PHY 101: Chapter 3

Newton’s Laws of Motion and Gravitation

Introduction:
In Newton’s first law we have discussed the equilibrium condition for a particle and seen that when
the resultant force acting on the particle is zero, it is in equilibrium and, of course, the acceleration
of the body is also zero. The next logical step is to ask how a body behaves when the resultant
force on it is not zero. The answer to this question is contained in second law, which shows that
when the resultant force is not zero the body moves with accelerated motion, and that with a given
force, the acceleration depends on a property of the body known as mass.

Newton’s first law of motion:

According to Newton's first law “An object at rest will remain at rest and an object in motion
continues in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless it is acted upon by an
unbalanced force.”

This law is often called “the law of inertia". This means that there is a natural tendency of objects to
keep on doing what they're doing. All objects resist changes in their state of motion. In the absence
of an unbalanced force, an object in motion will maintain this state of motion.

The equilibrium condition of a body:

If an object is not accelerating, it is in equilibrium. Newton's First Law says that" if the net force on
an object is zero, it will be in equilibrium - it won't accelerate". The converse of this statement is
also true - "If an object is in equilibrium (is not accelerating), then the net force on it must be zero."

Suppose there is a book lying (at rest) on a table. The book is not accelerating - in other words, it is
in equilibrium. Since it is in equilibrium, the net force on the book is zero. The Earth is pulling
downward on the book with a force we call the book's weight. Suppose the book's weight is 10 N. If
this were the only force on the book, there would be a net force on the book, and the book would
not be in equilibrium. The table must be exerting an upward force on the book of exactly 10 N in
order to balance (or cancel) the weight. This force, exerted by the table on the book, is called a
support force or normal force.

Newton’s second law of motion:

We know, from experience, that an object at rest never starts to move by itself; a push or pull must
be exerted on it by some other body. Similarly, a force is required to slow down or to stop a body
already in motion, and to make a moving body deviate from straight line motion requires a sideway
force. All these processes (speeding up, slowing down, or changing direction) involve a change in
either the magnitude or direction of the velocity. Thus in each case the body accelerates, and an
external force must act on it to produce the acceleration. The second law discusses about these
factors and states that “The rate of change of momentum of a body is directly proportional to the
applied force and acts in the direction of the force.”
Mathematically this law can be represented as

 dp
F
dt

Where, p  momentum=𝑚𝑣⃗=mass  velocity of the body

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 PHY 101: Chapter 3

 
dp
F C ………………… (1)
dt
Where C = constant and is chosen as C =1. Then we can write from (1)

 dp d 

dv 
F  (mv )  m  ma
dt dt dt
 
Therefore F  ma ………………. (2)

If we consider only magnitudes, then

F = ma

Therefore
F
m
a

Concept of inertial mass:

From this relation the concept of inertial mass of a body can be defined. If we apply a force to a
body it will accelerate i. e. acceleration is produced in the body. The ratio of the applied force to the
corresponding acceleration is called the mass.
This definition of mass is termed as the definition of the inertial mass and, in fact, it is purely a
mathematical concept.

Newton’s third law of motion:

Newton’s third law states that “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

This means that for every force there is a reaction force that is equal in size, but opposite in
direction. That is to say that whenever an object pushes another object it gets pushed back in the
opposite direction equally hard. If a body acts a force F1 upon another body, the second body will
also act a force F2 upon the first body. According to Newton’s third law, F1 = - F2. Here, F1 is the
action and F2 is the reaction of that action.

Newton’s law of gravitation:

The law of universal gravitation was described by Newton and may be stated as,
“Every particle of matter in the universe attracts every other particle with a force that is directly
proportional to the product of the masses of the particle and inversely proportional to the square of
the distance between them.”
Suppose m1, m2 are the masses of two particles and d is the distance between them, then
according the law of gravitation,
1
Fg  m1m2 & Fg 
d2
Therefore,
m1m2
Fg  G ………………… (3)
d2
Where, Fg is the gravitational force on either particle and G is a constant known as universal
gravitational constant.

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 PHY 101: Chapter 3

Concept of gravitational mass:

We have defined mass of a body as a mathematical concept which is called inertial mass.
Gravitational mass is the mass of an object measured using the effect of a gravitational field on the
object. Gravitational mass is measured by comparing the force of gravity of an unknown mass to
the force of gravity of a known mass.

If the earth were a homogeneous sphere of mass mE, the force exerted by it on a small body of
mass m, at a distance r from the center, would be

mmE
Fg  G ,
r2
This small body of mass m is called the gravitational mass.

The above equation provides that the body lies outside the earth i. e. r is greater than the radius of
the earth. Thus it is also shown that the gravitational force exerted on or by a homogeneous
sphere is the same as if the entire mass of the sphere were concentrated in a point at its center.

At points inside the earth, these statements need to be modified. The force would be found to
decrease as the center is approached, rather than increasing as 1/r2. This occurred because, as
the body enters the interior of the earth, some of the earth’s mass is on the side of the body
opposite from the center of the earth and pulls the body in the opposite direction. Exactly at the
center of the earth, the gravitational force on the body is zero.

