Ch.

4, Motion & Force: DYNAMICS

 Force
A Force is “A push or a pull” on an object. Usually, for a
force, we use the symbol F. F is a VECTOR!

Obviously, vector addition is needed to add forces!

 Classes of Forces “Pushing”
“Contact” Forces: “Pulling” forces forces

“Field” Forces:

Physics I: Gravity Physics II: Electricity & Magnetism

 Classes of Forces
• Contact Forces involve physical contact
between two objects
– Examples (in the pictures): spring forces,
pulling force, pushing force
• Field Forces act through empty space.
– No physical contact is required.
– Examples (in the pictures): gravitation,
electrostatic, magnetic
 Newton’s Laws of Motion
• The ancient (& wrong!) view (of Aristotle):
– A force is needed to keep an object in motion.
In the 21st Century,
– The “natural” state of an object is at rest. this is still a common
MISCONCEPTION!!!
• THE CORRECT VIEW (of Galileo & Newton):
– It’s just as natural for an object to be in motion at constant speed in a
straight line as to be at rest.
– At first, imagine the case of NO FRICTION Proven by Galileo
in the 1620’s!
– Experiment: If NO NET FORCE is applied to an object moving at
a constant speed in straight line,
it will continue moving at the same speed in a straight line!
– If I succeed in having you overcome the wrong, ancient misconception & understand
the correct view, one of the main goals of the course will have been
achieved!
 Newton’s First Law
Newton was
born the same
year Galileo
died!

• Newton’s First Law (The “Law of Inertia” ):

“Every object continues in a state of rest or uniform
motion (constant velocity) in a straight line unless
acted on by a net force.”
 Newton’s First Law of Motion
Inertial Reference Frames
Newton’s 1st Law:
•Doesn’t hold in every reference frame. In particular, it
doesn’t work in such a reference frame that is
accelerating or rotating.

An Inertial Reference frame is one in which

Newton’s first law is valid.
•This excludes rotating & accelerating frames.
•How can we tell if we are in an inertial reference frame?
By checking to see if Newton’s First Law holds!
 Newton’s First Law
Alternative Statement
• In the absence of external forces, when viewed
from an inertial reference frame,
an object at rest remains at rest & an object in
motion continues in motion with a constant velocity
– Newton’s 1st Law describes what happens in
the absence of a net force.
– It also tells us that when no force acts on an
object, the acceleration of the object is zero.
 Newton’s First Law

A Mathematical Statement of Newton’s 1st Law

If v = constant, ∑F = 0
OR
if v ≠ constant, ∑F ≠ 0

Conceptual Example 4-1:

A school bus comes to a sudden stop, and all of
the backpacks on the floor start to slide forward.
What force causes them to do this?
Inertia & Mass
• Inertia  The tendency of a body to maintain its
state of rest or motion.
• MASS  A measure of the inertia of a body.
– The quantity of matter in a body.
– The SI System quantifies mass by having a standard
mass = Standard Kilogram (kg)
(Similar to the standards for length & time).
– The SI Unit of Mass = The Kilogram (kg)
• The cgs unit of mass = the gram (g) = 10-3 kg
• Weight is NOT the same as mass!
– Weight is the force of gravity on an object.
• Discussed later in the chapter.
 Newton’s Second Law (Lab)
• Newton’s 1st Law: If no net force acts, an object
remains at rest or in uniform motion in straight line.
• What if a net force acts? That question is answered by doing
Experiments.
• It is found that, if the net force ∑F  0 
The velocity v changes (in magnitude, in direction or both).
• A change in the velocity v (Δv).
 There is an acceleration a = (Δv/Δt) OR
A net force acting on a body produces an acceleration!
∑F  a
 Based on experiment!
• Newton’s 2nd Law: Not derivable mathematically!!

∑F = ma
A VECTOR Equation!!
It holds component by component.
∑Fx = max, ∑Fy = may, ∑Fz = maz
ll

THIS IS ONE OF THE

MOST FUNDAMENTAL & IMPORTANT
LAWS OF CLASSICAL PHYSICS!!!
 Examples
Example 4-3: Force to stop a car.

