Chapter 4 : Laws of Motion

Laws of Motion
Dynamics: (Force + Motion)
Chapter 5 Newton’s Laws

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 Chapter 4 : Laws of Motion

Previous Chapters (kinematics)

❖ The description of an object in motion included its position, velocity, and
acceleration.
❖ There was no consideration of what might influence that motion.

This Chapter (Dynamics)

❖ Two main factors need to be addressed to answer
questions about why the motion of an object will
change.
o Forces acting on the object
o The mass of the object
❖ Dynamics studies the causes of motion.
1642 – 1727
❖ Will start with three basic laws of motion Formulated basic laws of mechanics
Discovered Law of Universal Gravitation
o Formulated by Sir Isaac Newton Invented form of calculus
Many observations dealing with light and optics
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 Chapter 4 : Laws of Motion

5.1 The Concept of Force:

❖ Forces in everyday experience:
o Push on an object to move it
o Throw or kick a ball
o May push on an object and not be able to move it

❖ Forces are what cause any change in the velocity of an object.

An object at rest needs a force to get it moving; a moving object
needs a force to change its velocity.
❖ Newton’s definition :
A force is that which causes an acceleration

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 Chapter 4 : Laws of Motion

Classes of Force :
1. Contact forces involve physical
contact between two objects.
Examples a, b, c
2. Field forces act through empty
space. Examples d, e, f

Fundamental Forces :
o Gravitational force: Between objects
o Electromagnetic forces: Between electric charges Note: These are
o Nuclear force: Between subatomic particles all field forces.
o Weak forces: Arise in certain radioactive decay processes
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 Chapter 4 : Laws of Motion
Vector Nature of Forces

a) A spring can be used to calibrate the magnitude of a force.

b) Doubling the force causes double the reading on the spring.
c) When both forces are applied, the reading is three times the initial reading.
d) The forces are applied perpendicularly to each other. The resultant (or net) force is the
hypotenuse, so: Forces are vectors, you must use the rules for vector addition to find the
net force acting on an object.
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 Chapter 4 : Laws of Motion

5.2 Newton’s First Law:

If an object does not interact with other objects, it is possible to identify a
reference frame in which the object has zero acceleration

o This is also called the law of inertia.

o It defines a special set of reference frames called inertial frames of reference.
• The accelerating frame (X-Y) or circular Frame (r,θ), these are non-
inertial reference frame

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 Chapter 4 : Laws of Motion

Inertial Frames
❖ Any reference frame that moves with constant velocity relative to an inertial
frame is itself an inertial frame.
o A reference frame that moves with constant velocity relative to the distant
stars is the best approximation of an inertial frame.
o Example: We can consider the Earth to be such an inertial frame,
although it has a small centripetal acceleration associated with its motion.
❖ If you accelerate relative to an object in an inertial frame, you are observing
the object from a non-inertial reference frame.

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 Chapter 4 : Laws of Motion

5.2 Newton’s First Law: Alternative Statement

❖ In the absence of external forces, when viewed from an inertial reference
frame, an object at rest remains at rest and an object in motion continues in
motion with a constant velocity.
❖ Newton’s First Law describes what happens in the absence of a force, but
does not describe zero net force

Object at rest 𝒂=𝟎

Object at 𝒂=𝟎
constant speed

The First Law also allows the definition of force as that which causes a change in the
motion of an object.

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 Chapter 4 : Laws of Motion

5.3 Inertia and Mass :

The tendency of an object to resist any attempt to change its velocity is called
inertia.
Mass is that property of an object that specifies how much resistance an object
exhibits to changes in its velocity.
Masses can be defined in terms of the accelerations produced by a given force
acting on them:
𝒎𝟏 𝒂𝟐
= [5.1]
𝒎𝟐 𝒂𝟏

The magnitude of the acceleration acting on an object

is inversely proportional to its mass.