Weight:
The weight of a body can be defined as the resultant gravitational force exerted on the body by all
other bodies in the universe.
If the earth were a homogeneous sphere of radius R and mass mE, the weight W of a small body of
mass m at or near its surface would be

GmmE
W  Fg  …………… (4)
R2
When a body is allowed to fall freely, the force accelerating it is its weight W, and the acceleration
produced by this force is the acceleration due gravity g. The general relation F=ma therefore
becomes, for the special case of a freely falling body

W  mg ………………. (5)

From (4) and (5), it follows that

GmE
g …………….. (6)
R2

Equation (6) shows that the acceleration due to gravity is the same for all bodies and very nearly
constant.

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 PHY 101: Chapter 3

Friction: Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and
material elements sliding against each other.

First, when a body rests or slides on a surface, we can think of the surface as exerting a single
contact force on the body, with force components perpendicular and parallel to the surface (Fig. 1a).
The perpendicular component vector is the normal force, denoted by n. The component vector
parallel to the surface (and perpendicular to n) is the friction force, denoted by f. If the surface is
frictionless, then f is zero but there is still a normal force. The direction of the friction force is
always such as to oppose relative motion of the two surfaces.

Fig. 1: (a), (b), (c) When there is no relative motion, the magnitude of the static friction force is less than or
equal to (d) When there is relative motion, the magnitude of the kinetic friction force equals (e) A graph of
the friction force magnitude as a function of the magnitude T of the applied force. The kinetic friction force
varies somewhat as intermolecular bonds form and break

In Fig. 2 a block is at rest on a horizontal surface, in equilibrium under the action of its weight w
and the upward force n exerted on it by surface.
Suppose now that the cord in attached to the block in Fig. 2a and the tension T in the cord is
gradually increasing. Provided the tension is not too great, the block remains at rest as shown.
Now the effective static frictional force 𝐹𝑠 is proportional the normal force or reaction force.

𝐹𝑠 ∝ 𝑛 = 𝜇𝑠 𝑛
∴ 𝐹𝑠 = 𝜇𝑠 𝑛
Where, 𝜇𝑠 is the coefficient of static friction.

As the force T is increases further, a limiting value is reached at which the block breaks away from
the surface and starts to move. In this situation, the effective kinetic frictional force 𝐹𝑘 is
proportional the normal force or reaction force.
𝐹𝑘 ∝ 𝑛 = 𝜇𝑘 𝑛
∴ 𝐹𝑘 = 𝜇𝑘 𝑛
Again, 𝜇𝑘 is the coefficient of kinetic friction.

For a pair of surfaces, the value of coefficient of static friction is always greater than coefficient of
kinetic friction.

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 PHY 101: Chapter 3

Applications of Newton’s law:

Example 1: A block whose mass is 10 kg rests on a horizontal table. What constant horizontal
force T is required to give it a velocity of 4 ms-1 in 2 s. Assume that the block starts from rest, the
friction between the surface of table and block is 5N.

Solution:
The acceleration is
v  v0 4ms 1  0
a   2ms  2 f T
t 2s
The resultant of the force along x-axis is W
F x  T  f  ma x
 T  ma x  f  (10 kg )(2ms  2 )  5 N  25 N
Therefore the horizontal force is 25N.

Example 2: An elevator and its load have a total mass of 800kg. Find the tension T in the
supporting cable when the elevator, originally moving downward at 10ms-1, is brought to rest with
constant acceleration in a distance of 25m.
T
Solution:
The acceleration can be obtained from v  v0  2ay
2 2

Here v0 and y is negative since they are measured in downward direction. 800kg

v 2  v0 0  (10ms 1 ) 2
2

a    2ms 2
2y 2(25m)
The acceleration is positive and therefore in upward direction. W
The resultant force is F  T W

where W is the weight of the elevator.

Therefore the tension T is

T  F  W  ma  mg  m(a  g )  800 kg 2ms 2  9.8ms 2 
T  9440 N
Therefore the tension is 9440N.
The tension T must be greater than the weight W to cause the upward acceleration while the
elevator is stopping.

Exercise 4-1: a) what is the mass of a body that weighs 1N at a point where g = 9.8ms-2 b) weighs
1dyne at a point where g = 980cms-2?

Solution:
a) We know,
W  mg
W 1N
m    0.102kg.
g 9.8ms  2
W 1dyne
b) m   0.00102 g.
g 980cms  2

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 PHY 101: Chapter 3

Exercise 4-5: A constant horizontal force of 40N acts on a body on a smooth horizontal table. The
body starts from the rest and is observed to move 100m in 5s.
a) What is the mass of the body?
b) If the force ceases to act at the end of 5s, how far will the body move in the next 5s?

Solution:
a) The acceleration of the body can be obtained from
1
x  x0  v0t  at2
2
x0  0, v0  0, t  5s, x  100 m,40 N
Here, 2 x 2(100 m)
a  2
 2
 8ms 2
t (5s )
Therefore, the mass of the body is
F  ma
F 40 N
m    5k g
a 8ms 2
b) If the force is ceased the body will move in constant speed. Just before the ceasing of force the
velocity of the body can be obtained from the relation,
v 2  v0  2ax  0  2(8ms 2 )(100 m)  1600 m2 s 2
2

 v  40ms 1
The body will move with this velocity for 5s.
Therefore, the distance covered with constant speed = (40ms-1)5s = 200m.

