Newton’s Second Law

Before discussing this law, it is pertinent to know resultant force and equilibrant force. For
example, consider two forces A and B acting on an object. They will produce a resultant force. In
the two examples below forces A and B give rise to a resultant, force C.

If the forces are parallel it is easy to determine the resultant vector. However, if the forces are not
parallel (as in Figure below) we then use scale diagrams, parallelogram rules or the mathematical
techniques covered in Unit 1 to determine the magnitude and direction of the resultant force.

The overall force acting on any single object is referred to as the resultant force. This is often called
the net force or Fnet.Sometimes it is helpful to know the equilibrant force. This is the force you need
to apply to a system to cancel out the resultant force. This will result in there being no net force acting on
an object.
 Forces and acceleration

In the previous section we said: Newton’s first law means a force is required to make an
object:
• speed up
• slow down
• Change direction.

>>>>>>>>>> accelerating.

In other words, forces cause objects to accelerate, or more precisely if there is

resultant force acting on an object, then that object will accelerate. The forces are said to
unbalanced. If there are balanced forces acting on an object then there is no resultant
force and so the object will not accelerate.

Newton found the acceleration of a body increases with force and decreases with mass.

Let us illustrate with a diagram

Keeping the mass (left) and force (right) constant

So, Newton’s second law: states that;

“The acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the applied net force and inversely
proportional to the mass of the object.”

In Symbols, ⃗ = ⃗
 Exercise
1. A constant force acts on a 10kg object and increases its velocity from 8m/s to
20m/s in 3sec. Find the force applied?
2. A pick up car of mass 1000kg accelerates at 3m/s2. What will be the acceleration
of the car if a block of mass 200kg is added to the top of it? Assume force is
constant.
3. A car of mass 2000 kg starts from rest and moving with an acceleration which
remains constant for 10sec. If the car covers a distance of 500m. What is the
applied force?
4. A student pulls a box of books on a smooth horizontal floor with a force of 100
N in a direction of 37o above the horizontal. If the mass of the box and the
books is 40.0 kg, what is the acceleration of the box?

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Mass and Weight

Mass is a scalar quantity and it is a measure of the quantity of matter. Mass is measured
in kilograms (kg). Weight is a force and so it’s a vector quantity, measured in newton’s
(N). It is the force we experience due to the gravitational pull of the Earth pulling on our
mass. Weight is directed towards the centre of the Earth. We can calculate the weight of
an object using:

Weight = mass  gravitational fieldstrength

W = mg

On the surface of the Earth the gravitational field strength is around 9.8 N/kg. We will use 10
N/kg in the following examples to make the mathematics a little easier.

Example

A person with a mass of 70 kg will have a weight of:

w = mg State principle or equation to be used

w = 70 kg x 10 N/kg Substitute in known values and complete calculation

w = 700 N (actually more like 687 N if we use g = 9.81 N/kg). Clearly state the answer with unit
Exercise

1. The acceleration due to gravity on the surface of the earth and the moon are approximately
10m/s2 and 1.6m/s2 respectively. Find the weight of 200Kg body

a) On earth b) on the moon

2. A massless rope passes over a massless pulley suspended from the ceiling. A 8-kg block is
attached to one end and a 10-kg block is attached to the other end. What is the acceleration of the
10-kg block?

Variation of Weight with Location

If the gravitational field strength changes then the weight of the object will change but its mass
will stay the same. The gravitational field strength varies a little around the Earth.

Acceleration due to gravity

 Increases with increasing latitude

The value of the gravity at the pole is larger than at the equator since the poles are closer to the
center of the earth due to the earth’s oblateness. For example, g=9.83m/s2 at the North pole, g=
9.7m/s2 at the equator.

 Decreases with increasing altitude.

The distance from the centre of the Earth also affects g; it gets smaller the further away
from the centre of Earth you get. This change is quite small, you need to move really
far away before becomes noticeable. Even at the top of the tallest mountain g is still
around 9.8 N/kg.

 Gravity depends on the amount of mass underneath on the surface

If there is a dense pocket of material underneath you, this will increase the
gravitational field strength slightly. The reverse is also true, if there is large pocket of
gas or lower density material underneath the gravitational field strength will go down.
True weightlessness and apparent weightlessness

True/ Real weightlessness is when an object weight is zero. You are only truly weightless if the
gravitational field strength is zero.
Apparentweightlessnessiswhentheonlyforceactingisyour weight.

The apparent and real weight of a body

Apparent weight of a body is the resultant of the real weight and any contact force
acting on it.
Real weight is the actual weight of a body.
To explicate this, imagine you are in an elevator.
A) When the elevator moving upward with an acceleration of a
If the lift accelerates upwards then there must be a net force acting on it. Suppose you are inside
the lift having weight (mg) and the upward force exerted on your feet by the floor of the elevator
(FN). Now according the Newton 2nd law,
Fnet = FN-mg=ma  FN= mg + ma
 FN= m (g + a)
Imagine the net force acting on you is 200 N (assuming your mass is 70 kg this would give an
acceleration of 2.86 m/s2).
The floor would push you up harder; the contact force would have to increase to 900 N. This
provides the extra 200 N. You feel heavier, it would feel like your weight is 900 N. This is referred
to as your apparent weight; your real weight is still 700N. Since FN is greater than your
weight mg, you feel heavier even though your weight has not changed

B) When the elevator accelerating downwards

The same is true if the lift were to accelerate downwards. Here
we have,
Fnet = mg-FN=ma
 FN= m (g-a)
Again imagine the net force on you is 200 N. In this case the
contact force would drop 200 N to 500 N. You would feel like
your weight has dropped! Your apparent weight would be 500 N. In this case, you feel lighter
than usual
C) When the elevator is at rest or moving at constant velocity in any direction.
If the lift is not accelerating the two forces are equal, FN-mg=ma but here, a=0 then FN=mg

Here, your apparent weight is equal to your true weight

D) When the elevator cable breaks and the elevator falls freely
If the lift cable were to snap then as the lift accelerates towards the ground the contact force
would fall to zero! The floor would stop pushing you up. You would feel like you are weightless.
Your apparent weight would be 0 N; you would be apparently weightless.

mg -FN = ma, but a=g  FN=0

Now you will feel a state of weightlessness

Exercise
1. A constant force acts on a 10kg object and increases its velocity from 8m/s to
20m/s in 3sec. Find the force applied?
2. A pick up car of mass 1000kg accelerates at 3m/s2. What will be the acceleration
of the car if a block of mass 200kg is added to the top of it? Assume force is
constant.
3. A car of mass 2000 kg starts moving with an acceleration which remains
constant for 10sec. If the car covers a distance of 500m. What is the applied
force?
4. What is the apparent weight of a 60kg mass gentle man moving in an elevator
when the elevator accelerates at 3m/s2? a) upwards b) downwards
5. A 4000kg elevator is accelerating upwards. If the tension in the supporting cable
is 48000N. Calculate acceleration of the elevator? (take g=10m/s2 )