AP* PHYSICS B

MOTION AND FORCE:

DYNAMICS

We’ve been dealing with the fact that objects move. Velocity, acceleration, projectile motion, etc. WHY do
they move? Forces act upon them, that’s why! The connection between Force and motion is DYNAMICS.

FORCE
A push or pull on an object. An object falls due to the force of gravity. Forces do not
always give rise to motion.
! Spring Scale--a device used to measure force
! Weight--a measure of the FORCE on an object, carries a unit of Newtons (N).
! Forces--are vectors that carry a magnitude and direction.

NEWTON’S FIRST LAW OF MOTION [Law of Inertia]

An object in motion remains in motion along a straight line path until a force acts upon that object. An object
at rest remains at rest until a force acts upon that object.

! Inertia--tendency of a body to maintain its state of rest or uniform motion.

! Friction--a force that acts “against” motion
! Inertial Reference Frame--Newton’s first law holds true. Rest a cup on a
dashboard in your car before leaving your garage--back out of the garage--splash!
That is NOT an inertial frame of reference!
! Mass--a property; measure of the inertia of a body (kg)
! Weight--a force; Fg = mg measured in newtons. A word that has a casual meaning
on Earth since g is relatively constant @ 9.8 m/s2. Mass and weight have often been used
interchangeably during your short lifetime!

NEWTON’S SECOND LAW OF MOTION [F = ma]

The acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force acting on it and is inversely proportional
to its mass. The direction of the acceleration is in the direction of the net force acting on the object.
a= ÓF
m
In English:
When a net force acts upon an object, it’s rest or uniform motion is changed. That means it experiences an
acceleration, technically defined as a change in velocity.
! Ó F = ma
! Ó F = net force
! Force--an action capable of accelerating an object; measured in Newtons
! 1 N = kg Cm/s2
! ONE Dimensional L F = ma
! TWO or THREE Dimensional L Fx = max & Fy = may & Fz = maz

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Example 1
Estimate the net force needed to accelerate a 1000-kg car at ½ g.

Example 2
What net force is required to bring a 1500-kg car to rest from a speed of 100 km/h within a distance of 55 m?

NEWTON’S THIRD LAW [action-reaction]

Whenever on object exerts a force on a second object, the second object exerts an equal and opposite force on
the first object. Often stated, “To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

The second law quantifies how forces affect motion. But, where do forces come from? A force is exerted ON
an object and BY another object. Hit a nail with a hammer--the force is applied ON the nail BY the hammer
BUT, the nail exerts a force back on the hammer. How do we know? 1) the speed of the hammer is rapidly
reduced to zero! 2) this force must be strong to so rapidly reduce the speed of the hammer 3) the nail rarely
sinks all the way into the wood on the first try!

Example 3
What makes a car go forward?

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Example 4
Michelangelo’s assistant has been assigned the task of
moving a block of marble using a sled. He says to his boss,
“When I exert a forward force on the sled, the sled exerts an
equal and opposite force backward, so how can I ever start it
moving? No matter how hard I pull, the backward reaction
force always equals my forward force, so the net force must
be zero. I’ll never be able to move this load.” Is this a case
of a little knowledge being dangerous? Explain.

WEIGHT--THE FORCE OF GRAVITY; AND THE NORMAL FORCE

! Weight--The force of gravity originates at the center of the Earth.

Fg = Fw = mg always directed downward, toward the center
of the Earth.
! g = 9.8 m/s2

The moon’s gravity is 1/6 that of the Earth since the moon’s mass is 1/6 that of the
Earth’s. Your weight on the moon is 1/6 that of your weight here on Earth--I find this a
pleasant thought!

So why don’t we go crashing through the floor on to the poor souls below? The force of
the floor exerts force “right back at ‘ya” due to it’s elasticity. This force is the normal
force and is NOT a case of action-reaction!

! Normal force-- “normal” means z (usually thought of as z to the motion!). FN

! Since Ó F= 0 for an object at rest and g is acting downward this force often “balances” the force of
weight for a stationary object.

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Example 5
A friend has given you a special gift, a box of mass 10.0 kg with a mystery surprise
inside.
It’s a reward for your fine showing on the physics final. The box is resting on a smooth
(frictionless) horizontal surface of a table.
a) Determine the weight of the box and the normal force acting on it.

b) Now your friend pushes down on the box with a force of 40.0 N. Again determine
the normal force acting on the box.

c) If your friend pulls upward on the box with a force of 40.0 N, what now is the
normal force on the box?

Notice that the normal force is elastic in origin! THAT’S WHY IT IS NOT AN ACTION-REACTION PAIR
WITH THE WEIGHT!

Example 6
What happens when a person pulls upward on the box in Example 4.5 c) with a force
equal to, or greater than, the box’s weight, say Fp = 100.0 N rather than the 40.0 N
shown in figure 4-16 c)?

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SOLVING PROBLEMS WITH NEWTON’S LAWS:
VECTOR FORCES AND FREE-BODY DIAGRAMS

Net force = vector sum = Ó F and is % to acceleration of an object

Example 7
Calculate the sum of the two forces acting on the boat shown in the figure.

Free-Body diagram:
! Show all forces acting on EACH object involved
! Point masses for now..... until we start rotating stuff!

Example 8
A hockey puck is sliding at constant velocity across a flat horizontal ice surface that is assumed to be
frictionless. Which of the sketches is the correct free-body diagram for this puck? What would your answer
be if the puck was slowed down?

