Chapter 5.

Force and Motion I

5.1. What is Physics?
5.2. Newtonian Mechanics
5.3. Newton's First Law
5.4. Force
5.5. Mass
5.6. Newton's Second Law
5.7. Some Particular Forces
5.8. Newton's Third Law
5.9. Applying Newton's Laws
What Causes Acceleration?
Dynamics—the study of causes of
motion. The central question in dynamics
is: What causes a body to change its
velocity or accelerate as it moves?
 Newtonian Mechanics
Newton’s laws fail in the following two circumstances:

• 1. When the speed of objects approaches (1%

or more) the speed of light in vacuum (c = 3×108
m/s). In this case we must use Einstein’s
special theory of relativity (1905) .

• 2. When the objects under study become very

small (e.g., electrons, atoms, etc.). In this case
we must use quantum mechanics (1926).
 Force

A force is a push or a pull. Force is a vector. All forces result from interaction.
•Contact forces: forces that arise from the physical contact between two
objects.
•Noncontact forces: forces the two objects exert on one another even
though they are not touching.
• External forces include only the forces
that the environment exerts on the object
of interest.
• Internal forces are forces that one part of
an object exerts on another part of the
object.
Combining Forces
Principle of superposition for forces
When two or more forces act on a body, we
can find their net force or resultant force by
adding the individual forces as vectors taking
direction into account.

Note: The net force involves the

sum of external forces only
(internal forces cancel each other).
 Exercise 1
The figures that follow show overhead views of
four situations in which two forces acting on the
same cart along a frictionless track. Rank the
situations according to the magnitudes of the net
force on the cart, greatest first.
Newton’s FIRST LAW
Newton's First law: Consider a body on which no
net force acts. If the body is at rest, it will remain at
rest. If the body is moving, it will continue to
moving with a constant velocity.

– “Net force” is crucial. Often, several forces

act simultaneously on a body, and the net
force is the vector sum of all of them
– An inertial reference frame is the one has
zero acceleration.
– All newton’s laws are valid only in the inertia
reference frames.
Mass

• The larger the mass,

the harder is to
cause its motion

• Mass and weight

are different
concepts
DEFINITION OF INERTIA AND MASS

1. Inertia is the natural tendency of an

object to remain at rest or in motion at a
constant speed along a straight line.
2. The mass of an object is a quantitative
measure of inertia.

SI Unit of Inertia and Mass: kilogram (kg)

 NEWTON’S SECOND LAW OF MOTION


When a net external force Facts on an object
of mass m, the acceleration a that results is
directly proportional to the net force and has a
magnitude that is inversely proportional to the
mass. The direction of the acceleration is the
=
same as the direction of the net force.


a
F SI Unit of Force: kg·m/s2 =newton (N)
m
Only External forces are considered in the Newton’s second law.
 Example 1 Pushing a Stalled Car

Two people are pushing a stalled car, as Figure 4.5a

indicates. The mass of the car is 1850 kg. One person
applies a force of 275 N to the car, while the other applies a
force of 395 N. Both forces act in the same direction. A third
force of 560 N also acts on the car, but in a direction
opposite to that in which the people are pushing. This force
arises because of friction and the extent to which the
pavement opposes the motion of the tires. Find the
acceleration of the car.
Solution
 Example 2 Hauling a Trailer
A truck is hauling a trailer along a level road, as Figure
4.32a illustrates. The mass of the truck is m1=8500 kg
and that of the trailer is m2=27 000 kg. The two move
along the x axis with an acceleration of ax=0.78 m/s2.
Ignoring the retarding forces of friction and air resistance,
determine (a) the tension T in the horizontal drawbar
between the trailer and the truck and (b) the force D that
propels the truck forward.
Solution
 Questions
• The net external force acting on an object is zero. Is it
possible for the object to be traveling with a velocity that
is not zero? If your answer is yes, state whether any
conditions must be placed on the magnitude and
direction of the velocity. If your answer is no, provide a
reason for your answer.
 Solution
• When the net external force on an object is zero, this means that
there are no unbalanced forces acting on the object to change its
state of motion. According to Newton's First Law, an object will
either:
• Remain at rest if it was initially at rest, or
• Continue to move with a constant velocity (i.e., both constant speed and
direction) if it was already in motion.
• Therefore, if an object is already traveling with a certain velocity,
and the net external force on it becomes zero, the object will
continue moving at that same velocity in the same direction.
 Question
• Is a net force being applied to an object when
the object is moving downward (a) with a
constant acceleration of 9.80 m/s 2 and (b) with a
constant velocity of 9.80 m/s? Explain.
• (a) Yes, a net force is being applied when the
object is accelerating downward with 9.80 m/s2.
• (b) No, no net force is being applied when the
object is moving downward with a constant
velocity of 9.80 m/s.
 Question
• Newton’s second law indicates that when a net
force acts on an object, it must accelerate. Does
this mean that when two or more forces are
applied to an object simultaneously, it must
accelerate? Explain.
• No, an object does not necessarily have to
accelerate when two or more forces are applied to
it simultaneously. Whether the object accelerates
or not depends on the net force acting on the
object, which is the vector sum of all the individual
forces applied.
Newton's Third Law
 Newton's Third Law
If one object is exerting a force on a second object,
then the second object is also exerting a force back
on the first object. The two forces have exactly the
same magnitude but act in opposite directions.

