Chapter 4 Dynamics:
Newton’s Laws of Motion
Units of Chapter 4
• Force
• Newton’s First Law of Motion
• Mass
• Newton’s Second Law of Motion
• Newton’s Third Law of Motion
•Weight – the Force of Gravity; and the
Normal Force
Units of Chapter 4
•Solving Problems with Newton’s Laws:
Free-Body Diagrams
• Applications Involving Friction, Inclines
• Problem Solving – A General Approach
4-1 Force
A force is a push or pull. An
object at rest needs a force to
get it moving; a moving object
needs a force to change its
velocity.
The magnitude of a force
can be measured using a
spring scale.
4-2 Newton’s First Law of Motion
• What is the relationship between force and motion?
•
Aristotle (384–322 B.C.)
believed that a force was required to keep an object moving along a
horizontal plane. To Aristotle, the natural state of an object was at rest,
and a force was believed necessary to keep an object in motion.
Furthermore, Aristotle argued, the greater the force on the object, the
greater its speed.
4-2 Newton’s First Law of Motion
• What is the relationship between force and motion?
•
Galileo disagreed: he maintained that it is just as natural
for an object to be in motion with a constant velocity as it is for it to be
at rest.
• To understand Galileo’s idea, consider the following observations involving
motion along a horizontal plane. To push an object with a rough surface along a
tabletop at constant speed requires a certain amount of force. To push an equally
heavy object with a very smooth surface across the table at the same speed will
require less force. If a layer of oil or other lubricant is placed between the surface
of the object and the table, then almost no force is required to keep the object
moving.
• Notice that in each successive step, less force is required. As the next
step, we imagine there is no friction at all, that the object does not rub against the
table—or there is a perfect lubricant between the object and the table—and
theorize that once started, the object would move across the table at constant
speed with no force applied.
• It was Galileo’s genius to imagine such an idealized world—in this case, one
where there is no friction—and to see that it could lead to a more accurate and
richer understanding of the real world. This idealization led him to his remarkable
conclusion that if no force is applied to a moving object, it will continue to
move with constant speed in a straight line. An object slows down only if a force
is exerted on it. Galileo thus interpreted friction as a force akin to ordinary pushes
and pulls
4-2 Newton’s First Law of Motion
Newton’s first law is often called the law of inertia.
Every object continues in its state of rest, or of uniform
velocity in a straight line, as long as no net force acts on it.
Air hockey table
Newton's First Law of Motion
Inertia
• The tendency of an object to maintain its state of rest or of
uniform velocity in a straight line is called inertia.
• As a result, Newton’s first law is often called the law of
inertia.
• Newton’s laws can be applied to all physical processes involving
force and motion, including something as mundane as driving a
car.
[Link] car is parked outside your house. Does Newton’s first law
apply in this situation? Why or why not?
[Link] car moves at constant velocity down the street. Does
Newton’s first law apply in this situation? Why or why not?
4-2 Newton’s First Law of Motion
Inertial reference frames:
An inertial reference frame is one in which Newton’s first law
is valid.
This excludes rotating and accelerating frames.
For most purposes, we usually make the approximation that a reference
frame fixed on the Earth is an inertial frame. This is not precisely true,
due to the Earth’s rotation, but usually it is close enough.
4-3 Mass
Mass is the measure of inertia of an object. In the SI
system, mass is measured in kilograms.
Mass is not weight:
Mass is a property of an object. Weight is the force
exerted on that object by gravity.
If you go to the moon, whose gravitational acceleration is
about 1/6 g, you will weigh much less. Your mass, however,
will be the same.
4-4 Newton’s Second Law of Motion
• Newton’s first law mathematically gives the cause-and-effect
relationship between force and changes in motion. Newton’s
second law is quantitative and is used extensively to calculate
what happens in situations involving a force.
• Newton’s first law says that a net external force causes a
change in motion; thus, we see that a net external force
causes nonzero acceleration.
What precisely is the relationship between acceleration and force?
• It seems reasonable that acceleration would be directly
proportional to and in the same direction as the net external
force acting on a system.
• This proportionality shows what we have said in words—
acceleration is directly proportional to net external force.
What precisely is the relationship between acceleration and force?
• It also seems reasonable that acceleration should be inversely
proportional to the mass of the system. In other words, the
larger the mass (the inertia), the smaller the acceleration
produced by a given force.
