Newton's Laws of Motion

• If a rock in the middle of the field suddenly begins moving across the
ground, you will surely look for the cause of its motion. You may want
to see if someone is pushing it with something or pulling it with a
rope. Surely the movement does not happen without cause. You may
say that what causes the motion of the rock is a force of some kind.
In this chapter, you will learn the following:
• Force and motion
• Net or unbalanced force
• Newton's law of inertia
• Inertia
• Newton's law of acceleration
• Mass and weight
• Momentum and impulse
• Newton's law of interaction
• Advantages and disadvantages of friction
• Newton's law of universal gravitation
Force
• A force can be described in terms of what it does. It can set a
stationary object in motion. It can also speed up or slow down a
moving object or change the direction of its motion. Hence, a force
can produce a change in velocity (speed and/or direction), that is,
make an object or a body accelerate. It is evident then that force
causes changes in motion.
• What if several forces act on an object? Their combined effect is
called the net force, F sub net, which is a vector sum or resultant of all
the forces acting on an object.
• Consider the cases in the next slide where
(a) the applied forces are unequal in magnitude and along the same
direction;
(b) unequal in magnitude and in opposite directions; and
(c) equal in magnitude and in opposite directions. What is the neet
force in each case? How does it affect motion?
Applied Forces Net Force

10 N 30 N
unbalanced forces. causes
changes in motion

20 N

unbalanced forces. causes

10 N 20 N 10 N
changes in motion

10 N 10 N balanced forces.
0N
no change in motion
Newton's First Law - Law of Inertia
• A body tends to be at rest or in constant motion unless something
causes it to change its state. Its tendency to maintain its state of
motion is called inertia. The amount of inertia an object has depends
on its mass. For example, Barry whose mass is 80 kg has more inertia
than Cindy whose mass is 70 kg. A greater force is needed to change
Barry's state of motion than Cindy's. Hence, the greater the inertia of
a body, the greater force is needed to cause change in motion.
• Newton's first law of motion also called law of inertia is stated as
follows:
• A body at rest remains at rest and a body in motion remains in motion
with uniform velocity unless an unbalanced force acts on it.
Newton's Second Law - Law of Acceleration
• Bat a ball and it moves. Its path through the air is not a straight line; it
curves due to gravity. Most things start up, slow down, or curve as
they move. Hence, they undergo change in motion, that is ,
accelerated motion.
• Applied force produces acceleration. For example, if you kick a
football twice as hard (applied twice as much force), you would
expect the acceleration of the ball to be twice as fast (but still in the
direction of the force). Thus the acceleration a is directly proportional
to and in the direction of the applied force F sub net, that is,

a  Fnet
• However, for a given force, the heavier the object the less its
acceleration will be. For example, when pushing a cart with heavier
load, lesser acceleration would be expected. That is, the acceleration
a is inversely proportional ot the mass m of an object.

1
a
m
• Combining these relationships
F
a  net
m
• In equation form, Newton's Second Law of motion is expressed as
follows.
Fnet
a
m
• The accelertion of an object is directly proportional to the net force
acting on it and inversely proportional to its mass. The direction of the
acceleration is in the direction of the applied net force.
• The table below summarizes the units of m, a, and F in the three
systems of measurement.
System m a F
MKS kg m/s² kg-m/s²= newton (N)
CGS g cm/s² g-cm/s² = dyne
British slug ft/s² slug-ft/s²= pound (lb)
• Conversion factors
• 1 kg = 0.0685 slug
• 1 lb = 4.45 N
• 1 N = 0.225 lb
• 1 slug = 14.6 kg
Weight
• The gravitational attraction of the Earth on an object is called weight.
When a stuntman jumps from the seventh floor of a hotel, he
accelerates toward the Earth. His weight W is the only force acting on
him which is the net force.
• The acceleration due to gravity g is substituted for the acceleration a
in Newton's 2nd law:

Fnet  ma
then,
W  mg
• The acceleration due to gravity on Earth is 9.8 m/s² or 980
cm/s² or 32.2 ft/s². The acceleration due to gravity on the moon
is one-sixth of the acceleration due to gravity on Earth.
• Mass does not depend on the value of g, but weight does.
Hence, 1 kilogram of grapes on Earth has also a mass of 1 kg
on the moon
Sample Problems
1. The brakes of a 1000 kg ambulance truck exert 2 500 N.
(a) What is its acceleration?
(b) How long will it come to a stop from a velocity of 25 m/s?
• Solution
• (a) F 2500 N 2
a   2.5m / s
m 1000kg
• (b)

v2  v1  at
2
0  25m / s  2.5m / s (t )
25m / s
t 2
 10 sec
2.5m / s
2. Arden exerts 40 N to pull a 10-kg cart while Caleb exerts 55 N to pull
it in the opposite direction on a frictionless floor. Calculate the
acceleration of the cart.
Solution:

