CAVENDISH UNIVERSITY

PHYSICS
Newton’s Laws of Motion and FORCES

Newton’s Laws of Motion

Newton’s First Law of Motion

An object or body will remain in a state of rest or move with a velocity that is constant in

magnitude and direction, unless acted upon by an unbalanced (net) force. This is also known as

the law of inertia.

Inertia is the tendency of an object to continue in its original state of motion. Or simply put,

inertia is the difficulty a body has in changing the state of its motion. Hence mass is a measure of

inertia because it is a measure of the object’s resistance to changes in its motion due to a force.

Newton’s Second Law of Motion

If a resultant force ‘F’ acts on a body of mass ‘m’, it will cause the body to accelerate with

acceleration ‘a’ in the direction of the resultant force. The acceleration of the body will be

directly proportional to the resultant force and indirectly proportional to the mass of the body.

The mathematical representation is

𝐹
a𝛼 𝑀 which gives F=ma.

In component form we have 𝐹𝑥 = 𝑚𝑎𝑥 , 𝐹𝑦 = 𝑚𝑎𝑦 , 𝐹𝑧 = 𝑚𝑎𝑧

Force is a pull or push experienced by a body. When a net or unbalanced force acts on a body,

the body accelerates. Since

F =ma

and
𝑣−𝑢
a= 𝑡

𝑣−𝑢
F=m( 𝑡
)
 𝑚𝑣−𝑚𝑢
F= 𝑡

mv is the final linear momentum pf and mu is the initial linear momentum 𝑝𝑖 , Therefore,
∆𝑝
F=
∆𝑡

Hence force is also defined as the rate of change of linear momentum with time. Also

∆𝑝 = 𝐹 × ∆𝑡 is known as impulse. Impulse is defined as a very large force acting for a very short

time.

Newton’s Third Law of Motion

If body A exerts a force on body B, then body B exerts a force of equal magnitude on body A,

but in the opposite direction. Or simply put, for every action, there is simultaneously an equal

and opposite reaction. The action-reaction forces do not cancel out because they act on different
bodies.

application

A man of mass M = 75 kg and woman of mass m = 55 kg stand facing each other on an ice rink

(surface for ice skating) both wearing ice skates. The woman pushes the man with a horizontal

force of F = 85 N in the x-direction. Assume the ice is frictionless.

a. What is the man’s acceleration?

b. What is the reaction force acting on the woman?

c. Calculate the woman’s acceleration.

Solutions
Forces

A force is anything that can cause a change to objects. Forces can:

 Change the shape of an object

 Move or stop an object
 Change the direction

A force can be classified as either a contact or non-contact force. A contact force must touch or

be in contact with an object to cause a change. Examples of contact forces are:

 The force that is used to pull or push things, like on a door to open or close it.
 The force of the wind to turn a windmill

A non-contact force does not have to touch an object to cause a change. Examples of non-contact

forces are:

i. The force due to gravity

ii. The force due to magnetism, like a magnet pulling a paper clip toward itself.

The Newton (N) is the SI unit of force. One Newton (1 N) is the resultant force which will give a

one kilogram (1 kg) mass an acceleration of one meter per second squared (1 m/s2).

Examples of forces in Physics

1. Weight (W)

The weight of an object is the gravitational force acting downward on an object.

2. Tensile Force (T)

The tensile force acting on a string is the applied force tending to stretch it. The magnitude of

the tensile force is the tension.

3. Normal Force (FN)

The normal force on an object that is being supported by a surface is the component of the

supporting force that is perpendicular to the surface.

4. Friction (Ff)

The frictional force is force acting on an object that opposes the moving or sliding of that

object on an adjacent surface with which it is in contact. The friction force is parallel to the

surface and opposite to the direction of motion. Only when the applied force exceeds the

maximum static friction force will an object begin to slide.

Static and Kinetic Friction

Consider the figure below of weight, W = mg which rests on a table. The block exerts a force W

on the table. The table also exerts a force FN (normal force) equal and opposite to W.
If we apply an external horizontal force F to the block, acting to the right, the block remains

stationary if F is small. The force that counteracts F and keeps the block from moving acts to the

left and is called the force of static friction 𝐹𝑠 . If we increase the magnitude of F, the block

eventually moves. When the block is on the verge of sliding, 𝐹𝑠 has its maximum value Fsmax.

When F exceeds Fsmax, the block moves and accelerates to the right. When the block is in motion,

the friction force is less than Fsmax. We call the force for an object in motion the force of kinetic

friction, 𝐹𝑘 .

The net force 𝐹𝑛𝑒𝑡 = F – 𝐹𝑘 in the x – direction produces acceleration to the right according to

Newton’s second law.

Coefficient of Static Friction (𝜇𝑠 )and Kinetic Friction (𝜇𝑘 )

The coefficient of static friction (𝜇𝑠 ) is defined for the case in which one surface is just on the

verge of sliding across another surface. It is:

𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝐹𝑓𝑚𝑎𝑥

𝜇𝑠 = 𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒
= 𝐹𝑁

where the maximum friction force occurs when the object is just on the verge of slipping but is

nonetheless at rest.

The coefficient of kinetic friction (𝜇𝑘 ) is defined for the case in which one surface is sliding

across another surface at constant speed. It is:

𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝐹𝑓
𝜇𝑘 = =
𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑙 𝐹𝑁
Applications

1. A 10 kg box is placed on a table. A horizontal force of 32 N is applied to the box to the right.

A frictional force of 7 N is present between the surface and the box. Calculate the acceleration of the
box.

2. A man is pulling a 20 kg box with a rope that makes an angle of 60° with the horizontal. If he

applies a force of 150 N and a frictional force of 15 N is present, calculate the acceleration of

the box.

3. A 5 kg box is placed on a rough surface and a 10 N force is applied at an angle of 40° to the

horizontal. The box does not move.

a. Calculate the normal force, FN between the box and the surface.

b. Calculate the frictional force on the body.

Equilibrium of Coplanar Forces

If the external forces act in such a way that there is no change in its translational and rotational

states of the body, then the body is said to be in equilibrium. Translational equilibrium is when a

body remains at rest or moves with a constant speed in a straight line. Rotational equilibrium is

when a body rotates at constant angular speed.

Conditions for Equilibrium

First condition for Equilibrium

It states that the vector sum of all the external forces acting on a body (at rest or moving at

constant speed) is zero. i.e.

∑ 𝐹=0

Or in component form, that;

∑𝑥 𝐹 =0and∑𝑦 𝐹 = 0

That is, the resultant of all external forces acting on the object must be zero.

Steps in Solving Problems

1. Draw a free body diagram and label all the forces acting on the body.

2. Split each force into x and y components with proper sines and cosines.

3. Write down the equations involved.

4. Solve the equations for the unknowns.

Second Condition for Equilibrium (Moments and Torques)

It states that the sum of the torques acting on a body must be zero. Or the algebraic sum of the

clockwise and anticlockwise moments on it must be zero.

The turning effect of a force is known as the moment of force. It is the product of the force and

the perpendicular distance from the line of action of the force to the pivot or point where the

object will turn.

Moment of force = Force× Perpendicular distance