• Experiments have shown that acceleration is exactly inversely
proportional to mass, just as it is directly proportional to net
external force.
• The acceleration of a system is directly proportional to and in
the same direction as the net external force acting on the
system and is inversely proportion to its mass. In equation
form, Newton’s second law is
• The law is a cause-and-effect relationship among three
quantities that is not simply based on their definitions. The
validity of the second law is based on experimental verification.
4-4 Newton’s Second Law of Motion
Newton’s second law is the relation between acceleration
and force. Acceleration is proportional to force and
inversely proportional to mass.
(4-1)
4-4 Newton’s Second Law of Motion
Force is a vector, so is true along each
coordinate axis.
The unit of force in the SI system
is the newton (N).
Note that the pound is a unit of
force, not of mass, and can
therefore be equated to newtons
but not to kilograms.
• This vector equation can be written as three component
equations:
4-5 Newton’s Third Law of Motion
Any time a force is exerted on an object, that force is caused by
another object.
Newton’s third law:
Whenever one object exerts a force on a second object, the second
exerts an equal force in the opposite direction on the first.
When the swimmer exerts a force on the wall, she accelerates in the opposite
direction; in other words, the net external force on her is in the direction opposite
of Ffeet on wall. This opposition occurs because, in accordance with Newton’s third
law, the wall exerts a force Fwall on feet on the swimmer that is equal in magnitude
but in the direction opposite to the one she exerts on it. The line around the
swimmer indicates the system of interest.
Balanced forces Vs action force and reaction force
4-5 Newton’s Third Law of Motion
• A key to the correct application of the
third law is that the forces are
exerted on different objects. Make
sure you don’t use them as if they
were acting on the same object.
4-5 Newton’s Third Law of Motion
4-5 Newton’s Third Law of Motion
Helpful notation: the first subscript is the object that the force is
being exerted on; the second is the source.
This need not be done indefinitely, but is a good idea until you get
used to dealing with these forces
(4-2)
The runner experiences Newton’s third law.
(a) A force is exerted by the runner on the ground.
(b) The reaction force of the ground on the runner pushes him forward.
A physics professor pushes a cart of demonstration equipment to a
lecture hall . Her mass is 65.0 kg, the cart’s mass is 12.0 kg, and the
equipment’s mass is 7.0 kg.
Calculate the acceleration produced when the professor exerts a
backward force of 150 N on the floor.
All forces opposing the motion, such as friction on the cart’s wheels
and air resistance, total 24.0 N.
• Two blocks are at rest and in contact on a frictionless surface as
shown below, with m1 = 2.0 kg, m2 = 6.0 kg, and applied force
24 N. (a) Find the acceleration of the system of blocks. (b)
What force give the second block, with the mass of 6.0 kg, the
same acceleration as the system of blocks?
4-6 Weight – the Force of Gravity;
and the Normal Force
Weight is the force exerted on an object by gravity. Close
to the surface of the Earth, where the gravitational force
is nearly constant, the weight is:
The difference between mass and weight
• A farmer is lifting some moderately heavy rocks from a field to
plant crops. He lifts a stone that weighs 180 N. What force does
he apply if the stone accelerates at a rate of 1.5 m/s2?
(a) The person holding the bag of dog food must supply an upward
force F hand equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to the
weight of the food w so that it doesn’t drop to the ground.
(b) The card table sags when the dog food is placed on it, much like
a stiff trampoline. Elastic restoring forces in the table grow as it sags
until they supply a force N equal in magnitude and opposite in
direction to the weight of the load.
An object at rest must have no net force on it. If it is sitting on a
table, the force of gravity is still there; what other force is there?
The force exerted perpendicular to a surface is called the normal
force. It is exactly as large as needed to balance the force from the
object (if the required force gets too big, something breaks!)
Normal forces always perpendicular to the
contact surface
a sled is pulled by force P at an angle of 30°.
Figure shows a 75.0-kg man (weight of about 165 lb.) standing on
a bathroom scale in an elevator. Calculate the scale reading:
(a) if the elevator accelerates upward at a rate of 1.20 m/s2, and
(b) if the elevator moves upward at a constant speed of 1 m/s.
4-7 Solving Problems with Newton’s Laws –
Free-Body Diagrams
1. Draw a sketch.
2. For one object, draw a free-body diagram,
showing all the forces acting on the object.
