2) MOTION ate equation(s) together with their units. Checking that the units are correct for the quantity determined ean help to detect errors, Incorrect units indicate a mistake somewhere. (Unfortu- nately, correet units do not necessarily imply that the answer is correct!) B& Check the ansiver to see if tis reasonable: Does it make sense? ‘This last step is extremely important; it ean prevent tragic re- sults due to trivial errors. One should attempt to develop the intuition necessary to assess the correct order of magnitude for a desired quantity. Such intuition not only helps in problem salv- ing but also strengthens the understanding of physical princi- ples. 2.3. GRAVITY AND FALLING BODIES, Gravity is one of the most familiar forees in nature; its effect on motion. has been a subject of discussion for centuries. If an object is dropped from a great height, it can be observed that it falls with ever increas- ing speed until air resistance balances the effect of gravity, at which time it is said to have reached its terminal velocity. The term falling bodies is used for objects under the influence of gravity, whether they are moving upward or downward. Any object that has no forces other than gravity acting on it is said to be in free fall, whether it is moving upward, downward, or in any other direction. It is found that if air resistance can be made negligible, then falling bodies will accelerate toward the center of the earth at the same rate, regardless of their mass (see Figure 2.5). (The same is true of masses ‘Figure 25 A lead ball and a feather ‘will tall with the same acceleration if the ‘tect of air resslance is made small ‘enough. Astronaut David R. Scott demon- ‘trated that this is also true on the moon j © of Inair Ina vacuum Ina vacuum’ (the hard way)MOTION hat the o detect Infortu- aswer is nse? agic re- lop the le for motion opped which calling r they other noving, p rate, a 23. GRAVITY AND FALLING BODIES under the influence of gravity anywhere.) The value for the accelera- tion of gravity, given the symbol g, has been measured on earth as g = ~9.8 misec® (2.9) In treating falling bodies this text uses the convention that up is posi- tive and down is negative. The minus sign in equation 2.9 indicates « that the acceleration of gravity is downward. Galileo was the first to demonstrate that all bodies fall at the same rate if air resistance is negligible. (It is often said that he did this by dropping objects of various masses from the Leaning Tower of Pisa, although there is no historical evidence that he actually used the famed tower.) Galileo's recorded experiments settled some very old contro- versies about falling bodies, proving less-popular ideas to be correct. Even more important than his discoveries about falling objects was his breaking away from old methods of determining truth. Galileo is often credited with being the father of modern science’because of his forceful demonstration of the value of observation and the discoveries he made through his ingenious experiments. Because the acceleration of gravity (9.8 m/sec’) is the same for all bodies on Earth, it can be used for a in equations 2.6, 2.7, and 2.8 when they are applied to falling bodies. EXAMPLE 2.8 Arrock is thrown straight up with an initial speed of 10 m/sec, as shown in Figure 2.6. (a) What distance does the rock rise above its point of release? (b) How long does it take the rock to reach its highest point? Solution. (a) This problem starts after the rock has been released, so no consideration need be given to how it was accelerated to its initial speed of 10 mv/see. The final speed must be zero, because the rock will stop at its highest point and fall back to earth. Air resistance is negligi- ble for a rock, so the acceleration is that of gravity, g. Directions must be assigned for displacement, velocity, and acceleration. Using the convention that up is positive and down is negative, the initial velocity is positive and the acceleration is negative (their opposite signs indi- cating that they are in opposite directions). An examination of the information given in this problem shows that there is only one un- known in equation 2.8. i v= ob + 2as 0 =p + 2a8 t _ __ (10 m/sec)? 2a 9.8 misec*) 5.10 m. ‘ Figure 2.6 A rock is tossed into the 4s in Example 28,What causes a body to accelerate or decelerate? Why do objects fall to earth when dropped—that is, what causes the acceleration of gravity? Is it “natural” for-moving objects to slow down and stop, or is there something causing them to slow down? More subtly, how can we ar- range for an object, such as a building or a patient in traction, not to move? 3.1 FORCE, THE CAUSE OF ACCELERATION; NEWTON'S LAWS OF MOTION Every acceleration (equivalently, every change in velocity) is caused by forces acting on a body. Conversely, if a body does not accelerate, then the total force acting on it is zero even if several forces are present. The apparently simple idea of cause and effect,’ that forces cause acceleration, didn’t come easily. It was and still is tempting to think of common phenomena as having no cause and simply being “the nature of