F net  ma
55 N  40 N  10 kg ( a )
15 N  10 kg ( a )
15 N
 a
10 kg
2
a  1 .5 m / s
3. Kit weighs a 637 N on earth. What would his weight be on the moon?
• Solution:
W ea rth  mg ea rth

637 N  ( m )( 9 . 8 m / s 2 )
m  65 kg
2 2
g mo o n  1 /6(g ea rth )  1 / 6 ( 9 . 8 m / s )  1 . 63 m / s
W mo o n  mg mo o n

W mo o n  65 kg ( 1 . 63 m / s 2 )  105 . 95 N
4. A rope will break if it exceeds 3000 N. Calculate the minimum time
needed to pull with this rope a 1400 kg car from rest to a speed of 15
m/s.
• Solution:

Fnet  ma From
3000 N  1400kg (a ) v 2  v1
2 a 
a  2.14m / s t
v 2  v1 15 m / s
t   2
 7s
a 2 . 14 m / s
• An Atwood's machine consists of 2 masses suspended from a fixed
frictionless pulley. If the first mass is 1.5 kg and the second mass is 2.5
kg, what is his acceleration?
 • Solution:
mass 1 Adding _ equations _ 1 _& _ 2
F net  m a
1 W2  W1  m1a  m2 a
T  W  m a
1 1
W2  W1  (m1  m2 )a
mass 2
F net  m a W2  W1 24.5 N  14.7 N 2
2 a   2.45m / s
W 2  T  m 2 a m1  m2 4kg
6. An 8000 kg elevator is pulled by a cable. Determine the
tension in the cable if the elevator accelerates (a) up at 1.2 m/s²
and (b) down at 1.2 m/s²
• Solution:
Draw the free body diagram.

2
W8 00
kg
0
9.8m/s 7 84
N 00
(a) accelerates up, thus

 F  ma
T  W  ma
2
T  ma  W  8000kg (1.2m / s )  78400 N  88000 N
(b) accelerates down, hence

 F  ma
T  W  ma
T  ma  T
2
T  78000 N  8000kg ( 1.2m / s )
T  68800 N
7. Three blocks are pulled along a frictionless surface by a horizontal
force as shown in the figure.(a) What is the acceleration of the system?
(b) What are the tension forces in the light strings?
• Solutions:
(a) Draw the free-body diagram of each block separately. Write the
corresponding equation using Summation of F = ma.

For m₃: For m₂: For m₁:

T₂ F T₁ T₂ T₁

(1) F - T₂ = m₃a (2) T₂ - T₁= m₂a (3) T₁ = m₁a

• Substitute equation T sub 1 to equation (2):

T 2  T 1  m 2 a
T 2  ( m 1 a )  m 2 a
T 2  m 1 a  m 2 a
• Substitute T sub 2 in equation (1):

F  T 2  m 3a
F  (m 1a  m 2 a )  m 3a
F  m 1a  m 2a  m 3a
• Solving for the acceleration

a (m1  m2  m3 )  F
F 18 N 2
a   3m / s
( m1  m2  m3 ) 6kg
• Using equation (3), solve for T sub 1

2
T1  m1a  1kg (3m / s )  3 N
• Using equation (2), solve for T sub 2.

T2  T1  m2 a
2
T2  T1  m2 a  3N  2kg (m / s )  9 N
Impulse and Momentum
• Have you ever thought of the factors that affect the damage of two
vehicles in a collision?
• Consider a bus speeding at 80 km/h and a car moving at 50 km/h. The
bus is more difficult to stop than the car. Comparing their momenta,
the bus has greater momentum than the car since it has greater
speed. Thus, the speed of a body is directly related to its momentum.
• Suppose the bus and the car are moving with the same speed. Which
of these two vehicles is more difficult to stop? Probably you say the
bus. This is so since the bus is more massive than the car; hence, it
has a greater momentum. Therefore, the mass of a body is directly
related to its momentum.
• Qualitatively, the momentum p of a body is the product of its mass
and velocity v. In symbols,

p  mv
• The units of momentum are as follows:

