UNIT-07

Newtons Three Laws of Motion

The First Law: An object at rest will remain at rest unless acted on by an unbalanced
force. An object in motion continues in motion with the same speed and in the same
direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.
This law is often called "the law of inertia".
What does this mean?
This means that there is a natural tendency of objects to stay in the state of motion they
are in - all objects resist changes in their state of motion. In the absence of an external
influence, an object in motion will maintain this state of motion. The velocity (including
zero) of a mass will stay uniform - the magnitude and the direction of the velocity of a
mass will stay unchanged unless an external agent exerts an influence on the mass.
The Second Law: The nature of the external influence is defined more precisely by the
second law: F = ma. The external influence is the net force F exerted on the mass, m
from outside of the system. Here, a is the acceleration of the mass and is in the same
direction as F.
The Third Law: The third law is about interaction between two masses. It states that
when two bodies interact, they exert equal but oppositely directed forces on each
other. Of this pair of forces one of them (you pick which one) is called the force of
action and the other one , the force of reaction.

The Laws of Motion

Concept Questions

1. Which of the following statements is most correct? (a) It is possible for an object
to have motion in the absence of forces on the object. (b) It is possible to have forces
on an object in the absence of motion of the object. (c) Neither (a) nor (b) is correct.
(d) Both (a) and (b) are correct.

Answer: (d). Choice (a) is true. Newtons first law tells us that motion requires no
force: An object in motion continues to move at constant velocity in the absence of
external forces. Choice (b) is also true: A stationary object can have several forces
acting on it, but if the vector sum of all these external forces is zero, there is no net
force and the object remains stationary.


2. You push an object, initially at rest, across a frictionless floor with a constant force
for a time interval t, resulting in a final speed of v for the object. You repeat the
experiment, but with a force that is twice as large. What time interval is now
required to reach the same final speed v? (a) 4 t (b) 2 t (c) t (d) t/2 (e)
t/4

Answer: (d). With twice the force, the object will experience twice the acceleration.
Because the force is constant, the acceleration is constant, and the speed of the
object, starting from rest, is given by v = at. With twice the acceleration, the object
will arrive at speed v at half the time.


3. If a fly collides with the windshield of a fast-moving bus, which experiences an
impact force with a larger magnitude? (a) The fly does. (b) The bus does. (c) The
same force is experienced by both. Which experiences the greater acceleration? (d)
The fly does. (e) The bus does. (f) The same acceleration is experienced by both.

Answer: (c), (d). In accordance with Newtons third law, the fly and the bus
experience forces that are equal in magnitude but opposite in direction. Because the
fly has such a small mass, Newtons second law tells us that it undergoes a very large
acceleration. The huge mass of the bus means that it more effectively resists any
change in its motion and exhibits a small acceleration.

4. Which of the following is the reaction force to the gravitational force acting on
your body as you sit in your desk chair? (a) the normal force from the chair (b) the
force you apply downward on the seat of the chair (c) neither of these forces

Answer: (c). The reaction force to your weight is an upward gravitational force on
the Earth caused by you.


PROBLEMS


1.
A force F applied to an object of mass m1 produces an acceleration of 3.00
m/s2. The same force applied to a second object of mass m2 produces an
acceleration of 1.00 m/s2. (a) What is the value of the ratio m1/m2? (b) If m1 and m2

are combined, find their acceleration under the action of the force F .

Solution:

For the same force F, acting on different masses F = m1a1

and F = m2 a2

so m1a1 = m2 a2 .

(a)

m1 a2
1
= =
m2 a1
3
m2 = 3m1

(b)

F = ( m1 + m2 ) a = 4m1a = m1 3.00 m s 2

a= 0.750 m s 2

2.
(a) A car with a mass of 1000.0 kg is moving to the right with a constant
speed of 1.8 m/s. What is the total force on the car? (b) What is the total force on
the car if it is moving to the left?
Solution:

Since the car is moving with constant speed and in a straight line, the
resultant force on it must be zero regardless of whether it is moving
(a)

toward the right or

(b)

the left.

