Force and Motion – Cause and Effect

• In chapter 2 we studied motion but not

its cause.
• In this chapter we will look at both force
and motion – the cause and effect.
• We will consider Newton’s:
– Three laws of motion
– Law of universal gravitation
– Laws of conservation of linear and angular
momentum
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 Sir Isaac Newton (1642 – 1727)

• Only 25 when he formulated most of his

discoveries in math and physics
• His book Mathematical Principles of
Natural Philosophy is considered to be
the most important publication in the
history of Physics.

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 Force and Net Force

• Force – a quantity that is capable of

producing motion or a change in motion
– A force is capable of changing an object’s
velocity and thereby producing
acceleration.
• A given force may not actually produce
a change in motion because other
forces may serve to balance or cancel
the effect.

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 Balanced (equal) forces,
therefore no motion.

Equal in magnitude but in opposite directions.

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 Unbalanced forces result in motion

Net force to the right

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 Newton’s First Law of Motion

• Aristotle considered the natural state of

most matter to be at rest.
• Galileo concluded that objects could
naturally remain in motion.
• Newton – An object will remain at rest
or in uniform motion in a straight line
unless acted on by an external,
unbalance force.

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 Objects at Rest

• An object will remain at rest or in uniform

motion in a straight line unless acted on by an
external, unbalance force.
• Force – any quantity capable of producing
motion
• Forces are vector quantities – they have both
magnitude and direction.
• Balanced  equal magnitude but opposite
directions
• External  must be applied to the entire
object or system.

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 A spacecraft
keeps going
because no
forces act to
stop it

Photo Source: Copyright © Bobby H. Bammel. All rights reserved.

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A large rock stays put until/if a large enough
force acts on it.

Photo Source: Copyright © Bobby H. Bammel. All rights reserved.

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 Inertia

• Inertia - the natural tendency of an object to

remain in a state of rest or in uniform motion
in a straight line (first introduced by Galileo)
• Basically, objects tend to maintain their state
of motion and resist changes.
• Newton went one step further and related an
object’s mass to its inertia.
– The greater the mass of an object, the greater its
inertia.
– The smaller the mass of an object, the less its
inertia.
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 Mass and Inertia

The large man has more inertia – more force is necessary to start
him swinging and also to stop him – due to his greater inertia
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 Mass and Inertia

Quickly pull the paper and the stack of quarters tend to stay in
place due to inertia.
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 “Law of Inertia”

• Because of the relationship between

motion and inertia:
• Newton’s First Law of Motion is
sometimes called the Law of Inertia.
• Seatbelts help ‘correct’ for this law
during sudden changes in speed.

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 Newton’s Second law of Motion
Force
• Acceleration 
mass
• Acceleration (change in velocity)
produced by a force acting on an object is
directly proportional to the magnitude of
the force (the greater the force the greater
the acceleration.)
• Acceleration of an object is inversely
proportional to the mass of the object (the
greater the mass of an object the smaller
the acceleration.)
• a = F/m or F = ma
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 Force, Mass,
Acceleration

a) Original situation
a F
m
b) If we double
the force we
double the
acceleration.
c) If we double
the mass we
half the
acceleration.
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 F = ma

• “F” is the net force (unbalanced), which is

likely the vector sum of two or more forces.
• “m” & “a” are concerning the whole system
• Units
• Force = mass x acceleration = kg x m/s2 = N
• N = kg-m/s2 = newton -- this is a derived unit
and is the metric system (SI) unit of force

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 Net Force and Total Mass - Example

• Forces are applied to blocks connected

by a string (weightless) resting on a
frictionless surface. Mass of each block
= 1 kg; F1 = 5.0 N; F2 = 8.0 N
• What is the acceleration of the system?
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 Net Force and Total Mass - Example
• Forces are applied to blocks connected by a string
(weightless) resting on a frictionless surface. Mass
of each block = 1 kg; F1 = 5.0 N; F2 = 8.0 N. What
is the acceleration of the system?
• GIVEN:
– m1 = 1 kg; m2 = 1 kg
– F1 = -5.0 N; F2 = 8.0 N
• a=?

F Fnet 8.0 N – 5.0 N

• a= = = = 1.5 m/s 2
m m1 + m2 1.0 kg + 1.0 kg
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 Mass & Weight

• Mass = amount of matter present

• Weight =related to the force of gravity
• Earth: weight = mass x acc. due to gravity
• w = mg (special case of F = ma) Weight is a
force due to the pull of gravity.
• Therefore, one’s weight changes due to
changing pull of gravity – like between the
earth and moon.
• Moon’s gravity is only 1/6th that of earth’s.

