JOSE MAX LEON SCHOOL

SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL ED. DPT.

PHYSICS
3rd WORKSHOP

NEWTON’S SECOND LAW WORKSHOP

Dear student, please send the photos of the process by email. Please do not panic, I’ll explain
the topic again next class.

EXAMPLE PART 1:

Calculate the Net Force of the force (∑ 𝑭)

∑ 𝑭𝑿 = 𝟑𝟎𝑵 − 𝟒𝟓𝑵 = −𝟏𝟓𝑵

∑ 𝑭𝒀 = 𝟓𝟎𝑵 − 𝟓𝟎𝑵 = 𝟎𝑵

NET FORCE IN X: -15N (UNBALANCED)

NET FORCE IN Y: 0 N (BALANCED)

DIRECTION: LEFT
 JOSE MAX LEON SCHOOL
SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL ED. DPT.
PHYSICS
3rd WORKSHOP

YOUR TURN:

1. Calculate the Net force:

a.

NET FORCE IN X: _________________

NET FORCE IN Y: _________________
DIRECTION: _________________
b.

NET FORCE IN X: _________________

NET FORCE IN Y: _________________

DIRECTION: _________________
 JOSE MAX LEON SCHOOL
SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL ED. DPT.
PHYSICS
3rd WORKSHOP

c.

NET FORCE IN X: _________________

NET FORCE IN Y: _________________

DIRECTION: _________________

PART 2

Free-body diagrams for four situations are shown below. The net force is known for each situation.
However, the magnitudes of a few of the individual forces are not known. Analyze each situation
individually and determine the magnitude of the unknown forces. (If there is no movement in a
particular direction, you can assume the forces in that axis are balanced).
 JOSE MAX LEON SCHOOL
SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL ED. DPT.
PHYSICS
3rd WORKSHOP

PART 3:

EXAMPLE

A little boy pushes a wagon, with his dog in it, on a frictionless surface. The mass of the dog and
wagon together is 45kg. The wagon accelerates at 0.85m/s2. What is the value of the normal
force? What force is the boy pulling with? Assume that there is no air resistance.

a. DON’T PANIC
b. Free-body-diagram and list of variables:

c. ANALYSIS OF Y AXIS: As the wagon is not moving in the y axis, the acceleration in this
axis is zero.

∑ 𝑭𝒀 = 𝒎 ∗ 𝒂

∑ 𝑭𝒚 = 𝟎

Plugin the forces that are acting in Y-AXIS.

𝑵 − 𝑭𝒈 = 𝟎
𝐹𝑔 = 𝑚 ∗ 𝑔 (Always)
𝑵−𝒎∗𝒈=𝟎
𝑵 − (𝟒𝟓𝒌𝒈 ∗ 𝟗, 𝟖𝒎/𝒔𝟐 ) = 𝟎
𝑵 − 𝟒𝟒𝟏𝑵 = 𝟎
𝑵 = 𝟒𝟒𝟏𝑵
 JOSE MAX LEON SCHOOL
SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL ED. DPT.
PHYSICS
3rd WORKSHOP

d. ANALYSIS OF X-AXIS: As the wagon has acceleration in x axis the formula is:

∑ 𝑭𝑿 = 𝒎 ∗ 𝒂

Plugin the forces that are acting in X-AXIS.

𝐹𝑎𝑝𝑝 = 𝑚 ∗ 𝑎
𝐹𝑎𝑝𝑝 = (45𝑘𝑔) ∗ (0,85𝑚/𝑠 2 )
𝐹𝑎𝑝𝑝 = 38.25 𝑁

YOUR TURN:
Try to solve this exercise and ask as many questions as you need to succeed.

Laura pushes a box, with her physics book on it. The mass of the book and the box together is 32kg.
The box accelerates at 1.2m/s2 and the value of the friction force is 5N. What is the value of the
normal force? What force is Laura pulling with? Assume that there is no air resistance.