What average net force is required to bring a 1500-kg car

to rest from a speed of 100 km/h (27.8 m/s) within a
distance of 55 m?
 Newton’s 3rd Law
Newton’s 2nd Law is:
A quantitative description of how forces affect motion.
• BUT: Where do forces come from?
– Answer this with EXPERIMENTS!!
– The results show that forces applied to an object are
ALWAYS applied by another object
 Newton’s 3rd Law:
“Whenever one object exerts a force F on a second
object, the second object exerts an equal and opposite
force -F on the first object.”
– Law of Action-Reaction: “Every action has an equal &
opposite reaction”. (Note that action-reaction forces act
on DIFFERENT objects!)
 Another Statement of Newton’s 3rd Law

“If two objects interact,

the force F12 exerted
by object 1 on object 2
is equal in magnitude
& opposite in direction
to the force F21 exerted
by object 2 on object 1.”
As in the figure
 Example: Newton’s 3rd Law
When a force is exerted on
an object, that force is
caused by another object.
Newton’s 3rd Law:
“Whenever one object exerts
a force on a second object,
the second exerts an equal
force in the opposite
direction on the first.”
If your hand pushes against the edge of a desk (red force
vector), the desk pushes back against your hand (purple
force vector; the two colors tell us that this force acts on a
DIFFERENT object).
Rocket propulsion is explained using Newton’s Third Law.
Hot gases from combustion spew out the tail of the rocket at
high speeds. The reaction force is what propels the rocket.

Note: The rocket

doesn’t need anything
to “push” against.
 Conceptual Example 4-4:
What exerts the force to move a car?
Response: A common answer is that the
engine makes the car move forward. But it is
not so simple. The engine makes the wheels
go around. But if the tires are on slick ice or
deep mud, they just spin. Friction is needed.
On firm ground, the tires push backward
against the ground because of friction. By
Newton’s 3rd Law, the ground pushes on the
tires in the opposite direction, accelerating
the car forward.
 Helpful Notation
On forces, the 1st subscript is the object that the force
is being exerted on; the 2nd is the source.

Action-Reaction Pairs act on

Different Objects!
Conceptual Example 4-5
 Action-Reaction Pairs
Act On Different Objects
• Forces exerted BY an object DO NOT
(directly) influence its motion!!

• Forces exerted ON an object (BY some

other object) DO influence its motion!!

• When discussing forces, use the words

“BY” and “ON” carefully.
 Sect. 4-6:Weight & Normal Force
Weight  The force of gravity on an object.
• Write as FG  W.
• Consider an object in free fall.
Newton’s 2nd Law is:
∑F = ma
• If no other forces are acting, only FG ( W) acts (in the
vertical direction). ∑Fy = may
Or: (down, of course)
• SI Units: Newtons (just like any force!).
g = 9.8 m/s2  If m = 1 kg, W = 9.8 N
 “Normal” Force
• Suppose an object is at rest on a table.
No motion, but does the force
of gravity stop? OF COURSE NOT!
• But, the object does not move:
2nd Law  ∑F = ma = 0
 There must be some other force acting
besides gravity (weight) to have ∑F = 0.
• That force  The Normal Force FN (= N)
“Normal” is a math term for perpendicular ()
FN is  to the surface & opposite to the weight
(in this simple case only!) Caution!!!
FN isn’t always = & opposite to the weight, as we’ll see!
 Normal Force
• Where does the normal force
come from?
 Normal Force
• Where does the normal force
come from?
• From the other object!!!
 Normal Force
• Where does the normal force
come from?
• From the other object!!!
• Is the normal force ALWAYS
equal & opposite to the weight?
 Normal Force
• Where does the normal force come
from?
• From the other object!!!
• Is the normal force ALWAYS equal
& opposite to the weight?

NO!!!
 Example 4-6
Find: Normal force on box from
table for Figs. (a), (b), and (c).
m = 10 kg

The normal
force is NOT
always equal &
opposite to the
weight!!
 Example 4-7
What happens when a person
pulls upward on the box in the
m = 10 kg, ∑F = ma
previous example with a force FP – mg = ma
greater than the box’s weight, say 100 – 89 = 10a
100.0 N? The box will accelerate
I upward because
a = 0.2 m/s2 m =
10 kg
FP > mg!! ∑F = ma

FP – mg = ma

Note: The normal force is zero here

because the mass isn’t in contact with
a surface!
 Example 4-8: Apparent “weight loss”
A 65-kg woman descends in an elevator
that accelerates at 0.20g downward. She
stands on a scale that reads in kg.
(a) During this acceleration, what is her
weight & what does the scale read?
(b) What does the scale read when the elevator
descends at a constant speed of 2.0 m/s?
• Note: To use Newton’s 2nd Law for her, ONLY the forces
acting on her are included. By Newton’s 3rd Law, the
normal force FN acting upward on her is equal & opposite
to the scale reading. So, the numerical value of FN is equal
to the “weight” she reads on the scale! Obviously, FN here
is NOT equal & opposite to her true weight mg!!
How do we find FN? As always
We apply Newton’s 2nd Law to her!!