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 Computing Weight – an example

What is the weight of a 2.45 kg mass on

(a) earth, and (b) the moon?

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 Computing Weight – an example
• What is the weight of a 2.45 kg mass on
(a) earth, and (b) the moon?
• Use Equation w =mg
• Earth: w = mg = (2.45 kg) (9.8 m/s2) =
24.0 N (or 5.4 lb. Since 1 lb = 4.45 N)
• Moon: w = mg = (2.45 kg) [(9.8 m/s2)/6]
= 4.0 N (or 0.9 lb.)

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 Acceleration
due to gravity
is independent
of the mass.

Both are doubled!

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 Newton’s Third Law of Motion

• For every action there is an equal and

opposite reaction.
or
• Whenever on object exerts a force on a
second object, the second object exerts
an equal and opposite force on the first
object.
• action = opposite reaction
• F1 = -F2 or m1a1 = -m2a2
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 Newton’s Third Law of Motion

• F1 = -F2 or m1a1 = -m2a2

• Jet propulsion – exhaust gases in one
direction and the rocket in the other direction
• Gravity – jump from a table and you will
accelerate to earth. In reality BOTH you and
the earth are accelerating towards each other
– You – small mass, huge acceleration (m1a1)
– Earth – huge mass, very small acceleration (-m2a2)
– BUT  m1a1 = -m2a2

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 Newton's Laws in Action

• Friction on the tires provides necessary centripetal

acceleration.
• Passengers continue straight ahead in original direction
and as car turns the door comes toward passenger – 1 st
Law
• As car turns you push against door and the door equally
pushes against you – 3rd Law
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 Newton’s Law of Gravitation

• Gravity is a fundamental force of nature

– We do not know what causes it
– We can only describe it
• Law of Universal Gravitation – Every
particle in the universe attracts every
other particle with a force that is directly
proportional to the product of their
masses and inversely proportional to
the square of the distance between
them
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 Newton’s Law of Gravitation
Gm1m2
• Equation form: F =
r2
• G is the universal gravitational constant
• G = 6.67 x 10-11 N.m2/kg2
• G:
– is a very small quantity
– thought to be valid throughout the universe
– was measured by Cavendish 70 years after
Newton’s death
– not equal to “g” and not a force
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 Newton’s Law of Gravitation

• The forces that attract particles together are

equal and opposite
• F1 = -F2 or m1a1 = -m2a2
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 Newton's Law of Gravitation

Gm1m2
• F =

• For a
r2
homogeneous
sphere the
gravitational force
acts as if all the
mass of the sphere
were at its center
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 Applying Newton’s Law of Gravitation
• Two objects with masses of 1.0 kg and 2.0 kg are
1.0 m apart. What is the magnitude of the
gravitational force between the masses?

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 Applying Newton’s Law of Gravitation –
Example
• Two objects with masses of 1.0 kg and 2.0 kg are 1.0
m apart. What is the magnitude of the gravitational
force between the masses?
Gm1m2
• F=
r2
• F= (6.67 x 10 -11
N-m 2
/kg2
)(1.0 kg)(2.0 kg)
(1.0 m)2
• F = 1.3 x 10-10 N

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 Force of Gravity on Earth

GmM E
• F= [force of gravity on object of mass m]
RE
2

• ME and RE are the mass and radius of Earth

• This force is just the object’s weight (w = mg)
GME
•  w = mg =
RE2
GmME
• g=
R2E
• m cancels out  g is independent of mass

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 Acceleration due to Gravity for
a Spherical Uniform Object

GM
• g= 2
r
• g = acceleration due to gravity
• M = mass of any spherical uniform
object
• r = distance from the object’s center

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 Earth Orbit - Centripetal Force

1) Proper Tangential
Velocity
2) Centripetal Force
Fc = mac = mv2/r
(since ac = v2/r)

The proper combination

will keep the moon or an
artificial satellite in stable
orbit
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 “Weightlessness” in space is the result of both
the astronaut and the spacecraft ‘falling’ to Earth
as the same rate

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 Linear Momentum
• Linear momentum = mass x velocity
• r = mv
• If we have a system of masses, the linear
momentum is the sum of all individual
momentum vectors.
• Pf = Pi (final = initial)
• P = 1 + 2 + 3 + … (sum of the individual
momentum vectors)

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 Law of Conservation of Linear Momentum

• Law of Conservation of Linear

Momentum - the total linear momentum
of an isolated system remains the same
if there is no external, unbalanced force
acting on the system
• Linear Momentum is ‘conserved’ as
long as there are no external unbalance
forces.
– It does not change with time.

