Name: Section: Force I

The Pingry School

AP PHYSICS C: MECHANICS
Force Analysis I: Newton’s Law of Motion
Dynamics is the study on why motion happens. One of the essential tools in dynamics
(and in intro physics courses) is the analysis of forces on an object and the application
of Newton’s laws of motion to determine the resulting acceleration for the object.
Free Body Diagram & Common Forces in Mechanics
Free body diagram is an indispensable tool for analyzing forces that are directly
acting on an object. In a free body diagram, an object is isolated individually, and
vector arrows are drawn for each forces that are directly acting on the object
(i.e. what interactions does the object participate in with its surrounding?)
Here are some common forces that are often found on objects in this course:
• Gravitational force (also known as weight) FG = m g (near planet’s surface)
• Tension FT or T associated with any ropes and strings attached to the object
• Spring force FS associated with any stretched/compressed springs attached to the object
• Normal force FN or N associated with each contact surface for the object
• Friction Ff or f associated with each contact surface for the object
• Air resistance / Drag force FD associated with air/fluid’s pushback on an object’s movement
Note: Air resistance is generally negligible in AP Physics problems unless stated otherwise
• Applied force Fapp associated with push/pull that are artificially acting on the object
Given how crucial it is to have the correct free body diagram for conducting force analysis, let’s
practice drawing correct free body diagrams for different scenarios.

Question 1: Drawing FBD

Draw the free body diagram for the highlighted objects in the following scenarios.
Ignore air resistance unless stated otherwise.
a. A book is placed at rest on a horizontal table top.
b. An egg is free-falling from its nest in a tree. Neglect air resistance.
c. A flying squirrel gliding horizontally with air resistance.
d. A picture frame suspended in midair by two vertical ropes attached
at each corner or the frame.
e. A hockey puck sliding across a horizontal ice surface.
Note: Friction is often treated as negligible on icy surfaces.
f. A rightward push is applied to a book on a horizontal table surface
g. A person is inside an elevator that is accelerated upward.
h. A dog is sitting at rest on an inclined plane.
i. Object A is hanging from the ceiling with a rope.
Object B is hanging from Object A through another rope.
j. Box A is placed on top of a rectangular Box B, which is sitting at rest on a horizontal surface.
k. Box A and Box B are hanging vertically at the two ends of a rope that is attached to a pulley.
l. A mass is attached to the ceiling through a vertical spring.
m. A piece of paper is being pushed against the wall.
n. A suitcase is being pushed up along an incline plane.
Pingry ▪ APCM ▪ Chu age 1 of 4
Name: Section: Force I
Newton’s Laws of Motion
The cornerstone to the force analysis in classical dynamics is the three Newton’s laws of motion:
➢ Newton’s first law (also known as the law of inertia):
In the absence of a net external force, an object maintains constant velocity.
Note: Coordinate systems that obey Newton’s first law are known as inertial reference
frames (observer), which generally come from non-accelerating observers.
A stationary observer and observer moving with constant constant velocity are
both examples of inertial reference frames.
Non-inertial reference frames generally are resulted from accelerating observers.
An observer inside an accelerating vehicle (accelerated reference frame) and an
observer sitting on a rotating object (rotating reference frame) are both examples
of non-inertial reference frames.
Since Newton’s second law is only valid in inertial reference frames1, Newton’s first law
serves as an indispensable test for checking the applicability of Newton’s second law.
However, for our purposes in AP Physics problem-solving, we will stay out of this complication
by always using a bystander’s stationary coordinate system in solving all physics questions.
➢ Newton’s second law: ⃗ F net =m⃗a , where m = mass of the object
Conceptual meaning:
Net external force on an object causes the object’s acceleration.
As a vector equation, Newton’s second law F ⃗ net =m⃗a must hold
for each coordinate direction:
x-direction: Fnet x = m ax y-direction: Fnet y = m ay
From a problem-solving perspective, force analysis is simply a
repeating application of Newton’s second law in different directions
for different objects to generate enough equations to solve for the
wanted unknown quantities.
Note: Actually, Issac Newton has never written his Newton’s second law as ⃗
F net =m⃗a .
d ⃗p
Instead, the generalized (original) version of Newton’s second law is given by: ⃗ F net = ,
dt
where the object’s momentum ⃗p=m⃗v is a measure of the object’s tendency of movement.
Conceptual meaning: Net external force causes changes in an object’s momentum
However, if the object’s mass stays constant during its motion (which happens in most situations),
d ⃗p
the generalized Newton’s second law ⃗ F net = simply becomes2 ⃗F net =m⃗a
dt
➢ Newton’s third law:
Every interaction involves two parties and a pair of forces with equal
magnitude and opposite directions (action & reaction pair, which I would
call the “3rd law pair”), with each party receiving only one of the force pair.
Note: Since each party of an interaction can only receive one of the 3rd law pair,
the free body diagram of an individual object should NEVER contain both
of the 3rd law pair.of forces.
1 There are methods to “fix” Newton’s second law to make it work in non-inertial reference frames.
If time permits, we may discuss them in future packets.
p d (m ⃗
d⃗ v) dm d⃗
v dm
2 Applying product rule to the generalized Newton’s second law: ⃗ F net = = = ⃗v +m = ⃗v +m ⃗
a
dt dt dt dt dt
dm
With =0 for objects with constant mass, this equation reduces to the regular Newton’s second law: ⃗F net =m ⃗a
dt
Pingry ▪ APCM ▪ Chu age 2 of 4
Name: Section: Force I
At the problem-solving level, force analysis involves drawing free body diagram for each object in a
given system. Then we repeatedly apply Newton’s second law: Fnet = m a to generate enough equations
for solving the wanted physical properties. And the rest is simply an algebraic exercise of solving a
system of N equations with N unknowns.
Since you will need to be extremely proficient (= speed + accuracy) with the force analysis process for
the AP Physics C exam, let’s do plenty of practice questions on force analysis to get familiar with this.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Question 2
A moving truck is accelerating on a horizontal road with a
constant acceleration a. Inside the truck, a ball of mass m is
suspended from the ceiling by a massless string. The massless
string makes an angle θ with the vertical as shown in the
diagram.
a. Draw a free body diagram of the suspended ball inside the truck.
b. Use Newton's second law to find an expression for the tension in the massless string in terms of θ, m
and g, Note: Your answer may or may not use all three variables.
c. Use Newton's second law to find an expression for the acceleration a in terms of θ, m and g,
Note: Your answer may or may not use all three variables.

