o This is directed to the right


o The vertical component can be resolved from:

sin(35°) × 450 = 258 N


o This is in a downwards direction

Step 4: Combine the horizontal components


o The two forces provide 369 N to the right and 246 N to the left
o Therefore, since these are opposing directions:

369 – 246 = 123 N to the right

Step 5: Combine the vertical components


o The two forces provide 258 N downwards and 172 N upwards
o Therefore, since these are opposing directions:

258 – 172 = 86 N downwards

Step 6: Make a right angle triangle using these two force vectors


o There should be a longer size 123 N magnitude vector arrow to the
right and then a 86 N magnitude vector arrow downwards
o These can be connected from start to finish by a third vector which is
the hypotenuse of this right-angled triangle
Step 7: Use the two vectors magnitudes to find the angle from the horizon


o Since the vectors are to the right and downwards in this right-angle
triangle, neither is the hypotenuse
o Therefore the angle from the horizontal downwards can be found by
using tan:

tan(θ°) = Opp. ÷ Adj. = 86 ÷ 123

θ° = tan–1(86 ÷ 123) = tan–1(0.699)

θ° ≈ 35°

Step 8: Use Pythagoras theorem or trigonometry to find the magnitude of the

resultant force acting on the object


o Method 1: Using Pythagoras theorem
 c2 = b2 + a2 where b and a are the vector magnitudes for the
horizontal and vertical components found so far and c is the
hypotenuse magnitude

c2 = 862 + 1232 = 7396 + 15129 = 22525

c = √22 525 ≈ 150 N


o Method 2: Using trigonometry
 Using the horizontal component and the angle found in step
7, coscan be used

cos(35°) = Adj. ÷ Hyp. = 123 ÷ Hyp.


o
 Therefore:

123 ÷ cos(35°) = Hyp. ≈ 150 N

Step 9: State the final answer


o The third force which would cause this object to remain stationary is
equal and opposite to the resultant force acting on the object
o Therefore the force required is 150 N left and 35° upwards from the
horizontal

Examiner Tip

You are expected to know Newton's three laws of motion from memory and how they
apply to physical situations. So be sure to practice and use them without having to
review them before carrying out a problem.
Friction
 Friction is a force that works in opposition to the motion of an object
 It occurs between two solid bodies that are in contact with one another
o The opposition of friction slows down the motion of the object

 When friction is present, energy is transferred in the form of heat

o This raises the temperature (thermal energy) of the object and its
surroundings
o The work done against the frictional forces causes this rise in the
temperature

 Imperfections at the interface between the object and the surface bump into
and rub up against each other
o Not only does this slow the object down but also causes an increase
in thermal energy

The interface between the ground and the sled is bumpy which is the source
of the frictional force

Static & Dynamic Friction

 There are two kinds of friction to consider for IB DP Physics
o Static friction occurs when two solid objects are in contact and no
movement is occurring between the two objects
o Dynamic friction occurs once one of the objects is moving past the
other, such as in the sled example above

 Both of these forms of friction depend on the normal reaction force of the
object sitting upon the other
 Static friction will match any pushing force that acts against until it can no
longer hold the two objects stationary
o Static friction increases in magnitude until movement begins and
dynamic friction occurs
 For any given situation, static friction-should reach a maximum value that
is larger-than that of dynamic friction
o For a constant pushing force, dynamic friction will be a constant
 This is because there are more forces at work keeping an object stationary
than there are forces working to resist an object once it is in motion

The relationship between frictional forces and motion

 The equation for static friction is given by:

F ≤ μS × R

 Where:
o F = static frictional force (N)
o μS = coefficient of static friction
o R = normal reaction force (N)

 The coefficient of static friction is a number between 0 and 1 but does not
include those numbers
o It is a ratio of the force of static friction and the normal force
 o The larger the coefficient of static friction, the harder it is to move
those two objects past one another

 The equation for dynamic friction is given by:

F = μD × R

 Where:
o F = dynamic frictional force (N)
o μD = coefficient of dynamic friction
o R = normal reaction force (N)

 The coefficient of dynamic friction has similar properties to that of static

friction
 Yet, dynamic friction has a definite forcevalue for a given situation
o Whereas the force of static friction has an increasing force value

Worked example

An 8.0 kg block sits on an incline of 20 degrees from the horizontal. It is stationary

and does have a frictional force acting upon it.

Determine the minimum possible value of the coefficient of static friction.

Step 1: List the known quantities


o Mass of the block, m = 8.0 kg
o Angle between the slope and the horizontal, θ = 20°

Step 2: Determine the weight of the block


o The weight will act directly downwards and comes from the interaction
of mass and acceleration due to gravity

W=m×g

8.0 × 9.8 = 78.4 N downwards

Step 3: Break the weight down into components based on the slope angle
 
o The component that is parallel to the slope and provides a force
moving the block down the slope can be found from:

sin(20°) × W = F

F = sin(20°) × 78.4 = 26.8 N


o The component that is perpendicular to the slope and the same
magnitude as the normal reaction force can be found from:

cos(20°) × W = F

F = cos(20°) × 78.4 = 73.7 N

Step 4: Use the equation of static friction to find the minimum value of the
coefficient of static friction


o The equation for static friction is:

F ≤ μS × R


o In this case, the F is the 26.8 N pushing the block down the slope
o The R is the normal reaction force which has the same magnitude as
the perpendicular component of the weight force which is 73.7 N
o Therefore the value can be added and μS solved for:

26.8 ≤ μS × 73.7


o Rearrange for μS

26.8 ÷ 73.7 ≤ μS
 0.36 ≤ μS

Step 5: State the final answer


o The coefficient for static friction must be at least 0.36 or greater for this
situation