Force and Laws of Motion

In simple terms, a force can be defined as a push or a pull.

Effects of force
A force can be used to i) change the shape and size of objects ii) to change the magnitude of velocity of an object
iii) to change the direction of motion
Q1. What are i) Balanced forces and ii) Unbalanced forces?
Ans: If the resultant of all the forces acting on a body is zero, the forces are called balanced forces.
If the resultant of all the forces acting on a body is not zero, the forces are called Unbalanced forces.
Q2. State Newton’s First law of Motion.
Ans: Everybody continues in its state of rest or of uniform motion in a straight line unless compared to change that state by
an external unbalanced force (applied force).
Q3. What is inertia?
Ans: The tendency of undisturbed objects to remain at rest or to continue moving with the same velocity is called inertia.
Q4. Why is Newton’s First law of Motion also called law of inertia?
Ans: The tendency of undisturbed objects to remain at rest or to continue moving with the same velocity is called inertia.
Because of this tendency, the first law is also called law of inertia.
Note: Mass is a measure of the inertia of a body. If a body has more mass, it has more inertia. That is, heavier
objects have more inertia than lighter objects.
Q5. Explain why some of the leaves may get detached from a tree if we vigorously shake its branch.
Ans: When the tree is vigorously shaken, the tree is set in motion. Due to inertia of rest, the leaves tend to remain at rest
and fall off.
Q6. Why do you fall in the forward direction when a moving bus breaks to a stop and falls backward when it accelerates
from rest?
Ans: When a moving bus breaks to a stop we fall in the forward direction because the lower part of our body comes to rest
as soon as the bus stops but the upper part of our body continues to move forward due to inertia of motion.
When a moving bus accelerates from rest we fall backward because the lower part of our body being in contact with the
floor of the bus comes in motion along with the bus. On the other hand, on the upper part of our body remains at rest due
to inertia of rest. Hence, we fall backwards.
Q7. When a carpet is beaten with a stick, dust comes out of it. Explain
Ans: Initially, both the carpet and the dust herein are at rest. When the carpet is beaten with a stick, the carpet is set into
motion. Due to inertia rest, the dust, particles tend to remain at rest. As a result, the dust particles fall off.
Q8. When a motor car makes a sharp turn at high speed, why do we tend to fall sideways?
Ans: When a motor car makes a sharp turn at high speed, we tend to get thrown outwards i.e., to one side due to law of
inertia since we tend to continue in our straight line.
Q9. Define force.
Ans: A force can be defined an external agent which changes or tends to change the state of rest or of uniform motion of a
body.
Force is a vector quantity having magnitude as well as direction. SI unit of force is N (newton)
Q10. What is momentum?
Ans: Momentum is defined as the quantity of motion associated with a body. The momentum of a body is given by the
product of its mass and velocity.
i.e., Momentum = Mass x Velocity
p = mv
The SI unit of momentum is Kgm/s.
Q11. State Newton’s second law of motion.
Ans: The second law of motion states that the rate of change of momentum of a body is proportional to the applied
unbalance force in the direction of the force.
Q12. Derive the mathematical formulation of Newton’s second law of motion.
Ans: Consider a body of mass ‘m’ having an initial velocity ‘u’. The initial momentum of this body will be ‘mu’. Supportive a
force F acts on this body for time ‘t’ and causes the final velocity to become ‘v’. The final momentum of this body will be
‘mv’.
Change in momentum of this body = mv – mu ; and the time taken for this change is ‘t’.

