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A.2 Forces & Momentum: The Three Laws of Motion
A.2 Forces & Momentum: The Three Laws of Motion
Force refers to the fundamental interactions in nature caused by push or pull motions
applied on an object by another object. Force and interactions cause a change in the
state of an object as well as a change in the velocity and path the object is moving
towards. However, the change in velocity can occur two ways, by the increase in the
momentum at which the object is moving or by a decrease in the momentum.
A motion in an object can occur due to several forces, each having a different impact.
Where a force is exerted on a non-living object like a ball, it implies applied force.
The interaction of forces that act on an object in the same direction always gets added to one
another. If the two forces are acting on a body in the same direction then the net force is equal
to the sum of the two forces on it. In this case, it always results in a very stronger force than
either of the individual forces alone applied.
Example: Two people pushing a heavy car or any heavy box in the same direction. Whenever
any heavy load is transported from one place to another many people apply forces in the same
direction to move the box.
If the interaction of two forces is acting in opposite directions on a body, the net force acting
on it is always the difference between the two forces.
Examples: Consider two workers pushing a heavy load in the opposite direction. The net force
on an object is zero if the two forces acting on it in opposite directions are equal in magnitude
and if any unequal forces are applied then the box moves in a direction in where a greater
force is applied.
People playing in a tug of war pull the rope on opposite sides and whichever team pulls it with
a greater force wins.
Magnitude and Direction of a Force:
The interaction of forces could be higher or smaller than another depending upon the strength
of magnitude of it. To completely define the action of interaction of force, we have to also
specify the direction in which it acts on the body. If the direction or the magnitude of the force
changes, its effect also changes accordingly.
For instance, imagine two girls playing the game of circling by holding hands of each other. If
there had been no such interaction between them, they could not have been able to move
making rounds. The direction and magnitude of forces should be equal and opposite in these
case so that each one of them can move with the same speed and enjoy the fullest.
An interaction of Force between objects can change the State of Motion of the object:
A certain change in either the speed of an object, or its direction of motion, or both, is
described as a change in its state of motion.
Example: A fielder catches a cricket ball coming to him with great speed and brings it to rest.
Ram hits the ball and changes its direction of motion.
The shape of a body can be changed using force. We use it to obtain the required shape of the
body or object in some cases.
Example: Upon pressing any inflated balloon with two hands compresses or changes the
shape of the balloon. While making the dough we change the shape of the dough as we need.
Hence, we can conclude that force can only act on any object, substance, or matter if there
exists an interaction between the two bodies. If there is no such interaction between the body
and the applied force then the body will not experience any force. As in case someone cannot
move a box without touching it. We cannot move a car by simply not touching it. We cannot
win the game of tug of war by not touching the rope. All these examples prove that there
needs to be an interaction for the forces to act until and unless it is not the case of charged
material or bodies in which non-contact interactions exist.
Free Body Diagram
Action and reaction: Whenever there are two bodies in contact, each exerts a force on
the other. Out of these forces, one is called action and the other is called reaction.
Action and reaction are equal and opposite.
Attraction and repulsion: These are actually non-contacting forces exerted by one body
or another without any visible medium transmission such as magnetic forces.
Tension and thrust: When a body is dragged with a string the force communicated to
the body by the string is called the tension while, if we push the body with a rod, the
force exerted on the body is called a thrust.
3. According to whether the force acts at a point or is distributed over a large area.
Concentrated force: The force whose point of application is so small that it may be
considered as a point is called a concentrated force.
Distributed force: A distributed force is one whose place of application is area.
Parallelogram Law
Triangle Law
Polygon Law
Types of Forces
Normal Force
The normal force is defined as the force that any surface exerts on any other object. If that object
is at rest, then the net force acting on the object is equal to zero. It is a fact that the downward
force i.e. weight must be equal to the upward force i.e. the normal force.
Frictional Force
Frictional force is the force generated by two surfaces that contact and slide against each
other.
