3 Newton's laws of motion

3.1 Force and acceleration

 Motion without force

If there is no resultant force on an object, can it be moving?

 A moving object has kinetic energy. This energy will not be lost
unless a force acts to slow the object down.

Newton’s first law of motion, also known as the law of

inertia ：
Objects either stay at rest or move with constant velocity
unless acted on by a force.

• An object at rest stays at rest

and an object in motion stays
in motion with the same
speed and in the same
direction unless acted upon
by an unbalanced force.
 Motion with force
 Newton's second law

• if a resultant force F acts on an object of mass m, the object

undergoes acceleration a such that:
F is proportional to ma
• By defining the unit of force, the newton, as the amount of force
that will give an object of mass 1kg an acceleration of 1ms^−2,
the above proportionality statement can be expressed as an
equation
F = ma
where F = resultant force (in N), m = mass (in kg), a = acceleration
(in ms^−2). This equation is known as Newton's second law for
constant mass.
 10N

5N 8N
5N 5N
2N
3kg

10N 4kg

37°

5N 5N
2N

1kg
 Newton’s second law example
A car and caravan are accelerating at 0.5 ms-2.

1. Find the driving force produced by the engine.

2. Find the tension in the tow-bar.
3. Find the resultant force on the car.

3000 kg 5000 kg

The engine must accelerate both the car and the caravan:

F = ma = (3000 kg + 5000 kg) × 0.5 ms-2 = 4000 N

 Newton’s second law example
A car and caravan are accelerating at 0.5 ms-2.

2. Find the tension in the tow-bar.

4000 N

3000 kg 5000 kg

The tow-bar accelerates the caravan only:

F = ma = 5000 kg × 0.5 ms-2 = 2500 N

 Newton’s second law example
A car and caravan are accelerating at 0.5 ms-2.

3. Find the resultant force on the car.

2500 N
4000 N

3000 kg 5000 kg

resultant force = driving force – tension

= 4000 – 2500 = 1500 N

or F = ma = 3000 kg × 0.5 ms-2 = 1500 N

• How to design experiments to test
Newton’s second law
3.2 Using F=ma
Skydiving
Using Newton’s second law
Braking
SPEED

TIME

• The greater the speed of a vehicle:

• The greater the braking force needed to
stop it in a certain distance
• The greater the distance needed to
stop it with a certain braking force
Skidding

• If too great a braking force is

applied…
• Friction between a vehicle's tyres
and the road surface may not be
great enough to prevent skidding.
 Stopping Time

reaction distance

braking distance
Speed

long stopping distance

short stopping distance

Stopping time
• The overall stopping distance is greater if: • The stopping distance of a
• The vehicle is initially travelling faster vehicle depends on:
• The driver's reactions are slower (due to tiredness, • The distance the vehicle travels
drugs, alcohol) during the driver's reaction time.
• The distance the vehicle travels
• There are adverse weather conditions (wet/icy roads, under the braking force.
poor visibility)
• The vehicle is poorly maintained (e.g. worn
brakes/tyres)
Terminal Velocity

acceleration

deceleration

on ground
terminal velocity
weight

terminal velocity
friction
force

60 m/s 4 m/s
time
• The faster an object moves through a gas or a liquid (a fluid) the greater
• the force of friction which acts on it. When a body falls:

• Initially it accelerates due to the force of gravity

• Frictional forces increase until they balance the gravitational forces
• The resultant force eventually reaches zero and the body falls at its terminal velocity
Terminal Velocity II

Friction

Weight

Friction = Weight therefore there is no acceleration