Physics for Engineers

Module No. 4

INTRODUCTION
Forces acting on a body affect
its state of motion

Force and Motion Concept Map

TYPES OF FORCES

Force is a push or pull exerted by an object on

another. It is a vector quantity because it has both
magnitude and direction. SI unit: Newton (N)
1 N = 1 kg m/s2

Contact force Noncontact force

Force between two bodies that are in direct Force that acts even if the interacting bodies are
contact with each other. separated by distance.
Examples: friction, tension, compression, and Example: gravitational force, electrostatic force
normal force between charge bodies, and magnetic force.
 The Four Common Types of Forces

Normal Force (FN ) Friction Force (𝑓)

the force always acts perpendicular to the exerted on an object by a surface acts parallel
surface of contact, no matter what the angle of to the surface, in the direction that opposes
the surface. sliding.

Tension Force (T) Weight (w)

the pulling force exerted by a stretched rope or the gravitational force that the earth exerts on
cord on and object to which it’s attached. your body.

The Four Fundamental Forces of Nature

Gravitational force Electromagnetic force

the attractive force exerted by objects with the force that holds atoms and molecules
mass together
Strong nuclear force Weak nuclear force
the force between protons and neutrons in a Plays a role in the radioactive decay of some
nucleus nuclei

Gravitational Force Vector, Weight, and Mass

Mass Weight
Measured in kilogram, kg Measured in Newton, N
Always remains the same Can change with location
Closely related to inertia Closely related to gravity
𝑾 = 𝒎𝒈

NEWTON’S LAWS OF MOTION

Newton’s First Law or Law of Inertia

§ If the net force on an object is equal to zero, the object will remain at rest if it was at rest.
If it was moving, it will remain in motion in a straight line with the same constant velocity.
§ The tendency of a body to keep moving once it is set in motion results from a property
called inertia. The tendency of a body at rest to remain at rest is also due to inertia.

§ Inertia is the property of a body that tends to resist change in its state of motion. Mass is
a measure of inertia. The greater the mass, the greater the inertia.
§ When a body is either at rest or moving with constant velocity (in a straight line with
constant speed), the body is in equilibrium. For a body to be in equilibrium, it must be
acted on by no force, or by several forces such that their vector sum, the net force is zero.
 𝛴𝐹 = 0 (body in equilibrium)
𝛴𝐹! = 0 ; 𝛴𝐹" = 0

Newton’s law of inertia as well as Republic Act 8750 (otherwise known as The Seat
Belt Use Act of 1999) are two reasons why we should use seat belts. A person inside a car
moves with the same velocity as the car. If the collides with a hard object, the net force acting
on the car causes it to stop. The passenger will continue to move at this velocity unless a force
stops him. This force is provided by the seat belt.

Newton’s Second Law or Law of Acceleration

§ If a net external force, acts on an object with mass m, the force will cause an acceleration
in the same direction as the force.
𝛴𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎
𝛴𝐹! = 𝑚𝑎! ; 𝛴𝐹" = 𝑚𝑎"
§ The SI unit of force is 1 newton (N). A force of 1 N is the force that will give a 1 kg body
an acceleration of 1 m/s2.
1 𝑁 = 1 𝑘𝑔 𝑚/𝑠2
1 𝑑𝑦𝑛𝑒 = 1 𝑔 𝑐𝑚/𝑠2
1 𝑁 = 105 𝑑𝑦𝑛𝑒𝑠

Newton’s Third Law or Law of Interaction

§ The forces that two interacting objects exert on each other are always exactly equal in
magnitude and opposite in direction.

𝐹#→% = −𝐹%→#
§ When a body A exerts a force on a body B, body B will exert an equal but oppositely
directed force on body A. If you push hard on a wall by a force of 5 N, the wall in turn
pushes you back by a force of 5 N. This pair of forces is called action-reaction pair.

Sample Problems
1. A worker applies a constant horizontal force with magnitude 20N to a box with a mass 40kg
resting on a level floor with negligible friction. What is the acceleration of the box?

Solution:
𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎!
20𝑁 = 40𝑘𝑔 (𝑎! )
𝒂𝒙 = 𝟎. 𝟓 m/s2

2. A 75 kg man stands on a bathroom scale inside an elevator. What is the reading of the scale
when the elevator is (a) at rest or moving up/down at constant velocity? (b) accelerating up
at 1.5 m/s2, and (c) accelerating down at 1.50 m/s2.
 (a)

(b)

When the elevator is accelerating up, there must be a net force acting upward,

(c)

Sample Problems

3. A soccer player kicks a ball with 1500 N of force. Determine the force that the ball exerts
against the player’s foot?

Solution:
𝐹#→% = −𝐹%→#
1500 = −𝐹%→#
𝑭𝟐→𝟏 = −𝟏𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝑵
 4. Two balls are hanged one after the other as shown in figure. The upper ball weighs
0.35 N, while the lower ball weighs 0.28 N. (a) Draw a free-body diagram for each
ball. (b) Find the tension in each string supporting the balls.

Solution:

a. Let 𝑤# and 𝑤$ represent the weight of the upper and lower balls, respectively
Let T1 and T2 be the tension in each string supporting the upper and lower
balls, respectively.