System m v p
MKS kg m/s kg-m/s
CGS g cm/s g-cm/s
British slug ft/s slug-ft/s
• Its direction is the same as the direction in which the body is moving.
• To answer the question posed at the beginning of the discussion, for
two bodies in collision, the damage is dependent on their velocities
and masses, that is, their momenta. Greater momentum results to
greater damage.
• A change in velocity brings about a change in momentum, that is,

p  mv
• From Newton's law of acceleration,

v
F  ma, where _ a 
t
So,
v
F m
t
Ft  mv
• This implies that a force that acts on a body to produce a change in its
momentum (right term) is equal to the impulse (left term) that it
provides. Hence,
• Impulse = change in momentum

Ft  mv
Ft  m(v2  v1 )
• Units of Impulse

System F t Impulse
MKS N s N-s
CGS dyne s dyne-s
British lb s lb-s
Sample Problems
1. A 2500 kg truck crashes into a boulder at 50 km/h and comes to a
stop in 0.7s. What is the average force on the truck?
• Solution:
Ft  m(v2  v1 )
m(v2  v1 ) 2500kg (0  13.89m / s )
F   49607 N
t 0.7 s

The negative sign means that the force that acted to stop
the truck is in the opposite direction.
2. The momentum of a 9000 kg car initially moving north at 10m/s
increases by 10 800 kg-m/s. (a) Calculate the final velocity of the car.
(b) Calculate the final velocity of the car if its momentum decreases by
10 800 kg m/s.
• Solution:
• Given: m= 900 kg
• v₁ = 10 m/s
• p = 10 800 kg m/s
Find v₂
(a) p  m(v2  v1 )
10800kgm / s  900kg (v2  10m / s )
10800kgm / s  900kg (v2 )  9000kgm / s
19800kgm / s  900kg (v2 )
v2  22m / s

The final velocity of the car is 22 m/s to the north.

(b)
p  m(v2  v1 )
0kgm / s  900kg (v2  10m / s )
9000kgm / s  900kg (v2 )
v2  10m / s

The final velocity of the car is 10 m/s to the north.

3. A person will experience serious chest injury when stopped during a
collision if the combined force of a seat belt and shoulder strap on the
person's body exceeds 16 000 N. Calculate (a) the minimum stopping
time and (b) the corresponding stopping distance for a 75-kg person
moving initially at 14 m/s in order to avoid serious injury.
• Solution:
• Given: F = -16 000 N
• m= 75 kg
• Find: t, d
The force is negative since the
combined force of the seat belt
and the shoulder strap act against
the motion of the car to support
the person.
(a)

Ft  m(v2  v1 )
m(v2  v1 ) 75kg (0  10m / s )
t   0.05s
F  16000 N
(b)

d  vt
v1  v2 10m / s  0
v   5m / s
2 2
d  5m / s (0.05s )  0.25m
4. A 10 kg apple will bruise if subjected to a force greater than 8N. A
0.10 kg apple falls from tree and reaches the ground at a speed of 6
m/s where it stops after sinking 10 cm into the grass below. Is the
average force of the grass enough to bruise the apple. Justify.
• Solution:
• Given: m= 0.10 kg
• v₂= 6m/s
• d= 0.1m
• Find the force using F = ma
• Calculate first the average speed and time.

v1  v2 0  6m / s
v   3m / s
2 2
d  vt
d 0.1m
t   0.03s
v 3m / s
m(v2  v1 ) 0.10kg (6m / s )
F   20 N
t 0.03s
• The average force of the grass is enough to bruise the apple since it is
greater than the maximum force needed for the apple not to be
bruised.
Newton's Third Law -- Law of Interaction
• In any application of forces, there is always a mutual interaction.
Forces always occur in pairs. One force is called the action force while
the other force is the reaction force. They are equal and neither force
exists without the other.
• Body A exerts a force on body B.(action)
• Body B exerts a force on body A.(reaction)
• Consider the forces involved in seat belt safety. In a moving car, when
brakes are suddenly applied, you continue to move forward and exert
force on the seat belt. The belt in turn exerts a corresponding reaction
force on you, causing you to slow down with the car. Such observation
leads to Newton's law of motion or the law of action and reaction. It
can be stated as follows:
• Whenever one body exerts a force (action) on a second body, the
second body exerts an equal and opposite force (reaction) on the
first.
Newton's Universal Law of Gravitation
• Newton discovered a general expression for the force of gravity
between any two bodies. Newton's universal law of gravitation states
that
• The gravitational force (F) between11
any
2
6.67 10 Nm / kg two masses, m sub 1 and m
2