things.” For example, a question like “Why does water flow down- hill?” seems silly. Yet such questions have serious answers; in this case the force of gravity caxses water to flow downhill. The genius of New- ton and others was not only in providing answers to basic questions, but also in simply being curious enough to ask basic questions. Force is defined intuitively as a push or pull. If an applied force is the only one acting on a body, then the body will accelerate in the same direction as the force. The strength of the force determines the magni- tude of the acceleration (see Figure 3.1). If several forces act on a body, then its acceleration is in the same direction as the total force and has a magnitude proportional to the total force. Newton's Laws of Motion and the Concept of a System Isaac Newton was mentioned in Chapter 2, along with Galileo, as hav- ing had a major influence on the study of motién. What Newton did was to write down the relationships between force and motion in a form that could be used to predict and describe motion, Those relation- ships were found to apply in every circumstance where an experiment could be performed to test them and came to be known as Newton’s laws of motion. They are three in number. Newton's First Law: Inertia (Mass) Newton's first law is a non- mathematical statement that force is needed to change the motion of any body, whether it is moving or at rest: — —— Force Figure 3.1 (a) Any force applied hockey puck will produce an acce tion in the same direction as the fo {riction is negligible. (b) The mag of the acceleration depends on the magnitude of the force: a smaller produces a smaller acceleration. (b)3.1 FORCE Any body will remain at rest or in motion in a straight line with a constant velocity unless acted upon by an outside force. The property of a body that causes it to remain at rest or to maintain a constant velocity is called its inertia or mass, (Inertia and mass are the same thing, but the word “mass” is much more commonly used.) It is more difficult to accelerate some bodies than others; those which have more mass are harder to accelerate. The mass of a body is propor- tional to the number of atoms and molecules in it. This means that the mass of a body doesn’t depend on its location. For example, a speck of dust containing one trillion molecules has the same mass anywhere on earth, in outer space, on the moon, ete. Newton's Second Law The second law of motion gives the precise relationship between force, mass, and acceleration. The acceleration produced by forces acting on a body is directly proportional to and in the same direction as the net external force and inversely proportional to the mass of the body. In equation form this is = Fret ext! or, in a more familiar form, Pret ext = ma 8.1) where Fro: ex: stands for the sum of all external forces acting on the body and m is the body's mass. . In order to use Newton’s second law correctly, it is very important to understand the meaning of “external.” It indicates that all the inter- nal forces in a body, such as the forces between atoms and molecules in it, can be completely ignored. This is a tremendous simplification. All the parts that make up an object or set of objects under study, to- gether with the forces and relations among them, can be described as a system. To use Newton’s second law, all that need be considered are the forces acting on the system from the outside. To determine which forces are external and which are internal, one need only carefully define what the system of interest is. Newton's second law is a much more profound statement of physi- cal principle than anything previously presented in this text. Motion equations 2.5 to 2.8, for example, come straight from the basic defini- tions of velocity and acceleration and tell nothing more about nature than is contained in those definitions. Newton's second law, however, pi tien ete llRCE ‘31 FORCE. THE CAUSE OF ACCELERATION: NEWTONS LAWS OF MOTION is based on the results of experiments and relates mass and acvelera- tion, two previously unrelated quantities. Furthermore, Newton's sec- ond law gives a precise definition of force that is consistent with our intuitive notions of a foree as a push or pull: A large force produces a large accelération, a large mass requires a large force to make it accel- crate at the same rate as a small mass, and a body will accelerate in the same direction agthe net foree on it. Newton's Third Law: Action-Reaction The third of Newton's laws provides insight into where forees come from. Forces acting on any body seem always to be applied by another object. For example, an elevator lifts a person, a shopper pushes a grocery cart, and a den- tist pulls a tooth. Newton reasoned that it would be one-sided if body could exert a force on another without feeling any effect itself. Perhaps the playwright of Man of la. Mancha had this in mind when heshad Sancho describing a fight with his wife to Don Quixote: “Of course I hit her back, Your Grace, but she's a lot harder than me and you know what they say, ‘Whether the stone hits the pitcher or the pitcher hits the