m m
F
u v
So, according to Newton’s second law of motion;
mv−mu
F∝ t
m(v−u)
 F∝ t
v−u
 F ∝ ma [∵ acceleration, a = t
]
 F = kma ; where k = a constant of proportionality
The value of K is 1 in S.I units
∴ F = ma
Q13. Define 1N of force.
Ans: 1N is that amount of force which produces an acceleration of 1 m/s2 on a body of mass 1 Kg.
i.e., 1N = 1Kg x 1 m/s2
Note: if (–) ve sign comes with the force, it will indicate that the force is acting in a direction opposite to that of the motion
of the body
Q14. What is impulse of a force ‘F’?
Ans: The quantity Ft is called the impulse of the force ‘F’ in the time interval ‘t’.
i.e., I = Ft
It can also be defined as the change of momentum of the body, over which the force ‘F’ acts on it in time t.
S.I unit of impulse is Ns.
Q15. A constant force of 4N acts on a body of mass 2Kg for 4s. Assuming the body to be initially at rest, find i) its velocity
when the force stops acting ii) distance covered in 4s after the force starts acting iii) distance covered in the next 5s after
the force ceases to act.
Q16. Calculate the force required to impart to a car a velocity of 30m/s in 10s starting from rest. The mass of the car is
1500Kg.
Q17. A truck starts from rest and rolls down a hill with constant acceleration. It travels a distance of 400m in 20s. Find the
acceleration. Find the force acting on it if its mass is 7 metric tonnes. (Hint: 1 metric ton = 1000Kg) [Same as textual
Question No.9]
Q18. A car is moving with a velocity of 144Km/hr and it takes 5s to stop after the application of a braking force. Assuming
the total mass of the motor car and passenger as 1800Kg, calculate the force exerted by the brake on the motorcar.
Q19. A force of 5N gives a mass m1 an acceleration of 8m/s2, and a mass m2 an acceleration of 24m/s2. What acceleration
would it give if both the masses are tied together?
Q20. Which would require a greater force – accelerating a 10g mass at 5m/s2 or a 20g mass at 2m/s2?
Q21. The velocity of a body of mass 125g changes from 10m/s to 5m/s in 5s. Assuming that a constant force acts on it, find
the magnitude of the force.
Q22. When you pull your arms while catching a fast-moving cricket ball, the chance of your hand getting hurt is less.
Explain on the basis of Newton’s laws of Motion.
Ans: When we pull our arm while getting a fast-moving cricket ball, the chance of our hand getting hurt is less because the
time during which the high velocity of the ball decreases to zero is increased. Thus, the acceleration of the ball is decreased
and therefore the impact of catching the first moving ball is reduced.
Q23. A coin of mass 25g is pushed on a table. The coin starts moving at a speed of 25cm/s and stops in 5s. Find the force of
friction exerted by the table on the coin.
Q24. A high jumping athlete is provided either a cushion or a heap of sand on the ground to fall upon. Why?
Ans: A high jumping athlete is provided either a cushion or a heap of sand on the ground to fall upon. This is to increase
the time of the athlete’s fall to stop after the jump. As a result, the rate of change of momentum is decreased and hence the
force also decreases.
Newton’s First law of Motion as a special case of Newton’s Second law of Motion:
Consider a body of mass ‘m’ moving with an initial velocity of ‘u’. If a force ‘F’ acts on the body for time ‘t’, it causes the body
to move with a velocity ‘v’. Suppose ‘a’ is the acceleration produced, by Newton’s Second law of Motion
F = ma
m(v−u)
 F=
t
 Ft = mv- mu
If F = 0, then then the relation may be written as
 mv = mu
 v=u
This means that the state of rest or of uniform motion of the body will continue as long as the force ‘F’ is 0. Hence Newton’s
First law can be deduced from Newton’s Second law of Motion.
Newton’s Third law of Motion

Q25. State Newton’s Third law of Motion.

Ans: It states that, “When a body exerts a force on another body (called the Action), the other body also exerts a force on
the first body (called the Reaction). These forces are always equal in magnitude but opposite in direction.”
Or,
“To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.”
Note: Action and Reaction never act on the same body but on different bodies.
Q26. Illustrate Newton’s Third law of Motion using a suitable example. (Using two identical spring balances)

