Chapter 5

Force and Motion

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Newton’s First Law

• Before we study Newton’s laws, we must know what Force means:

Force (F)
• A force causes an object to accelerate.
Acceleration (a)
• A force acts on an object to change its velocity.

• We assume in this chapter that all surfaces are frictionless surface

• The SI unit of for is “Newton” or N

• 1 N = the force needed to accelerate 1 kg of mass by 1 m/s2

• The force is a vector quantity (it has magnitude and direction)

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⸪ the force is a vector quantity
⸫ when we add forces together, we must use the vector sum rules (form 𝐹1

Chapter 3)
𝑭 𝒏𝒆𝒕

• Assume that 2 forces (𝐹1 and 𝐹2 ) are acting on the object

• The object will move because of all these 2 forces ⟹ we must “add”
𝐹2
the forces together
• The net force is called resultant force (Fnet)

• The net force has the same effect as that of all the individual forces together. This fact is called the principle of
superposition for forces

3
Newton’s First Law: If no force acts on a body, the body’s velocity cannot change; that is, the body cannot accelerate.

OR

Newton’s First Law: If no net force acts on a body (𝐹Ԧ𝑛𝑒𝑡 = 0), the body’s velocity cannot change; that is, the body cannot
accelerate.

The body is moving with a

The body is not moving (at rest) The same
constant velocity (no acceleration)

Both have acceleration = 0 ⟹ 𝐹Ԧ𝑛𝑒𝑡 = 0

4
Mass

• The object with the larger mass is accelerated less

Fo
acceleration a
• The acceleration is inversely related to the mass

• If the same force Fo acts on several masses, the acceleration

a will decrease when the mass m increases (as shown in the Fo
figure) acceleration a

We can say that the mass of a body is the characteristic that Fo

relates a force on the body to the resulting acceleration. acceleration a

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Newton’s Second Law

Newton’s Second Law: The net force on a body is equal to the product of the body’s mass and its
acceleration.

𝐹Ԧ𝑛𝑒𝑡 = 𝑚𝑎Ԧ
where,
Fnet is the net force acting on the body
m is the mass
a is the acceleration

In 3 dimensions, both 𝐹Ԧ and 𝑎Ԧ have 3 components (in x, y and z directions):

𝐹𝑛𝑒𝑡,𝑥 = 𝑚𝑎𝑥 , 𝐹𝑛𝑒𝑡,𝑦 = 𝑚𝑎𝑦 , 𝐹𝑛𝑒𝑡,𝑧 = 𝑚𝑎𝑧

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Example: a) A body is moving on a frictionless surface as shown. The mass of the body is 0.2 kg,
and the force F1 acting on it is 4 N. What is the acceleration of the body?

Solution:

We know from Newton’s second law that:

𝐹 =𝑚𝑎

𝐹 4
∴𝑎= = = 20 m/s2
𝑚 0.2

b) Now, another force F2 = 2 N acts on the body as shown. What is the acceleration of the body?

Solution:
We must find the resultant (total) force Fnet of both F1 and F2 before we can use Newton’s second law.

𝐹𝑛𝑒𝑡 = 𝐹1 − 𝐹2 = 4 − 2 = 2 N

Newton’s second will be:

𝐹𝑛𝑒𝑡 2
𝐹𝑛𝑒𝑡 =𝑚𝑎⇒𝑎= = = 10 m/s2
𝑚 0.2
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c) Now, a new force F3 = 1 N and directed at angle θ = 30° acts on the body as shown. What
is the acceleration of the body?

Solution:

We must first analyze the force F3 (and consider only the x-axis component) then we find the
resultant force:

𝐹3𝑥 = 𝐹3 𝑐𝑜𝑠30 = 1 × 𝑐𝑜𝑠30 = 0.87 N

∴ 𝐹𝑛𝑒𝑡 = 𝐹3𝑥 − 𝐹2 = 0.87 − 2 = −1.13 N

𝐹𝑛𝑒𝑡 −1.13
𝐹𝑛𝑒𝑡 = 𝑚 𝑎 ⇒ 𝑎 = = = −5.67 m/s2
𝑚 0.2

The minus sign means the net force accelerates the body in the negative direction of the x axis