stone, it's going to be bad for the pitcher.” This is exactly what happens in every instance where one body exerts a force on another— there is a force back on the first. Newton stated this precisely in his third law: Whenever one body exerts a force on a second body, the second body exerts a force back on the first that is equal in magnitude and opposite in direction. In order to apply this law correctly it is again important to define 33 Gravee om = path, Figure 3.2. The swimmer exers a force, Feeson, 8 the wall of « pool and conse- st. In Figure 8.2 a swimmer push Se tees Pushes quenly experiences a recclon force. against the side of a pool and as a result moves away from the edge. If we define the swimmer to be the system of interest, then it ‘becomes clear what is happening here. She exerts a foree onthe side ofthe pool, which is external to the system of interest. By Newton's third law the side of the pool exerts a foree back on the swimmer—an external force. If there is relatively litte friction between the swimmer and the water, she will then move in a direction opposite to the force she ex- erted on the side of the pool with an acceleration proportional to the force she exerted, There are many other examples of Newton's third law, which is commonly paraphrased “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” A baseball player hits a ball and feels a sting in his hands— action-reaction. If the ball is the system of interest, then the hit is the action and the force back on the player is the reaction. Cars aceel- erate forward by exerting backward forces on the ground. The reac- tion foree of the ground acts as an external force on the car in the Frsacion- Of equal magnitude and oppo site direction as required by Newton's thitd law. Fraccion i8 an external force, ‘which ccruses the swimmer to accelerate in the opposite direction of the force she ‘applies to the wall. The two forces do nol cancel, because they do not act on the same system.Figure 3.3 Examples 32 and 33 con- sider an orderly pushing a gumey with « patient on it. Because different ques- tions are asked in each example, the sytem of interest must be detined ditter- ently. System | is appropriate for Exam- le 32, where the acceleration of the entire system is wanted. System 2 is needed for Example 3.3.50 that Fors will be an external force. System 2 System 3 Force forward direction. The backward fo 4 c ree of the car on th i nee by are being thrown backward, Using Newtan'say | in identifying which forces are external th va interest and mutt be entered ino the equation fs oc em 1.0 N= 1.0 ke-misec One newton is the fo : r nner wee required to give a mass of 1 kg an aéeeleration. EXAMPLE 3.1 A 440-g can of food is given a shove on a frictionless level surface and is observed to accelerate at a rate of 1.5 m/sec”. What is the force of the shove? Solution. Using Newton's second law and converting grams to kilo- grams: Poot ext = ma = (0.440 kkg)(1.5 m/sec”) 0.66 kg-m/sec? Pre ext = 0.66.N Since the surface is frictionless, the net external force is just the force of the shove. . A somewhat less obvious use of Newton's laws is required in prob- Jems where several bodies and forces are involved, as in the following two examples, illustrated in Figure 3.3, EXAMPLE 3.2 ‘An orderly is pushing a gumey’with a patient on it. The mass of the orderly is 85 kg, the mass of the gumey is 20 kg, and the mass of the patient is 50 kg. The orderly exerts a backward foree of 100 N on the it i which ane « {ther units of foree in common use, perhaps the most common of the ne andthe pound The dyne isthe uit of fore inthe es system of unit, a metic systerr in which length is measured in units of eentimeters, mass in grams, and time in seconds, ‘The pound is the basic unit of force in the British system of units. See Ap- pendix B. :37 FORCE ound might jton’s third system of n's second uation 3.1 s of mass eleration ce and is e of the to kilo- 3.1 FORCE, THE CAUSE OF ACCELERATION: NEWTON'S LAWS OF MOTION floor. What acceleration is produced, assuming the friction in the wheels is negligible? Solution. Define the system of interest as the orderly, gurney, and patient since they acceletate as a unit (see Figure 3.3). By Newton's third law there is a reaction force of 100 N acting on the system in the forward direction. Since friction opposing the motion of the system is assumed negligible, the net external force is 100 N in the forward direction. The acceleration can now be found by applying Newton's second law: Pret ext = ma Pet ext m _ 100.N © 155 kg = 645 Kersec® kg a = 0.645 m/sec? The mass of the system is 155 (= 85 + 20 + 50) kg. All the forces be- ‘tween objects in the system, such as that between the orderly and the handles of the gurney, ean be ignored since they are internal to the system as defined. . Ifa different question is asked, of course, it may be necessary to define the system of interest differently. EXAMPLE 3.3 Calculate the force the orderly exerts on the gurney in Example 3.2. Solution. “Now define the system of interest to be the gurney plus Patient, also shown in Figure 3.3. Since there is no friction, the