Ans: The fixed end of the balance B is attached to a rigid wall. When the free end of the balance A is pulled, it is observed
that both the balances show the same reading on their scales. This phenomenon shows that forces by the balance A is
equal but opposite in direction to that exerted by the balance B on. The force exerted by balance A on the balance B is
called action while the force exerted by balance B on A is called the reaction. This illustrates Newton’s third law of motion.
Q27. Why does a gun recoil after firing?
Ans: When a gun is fired, it exerts a forward force on the bullet. At the same time, the bullet exerts an equal and opposite
reaction on the gun. Since the mass of the gun is much larger than the other bullet,the acceleration of the gun is much
less than that of the bullet. Hence, a gun recoil after firing.
Q28. When a man jumps out of the boat to the Bank of the river, the boat moves backward. Why?
Ans: When a man jumps out of a boat to the Bank of the river, the boat moves backward, away from him. This is due to the
fact that to step out of the boat, the man presses the boat with his foot in the backward direction. The push of the man on
the boat is the action. The boat exerts an equal force (reaction) on the man in the forward direction which enables him to
move forward.
Q29. State and prove the principle of conservation of momentum.
Ans: Momentum can neither be created nor destroyed in a closed system consisting of a number of bodies colliding with
one another, the total momentum of the system remains constant.
Let us consider two bodies having mass ‘m1’ and ‘m2’ which are moving along a straight line in the same direction at
different velocities ‘u1’ and ‘u2’ respectively. Let us assume that u1 > u2, so that ‘m1’ will collide ‘m2’ as in figure.

Let the collision last for a time ‘t’ during this interval ‘m1’ exerts a force ‘F2’ on ‘m2’ and ‘m2’ also exerts a
force ‘F1’ on ‘m1’. Let me ‘v1’ and ‘v2’ be the velocities of ‘m1’ and ‘m2’ respectively after collision.
Momentum of m1 before collision = m1u1
Momentum of m1 after collision = m1v1
∴ Change in momentum of m1 = m1v1 – m1u1
Similarly, change in momentum of m2 = m2v2 – m2u2
m2 v2 −m2 u2 m1 v1 −m1 u1
Then, F1 = and F2 =
t t
By Newton’s Third law of Motion
F1 = - F2
m2 v2 −m2 u2 m1 v1 −m1 u1
 =-
t t
 m2 v2 − m2 u2 = - m1 v1 + m1 u1
 m1 v1 + m2 v2 = m1 u1 +m2 u2
 m1 u1 +m2 u2 = m1 v1 +m2 v2
 Total momentum before collision = Total momentum after collision

Q30. Explain the basic working principle of the rocket.

Ans: The movement of the toy rocket is based on Newton’s third law of motion as well as the principle of conservation of
momentum. In such a rocket, the hot gases produced by rapid burning of fuel rush out as a jet at the bottom and opposite
reaction force of the downward going gases pushes the rocket upward with a great speed. Here the momentum of the
rocket is equal to that the momentum of the hot gases.
Q31. A bullet of mass 0.02Kg is fired horizontally from a pistol of mass 3Kg. If the velocity of the bullet is 200m/s. What
will be the velocity of recoil of the pistol?
Q32. A car A of mass 1500Kg, travelling art 25m/s collides with another car B of mass 1000Kg travelling at 15m/s in the
same direction. After collision the velocity of car A becomes 20m/s. Calculate the velocity of car B after the collision.
Q33. A bullet of mass 10g moving with a velocity of 400m/s gets embedded in a freely suspended wooden block of mass
900g. What is the velocity acquired by the block?
Q34. A boy of mass 25Kg jumps on a stationary skateboard fitted with frictionless wheels having a mass of 3Kg. If the
velocity of the boy on jumping is 3m/s horizontally, what is the velocity of the skateboard with the boy? Assume that there
is no other external force on the system.
Q35. Two bodies having each mass 2Kg are moving in the same straight line but in opposite directions. The velocity of each
before collision is 3m/s. In the collision they stick together. What will be the velocity of the combined body after collision?
Q36. A ball of iron of mass 10Kg falls from a height of 0.8m. If the downward acceleration of the ball is 10m/s2. Calculate
the momentum transferred to the floor by the ball, provided the ball does not rebound.
Q37. A sharp object of mass 0.5Kg travelling horizontally at a velocity of 100m/s strikes a stationary wooden block of mass
2.5Kg. Therefore, the two move together in the same straight line. Calculate the total momentum before and after the
impact. Also calculate the velocity of the combined system.
Q38. "The mass of a body is a measure of its inertia". Justify this statement by giving an example.
Ans: Mass is a measure of the inertia of a body. If a body has more mass, it has more inertia. That is, heavier objects have
more inertia than lighter objects. This can be explained with the following example- If we kick a football, it flies away. But,
if we kick a stone of same size, it hardly moves. The stone resist the change in its state of rest but the football flies away,
because of its greater mass. Thus the stone has greater inertia than the football.