FB  A  FA B •Forces always exist in
pairs.

•It is very important that

we realize we are talking
about two different
forces acting on two
different objects.
 Question
A father and his seven-year-old daughter are facing each
other on ice skates. With their hands, they push off
against one another.
(a) Compare the magnitudes of the pushing forces that
they experience.
(b) Which one, if either, experiences the larger
acceleration? Account for your answers.

a) Forces: Both the father and the daughter experience forces of

equal magnitude.
b) Acceleration: The daughter experiences the larger acceleration
because she has a smaller mass.
 EXAMPLE 3: Pushing Two Blocks
In Fig. 3-29a, a constant horizontal force of
magnitude 20 N is applied to block A of mass 4.0
kg, which pushes against block B of mass 6.0 kg.
The blocks slide over a frictionless surface, along
an x axis.
a) What is the acceleration of the blocks?
b) What is the force acting on block B from block A
Solution
Solution
Example 4 The Accelerations Produced by Action and Reaction Forces

Suppose that the mass of the spacecraft in

Figure 4.7 is mS=11 000 kg and that the mass
of the astronaut is mA=92 kg. In addition,
assume that the astronaut exerts a force of
P=+36 N on the spacecraft. Find the
accelerations of the spacecraft and the
astronaut.
Solution
Solution
NEWTON’S LAW OF UNIVERSAL GRAVITATION
 NEWTON’S LAW OF UNIVERSAL GRAVITATION

Every particle in the universe exerts an attractive

force on every other particle. For two particles that
have masses m1 and m2 and are separated by a
distance r, the force that each exerts on the other is
directed along the line joining the particles and has a
magnitude given by:

The symbol G denotes the universal gravitational constant, whose

value is found experimentally to be G = 6.673 x 10-11 N.m2/Kg2
 DEFINITION OF WEIGHT
The weight of an object on or above the earth is the
gravitational force that the earth exerts on the object. The
weight always acts downward, toward the center of the
earth. On or above another astronomical body, the weight is
the gravitational force exerted on the object by that body.
SI Unit of Weight: newton (N)
When the height of object H above the Earth is small

M Em M Em M Em
W G 2 G 2
G
r ( RE  H ) RE 2
ME
W (G 2 )m mg
RE
ME
g G 2 9.8 m/s 2
RE
The Gravitational Acceleration Constant

When air resistance can be ignored and H ~ RE

any object under only gravitational force will

free fall with a constant acceleration:

2
g 9.8 m/s
RELATION BETWEEN MASS AND WEIGHT

• Mass is an intrinsic property of matter and does not

change as an object is moved from one location to
another.

• Weight, in contrast, is the gravitational force acting on the

object and can vary, depending on how far the object is
above the earth’s surface or whether it is located near
another body such as the moon.
 Questions
When a body is moved from sea level to
the top of a mountain, what changes—the
body’s mass, its weight, or both? Explain.

while the mass remains constant, the weight

decreases when moving from sea level to
the top of a mountain.
 Questions
The force of air resistance acts to oppose the
motion of an object moving through the air. A
ball is thrown upward and eventually returns to
the ground.
• (a) As the ball moves upward, is the net force
that acts on the ball greater than, less than, or
equal to its weight? Justify your answer.
• (b) Repeat part (a) for the downward motion of
the ball.
 Solution
• As the ball moves upward, its velocity decreases
due to the combined effects of gravity and air
resistance. The net force acting on the ball can

𝐹net=𝑊−𝑅
be expressed as:

• Here, 𝑊 (the weight) is greater than 𝑅 (the air

resistance) because the ball is still moving
upward, albeit slowing down. However, because
air resistance is acting against the ball's motion,
the net force is less than the weight:
F net​< W
 Solution
• As the ball descends, it accelerates due to gravity,
but air resistance also acts against this motion.