Exercise 4-12: The moon is 0.38×109m from the earth and has a mass of 7.36×1022kg. Find the
gravitational force it exerts on a 1kg body on earth; express your result also as a fraction of body’s
weight.

Solution:
The gravitational force is
m1m2
Fg  G
r2
G  6.67  10 11 Nm2 kg2 , m1  7.36  10 22 kg, m2  1kg, r  0.38  109 m
Here,
 Fg 
6.67  10 11
 
Nm2 kg 2 7.36  10 22 kg 1kg
 3.39  10  5 N
0.38  10 m
9 2

In the earth the body’s weight is


W  1kg 9.8ms 2  9.8N 
Therefore, the fraction is
3.39  10 5 N
fraction  3.46  10  6
9.8 N

Exercise 4-17: The mass of the moon is about one eighty-first, and its radius one-fourth, that of
the earth. What is the acceleration due to gravity on the surface of the moon?

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 PHY 101: Chapter 3

Solution:
The acceleration due to gravity can be defined from the relation,
Gm
g
R2
11 2 5.96  10 24 k g 6370000 m
G  6.67  10 Nm k g , m 
2
,R 
81 4
 5.96  10 k g 
 
24
Here, 6.67  10 11 Nm2 k g 2  
g   81   1.94ms  2
 6370000 m 
 
 4 

Mathematical Problems: Newton’s Laws of Motion (P 76-77)

1. A constant horizontal force of 40N acts on a body on a smooth horizontal table. The body starts
from the rest and is observed to move 100m in 5s.

(i) What is the mass of the body? [Ans :5 kg]

(ii) If the force ceases to act at the end of 5s, how far will the body move in the next 5s?
[Ans : 200 m]

2. A rifle bullet, traveling at 360ms-1, strikes a block of soft wood, which it penetrates to a depth
of 0.1 m. The mass of the bullet is 1.8 g. Assume a constant retarding force.

(i) How much time was required for the bullet to stop? [Ans : 5.56×10-4 s ]
(ii) What was the accelerating force? [Ans : 1166 N]

3. A body of mass 15 kg rests on a frictionless horizontal plane and is acted on by a horizontal

force of 30 N.

(i) What acceleration is produced? [Ans : 2 m/s2]

(ii) How far will the body travel in 10 s? [Ans :100 m]
(iii)What will be its velocity at the end of 10 s? [Ans : 20 m/s]

4. The moon is 0.38×109 m from the earth and has a mass of 7.36×1022 kg. Find the gravitational
force it exerts on a 1kg body on earth; express your result also as a fraction of body’s weight.
[Ans : 3.4 ×10-5N, 3.47×10-6 ]

5. The mass of the moon is about one eighty-first, and its radius one-fourth, that of the earth.
What is the acceleration due to gravity on the surface of the moon? [Ans :1.94 m/s2]

6. A block whose mass is 10 kg rests on a horizontal table. What constant horizontal force T is
required to give it a velocity of 4 ms-1 in 2 s. Assume that the block starts from rest, the friction
between the surface of table and block is 5N. [Ans : 25 N]

7. You want to move a 500-N crate across a level floor. To start the crate moving, you have to
pull with a 230-N horizontal force. Once the crate “breaks loose” and starts to move, you can
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 PHY 101: Chapter 3

keep it moving at constant velocity with only 200 N. What are the coefficients of static and
kinetic friction? [Ans.: 𝜇𝑠 = 0.46, 𝜇𝑘 = 0.40 ]

8. In Example 1, what is the friction force if the crate is at rest on the surface and a horizontal
force of 50 N is applied to it? [Ans.: 𝐹𝑠 = 50 𝑁]

9. In Example 1, suppose you move the crate by pulling upward on the rope at an angle of 30°
above the horizontal. How hard must you pull to keep it moving with constant velocity?
Assume that 𝜇𝑘 = 0.20. [Ans.: 𝑇 = 188 𝑁]

10. Fig below shows that the slope has just the right angle to make the toboggan slide with constant
velocity. Find this angle in terms of 𝑤 and 𝜇𝑘 . [Ans.: 𝛼 = tan−1 𝜇𝑘 ]

11. A block is lie on a surface. Suppose that the block weighs 20 N, that the tension T can be
increased to 8 N before the block starts to slide, and that a force of 4 N will keep the block
moving at constant speed once it has been set into motion. Find the coefficient of static and
kinetic friction. [Ans.: 𝜇𝑠 = 0.40, 𝜇𝑘 = 0.20 ]

12. What force T, at an angle of 30̊ above the horizontal, is required to drag a block weighing 20 N
to the right at constant speed, as in figure below, if the coefficient of kinetic frictional between
block and surface is 0.20. [Ans.: 𝑇 = 4.14 𝑁, 𝑛 = 17.9 𝑁]

Motion
T
30
3

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