Make the magnitudes and directions as
accurate as you can. Label each force. If there
are multiple objects, draw a separate diagram
for each one.
3. Resolve vectors into components.
4. Apply Newton’s second law to each
component.
5. Solve.
4-7 Solving Problems with Newton’s Laws –
Free-Body Diagrams
When a cord or rope pulls on an object, it is said to be under
tension, and the force it exerts is called a tension force.
• A tension is a force along the length of a medium, especially a
force carried by a flexible medium, such as a rope or cable. The
word “tension” comes from a Latin word meaning “to stretch.”
Any flexible connector, such as a string, rope, chain, wire, or
cable, can exert pulls only parallel to its length; thus, a force
carried by a flexible connector is a tension with direction parallel
to the connector. It is important to understand that tension is a
pull in a connector. In contrast, consider the phrase: “You can’t
push a rope.” The tension force pulls outward along the two
ends of a rope.
Consider the traffic light (mass of 15.0 kg) suspended from two wires
as shown in Figure。
Find the tension in each wire, neglecting the masses of the wires.
• Calculate the tension in the wire supporting the 70.0-kg
tightrope walker shown in Figure.
Except that the tensions shown here are those transmitted to the car
and the tree rather than those acting at the point where F⊥ is applied.
Two tugboats push on a barge at different angles. The first tugboat exerts a
force of 2.7 x 105 N in the x-direction, and the second tugboat exerts a force
of 3.6 x 105 N in the y-direction. The mass of the barge is 5.0 × 106 kg and
its acceleration is observed to be 7.5 x 10−2 m/s2 in the direction shown. What
is the drag force of the water on the barge resisting the motion?
(Note: Drag force is a frictional force exerted by fluids, such as air or water.
The drag force opposes the motion of the object. Since the barge is flat
bottomed, we can assume that the drag force is in the direction opposite of
motion of the barge.)
Figure shows a block of mass m1 on a frictionless, horizontal surface. It is
pulled by a light string that passes over a frictionless and massless pulley.
The other end of the string is connected to a block of mass m2.
Find the acceleration of the blocks and the tension in the string
in terms of m1, m2, and g.
A classic problem in physics, similar to the one we just solved,
is that of the Atwood machine, which consists of a rope running
over a pulley, with two objects of different mass attached.
It is particularly useful in understanding the connection between
force and motion. In Figure, m1 = 2.00 kg and m2 = 4.00 kg.
Consider the pulley to be frictionless.
(a) If m2 is released, what will its acceleration be?
(b) What is the tension in the string?
4-8 Applications Involving Friction, Inclines
On a microscopic scale, most
surfaces are rough. The exact
details are not yet known, but the
force can be modeled in a simple
way.
Kinetic Friction
Friction is a force that opposes relative motion between systems in
contact.
Direction:
One of the simpler characteristics of friction is that it is parallel to the
contact surface between systems and always in a direction that
opposes motion of the systems relative to each other.
A skier is sliding down a
snowy slope at an angle of 25
degrees
Relative Motion
Magnitude of Frictions
4-8 Applications Involving Friction, Inclines
How to determine the direction of static frictions?
An object will slide down an inclined plane at a constant velocity if the
net force on the object is zero. We can use this fact to measure the
coefficient of kinetic friction between two objects.
Put a coin on a book and tilt it until the coin slides at a constant velocity
down the book. You might need to tap the book lightly to get the coin to
move. Measure the angle of tilt relative to the horizontal and find μk.
4-9 Problem Solving – A General Approach
1. Read the problem carefully; then read it again.
2. Draw a sketch, and then a free-body diagram.
3. Choose a convenient coordinate system.
4. List the known and unknown quantities; find relationships between
the knowns and the unknowns.
5. Estimate the answer.
6. Solve the problem without putting in any numbers (algebraically); once
you are satisfied, put the numbers in.
7. Keep track of dimensions.
8. Make sure your answer is reasonable.
Summary of Chapter 4
•Newton’s first law: If the net force on an object
is zero, it will remain either at rest or moving in a
straight line at constant speed.
• Newton’s second law:
• Newton’s third law:
• Weight is the gravitational force on an object.
• The frictional force can be written:
(kinetic friction) or (static friction)
•Free-body diagrams are essential for problem-
solving