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Example: Two horizontal forces act on a 2 kg block that moves over a frictionless surface which lies in an xy
plane. One force is 𝑭𝟏 = 𝟑𝒊Ƹ + 𝟒𝒋.Ƹ Find the acceleration of the block in unit-vector notation when the other force is
a) 𝑭𝟐 = −𝟑𝒊Ƹ − 𝟒𝒋Ƹ
b) 𝑭𝟐 = −𝟑𝒊Ƹ + 𝟒𝒋Ƹ

Solution:
a) First, we must find 𝐹Ԧ𝑛𝑒𝑡 by adding 𝐹Ԧ1 and 𝐹Ԧ2 (using the component method):

𝐹Ԧ𝑛𝑒𝑡 = 𝐹Ԧ1 + 𝐹Ԧ2 = 3𝑖Ƹ + 4𝑗Ƹ + −3𝑖Ƹ − 4𝑗Ƹ

= 3 − 3 𝑖Ƹ + 4 − 4 𝑗 Ƹ = 0
Now, we use Newton’s second law:
𝐹𝑛𝑒𝑡 0
𝐹𝑛𝑒𝑡 = 𝑚 𝑎 ⇒ 𝑎 = = = 0 m/s2
𝑚 2

b)
𝐹Ԧ𝑛𝑒𝑡 = 𝐹Ԧ1 + 𝐹Ԧ2 = 3𝑖Ƹ + 4𝑗Ƹ + −3𝑖Ƹ + 4𝑗Ƹ
= 3 − 3 𝑖Ƹ + 4 + 4 𝑗 Ƹ = 8 𝑗 Ƹ
Now, we use Newton’s second law:
𝐹𝑛𝑒𝑡 8 𝑗Ƹ
𝐹𝑛𝑒𝑡 = 𝑚 𝑎 ⇒ 𝑎 = = = 4 𝑗Ƹ m/s2
𝑚 2

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Example: If the 10 kg body has an acceleration of 2 m/s2 at 20° to the positive
direction of an x axis, what are (a) the x component and (b) the y component
of the net force acting on the body, and (c) what is the net force in unit-vector
notation?

Solution:
We need to analyze the acceleration a to its x and y components:
ax = a cos θ = 2 × cos 20° = 1.88 m/s2
ay = a sin θ = 2 × sin 20° = 0.68 m/s2

Now we can calculate the components of the net force:

a) Fx = m ax = 10 × 1.88 = 18.8 N

b) Fy = m ay = 10 × 0.68 = 6.8 N

c) The net force:

𝐹Ԧ = 18.8𝑖Ƹ + 6.8𝑗Ƹ
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Some Particular Forces

The Gravitational Force

• The Earth is always pulling masses toward the Earth center

• This force is called gravitational force 𝐹Ԧ𝑔 :

𝐹Ԧ𝑔 = 𝑚𝑔
where,
m is the mass of the object
g is the gravitational acceleration = 9.8 m/s2

• The weight W of a body is equal to the magnitude of the

gravitational force Fg on the body :
𝐹Ԧ𝑔 = W
or
W = mg
𝑭𝒈 and W are always directed vertically downward
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The Normal Force

When an object is placed on a surface, the surface pushes the object

with a normal force 𝐹Ԧ𝑁

𝐹Ԧ𝑁 is always perpendicular to the surface.

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Newton’s Third Law
• To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction
• When two bodies interact, the force “𝐹Ԧ𝐴𝐵 ” which body A exerts on body B (the action force) is equal in magnitude
and opposite in direction to the force “𝐹Ԧ𝐵𝐴 ” which body B exerts on body A (the reaction force).
FAB FBA
A B

FAB = FBA (equal magnitudes)

or as the vector relation,
𝐹Ԧ𝐴𝐵 = −𝐹Ԧ𝐵𝐴 (equal magnitudes and opposite directions)

• The action force and the reaction force act on different objects.

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Example: The figure shows a block of mass 8.5 kg placed at a frictionless inclined
surface with the angle θ = 30°. Find (a) the normal force acting on the block. (b) If
the block starts moving from rest on this surface, find the magnitude of the resulting
acceleration of the block.