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 Conservation of Linear Momentum

• Pi = Pf = 0 (for man and boat)

• When the man jumps out of the boat he has momentum
in one direction and, therefore, so does the boat.
• Their momentums must cancel out! (= 0)

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 Applying the Conservation of
Linear Momentum
• Two masses at rest on a frictionless surface.
When the string (weightless) is burned the
two masses fly apart due to the release of the
compressed (internal) spring (v1 = 1.8 m/s).

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 Applying the Conservation of
Linear Momentum
• Two masses at rest on a frictionless surface. When
the string (weightless) is burned the two masses fly
apart due to the release of the compressed (internal)
spring (v1 = 1.8 m/s).

GIVEN: •Pf = Pi = 0
• m1 = 1.0 kg
• P f = 1 + 2 = 0
• m2 = 2.0 kg
•  1 = - 2
• v1 = 1.8 m/s, v2 = ?
•m1v1 = -m2v2
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 Applying the Conservation of
Linear Momentum

m1v1 = -m2v2

m1v1
 v2 = - = - (1.0 kg) (1.8 m/s) = -0.90 m/s
m2 2.0 kg

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 Jet Propulsion

• Jet Propulsion can be explained in terms

of both Newton’s 3rd Law & Linear
Momentum
 1 = -2  m1v1 = -m2v2
• The exhaust gas molecules have small
m and large v.
• The rocket has large m and smaller v.
• BUT  m1v1 = -m2v2 (momentum is
conserved)
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 Torque

• Torque – the twisting effect caused by

one or more forces
• As we have learned, the linear
momentum of a system can be changed
by the introduction of an external
unbalanced force.
• Similarly, angular momentum can be
changed by an external unbalanced
torque.
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 Torque

• Torque is a
twisting action
that produces
rotational
motion or a
change in
rotational
motion.

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 Law of Conservation of Angular Momentum
• Law of Conservation of Angular Momentum -
the angular momentum of an object remains
constant if there is no external, unbalanced
torque (a force about an axis) acting on it

• Concerns objects that go in paths around a fixed

point, for example a planet orbiting the sun

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 Angular Momentum

• L = mvr
• L = angular momentum, m = mass, v =
velocity, and r = distance to center of
motion
• L1 = L2
• m1v1r1 = m2v2r2

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 Angular Momentum

• Mass (m) is constant.

• As r changes so must v. When r decreases,
v must increase so that m1v1r1 = m2v2r2
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 Angular Momentum in our Solar System

• In our solar system the planet’s orbit paths are slightly

elliptical, therefore both r and v will slightly vary during a
complete orbit.
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 Conservation of Angular Momentum
Example
• A comet at its farthest point from the
Sun is 900 million miles, traveling at
6000 mi/h. What is its speed at its
closest point of 30 million miles away?
• EQUATION: m1v1r1 = m2v2r2
• GIVEN: v2, r2, r1, and m1 = m2
v2r2 (6.0 x 103 mi/h) (900 x 106 mi)
• FIND: v1 = r = 30 x 10 6
mi
1

• 1.8 x 105 mi/h or 180,000 mi/h

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 Conservation of Angular Momentum

Rotors on large helicopters rotate in the opposite direction

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 Conservation of Angular Momentum

• Figure Skater – she/he starts the spin

with arms out at one angular velocity.
Simply by pulling the arms in the skater
spins faster, since the average radial
distance of the mass decreases.
• m1v1r1 = m2v2r2
• m is constant; r decreases;
• Therefore v increases

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 Chapter 3 - Important Equations

• F = ma (2nd Law) or w = mg (for weight)

• F1 = -F2 (3rd Law)
• F = (Gm1m2)/r2 (Law of Gravitation)
• G = 6.67 x 10-11 N-m2/kg2 (gravitational constant)
• g = GM/r2 (acc. of gravity, M=mass of sph. object)
• r = mv (linear momentum)
• Pf = Pi (conservation of linear momentum)
• L = mvr (angular momentum)
• L1= m1v1r1=L2 = m2v2r2 (Cons. of ang. Mom.)

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