LAWS OF MOTION

Inertia
The property of an object by virtue of which it cannot change its state
of rest or of uniform motion along a straight line, is called inertia.
Inertia is a measure of mass of a body. Greater the mass of a body
greater will be its inertia or vice-versa.
Inertia is of three types:
1. Inertia of Rest When a bus or train starts to move suddenly,
the passengers sitting in it falls backward due to inertia of rest.
2. Inertia of Motion When a moving bus or train stops suddenly,
the passengers sitting in it jerks in forward direction due to
inertia of motion.
3. Inertia of Direction One's body movement to the side when a
car makes a sharp turn
Force
Force is a push or pull which changes or tries to change the state of
rest, the state of uniform motion, size or shape of a body.
Its SI unit is newton (N) and its dimensional formula is [MLT-2].
Forces can be categorized into two types:
1. Contact Forces Frictional force, tensional force, spring force,
normal force, etc are the contact forces.
 2. Action at a Distance Forces Electrostatic force, gravitational
force, magnetic force, etc are action at a distance forces.
Impulsive Force
A force which acts on the body for a short interval of time, and
produces a large change in momentum is called an impulsive force.
Linear Momentum
The total amount of motion present in a body is called its
momentum. Linear momentum of a body is equal to the product of its
mass and velocity. It is denoted by p.
Linear momentum p = mv.
Its SI unit is kgm/s and dimensional formula is [MLT-1].
It is a vector quantity and its direction is in the direction of velocity of
the body.
Impulse
The product of impulsive force and time for which it acts is called
impulse.
Impulse = Force * Time Duration = Change in momentum
Its SI unit is Ns or kgm/s and its dimension is [MLT-1].
It is a vector quantity and its direction is in the direction of force.
Newton’s Laws of Motion
1. Newton’s First Law of Motion
Every body continues to be in its state of rest or of uniform motion in
a straight line unless compelled by some external force to act
otherwise.
This law is also called the law of inertia.
If the net external force on a body is zero, its acceleration is zero.
Acceleration can be non zero only if there is a net external force on
the body.
Examples
● When a carpet or a blanket is beaten with a stick then the dust
particles separate out from it.
● If a moving vehicle suddenly stops then the passengers inside
the vehicle bend outward.
2. Newton’s Second Law of Motion
The rate of change of momentum of a body is directly proportional to
the applied force and takes place in the direction in which the force
acts.
Thus, if under the action of a force F for time interval Δt. The velocity
of a body of mass m changes from v to v + Δv i.e. its initial
momentum p = mv changes by Δp = mΔv. According to the Second
Law
F ∝ Δp/Δt or F = k Δp/Δt
Where k is a constant of proportionality. Taking the limit Δt → 0, the
term Δp/Δt becomes the derivative or different coefficient of p with
respect to t, denoted by dp/dt. Thus
F = k dp/dt
For a body of fixed mass m.
 dp/dt = d(mv)/dt = m dv/dt = ma
i.e. the Second Law can also be written as
F = k ma
which shows that the force is proportional to the product of mass m
and acceleration a.

We choose k = 1 and hence the S.I. unit is N (newton) or kgm/𝑠2

Examples
● It is easier for a strong adult to push a full shopping cart than it
is for a baby to push the same cart. (This is depending on the
net force acting on the object).
● It is easier for a person to push an empty shopping cart than a
full one (This is depending on the mass of the object).
3. Newton’s Third Law of Motion
To every action, there is always an equal and opposite reaction
FAB = – FBA
(Force on A by B) = - (Force on B by A)
Examples
● Swimming becomes possible because of third law of motion.
● A man jumping off a boat into the river
● Jerk are produced in a gun when bullets are fired from it.
● Pulling of cart by a horse.

Note Newton’s second law of motion is called real law of motion

because first and third laws of motion can be obtained by it.
The modern version of these laws are
 ● A body continues in its initial state of rest or motion with
uniform velocity unless acted on by an unbalanced external
force.
● Forces always occur in pairs. Force on a body A by B is equal
and opposite to the force on the body B by A.
Law of Conservation of Momentum
If no external force acts on a system, then its total momentum
remains conserved.
Momentum depends on frame of reference but law of conservation of
linear momentum is independent of frame of reference.
Newton’s laws of motion are valid only in inertial frame of reference.
An important example of the application of law of conservation of
momentum is the collision of two bodies A and B, with initial
momenta p 𝐴 and p 𝐵. The bodies collide, get apart, with final
momenta p' 𝐴 and p' 𝐵respectively. By the Second Law

F 𝐴𝐵
∆t
= p' 𝐴 - p 𝐴
F 𝐵𝐴
∆t = p' 𝐵 - p 𝐵

Since F 𝐴𝐵 = - F 𝐵𝐴 by the third law

p' 𝐴 - p 𝐴 = - (p' 𝐵 - p 𝐵)
p' 𝐴 + p' 𝐵= p 𝐴 + p 𝐵

Which shows that the final momentum of the isolated system equals
its initial momentum.
Weight (w)
The weight of an object is defined as the force of gravity on the object
It is a field force, the force with which a body is pulled towards the
centre of the earth due to gravity. It has the magnitude mg, where m
is the mass of the body and g is the acceleration due to gravity.
w = mg
Apparent Weight in a Lift
(i) When a lift is at rest or moving with a constant speed, then
R = mg
The weighing machine will read the actual weight.

(ii) When a lift is accelerating upward, then apparent weight

R1 = m(g + a)
The weighing machine will read the apparent weight, which is more
than the actual weight.

