DYNAMICS

branch of physics developed in classical mechanics concerned with the study

of forces and their effects on motion.
AS Level Physics

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Overview

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Fnet = 0
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 MASS
• Consider this: ‘Why is it harder to stop a
fully loaded minibus than one with only
the driver in?’
• Mass = a measure of the amount of
matter in an object. It is a measure of
inertia
• Note 1: An object's mass is constant in
all circumstances, i.e. your mass on
earth = mass on the moon.
• Note 2: Mass is the property of a body
that resists change in motion
• The inertia of a mass means a force is
needed to move it. This leads to Inertia (Pg 43 in textbook):
F = ma = the tendency of a moving object
to carry on moving.
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Newton’s laws
The first law describes the situation
where two or more forces act on a
single object, causing its motion not
to change if the resultant is zero

The second law states that resultant

force is directly proportional to the
rate of change of momentum. It is
only because of the way the Newton
is defined which enables the
proportional relationship stated in
the law to be replaced by ‘equals’

The third law is best stated thus: If

object A exerts a force on object B,
then object B will exert an equal but
opposite force on body A. In contrast
to the first law, this refers to the
forces acting on a pair of objects not
necessarily in contact with one
another. The statement ‘action and
reaction are equal and opposite’
which is seen occasionally should be
strongly avoided. 5
 Newton’s 2 Law : F = ma nd
(Homework: 2.1. and 3.1. in handout booklet)

• Newton’s second law: “For a body of constant mass, the acceleration

produced is directly proportional to the force applied to it”, as long as
the direction of the acceleration is in the direction of the applied
force.

• F = ma (F stands for RESULTANT force)

According to formula:
• Force is directly proportional to mass
• Force is directly proportional to acceleration
• Acceleration and mass are indirectly proportional

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 F = ma Examples
Homework: 2.2. “Using F=ma” in handout booklet

1. A car starts to move along a straight, level road.

For the first 10s, the driver maintains a constant
acceleration of 1.5ms-2 . The mass of the car is
1.1 x 103 kg.
a. Calculate the driving force provided by the wheels,
when:
i. The force opposing the motion is negligible
ii. The total force opposing the motion of the car is 600 N.
b. Calculate the distance travelled by the car in the first
10 s.

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 F = ma Examples
2. A particle of mass 3 kg rests on a smooth plane. It is pulled by a horizontal
force of 4 N.
Calculate,
a) the horiztontal acceleration of the particle, a
b) the normal reaction, R.

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 F = ma Examples
3. A body of mass 10 kg rests on a plane that is inclined at an angle of
30° to the horizontal. Find the components of the weight of the body.
a) Parallel to the plane
b) Perpendicular to the plane

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 F = ma Examples
4. A particle of mass 25 kg rests on a smooth slope that is at 31° to the
horizontal. It is pulled by a force of 300N up the plane. Calculate,
a) the acceleration of the particle up the plane
b) Resolving forces perpendicular to the plane, using Newton’s
third law.

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 F = ma Examples
5. A boat is being pulled along a canal by two horizontal cables attached
to two horses. The mass of the boat is 800kg. One horse pulls with a
force of 25N, and the cable is at an angle of 10° to the banks of the canal.
The other horse pulls with a force of 40N. Ignoring any resistance to
motion, find the angle that the second horse should pull at in order that
the boat moves forwards and does not get dragged sideways. Ignoring
any frictional resistance, find the acceleration of the boat.

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 F = ma Examples
5. A boat is being pulled along a canal by two horizontal cables attached
to two horses. The mass of the boat is 800kg. One horse pulls with a
force of 25N, and the cable is at an angle of 10° to the banks of the canal.
The other horse pulls with a force of 40N. Ignoring any resistance to
motion, find the angle that the second horse should pull at in order that
the boat moves forwards and does not get dragged sideways. Ignoring
any frictional resistance, find the acceleration of the boat.

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 F = ma Examples
6. Two particles of mass 5kg and 7kg are connected by a light,
inextensible string, which hangs over a smooth light pulley.
Calculate,
o The weights of the two particles
o The acceleration of the system

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 F = ma Examples
• Lift Problems: watch and take down notes
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/physics/
forces-newtons-laws/normal-contact-force/v/no
rmal-force-in-an-elevator

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 Terminal speed
(Homework: 2.3. in handout booklet)

• Watch the art of skydiving at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHE4YCbdo9s

9.81 ms-2

You have to be able to describe qualitatively the motion of bodies falling in a uniform gravitational field with air resistance
• The forces acting on a falling object are weight and air resistance
• Air resistance increases with speed, while the weight stays the same
• As speed increases, the resultant force decreases, so the acceleration decreases
• When the speed is reached where the air resistance is equal and opposite to the weight, the acceleration is zero, and the
object falls with terminal velocity.
• The magnitude of the terminal velocity depends on the nature of the falling object and the density of the medium.
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Paper 22, June 2013, Q2

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Paper 21, Nov 2012, Q1 (b)(iv)

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Paper 21, Nov 2012, continued…

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Paper 23, June 2012, Q1 (b) Q2 (b)(i)

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Paper 22, June 2012, Q3

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Paper 23, Nov 2011, Q2 (b)(ii) and Q3 (b)(i)2.

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Paper 23, Nov 2011, Q2 (b)(ii) and Q3 (b)(i)2.

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Paper 23, Nov 2012, Q3 (b)(i)(ii)

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Paper 23, June 2011, Q3 (a)(b)(c)

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Paper 22, June 2011, Q2 (a)(ii) (b)(ii)

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Paper 22, June 2011, Q2 (a)(ii) (b)(ii)

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Paper 21, June 2011, Q2 (c)(i)

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Paper 22, Nov 2012, Q1 and Q2 (a)

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Paper 22, Nov 2012, Q1 and Q2 (a)

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Paper 22, Nov 2012, Q2 (a) and Paper 21 and Paper 21, June 2013, Q 2(a)

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