Question 3
An object with a mass m is suspended in midair by two ropes as shown.
Find the tension on each rope in terms of m and g.
Note: This condition of everything standing still is known as static equilibrium.
One of the two conditions of static equilibrium is that the sum of force
components in any chosen direction must be zero.

Question 4
Two blocks (masses M1 and M2 ) are connected by a piece of massless rope.
Suppose someone pull on Block 2 across a horizontal surface with a constant force F
The surfaces have a coefficient of kinetic friction μ,
a. What is the tension on the rope between the two blocks?
b. What is the acceleration of the blocks?
c. If the blocks are initially at rest, what would the speed of
the blocks be if it has moved a distance D?

Question 5
A block of mass m is placed on an inclined plane with an angle θ with respect to
the horizontal.
a. What should be the incline plane’s minimum coefficient of static friction μs
such that the block can’t slide up the incline when a force F pushes on the block.
Note: When a static equilibrium question involves extremal conditions (max/min),
this generally calls for maximum static friction, which you can use fs=μsN
b. Suppose the coefficient of kinetic friction for the incline plane is μk . In the absence of any pushes,
what would the be acceleration of the block be if it slides down the incline plane?

Pingry ▪ APCM ▪ Chu age 3 of 4

Name: Section: Force I
Question 6
Two blocks are connected through a pulley as shown.
The blocks have a mass of M1 and M2, and the pulley and ropes
are massless.
Suppose the horizontal table surface has a coefficient of kinetic
friction μk and a coefficient of static friction μs.
a. What are the blocks’ acceleration and tension in the rope when
the block 1 are sliding across the table?
b. If we can replace Block 2 with a different mass, what is the
maximum mass for Block 2 on such that the system stays
stationary?

Question 7
Two blocks (M > m) are connected through a massless pulley, with one of the
block sitting on an incline at an angle θ with the horizontal.
Suppose the incline has a coefficient of kinetic friction μ.
a. What are the accelerations of the blocks?
b. What is the tension in the massless rope?

Question 8
A pulley system utilizing the mass of object 1 (m1) to lift a heavy object 2 is shown.
Assume all ropes are massless and stay vertical between the massless pulleys.
a. Determine the value of mass m1 such that object 2 (mass m2 = 40 kg) can be lifted up at constant
speed?
b. If object 1 has a mass m1= 200 kg, what are the accelerations (a1 and a2) of the two objects?

Question 9
Two boxes (mass m1 = 4 kg and m2 = 6 kg) are stacked and placed on top of a frictionless table.
These two boxes are connected to a massless pulley as shown.
Suppose the surface between the two boxes has a coefficient of
kinetic friction μ = 0.1,
and the bottom box is pulled with a constant force F = 80 N.
a. What is the tension in the massless rope connecting the blocks?
b. What is the acceleration of the blocks?

Pingry ▪ APCM ▪ Chu age 4 of 4