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 Chapter 4 : Laws of Motion

Mass vs. weight :

❖ Mass is a property of an object, it is a scalar (Kg) (Obeys the rules of ordinary arithmetic). It
does not vary with location. It is independent of its surrounding, and
independent of method used to measure it.
❖ Weight is the force exerted on that object by gravity, it is a vector.
o It is equal to the magnitude of the gravitational force exerted on the object.
o Weight will vary with location.
• Example: on the moon, the gravitational acceleration is about 1/6 g,
objects will weigh less. The mass, however, will be the same.

mearth = 3 kg; mmoon = 3 kg

wearth = 30 N; wmoon ~ 6 N

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 Chapter 4 : Laws of Motion

5.4 Newton’s Second Law:

Newton’s second law is the relation between acceleration and force.

When viewed from an inertial reference frame, the acceleration of an object is

directly proportional to the net force acting on it and inversely proportional to
its mass.

σ𝑭
𝒂∝
𝒎
Force is the cause of changes in motion, as measured by the acceleration.
o Remember, an object can have motion in the absence of forces.
o Do not interpret force as the cause of motion.
σ𝑭
𝒂= ⟶ σ𝑭 = m𝒂 [5.2]
𝒎
With a proportionality constant of 1 and speeds much lower than the
speed of light.
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 Chapter 4 : Laws of Motion

෍ 𝐹Ԧ is the net force. May also be called the total force, resultant force. This is
the vector sum of all the forces acting on the object.

Force is a vector, so ΣF = ma is true along each coordinate axis. Therefore,

Newton’s Second Law can be expressed in terms of components

σ 𝑭𝒙 = 𝒎 𝒂𝒙
σ 𝑭𝒚 = 𝒎 𝒂𝒚 [5.3]

σ 𝑭𝒛 = 𝒎 𝒂𝒛
Remember that ma is not a force.
o The sum of the forces is equated to this product of the mass of the
object and its acceleration.

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 Chapter 4 : Laws of Motion

The SI unit of force is the newton (N).

1 N = 1 Kg . m/s2 [5.4]

The US Customary unit of force is a

pound (lb).

Note that the pound is a unit of

force, not of mass, and can
therefore be equated to newtons
but not to kilograms.

1 N ~ ¼ lb

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 Chapter 4 : Laws of Motion

Example 5-1: An Accelerating Hockey Puck ‫طابة الهوكي‬

Determine the acceleration magnitude and direction ?
σ 𝑭𝒙 = 𝑭𝟏𝒙 + 𝑭𝟐𝒙 = 𝑭𝟏 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝜽 + 𝑭𝟐 𝒄𝒐𝒔∅

σ 𝑭𝒚 = 𝑭𝟏𝒚 + 𝑭𝟐𝒚 = 𝑭𝟏 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝜽 + 𝑭𝟐 𝒔𝒊𝒏∅

σ 𝐹𝑥 𝑭𝟏 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝜽 + 𝑭𝟐 𝒄𝒐𝒔∅
𝑎𝑥 = =
𝑚 𝑚
σ 𝐹𝑦 𝑭𝟏 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝜽 + 𝑭𝟐 𝒔𝒊𝒏∅
𝑎𝑦 = =
𝑚 𝑚
𝟓𝟎 𝑵 𝒄𝒐𝒔 −𝟐𝟎 + 𝟖𝑵 𝒄𝒐𝒔(60)
𝑎𝑥 = = 29 𝑚/𝑠 2
0.3 𝐾𝑔
𝟓𝟎 𝑵 𝒔𝒊𝒏 −𝟐𝟎 + 𝟖𝑵 𝒔𝒊𝒏(60)
𝑎𝑦 = = 17 𝑚/𝑠 2
0.3 𝐾𝑔

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 Chapter 4 : Laws of Motion

𝒂=𝟎 ෍𝐹 = 0
So:
1. The third force should have X- component opposite to the resulting force from
Fx1 and Fx2
2. The third force should have Y- component opposite to the resulting force from
Fy1 and Fy2
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