PHYSICS IN LIFE SCIENCE

Force and motion: Newtons Laws

Related textbook chapter: 2.1-2.8, 3.1-3.4, 3.6.

Key concepts
The properties of force. The concept of inertial frame. Newtons first law: the law of inertia. Newtons second law: F=ma.
Force summation.

Newtons third law: action and reaction force.

The properties of force pair.

What is force?

A force is given by an agent to an object.

Direction is important.

The agent and object may or may not contact.

Properties of force
Force is a vector. Force must have a giver and a receiver. Force can be a contact force or long-range force (acted through a field).

Measuring force

Hookes Law: F=kDx k: spring constant; Dx: length change of the spring.

Concept of reference frame

The description of motion is always relative to a reference frame. Each observer carries its own reference frame.

: The ball is in motion.

Common reference frames

The ground (Earths surface).
It is naively perceived as a static frame.

Train, bus, elevator, spaceship

They are usually moving frames (relative to the ground or Earth). They could be non-accelerating (constant velocity) or accelerating.

Accelerating means changing velocity. It does not merely mean speeding up!

(a) uniform speed forward

(c) slowing down

(b) speeding up (d) turning

Speeding up, slowing down, or turning are all called acceleration in physics! (a): non-accelerating frame. (b), (c), (d): accelerating frame.

We feel acceleration of the frame

When the bus suddenly starts, we feel being pushed backwards.

We feel acceleration of the frame

When the bus brakes, we feel being pushed forward. However, we feel nothing when the bus travels at uniform velocity. The force we feel is the inertial force caused by acceleration of the frame (that we are attached to).

Inertial force and frame acceleration are anti-parallel

Speeding up
F

Braking
F

DV a Dt

DV a Dt

The inertial force we feel is in the opposite direction of frame acceleration.

Still true for a turning bus

Finert

Our experience tells us that the inertial force is pointing out of the curve. The acceleration is centripetal but the inertial force is centrifugal.

Why is there an inertial force?

All objects tend to resist acceleration property of inertia. In other words, acceleration is unnatural and has to be caused by a force.

In an accelerating frame, the tendency to resist acceleration (inertia) is felt as a virtual force inertial force. The inertial force is in fact an effect of inertia. It is not a real force -- there is no giver.

Concept of inertial frame

A frame in which an object can keep being static when no real force acts on it. Accelerating frames are non-inertial. Practically, we can only find approximate inertial frames:
The ground. The center of the earth. The sun.

Newtons laws are true for inertial frames.

Force and motion: Aristotles view

Force = cause of motion
Aristotle 384-322 BC Force causes speed

No force no motion.

Does it agree with our experience?

Does speed need force to sustain?
But the pulling force is needed here only because there is friction on the ground if we dont pull, friction will stop the cart. If the ground is friction free (perfectly smooth), do we still need to pull to sustain a carts speed?

A thought experiment: can motion sustain itself without force?

In the absence of any forces, an object will continue moving forever. Motion needs no force to sustain!

If force does not cause speed, what does it do?

Force causes a change of velocity = acceleration

No force no change of velocity, but motion can still exist! law of inertia: Everything has the
Galileo 1564-1642 resistance to any change to its state of motion.

However, Galileo thought that the uniform circular motion needs no force to sustain, which is wrong.

Newtons Laws of Motion: Inertial Frame Newtons 1st law

1643 - 1727

Newton discovered the concept of Inertial frame and he assumed that the surface of Earth is such a frame.

Newtons First Law

Newtons 1st law: law of inertia Lex I: Corpus omne perseverare in statu suo quiescendi vel movendi uniformiter in directum, nisi quatenus a viribus impressis cogitur statum illum mutare. Every body perseveres in its state of being at rest or of moving uniformly straight forward, unless it is compelled to change its state by force impressed.

Example of the 1st law: outer space

In outer space, when an astronaut starts to move, he wont automatically stop.

Seat Belts: An Application of Newtons 1st Law

Watch video seat belt commercial. In the ground frame (inertial frame), the object will continue moving unless stopped by a force Newtons first law.

Newtons Second Law of Motion

Newtons 2nd law: law of acceleration Lex II: Mutationem motus proportionalem esse vi motrici impressae, et fieri secundum lineam rectam qua vis illa imprimitur. The alteration of motion is ever proportional to the motive force impressed; and is made in the direction of the right line in which that force is impressed.

Newtons Second Law of Motion

F ma

Force = mass acceleration Unit of force: Newton [force] = [mass] [length] / [time]2

[N] = [kgm/s2] Acceleration is proportional to force and inversely proportional to mass. The acceleration and the net force on an object have the same direction.

Newtons Second Law of Motion

Acceleration is proportional to force and inversely proportional to mass.
Same mass, different force:

Same force, different mass:

This law provides us a way to define mass the amount of matter.

Force addition
The acceleration and the net force on an object have the same direction.

Fnet

Equilibrium condition
F1 F3 F3 F2 F2 F1

Equilibrium (Stone is not moving): Fi = 0

Example of Newtons 2nd law: Damage caused by free falling

Large a large F During the fall: a = g = 9.8 m/s2 Sudden stop when hitting ground: a ~ 200 m/s2 from a 20m fall. It is not the fall that gets you, its the sudden stop in the end.

Centripetal force
In uniform circular motion, the existence of centripetal acceleration must be provided by a centripetal force.

The centripetal force always points at the center.

r

F=ma=mv2/r
v

Centripetal force: example

Watch video water meteor.

The centripetal force is provided by the rope.

What force makes the earth circling around the sun, and the moon circling around the earth?

Newtons Third Law of Motion

Newtons 3rd law: law of reciprocal actions
Lex III: Actioni contrariam semper et qualem esse reactionem: sive corporum duorum actiones in se mutuo semper esse quales et in partes contrarias dirigi. All forces occur in pairs, and these two forces are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction.

Newtons 3rd law: law of reciprocal actions

Object A gives object B a force; Then object B must also give object A a reaction force which is equal in magnitude but opposite in direction. Forces always occur in pairs. (A few violations do exist, but not in the scope of this module.)

Properties of a force pair

The two forces have equal magnitude but opposite directions. The giver and receiver of one force are the receiver and giver of the other force, respectively. Both forces must be real forces. The two forces must be of the same type. For example, if the action force is gravitational, the reaction force must be gravitational too.

Normal Force Pair

Normal force is the contact force perpendicular to the contacting surface.

Friction force pair

Collision between microscopic dents produces friction force. Friction forces are parallel to the contacting surface. Friction forces always try to stop the relative sliding between objects.

Fground

Fbox

Friction force: walking and riding a bike

Fground Fwheel

Fground

Fwheel

The friction force from ground pushes us forward.

Rocket propulsion
Rocket propulsion can also be explained using Newtons third law: hot gases from combustion spew out of the tail of the rocket at high speeds. The reaction force from the gas is what propels the rocket. Note that the rocket does not need to push the ground.

Question
An action/reaction force pair have the same magnitude but opposite directions, therefore they cancel each other. A. Agree. B. Disagree. C. Not sure.

An action/reaction force pair act on different objects, so they cant cancel!

Only forces acting on the same object can add up or cancel.

Question
Suppose a large truck and a small car have a head-on collision.

During the collision, is the force of the truck on the car larger, smaller, or equal to the force of the car on the truck? Equal, although the small car is more susceptible to damage. Its a misunderstanding to say the truck hits the car harder.

Next
Gravitational force and electric force.