𝐹net=𝑊−𝑅
The net force can be expressed as:

• In this case, since the ball is falling, its velocity is

increasing, meaning that the air resistance will
increase, but it will still be less than the weight
until terminal velocity is reached. Therefore,
during the downward motion before terminal

𝐹net> 0 (because 𝑊>𝑅)

velocity:
 The Normal Force
The normal force FN is one component of the
force that a surface exerts on an object
with which it is in contact—namely, the
component that is perpendicular to the
surface.
APPARENT WEIGHT
 The Friction Force

When the object moves or attempts to move along a

surface, there is a component of the force that is parallel
to the surface. This parallel force component is called the
frictional force, or simply friction. It is always against the
relative motion or the attempts of the motion between
object and surface.
 Tension

Tension is the force exerted by a rope or a cable attached to

an object

1. Tension in a Nonaccelerating rope: the magnitude of

tention is the same everywhere in the rope.

2. An Accelerating rope: the magnitude of tension is not

the same everywhere in the rope that has a mass;
however, the magnitude of tension is the same
everywhere in the rope that is massless.
For a massless string
1. It is always directed
along the rope.
2. It is always pulling
the object.
3. It has the same
value along the
rope
 Applying Newton's Laws
Newton's Second Law:

It can be written as two (or three) component equations:

Equilibrium Applications of Newton's Laws of Motion

DEFINITION OF EQUILIBRIUM: An object is in

equilibrium when it has zero acceleration.


Fnet 0

Fx 0 and Fy 0 and Fz 0

EXAMPLE 5: Three Cords
In Fig. 6-25a, a block B of
mass M = 15 kg hangs by a
cord from a knot K of mass
mK, which hangs from a
ceiling by means of two other
cords. The cords have
negligible mass, and the
magnitude of the
gravitational force on the
knot is negligible compared
to the gravitational force on
the block. What are the
tensions in the three cords?
Solution
Solution
 Free-Body Diagrams
(1) Identify the object for which the motion is to be
analyzed and represent it as a point.

(2) Identify all the forces acting on the object and

represent each force vector with an arrow. The
tail of each force vector should be on the point.
Draw the arrow in the direction of the force.
Represent the relative magnitudes of the forces
through the relative lengths of the arrows.

(3) Label each force vector so that it is clear which

force it represents.
Example 6 Replacing an Engine
An automobile engine
has a weight W, whose
magnitude is W=3150 N.
This engine is being
positioned above an
engine compartment, as
Figure 4.29a illustrates.
To position the engine, a
worker is using a rope.
Find the tension T1 in the
supporting cable and the
tension T2 in the
positioning rope.
Non-quilibrium Applications of Newton's Laws of Motion

DEFINITION OF NONEQUILIBRIUM:
An object is in nonequilibrium when it has non-zero
acceleration.
 
Fnet ma

Fx max and Fy ma y and Fz ma z

 Conceptual Questions
• According to Newton’s third law, when you push on an object, the
object pushes back on you with an oppositely directed force of equal
magnitude. If the object is a massive crate resting on the floor, it will
probably not move. Some people think that the reason the crate
does not move is that the two oppositely directed pushing forces
cancel. Explain why this logic is faulty and why the crate does not
move.

• A stone is thrown from the top of a cliff. As the stone falls, is it in

equilibrium? Explain, ignoring air resistance.

• Can an object ever be in equilibrium if the object is acted on by only

(a) a single nonzero force, (b) two forces that point in mutually
perpendicular directions, and (c) two forces that point in directions
that are not perpendicular? Account for your answers.
• A circus performer hangs stationary from a rope. She then
begins to climb upward by pulling herself up, hand over
hand. When she starts climbing, is the tension in the rope
less than, equal to, or greater than it is when she hangs
stationary? Explain.

• A weight hangs from a ring at the middle of a rope, as the

drawing illustrates. Can the person who is pulling on the
right end of the rope ever make the rope perfectly
horizontal? Explain your answer in terms of the forces that
act on the ring.
Any Questions