Motion and Force Dynamics 5

Example 9
Suppose a friend asks to examine the 10.0 kg box you were given earlier, hoping to guess what’s inside. You
respond, “Sure, pull the box over to you.” She then pulls the box over by an attached ribbon/string/cord/rope
along the smooth surface of the table. The magnitude of the force exerted by the person is 40.0 N and is
exerted at a 30.0E angle with the table top. Calculate
a) the acceleration of the box.

b) the magnitude of the upward force, FN exerted by the table on the box. Assume that friction can be
neglected.

Motion and Force Dynamics 6

! Tension--FT--when a flexible cord/rope/etc. pulls on an object it is said to be under “tension”. These
can only pull, NOT push since they are flexible pieces of matter!

Example 10
Two boxes are connected by a lightweight cord and are resting on a table. The boxes have masses of 12.0 kg
and 10.0 kg. A horizontal force Fp of 40.0 N is applied by a person to the 10.0 kg box. Find
a) the acceleration of each box

b) the tension in the cord.

Example 11
Two masses suspended over a pulley by a cable is sometimes referred to as an Atwood’s
machine. Consider the real-life application of an elevator (m1) and its counterweight (m2).
To minimize the work done by the motor to raise and lower the elevator safely, m1 and m2
are similar in mass. We leave the motor out of the system for this calculation, and assume
the cable’s mass is negligible and the pulley is frictionless and massless, which assures that
the tension, FT, in the cord has the same magnitude on both sides of the pulley. Let the
mass of the counterweight be m2 = 1,000 kg. Assume the mass of the empty elevator is
850 kg, and its mass when carrying 4 passengers is m1 = 1150 kg. For the latter case (m1=
1150 kg), calculate

a) the acceleration of the elevator and

b) the tension in the cable.

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Example 12
Muscleman is trying to lift a piano (slowly) up to a second-story apartment. He is using
a rope looped over two pulleys as shown. How much of the piano’s 2000 N weight does
he have to pull on the rope?

Example 13

Finding her car stuck in the mud, a bright graduate student of a good physics
course ties a strong rope to the back bumper of the car, and the other end to
a tree. She pushes at the midpoint of the rope with her maximum effort,
which she estimates to be a force Fp = 300 N. The car just begins to budge
with the rope at an angle è which she estimates to be 5E. With what force is
the rope pulling on the car? Neglect the mass of the rope.

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APPLICATIONS INVOLVING FRICTION; INCLINES

Friction--exists between 2 solid surfaces because even the smoothest looking surface is
quite rough on a microscopic scale. When we try to slide an object across another
surface, these microscopic bumps impede motion. Additionally, the atoms snuggle up
next to one another and have interactions of an attractive nature and can further impede
motion.
kinetic friction--sliding friction; the friction that persists even
once the object is in motion. This force acts opposite to the
body’s velocity and is determined by the nature of the two
surfaces. The force of kinetic friction is approximately
proportional to the normal force. [the normal force is the force
that either object exerts on the other perpendicular to their
common surface of contact]

Ff % FN insert a proportionality constant and presto, an equals sign appears along with a constant!

Ff = ì K FN

ì K --the coefficient of kinetic friction; its value depends on the nature of the 2 surfaces; it’s an approximation
since polishing/ sanding, etc. alters the surfaces.
This is not a vector equation since the two vectors act z to one another. It is also an experimental relationship

NOT a fundamental law. The force of friction depends very little on surface
area. It doesn’t matter whether you slide your book flat along the table or on its
spine along the table--it’s frictional force is essentially unaffected.

Static friction--force applied to get an object moving; it is always present between 2 stationary objects and
increases when the force applied increases until the force applied overpowers the static frictional force and the
kinetic frictional force takes over. At the point it begins to move you have applied the maximum force of
static friction
F MAX # ì S FN you’ve probably noticed it’s easier to keep an object moving than get it to move!
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Example 14
Our 10.0 kg mystery box rests on a horizontal floor. The coefficient of static friction is ìs = 0.40 and the
coefficient of kinetic friction is ìK = 0.30. Determine the force of friction, Ff, acting on the box if a horizontal
external applied force FA is exerted on it of magnitue [answer in 2 sig. figs for each part!]
a) 0 N

b) 10 N

c) 20 N

d) 38 N

e) 40 N

Notice that BOTH the normal force and the frictional

forces are exerted by one surface ON another.

FN is perpendicular to the contact surface

Ff is parallel to the contact surface and in the opposite

direction of the x velocity.

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Example 15
Your little sister wants a ride on her sled. If you are on flat ground, will you exert less force if you push her
or pull her? Assume the same angle è in each case.

Example 16
Two boxes are connected by a cord running over a pulley. The coefficient of kinetic
friction between box I and the table is 0.20. We ignore the mass of the cord and
pulley and any friction in the pulley, which means we can assume that a force applied
to one end of the cord will have the same magnitude at the other end. We wish to find
the acceleration, a, of the system, which will have the same magnitude for both boxes
assuming the cord doesn’t stretch. As box II moves down, box I moves to the right.

OBJECTS MOVING ON AN INCLINE

Easier to choose the xy coordinate system so that the x-axis is parallel to the incline surface and the
y-axis is therefore, perpendicular to the incline. This helps because then a has only one component and if
friction is present, two of the forces will have only one component: Ff along the
plane, opposite ot the object’s velocity, and FN which is NOT vertical but is
perpendicular to the plane. A picture will help!

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Example 17
A skier has just begun descending a 30.0E slope. Assuming the coefficient of kinetic friction is 1.10,
a) draw the free body diagram

b) calculate her acceleration

c) calculate the speed she will reach after 4.0 seconds.

Example 18
Suppose the snow is slushy and the skier moves down the 30.0E slope at constant speed. Determine the
coefficient of friction, ìK?

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