Science 8

The Laws of Motion

Newton’s Laws of Motion

Law of
Law of Acceleration Law of
Inertia Net force is Interaction
Net force is mass Forces come
zero multiplied by in pairs
acceleration
Sir Isaac Newton – through the three laws of motion,
summarized the reasons why objects move, stop, or keep moving.
Dynamics of Motion – ascertains the reasons
why objects move the way they do, and why some objects
move fast while some move slowly.
What is
Motion?
Law of Inertia
The first law is also known as the
law of equilibrium.
The main idea behind the law of inertia is:
no change in velocity.
 If the man wants to pull the 1-dollar bill from between the two
vodka bottles, he has to pull quickly so as not to upset the bottles.
 Inertia, as Galileo deduced, is the tendency of an
object to keep doing what it is already doing. Because of
inertia, a stationary object tends to remain stationary. If
something pushes to start it moving, the object puts up a
resistance. Because of inertia, a moving object tends to
keep moving without any change in its velocity. If
something pushes to slow it down or speed it up, the
object puts up a resistance.
 For example, consider a runner reaching the finish line. Upon reaching the
finish line, the runner does not screech to a stop but keeps going, slowing to a stop.
The inability to stop suddenly is because of inertia: the body just tends to keep going.
Important things to remember about inertia:
1. Inertia is the tendency of an object to resist any change in its
state of motion. If the object is at rest, it tends to stay at rest. If it
is in motion, it tends to keep moving with the
same velocity.
2. Inertia is not a force. It is a property of an object.
3. Inertia is measured by an object’s mass.
The greater the mass of an object, the greater
is its inertia.
Equilibrium is related to inertia. It exists
when all the forces acting on an object
balance each other out.
 For example, in a game of tug-of-war, when two teams are pulling each
other without success, this means that the rope between them is in equilibrium.
Thus, the rope, which is at rest, remains at rest because of its inertia.
Newton’s First Law
An object at rest tends to remain at rest;
an object in motion tends to remain in
uniform motion for as long as there is no net
force acting on it.
Finding the Net Force
To apply Newton’s first law of motion, the net force, also
known as resultant force, needs to be zero. Because forces have
magnitude and direction, they should be added using vector
addition.. In the following example, all the forces are parallel
to each other. This allows us to add the forces algebraically,
using positive signs for forces that are to the right and
negative signs for forces that are to the left.
Examples:
1. nm
5N
10N

Solution:
First, consider that both forces are directed to the right, so they are
both positive. The net force is simply the sum of +5N and +10N. In equation
form,
Fnet = 5N +10N = 15N

The net force is 15N to the right. Thus, the object is not in
equilibrium.
2. nm
5N 5N

Solution:
The 5N force to the right is positive but the 5N force to the left is
negative. The net force is the sum of -5N and +5N. In equation form,

Fnet = 5N - 5N = 0

The net force is zero. Thus, the object is in equilibrium.

The Equilibrant
When a nonzero net force acting on an object
is balanced by a single force, this single balancing
force is called the equilibrant because it causes the
object to be in equilibrium.
Law of Acceleration
Newton’s first law of motion covers what happens
when forces are balanced. What happens when they are
not? When the net force acting on an object is not zero, the
object accelerates; its state of motion changes. This change
can either be a change in speed, a change in direction, or a
change in both speed and direction. In all these cases, the
object undergoes acceleration.
 Acceleration is a measure of how
fast the velocity of an object changes. For
example, when a ball is dropped, it
accelerates down in free fall. When a bus
stops at an intersection, it has to slow
down or decelerate.
Law of Acceleration
If a net force is acting on an object, it will
accelerate in the direction of the net force. The
magnitude of the acceleration is directly
proportional to the net force and inversely
proportional to the object’s mass.
 Note that this law has two part. The first
part explains that net force causes
acceleration and defines the direction of the
acceleration. The second part relates the
quantity of the net force to that of the
acceleration.
Example:
What acceleration will result when a 10-N force is applied on a 5-kg
block? a 10-kg block?
Solution:
The acceleration can be obtained using Newton’s second law of
motion. From the equation
fgh

df
Fnet = ma
we can solve for a, giving us:

𝐹𝑛𝑒𝑡
𝑎= 𝑚
 This problem illustrates that, for the same net force,
the acceleration is greater for the lighter object.
Mass
And
Weight
 Mass is a quantity that shows how
much inertia an object has. It is expressed in
the standard SI unit kilogram (kg) or its
related unit, gram (g)
Fghj

1000g = 1kg
 Weight, on the other hand, is a force and is
measured in newtons (N) or dynes (dyn). It is a force
that the Earth exerts, pulling every object on or near it.
Weight is always directed toward the Earth downward.
This varies in magnitude from place to place because it
depends on the local acceleration due to gravity which
is found to vary depending on altitude and other
geological forces. Mass remains the same regardless of
location in the univers.
w = mg
Example:

1. Calculate the weight of a 1000-kg boat on Earth and on

the Moon. The acceleration due to gravity on the Moon is
equal to 1.62m/s².
Solution:
The weight of the boat on Earth is:
w = 𝑚𝑔𝐸𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ = (1000kg)(9.8m/s²) = 9800N
2. A man weighs 882 N. What is his mass in kilograms?
Solution:
The mass can be found using the formula:

𝑤 882𝑁 882𝑚/𝑠 2
m= = 2 = 2 = 90kg
𝑔 9.8𝑚/𝑠 9.8𝑚/𝑠
Law of Interaction
 Everyone learns at a
young age that in order to walk
forward, you have to push the
ground back with one foot. The
opposite-but-equal force
exerted by the Earth enables
you to walk.
 A boxer wears gloves to protect
her knuckles. Why? Because as the
boxer punches a punching bag, he or
she exerts a large force on the
punching bag. But every time a punch
lands on the bag, the bag also exerts an
equal force on the boxer’s fist. The
harder the boxer hits the punching
bag, the harder the bag hits back.
 These are manifestations of Newton’s third law of motion, also
known as the law of interaction. The law of interaction always involves two
objects, such as your face and the pillow, or a boxer’s fist and the punching
bag. The law states:

When a body A exerts a force on a body B, B exerts an equal but opposite

force on A.
 𝐹𝐵𝐴 𝐹𝐴𝐵
A B

When block A exerts a force on block B, block B also exerts a force on block
A. These forces are of the same magnitude but opposite in direction.
 Some of the things you need to remember about Newton’s
third law of motion:

1. It always involves two objects.

2. It always involves two forces.
3. These two forces occur simultaneously.
4. These two forces are equal in magnitude.
5. These two forces are opposite in direction.