!
3.
A 3.00-kg object undergoes an acceleration given by a = (2.00 i + 5.00 j)
m/s2. Find the resultant force acting on it and the magnitude of the resultant
force.

Solution:

m = 3.00 kg
!
a = 2.00 i + 5.00 j m s 2
!
!
! F = ma = 6.00 i + 15.0 j N

!
F
! =

( 6.00 )2 + (15.0 )2

N = 16.2 N

4.
Two forces F1 and F2 act on a 5.00-kg object. If F1 = 20.0 N and F2 = 15.0 N,
find the accelerations in (a) and (b) of Figure 4.
Solution:

(a)

F2

! F = F + F = ( 20.0 i + 15.0 j) N
1

!
!
!
F
! = ma : 20.0 i + 15.0 j = 5.00a
!
a = 4.00 i + 3.00 j m s 2

or

F1

F2

a= 5.00 m s 2 at = 36.9
(b)

F2 x = 15.0 cos 60.0 = 7.50 N

F2 y = 15.0 sin 60.0 = 13.0 N
!
F2 = 7.50 i + 13.0 j N
! ! !
!
!
! F = F1 + F2 = 27.5 i + 13.0 j N = ma = 5.00a

!
a=

( 5.50 i + 2.60 j) m s

F1

FIG. 4a(top) and b

= 6.08 m s 2 at 25.3

!
!
5.
Three forces, given by F1 = (!2.00 i + 2.00 j) N, F2 = (5.00 i ! 3.00 j) N, and
!
F3 = (!45.0 i) N act on an object to give it an acceleration of magnitude 3.75 m/s2.
(a) What is the direction of the acceleration? (b) What is the mass of the object? (c)

If the object is initially at rest, what is its speed after 10.0 s? (d) What are the
velocity components of the object after 10.0 s?
Solution:

F = ma reads

( !2.00 i + 2.00 j + 5.00 i ! 3.00 j ! 45.0 i ) N = m ( 3.75 m s ) a

2

where a represents the direction of a

( !42.0 i ! 1.00 j) N = m ( 3.75 m s ) a

! F = ( 42.0 ) + (1.00 )

! F = 42.0 N at 181 = m ( 3.75

" 1.00 %
N at tan !1 $
below
# 42.0 '&

the x-axis

m s 2 a .

For the vectors to be equal, their magnitudes and their directions must be equal.

(a)

! a is at 181 counterclockwise from the x-axis

(b)

m=

(d)

!
! !
!
v f = v i + at = 0 + 3.75 m s 2 at 181 10.0 s so v f = 37.5 m s at 181

42.0 N
= 11. 2 kg
3.75 m s 2

!
v f = 37.5 m s cos181 i + 37.5 m s sin181 j so
!
v f = !37.5 i ! 0.893j m s

(c)

v f = 37.52 + 0.8932 m s = 37.5 m s

6.
If a man weighs 900 N on the Earth, what would he weigh on Jupiter,
where the free-fall acceleration is 25.9 m/s2?
Solution:

Fg = mg = 900 N , m =

900 N
= 91.8 kg
9.80 m s 2

(F )

= 91.8 kg 25.9 m s 2 = 2.38 kN

g on Jupiter

7.
An electron of mass 9.11 1031 kg has an initial speed of 3.00 105 m/s. It
travels in a straight line, and its speed increases to 7.00 105 m/s in a distance of
5.00 cm. Assuming that its acceleration is constant, (a) determine the net force
exerted on the electron and (b) compare this force with the weight of the electron.
Solution:
(a)

F = ma and v 2f = v i2 + 2ax f or a =

v 2f v i2
2x f

Therefore,

!F = m

(v

2
f

" vi2

2x f

! F = 9.11 # 10 "31
(b)

) (

$ 7.00 # 10 5 m s 2 2 " 3.00 # 10 5 m s 2 2 &

'=
kg %
3.64 # 10 "18 N .
2 ( 0.050 0 m )

The weight of the electron is

)(

Fg = mg = 9.11 ! 10 "31 kg 9.80 m s 2 = 8.93 ! 10 "30 N

The accelerating force is

4.08 ! 1011 times the weight of the electron.