net external foree on the newly defined system is the fore that the orderly exerts on the gurney. (That force was internal tothe system defined in Example 3.2, but it is external to the system as presently defined.) The net external foree can now be calculated from Newton's second Jaw, using the value for the acceleration found in Example 3.2: Pordorly = Fret ext = ma = (70 kg\(0.645 m/sec?) = 45.2 kg-m/sec® Prorderly = 45.2 N31 FoncE ere 70 eg isthe mas of the new system. Notice thatthe fore that the arderly exerts on the gurney is less than the force he exerts bare: ward on the floor; however, the 100-N reaction force ofthe flor on the orderly doesn't act directly on the new system and needn't be cone, ered. . ‘The Key to solving problems such as the last two examples lies in choosing an appropriate system and identifying which forces are exten nal or internal to that system. 3.2 WEIGHT, FRICTION, TENSION, AND OTHER CLASSES OF FORCES ‘Traditionally, forees have been grouped into several clasces and given ‘ames relating to their source, the nature in which they are transmit- ted, or describing their effects. A few of these classes of forces are of sufficient importance to warrant separate description. Weight and the Force of Gravity Weight is the force of gravity on an object. As was discussed in Section 2.8, the acceleration of gravity, g, is the same for any object in free fall, provided that forces other than gravity are negligible, Under those circumstances the net external force on the object is the force of sravity—its weight. Using Newton's second law and letting w be the symbol for weight, we have : Fret ext = W= ma Here a is the acceleration of gravity, g, yielding an expression for the weight of an object: w= 1g @2) From now on inthis text, the acceleration of gravity i taken to be positive, since the directions of forces are indicated with plus or minus signs when they are entered into the equation for Newton's second law. The weight of a 1.0-kg object on earth is 9.8 N since the accelera- tion of gravity in SI units is 9.8 m/sec®: w = (1.0 kg)(9.8 m/sec’) = 9.8 N Weight depends on the location of an object, since the acceleration of gravity varies with location. For example, on the moon'the acceléra-3./ FORCE the force that e exerts back- he floor on the In’t be consid- . amples lies in ces are exter- es and given are transmit- forces are of od in Section pject in free ible. Under the force of ing w be the ssion for the (3.2) taken to be us or minus n’s second he accelera- eleration of ne acceléra- 32. WEIGHT, FRICTION, TENSION. AND OTHER CLASSES OF FORCES tion of gravity is only 1.7 m/sec’, so that the weight of the same 1.0-kg ‘object would be only 1.7 N on the moon, whereas it is 9.8 N on earth. Precise experiments have shown that the acceleration of gravity var- ies slightly over the surface of the earth. (Later in this section we'll understand why.) The exact weight of an object thus depends on its location—even on the surface of the earth. Center of Gravity The force of gravity on a solid body can be consid- ered to act at a single point, called the center of gravity (c.g.). If the body is symmetrical, such as a baseball, then its center of gravity is at its geometrical center. An asymmetrical object, such as a person, will have a center of gravity closet to the more massive parts of the body. A number of the objects illustrated in this chapter have their centers of gravity marked in them. A closely related concept, the center of mass (c.m.), is the point at which all of the mass in a body ean be considered to be located. Though the locations of the center of mass and center of gravity can be pre- cisely calculated from the mass distribution of a body, they will simply be given and not calculated in this text. ~7. Newton's Universal Law of Gravitation Equation 3.2 is not the most general expression for the force of grav- ity. Equation 3.2 is used when we consider the force of gravity of the earth on small objects, such as ourselves. This will be the case in al- most all of our experiences with the force of gravity. A more general expression for the force of gravity between any two bodies is used in astrophysics, for example. It was also discovered by Newton and is named Newton's universal law of gravitation in his honor. "The legend is that Newton began to realize that earth’s gravity might extend to treetops, to the moon, and beyond when he was struck. on the head by a falling apple. Whether or not this legend is true, Newton did come up with the correct expression for the force of grav- ity and realized that it could be used to explain not only the weight of a person but also the motion of the planets around the sun. Newton's universal law of gravitation states that there is a force of attraction between any two masses that is proportional to the produgt of the masses and inversely proportional to the distance between their cen- ters of mass. In equation form this is F = GmMhr* (3.3) where the constant G is determined by experiment to have @ value 6.67 x 10-"! N-m?/kg?, m and M are the masses, and ris the distance between their centers of mass.