Mechanics and Motion

Motion is one of the key topics in physics.

Everything in the universe moves. It might
only be a small amount of movement and
very very slow, but movement does
happen. Don't forget that even if you
appear to be standing still, the Earth is
moving around the Sun, and the Sun is
moving around our galaxy. The movement
never stops. Motion is one part of what
physicists call mechanics. Over the years,
scientists have discovered several rules
or laws that explain motion and the causes of changes in motion.

Speed it Up, Slow it Down

The physics of motion is all about forces. Forces need to act upon an
object to get it moving, or to change its motion. Changes in motion
won't just happen on their own. So how is all of this motion measured?
Physicists use some basic terms when they look at motion. How fast
an object moves, its speed or Velocity, can be influenced by forces.
(Note: Even though the terms 'speed' and 'velocity' are often used at
the same time, they actually have different meanings.)

Acceleration is a twist on the idea of

velocity. Acceleration is a measure of how
much the velocity of an object changes in
a certain time (usually in one second).
Velocities could either increase or decrease
over time. Mass is another big idea in
motion. Mass is the amount of something
there is, and is measured in grams (or
kilograms). A car has a greater mass than
a baseball.
A normal force is the support force applied to a stable object that is in
contact another stable object. For example, if a book is resting on your
desk, then the desk is exerting an upward force on the book in order to
support the book’s weight. An applied force refers to a force
applied to an object by a person or another object. If you were to push
your chair across the room, then you’d be applying the force upon the
chair. A frictional force occurs when two surfaces come in contact
with each other, like when a driver slams on the breaks, causing their
car to skid to a stop; the car tires exert a sliding friction force on the
road. A tension force is the force transmitted through a string, rope,
cable or wire when pulled tight by forces acting from opposite ends.
This force is directed along the string and pulls equally on the objects
or people at the opposite ends of the string. Spring force is created
when a spring is stretched or compressed. The spring can pull or push
in order to generate the force. Resisting force includes air resistance
that acts upon objects as they travel through the air.

Newton's Laws of Motion

There was this fellow in England named Sir Isaac Newton. A little bit
stuffy, bad hair, but quite an intelligent guy. He worked on
developing calculus and physics at the same time. During his work,
he came up with the three basic ideas that are applied to the physics
of most motion (NOT modern physics). The ideas have been tested
and verified so many times over the years, that scientists now call
them Newton's Three Laws of Motion.

First Law
The first law says that an object
at rest tends to stay at rest,
and an object in motion tends
to stay in motion, with the same
direction and speed. Motion (or
lack of motion) cannot change
without an
unbalanced force acting.
Second Law
The second law says that
the acceleration of an object
produced by a net (total) applied
force is directly related to
the magnitude of the force, the
same direction as the force, and
inversely related to the mass of
the object (inverse is a value
that is one over another
number... the inverse of 2 is 1/2).

Third Law
The third law says that for every action (force) there is an equal and
opposite reaction (force). Forces are found in pairs. Think about the
time you sit in a chair. Your body exerts a force downward and that
chair needs to exert an equal force upward or the chair will collapse.
It's an issue of symmetry. Acting forces encounter other forces in the
opposite direction.

Drawing Free-Body Diagrams

Free-body diagrams are diagrams used to show the relative magnitude
and direction of all forces acting upon an object in a given situation. A
free-body diagram is a special example of the vector diagrams that
were discussed in an earlier unit. These diagrams will be used
throughout our study of physics. The size of the arrow in a free-body
diagram reflects the magnitude of the force. The direction of the arrow
shows the direction that the force is acting. Each force arrow in the
diagram is labeled to indicate the exact type of force. It is generally
customary in a free-body diagram to represent the object by a box and
to draw the force arrow from the center of the box outward in the
direction that the force is acting.
Balanced Forces
There are two forces acting upon the book. One force - the Earth's
gravitational pull - exerts a downward force. The other force - the
push of the table on the book (sometimes referred to as a normal
force) - pushes upward on the book.

Since these two forces are of equal magnitude and in opposite

directions, they balance each other. The book is said to be
at equilibrium. There is no unbalanced force acting upon the book
and thus the book maintains its state of motion. When all the forces
acting upon an object balance each other, the object will be at
equilibrium; it will not accelerate.
Unbalanced Forces
Now consider a book sliding from left to right across a tabletop. Sometime in the prior
history of the book, it may have been given a shove and set in motion from a rest
position. Or perhaps it acquired its motion by sliding down an incline from an elevated
position. Whatever the case, our focus is not upon the history of the book but rather
upon the current situation of a book sliding to the right across a tabletop. The book is in
motion and at the moment there is no one pushing it to the right. (Remember: a force
is not needed to keep a moving object moving to the right.) The forces acting upon the
book are shown below.
The force of gravity pulling downward and the force of the table pushing upwards on
the book are of equal magnitude and opposite directions. These two forces balance
each other. Yet there is no force present to balance the force of friction. As the book
moves to the right, friction acts to the left to slow the book down. There is an
unbalanced force; and as such, the book changes its state of motion. The book is not at
equilibrium and subsequently accelerates. Unbalanced forces cause accelerations. In
this case, the unbalanced force is directed opposite the book's motion and will cause it
to slow down.