Solution:
⸪ there is no friction ⟹ the only force acting on the box is its weight (or gravitational
force Fg=mg)
We need first to analyze the weight of the body:
Fgx = Fg sin θ = m g sin θ (this is the force that causes the motion)
Fgy = Fg cos θ = m g cos θ (this is the force that is against the surface)

a) The normal force FN is perpendicular to the surface, and must equal in magnitude to the
“push” that the box applies to the surface:
FN = m g cos θ = 8.5 × 9.8 × cos 30° = 72.1 N

b) The force causing the motion is Fgy = Fg cos θ = m g cos θ

⟹ the magnitude of acceleration in this direction:
𝑚𝑔 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃
a= = g cos θ = 9.8 × cos 30° = 4.9 m/s2 14
𝑚
Example: A 500 kg rocket can be accelerated at a constant rate from rest to 444 m/s in 1.8 s. What is the
magnitude of the required net force?

Solution:
To calculate the force, we need to calculate the acceleration first.

⸪ the acceleration is constant ⟹ we can use the equation :

𝑣 = 𝑣𝑜 + 𝑎𝑡
444 = 0 + 𝑎 (1.8)

444
𝑎= = 246.6 m/s2
1.8
Now we can calculate the force:
F = ma
= 500 × 246.6 = 1.2 × 105 N

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Example: A car that weighs 1.3 × 104 N is initially moving at 11.1 m/s when the brakes are applied and the
car is brought to a stop in 15 m. Assuming the force that stops the car is constant, find (a) the magnitude of
that force and (b) the time required for the change in speed.

Solution:
We must first find the mass and the acceleration of the car:
From the weight W of the car we can calculate the mass: W = mg ⟹ m = W/g = 1.3 × 104 / 9.8 = 1327 kg
We can find the acceleration from:
𝑣 2 = 𝑣𝑜2 + 2𝑎𝑥
0 = 11.12 + 2 × 𝑎 × 15
−11.12 = 30 𝑎
11.12
𝑎=− = −4.1 m/s2
30
The minus sign means that the car was decelerating

a) F = m a = 1327 × 4.1 = 5.4 × 103 N

b) 𝑣 = 𝑣𝑜 + 𝑎𝑡
0 = 11.1 − 4.1 𝑡
−11.1 = −4.1 𝑡
−11.1
𝑡= = 2.7 s 16
−4.1
Friction
• If we either slide or attempt to slide a body over a surface, the motion is resisted by a bonding between the body and
the surface.

• The resistance is because of the frictional force 𝒇 or simply friction.

• Friction force is always:
1) directed along the surface,
2) opposite the direction of the intended motion

If the body does not slide, the frictional If there is sliding (motion), the
force is a static frictional force 𝒇𝑠 frictional force is a kinetic frictional
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force 𝒇𝑘
Static friction force 𝒇𝒔:

The magnitude of 𝑓Ԧ𝑠 has a maximum value 𝑓Ԧ𝑠, 𝑚𝑎𝑥 that is given by

𝑓Ԧ𝑠, 𝑚𝑎𝑥= μs FN
where,
μs is the coefficient of static friction
FN is the normal force

Kinetic friction force 𝒇𝒌:

The magnitude of 𝑓Ԧ𝑘 is given by

𝑓Ԧ𝑘= μk FN
where,
μk is the coefficient of kinetic friction
FN is the normal force

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Example: A 2.5 kg block is initially at rest on a horizontal surface. A horizontal force F
= 60 N is applied to the block as shown in the figure. The coefficients of friction for
the block and surface are 𝜇s = 0.40 and 𝜇k = 0.25. Determine the magnitude of the
friction force acting on the block.

Solution:
The block is pushing the surface with its weight W = Fg = mg = 2.5 × 9.8 = 24.5 N
⸫ the normal force on the block FN = 24.5 N
There are 2 types of friction forces:

1) The static fraction force:

𝑓Ԧ𝑠, 𝑚𝑎𝑥= μs FN = 0.4 × 24.5 = 9.8 N

Note: ⸪ the applied force F > fs ⟹ the block will move (if F was less than fs, the block will
stay at rest because the force F is not enough to overcome the friction)

2) The kinetic friction force:

𝑓Ԧ𝑘= μk FN = 0.25 × 24.5 = 6.1 N 19