Notice that T2 is acting upward with respect to the lower ball and downward with
respect to upper ball. This is consequence of Newton’s third law of motion.
b. Apply the first condition of equilibrium to each of the balls, ; 𝛴𝐹" = 0
Lower ball 𝑤$ : Upper ball 𝑤# :
𝑇$ − 𝑤$ = 0 𝑇# − 𝑇$ − 𝑤# = 0
𝑇$ − 0.28 𝑁 = 0 𝑇# − 0.28 𝑁 − 0.35 𝑁 = 0
𝑻𝟐 = 𝟎. 𝟐𝟖 𝑵 𝑻𝟏 = 𝟎. 𝟔𝟑 𝑵

FRICTION FORCE
Friction refers to a force that resists motion between materials in contact. Friction exists
in all types of materials. Friction between solid surfaces is generally classified as static, kinetic,
and rolling.

Static and Kinetic Friction

Consider and object resting on a horizontal surface, upon which a

horizontal force F is applied. The free-body diagram of the object is
shown in figure 1. Let us further assume that the value of F may be
gradually increased. At all times that the object remains at rest, the
applied force F is balanced by the static friction fs . Increasing F also
increases friction. However, static friction has a maximum value. If the
applied force exceeds the maximum value of friction, then the object will
start to slide and accelerate in the direction of the applied force. But when Fig.1
is static friction maximum? .

Static friction is maximum when motion is We change the proportionality relation to

about to begin or when motion is impending. an equation by introducing a constant of
The maximum value of friction is found to be proportionality 𝝁𝒔 . This constant is called
(Eq. 1) the
proportional to the perpendicular or normal force coefficient of static friction and is a property of
pressing the surfaces together. Representing the materials in contact with each other.
maximum static friction as fs and normal force fs = 𝝁 𝒔 F N
as FN , we have Once the two surfaces begin to slide over
fs 𝜶 F N another, static friction is replaced by kinetic
friction. Kinetic friction fk is found to be proportionality constant 𝝁𝒌 is called the
proportional to the normal force. The coefficient of kinetic friction.
fk = 𝝁 𝒌 F N (Eq. 2)

Sample Problem 1

1. A 100 kg crate rests on a rough horizontal surface. The coefficient of

static friction and kinetic friction are 0.500 and 0.100, respectively.
(a) What is the normal force acting on the crate?
(b) What is the value of the maximum static friction?
(c) What minimum horizontal force is need to start the motion of the crate?
(d) What would happen if the applied horizontal force is 350 N ?
(e) What would happen if the applied horizontal force is 550 N?
(f) What is the value of kinetic friction?
(g) What force is needed to keep the crate moving at constant speed once motion has begun?
Solution:
a. FN? Since there is no motion along the d. If the applied horizontal force is 350 N,
vertical, we sum up all the forces along the crate will remain at rest since the
vertical axis equal to zero. applied force of 350 N is below
∑ 𝐹) = 0 𝑓! = 490 𝑁. Static friction will just oppose it
𝐹* − 𝑤 = 0 with a force equal to 350 N.
𝐹* = 𝑤
𝐹* = 𝑚𝑔 = (100)(9.8) = 𝟗𝟖𝟎 𝑵 e. If the applied horizontal force is 550 N,
static friction can no longer oppose motion.
The crate will accelerate. Applying
b. Fs? We compute for the maximum static Newton’s second law of motion,
friction using Eq. 2. Substituting the ∑ 𝐹- = 𝑚𝑎!
given values, 𝐹 − 𝑓. = 𝑚𝑎!
𝑓! = 𝜇𝑠 𝐹𝑁 = (0.500)(980) = 𝟒𝟗𝟎 𝑵
550 − 490 = 100𝑎!
𝒂𝒙 = 𝟎. 𝟔𝟎 𝒎/𝒔𝟐
c. To start the motion of the crate, the
maximum static friction must be
f. Kinetic friction can be solved using Eq. 2
overcome. Hence, the minimum
𝑓/ = 𝜇/ 𝐹*
horizontal force needed to start motion
𝑓/ = (0.100)(980) = 𝟗𝟖 𝑵
must be greater than 490 N.

2. A woman at an airport is towing her 20-kg suitcase at constant speed

by pulling on a strap at a certain angle above the horizontal. She pulls
on the strap with a 35-N force, and a friction force on the suitcases is
20 N. (a) Draw a free-body diagram of the suitcase. (b) What angle
does the strap make with the horizontal? (c) What normal force does
the ground exert on the suitcase?
 7

Practice exercise

1. A 9-kg block is being pulled by a worker through a string attached to it. If the surface has a
coefficient of kinetic friction of 0.2, find the tension of the string.

2. A 25-kg block is initially at rest on a horizontal surface. A horizontal force of 75 N is required to

set the block in motion. After it is in motion, a horizontal force of 60 N is required to keep the
block moving with constant speed. Find the coefficients of static and kinetic friction from this
information.

3. Consider a 10 N box in a flat surface. Find the normal force exerted by the surface on the box in
each of the following situations. (Assume there is no friction between the box and the surface).
(a) The box is at rest. (b) A force of 5N parallel to the surface is applied on the box. (c) A 5N
force pulling the box upward and backward is applied on the box at 450 above the horizontal.
4. An elevator canon has a mass of 363.7 kg, and the combined mass of the people inside the
cabin is 177 kg. The cabin is pulled upward by a cable, in which there is a tension force of 7638
N. What is the acceleration of the elevator?