ABU DHABI INDIAN SCHOOL- BRANCH 1, AL WATHBA

GRADE -9
PHYSICS
FORCE AND LAWS OF MOTION

Introduction – Force

A Push or Pull acting on the body that changes or tends to change the speed or direction of motion
or the shape and size of the body.
For Example, a push, a hit, or a pull.

Whenever we push or pull an object a force acts upon them and makes them move from one place
to another. Hence, the force can do the following to stationary objects –
● initiate motion in a motionless object
● change (increase or decrease) the velocity of the moving object
● alter the direction of a moving object
● change the shape and size of an object

Balanced and Unbalanced Forces

Balanced Forces – When equal amounts of forces are applied to an object from different directions
such that they cancel out each other, such forces are known as balanced forces.
● Balanced forces do not change the state of rest or motion of an object.
● Balanced forces may change the shape and size of an object.

Unbalanced Force – When forces applied to an object are of different magnitude (or not in
opposite directions to cancel out each other), such forces are unbalanced forces.
● Unbalanced forces can alter the state of rest or motion of an object.
Newton’s first law or Law of Inertia.
Everybody continues in its state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line unless compelled by some
external unbalanced force to change that state.

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 Example
1. A football at rest will remain at rest unless an external force is applied to it.
2. A book kept on the table will remain at rest unless it is pushed.
3. A cycle would keep moving if we stopped pedaling if there were no frictional forces and air
resistance.
INERTIA:
The tendency of a body to oppose any change in its state of rest or uniform motion is called Inertia
of the body.
The inertia of a body is equal to the mass of a body. SI unit of Inertia is Kg.
Examples of Inertia
When a bus suddenly starts moving forward, the passengers in the bus fall backward. This is
because the lower part of the body of the passenger being in contact with the floor of the bus
comes in motion along with the bus. On the other hand the upper part of the body remains in rest
due to Inertia of rest. Hence the passenger falls backward.

Example of Inertia

• When a bus stops suddenly, its passengers tend to fall forward due to their inertia of motion.
The passengers remain in a state of motion even though the bus has come to rest.

Example of Inertia
● The inertia of an object depends upon its mass.
● Lighter objects have less inertia, they show less resistance.
● Heavier objects have large inertia and therefore they show more resistance.
Hence ‘Mass’ is the measure of inertia.

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 Consider the image given below; it is easier for a person to push the empty bucket rather than the
one that is filled with sand. This is because the mass of an empty bucket is less than that of the
bucket filled with sand.

Inertia and Mass

MOMENTUM :
The momentum of a body is defined as the product of its mass (m) and its velocity (v).
P=mxv

Momentum gives an idea of the quantity of motion carried by a body.

● Momentum is a vector quantity. Its direction is the same as that of the object’s velocity.
● Denoted by – p
● SI unit – kg metre per second

NEWTON’S SECOND LAW OF MOTION:

It states that “the rate of change of momentum is directly proportional to the unbalanced force
acting on the body and the change in momentum takes place in the direction of the unbalanced
force on the body”.

Force ∝ rate of change of momentum

Force = change in momentum/time taken
Force is a vector quantity.
Examples:
1. If a player does not lower his hands while catching the ball , the time to stop the ball is
very small. So, a large force has to be applied to reduce the velocity of the ball to zero or
to change the momentum of the ball. When a player lowers his hands, the time to stop the
ball is increased and hence less force has to be applied to cause the same change in the
momentum of the ball. Therefore, the hands of the player are not injured.

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2. When a person falls on a heap of sand, the sand yields under the weight of the person. As
a result of this, the person comes to rest by taking a longer period of time. Hence a small
force is exerted on the body of the person. Therefore, he does not get injured. On the other
hand, if he falls on the cemented floor, the person stopped in a very small interval of time.
Hence the person gets injured due to the application of large force on the body due to the
floor.

3. When a Karate player strikes the pile of tiles with his hands, he does so as fast as possible.
In other words, the time taken to strike the pile of tiles is very small. The momentum of the
hand of the Karate player reduces to zero when his hand strikes the pile of tiles in a very
small interval of time. Therefore, a large force is exerted on the pile of tiles. This force is
enough to break the pile of tiles.

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Mathematical Formulation of the Second Law of Motion
Consider an object of mass m moving with an initial velocity u. Let a force F act on the body for
time t so the velocity of the body after t is v. The initial and final momentum of the object will be
P1 = mu and P2 = mv respectively.
According to Newton’s Second Law,
Rate of change of momentum α Force
ie. dp α F
dt
P2-P1 α F
t
 mv –mu αF
t
F α m v-u
v-u t
We know that =a
t
 F = K ma
Where K is a constant of proportionality when K = 1
F = ma
Therefore, with help of the second law of motion, we can evaluate the amount of force that is
being exerted on any object.
From the formula stated above, we can see that the force is directly proportional to acceleration.
So the acceleration of an object can change depending upon the change in force applied. Also,
acceleration is inversely proportional to the mass.

Define 1 newton of force.

F = mass x acceleration
It is the amount of force that will produce an acceleration of 1 m/s² in a body of mass 1 kg.

The Third Law of Motion

Action and Reaction Forces

Two forces acting from opposite directions are called Action and Reaction Forces.
For Example, a ball when it hits the ground (action) bounces back with a certain force reaction.

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 Action and Reaction Forces
The Third Law of Motion states that –
● When an object exerts a force on another object, the second object instantly exerts a
force back onto the first object. These forces are always equal in magnitude but
opposite in direction. These forces always act on two different objects.
Or
● in other words, “every action has an equal and opposite reaction”.
● The magnitudes of forces acting upon the objects are the same but the acceleration
produced in them may or may not be the same because the objects can differ in
masses.
Examples:
1. when a bullet is fired from a gun, the gun only moves a little backward (recoils) while the
bullet can travel a large distance. This is because of the difference in the mass of the bullet
and the gun.

2. When a person kicks a rock, the rock exerts an equal force on his foot. Due to this force,
his foot gets injured.

3. While swimming, a swimmer pushes the water backward with his hands. The reaction
offered by the water to the swimmer pushes him forward.

4. When a person jumps out of a boat, he pushes the boat in the backward direction (action)
the boat exerts an equal force (reaction) on the person in the forward direction. So, when
the person jumps out of the boat, the boat moves backward.

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5. When the boat man pushes away from the riverbank with a bamboo pole, the river bank
offers an equal and opposite reaction. This reaction helps the boat to move into the river.

Q) Action and Reaction are equal and opposite but even then, they do not cancel each other
explain why?

Two equal and opposite forces can cancel each other if they act on the same body. But
action and reaction do not act on the same body. Action acts on one body, at the same time
the reaction acts on another body. Hence, they cannot cancel each other.

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