(iii) When a lift is accelerating downward, then apparent weight

R2 = m (g – a)
The weighing machine will read the apparent weight, which is less
than the actual weight.
(iv) When lift is falling freely under gravity, then
R2 = m(g – g)= 0
The apparent weight of the body becomes zero.
(v) If the lift is accelerating downward with an acceleration greater
than g, then the body will lift from floor to the ceiling of the lift.
Equilibrium of a Particle
Equilibrium of a particle in mechanics refers to the situation when
the net external force on the particle is zero
If two forces F 1 and F 2 act on a particle, equilibrium requires
F 1= - F 2

Equilibrium under three concurrent forces F 1, F 2 and F 3 requires

that the vector sum of three forces is zero
F 1 + F 2 + F 3= 0

In other words, the resultant of any two forces say F 1and F 2,

obtained by the parallelogram law of forces must be equal and
opposite to the third force F 3

Friction
A force acting on the point of contact of the objects, which opposes
the relative motion is called friction.
It acts parallel to the contact surfaces.
Frictional forces are produced due to intermolecular interactions
acting between the molecules of the bodies in contact.
Friction is of three types:
1. Static Friction
It is an opposing force which comes into play when one body tends to
move over the surface of the other body but actual motion is not
taking place.
Static friction is a self adjusting force which increases as the applied
force is increased.
2. Limiting Friction
It is the maximum value of static friction when body is at the verge of
starting motion.
Limiting friction (fs)max = μsN
where, μs = coefficient of limiting friction and N = normal force.
fs ≤ μsN

If the applied force F exceeds (fs)max the body begins to slide on the
surface.
Limiting friction does not depend on the area of contact surfaces but
depends on their nature, i.e., smoothness or roughness.
If angle of friction is θ, then the coefficient of limiting friction
μs = tan θ
3. Kinetic Friction
If the body begins to slide on the surface, the magnitude of the
frictional force rapidly decreases to a constant value fk kinetic
friction.
Kinetic friction, fk = μk N
where, μk = coefficient of kinetic friction and N = normal force.
It is also independent of the area of contact and it is nearly
independent of the velocity.
μk < μs
Kinetic friction is of two types:
● Sliding friction
● Rolling friction

As, rolling friction < sliding friction, therefore it is easier to roll a body
than to slide.
Friction can be reduced by using ball bearings and lubricants.
Friction is a necessary part of our daily life, we require it to walk as
well need it for braking in automobiles.
Angle of repose or angle of sliding is the minimum angle of the
plane at which the body kept on it starts to slide due to its own
weight
The angle of repose can be derived as shown below:
N = mg cosα …………. (i)
f = mg sinα ………….(ii)
Dividing (ii) by (i)
f = mg sinα/N mg cos α
µ= tan α

Circular Motion
We know that the acceleration of a body moving in a circular path is
2
𝑣 /𝑅

Using Newton's Second Law, the force 𝑓𝑐 providing this acceleration

is:
2
𝑓𝑐 = 𝑚𝑣 / 𝑅
where m is the mass of the body.
This force directed forwards to the centre is called the centripetal
force
Example:
● For a stone rotated in a circle by a string, the centripetal force is
provided by the tension of the string.
 ● The centripetal force for motion of a planet around the sun is
the gravitational force on the planet due to the sun.
Motion of a Car on a Level Road
Three forces acting on the car are:
1. The weight of the car, mg
2. Normal reaction, N
3. Frictional force, f

As there is no acceleration in the vertical direction

𝑁 − 𝑚𝑔 = 0
𝑁 = 𝑚𝑔

The frictional force is the centripetal force acting on the body.

2
𝑓 = 𝑚𝑣 / 𝑅 ≤ µ𝑠𝑁
2
𝑣 ≤ µ𝑠𝑅𝑁 / 𝑚 = µ𝑠𝑅𝑔 [∵ 𝑁 = 𝑚𝑔]

There is a maximum speed of circular motion of the car possible,

namely
𝑣𝑚𝑎𝑥 = µ𝑠𝑅𝑔
Motion on an Inclined Plane
We can reduce the contribution of friction to the circular motion of
the car if the road is banked.

Since there is no acceleration along the vertical direction, the net

force along the direction must be zero. Hence,
𝑁𝑐𝑜𝑠θ = 𝑚𝑔 + 𝑓𝑠𝑖𝑛θ

The centripetal force is provided by the horizontal components of N

and f
2
𝑁𝑠𝑖𝑛θ + 𝑓𝑐𝑜𝑠θ = 𝑚𝑣 / 𝑅

But 𝑓 ≤ µ𝑠𝑁
Thus to obtain 𝑣𝑚𝑎𝑥 we put
𝑓 = µ𝑠𝑁

𝑁𝑐𝑜𝑠θ = 𝑚𝑔 +µ𝑠𝑁𝑠𝑖𝑛θ ……………..(i)

𝑁𝑠𝑖𝑛θ + µ𝑠𝑁𝑐𝑜𝑠θ = 𝑚𝑣2 / 𝑅 ………………(ii)

From (i) we get

𝑁 = 𝑚𝑔 / 𝑐𝑜𝑠θ − µ𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛θ
Putting the value of N in equation (ii)
2
𝑚𝑔(𝑠𝑖𝑛θ + µ𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑠θ) / 𝑐𝑜𝑠θ − µ𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛θ = 𝑚𝑣𝑚𝑎𝑥 / 𝑅

𝑣𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 𝑅𝑔 (µ𝑠 + 𝑡𝑎𝑛θ) / (1 − µ𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛θ)

Hence we can see that the maximum possible speed on a banked

road is greater than that on a flat road.
Tension
Tension force always pulls a body.
Tension is a reactive force. It is not an active force.
Tension across a massless pulley or frictionless pulley remain
constant.
Rope becomes slack when tension force becomes zero.