Stress and strain take different forms in different situations. Generally, for small deformations,
the stress and strain are proportional to each other, and this is known as
Hooke’s law states that the strain of the material is proportional to the applied stress within
the elastic limit of that material.
When the elastic materials are stretched, the atoms and molecules deform until stress is
applied, and when the stress is removed, they return to their initial state.
Mathematically, Hooke’s law is expressed as:
𝐹 = – 𝑘𝑥
In the equation, F is the force, x is the extension in length, k is the constant of proportionality
known as the spring constant in N/m.
Tension
In Latin, the word "tension" means "stretching". The force which is applied to the length of a
flexible area such as a rope or a cable, or chain is referred to as tension formula force in
physics. We know that a push or pull is indicated by a tension force. In physics, we are dealt
with several types of forces like weight, normal force, push, collision, etc. The force or power
based on how it works and transmits can be the ability to contact or non-contact. Tension
force is the force of contact which is carried with a flexible medium length.
Here 𝜃 = 60
Stoke’s Law (Fd)
Stoke’s Law is a mathematical equation that expresses the settling velocities of the small
spherical particles in a fluid medium. The law is derived considering the forces acting on a
particular particle as it sinks through the liquid column under the influence of gravity. The
force that retards a sphere moving through a viscous fluid is directly proportional to the
velocity and the radius of the sphere, and the fluid’s viscosity.
The buoyant force is the upward force exerted on an object wholly or partly immersed in a
fluid. This upward force is also called Up thrust. Due to the buoyant force, a body submerged
partially or fully in a fluid appears to lose its weight, i.e. appears to be lighter.
Impulse
The term Impulse is used to refer to fast-acting force or “impact”, Thus impulse can be defined
as “The sudden force acting on an object for a short interval of time”. Conventionally
represented by “J”. Sometimes by “imp” and expressed in “N.s”.
We come across impulse at various situations of our day-to-day life. Some of such scenarios
are listed below-
Airbags in cars are designed on the basis of the principle of Impulse
Tossing the coin
Hitting golf ball
Batsman hitting the ball during the cricket match
Kick-starting the motorbike etc.
Collisions
Elastic Collision
Inelastic Collision
An inelastic collision is such a type of collision that takes place between two objects in which
some energy is lost. In the case of inelastic collision, momentum is conserved but the kinetic
energy is not conserved. Most of the collisions in daily life are inelastic in nature.
Perfectly inelastic collision
A perfectly inelastic collision —also known as a completely inelastic collision—is one in which
the maximum amount of kinetic energy has been lost during a collision, making it the most
extreme case of an inelastic collision. Though kinetic energy is not conserved in these
collisions, momentum is conserved, and you can use the equations of momentum to
understand the behaviour of the components in this system.
Collisions – 2 Dimensional
For a collision where objects will be moving in 2 dimensions (e.g. x and y), the momentum will
be conserved in each direction independently (as long as there's no external impulse in that
direction).
In other words, the total momentum in the x direction will be the same before and after the
collision.
Also, the total momentum in the y direction will be the same before and after the collision.
Example
Considering two balls as a system, there isn't any external force acting on them. Momentum
will be conserved in either directions along the motion and perpendicular to it.
Circular motion
Circular motion is described as a movement of an object while rotating along a circular path.
Circular motion can be either uniform or non-uniform. During uniform circular motion, the
angular rate of rotation and speed will be constant, while during non-uniform motion the rate
of rotation keeps changing.
Key Terms
Centripetal Force
Centrifugal Force
Centrifugal force is a pseudo force in a circular motion which acts along the radius and is
directed away from the centre of the circle. The force does not exist when measurements are
made in an inertial frame of reference. It only comes into play when changing our reference
frame from a ground/inertial to a rotating reference frame.
Vertical Circular Motion
Vertical circular motion (VCM) is a special type of circular motion in which the body travels in
a vertical plane.
In the case we are discussing here, velocity of the body is different at different points. It is an
example of non-uniform circular motion.