sub 2, is proportional to the product of the masses and inversely

proportional to the distance between their centers of mass, r.
where G is the universal law
m 1m of gravitation constant
F  G 2
2
In SI units, the value of G is 6.67 10
11
Nm 2 / kg 2
r
In British/English, its value is 3.44 10 8
lbft 2 / slug 2
Friction
• Friction refers to the force that acts in opposite direction to the
motion of a body. It occurs whenever two materials or bodies are in
contact with each other. Friction occurs in solids sliding over one
another. It also occurs in liquids and gases (called fluids) when an
object moving through a fluid pushes aside some of the fluid. Air
resistance, the friction that acts on something moving through air, is a
very common case of fluid friction.
• insert friction pics here
• The study of friction is called tribology, from the Greek word tribos
which means rubbing.
• Friction is useful in daily life. Without friction, we cannot walk, sit on a
chair, climb stairs, or use a mouse to surf the net. We can walk
because there is friction between our shoes and the ground. When
the surface we walk on is slick, we tend to slip and slide because there
is less friction. Tires can grip and roll along the road without skidding
because there is friction. When a driver brakes, friction slows his
vehicle down.
• Althought friction is necessity, it presents a problem in engineering
design. Friction inside a car engine and inside wheel axles will slow a
car down and wear out the metal. Oil or grease is used in order to
reduce friction.
Types of Friction
• There are several types of friction depending on the type of motion:
static, sliding, rolling and fluid friction.
1. Static friction - occurs between two bodies that are in contact but are
not moving. For example, you want to move a table. You push it but it
does not move. The static friction between the legs of the table and the
floor opposes and is equal to the force you are applying. Hence, there is
no motion.
2. Sliding or Kinetic friction - occurs when there is relative motion at the
interface of the surfaces in contact. When you push a table, it slides,
but there is still a great deal of resistance between the legs of the table,
and the floor.
3. Rolling friction - occurs when one surface rotates as it moves over
another surface but does not slide at the point of area of contact such
as what occurs between a train wheel and a rail.
4. Fluid friction - occurs due to the viscosity of liquids and gases. This
casuse resistance to the objects moving through them.
• Friction between two surfaces depends on the nature of the two
surfaces and on the load (weight of the object), the force that presses
the surfaces together.
• Frictional force f is directly proportional to the normal force N (the
force exerted by the surface on the object). The normal force is equal
in magnitude to the component of the weight force acting
perpendicular to the surface. It is expressed in the formula,

f s  s N
where μ is the coefficient of static friction
• Once an object is sliding, the force of kinetic friction f sub k acting on
it is given by

f k  k N

• where myu sub k is the coefficient of kinetic/sliding friction

Sample Problems
1. The gravitational force between two identical objects, each with a
mass of 10 kg is 1 N. What is the distance between their centers?
Solution:
2
m
1 2
6.671 0 N 2 (1 0
kg)(10
kg)
Gm
1m kg 5
r 2
 8.1 71 0 m
F 1N
2. A hospital attendant exerts a horizontal force of 60 N on a
gurney with a patient on it and accelertes at 0.4 m/s². The patient
is 65 kg and the gurney is 30 kg. What is the magnitude of the
frictional force opposing the motion?
Solution:
F  f  ma
2
60 N  f  95 kg ( 0 . 4 m / s )
60 N  f  38 N
f  22 N
3. A block rests on an inclined plane. Its angle with the horizontal
is increased. When the angle becomes 40⁰, the block starts to
slide. Calculate the coefficient of static friction between the block
and the plane.
Solution: N
Draw the free body diagram f
Let f = frictional force
W = weight θ
N = normal force
W
θ
• From the diagram,
• N = w cos θ
• Since the block just starts to
slide,ΣF = 0 along the plane.
• W sin θ-f = 0 where f = μN
S u b sti tu t i
W
W






si n
si n

W
W

t an




co s

si n

40
ng





W
W


_


co s
co s
f

tan

0 . 84
,




 0

= μW cosθ
4. A 20-kg block moves along a horizontal surface with a 0.60
coefficient of kinetic friction. The block is pulled by a rope that
exerts a 162-N tension at a 35⁰ angle above the horizontal. Find
the block's acceleration.
Draw the free body diagram.

T
f T sinθ= Tᵧ
θ
T cos θ= Tₓ

W = 20 kg (9.8m/s²) = 196 N
• ΣFᵧ = 0 since there is no motion along the y-axis.

 F y  0
N  T sin   W  0
N  W  T sin 
N  196 N  ( 162 N ) sin 35 
N  103 N
• Hence,

T cos   f  ma
T cos   f 162 N cos 35  61.8 N
a   3.55m / s 2
m 20kg

• since it accelerates along the x-axis

To be continued...