F O R C E & M O T I O N

FUNDAMENTAL FORCES IN NATURE

A. Gravitational Force

The gravitational force is a weak, but very long ranged force. It is always attractive,
and acts between two pieces of matter in the Universe since mass is its source.

B. Electromagnetic Force

The electromagnetic force causes electric and magnetic effects such as the repulsion
between like electrical charges or the interaction of bar magnets. It can be attractive
or repulsive, and acts only between pieces of matter carrying electrical charge.

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Electricity, magnetism, and light are all produced by this force and it also has
infinite range.

C. Strong Nuclear Force

The strong interaction is very strong, but very short-ranged. It acts only over ranges of
order 10-13 centimeters and it is responsible for holding the nuclei of atoms together. It
is basically attractive, but can be effectively repulsive in some circumstances. The
strong force loses all its strength on distances much wider than the atomic nucleus.

D. Weak Nuclear Force

The weak nuclear force is responsible for radioactive decay and neutrino interactions.
It mediates beta decay what happens when a neutron breaks down into a proton and an
electron or positron. It has a very short range and, as its name indicates, it is very
weak.

GRAVITATIONAL FORCE

Among all the forces of Nature, the gravitational force is the one that has been known
to man for the longest time. One of its fundamental properties-that all bodies fall with
the same acceleration-was recognized by Galileo at the beginning of the seventeenth
century. Towards the end of the same century,Newton established the universal
gravitation law connecting the force responsible of the fall of bodies tothe gravitational
force between planets. Finally, Einstein, with the theory of general relativity, connected
the gravitational field with the structure of space-time. For now, we will only study
Newton’s work on gravitational force.

According to the legend, Newton noticed an apple falling from a tree. He is said to have
a sudden struck with a sudden inspiration: If gravity acts at the tops of the trees, an
even at the top of the mountains, then perhaps it acts all the way to the moon. With
this idea that is the earth’s gravitation that holds the moon in its orbit, Newton
developed and stated his law of universal gravitation.

According to this law; every particle in the universe attracts every other particle with a
force that is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to
the distance between them. This force is an attractive force and acts along the line
joining the two particles.

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𝒎𝟏 𝒎𝟐
𝑭=𝑮
𝒅𝟐

The value of 𝐺 = 6.67 × 10−11 𝑁𝑚2 /𝑘𝑔2

On the surface of the earth, the force of attraction between the earth and an object is
called the weight of the object. The weight of an object is actually the gravitational
force between the earth and the object. The weight of an object is directly
proportional to its mass and the gravitational acceleration of the earth.

𝑾𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 = 𝑾 = 𝒎𝒈

Since weight of an object is the gravitational force acting on the object:

𝑾=𝑭
𝒎 𝑴𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒆𝒕
𝒎𝒈 = 𝑮
𝑹𝟐𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒆𝒕

𝑴𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒆𝒕
𝒈=𝑮
𝑹𝟐𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒆𝒕

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Table: Mass, Radius and Gravitational Acceleration of Planets in our Solar System

EXAMPLE: For a planet 𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑡 = 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ /8 and 𝑟𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑡 = 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ /2 where m is the mass
and r is the radius. Find the relationship between the gravitational acceleration of the
planet and the earth.

SOLUTION:

EXAMPLE: The gravitational acceleration of earth at poles is 9.83 m/s2 and the equator
it is 9.78 m/s2.

a. Find the weight of a 30 kg mass object at poles.

b. Find the weight of the same object at equator.
c. How much does the weight of the object change when the object is carried from
poles to equator?

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SOLUTION:

EXAMPLE: A 50-kg person and a 75-kg person are sitting on a bench within a distance 0.5 m.
Estimate the magnitude of the gravitational force each exerts on the other.

SOLUTION:

NEWTON’S LAWS OF MOTION

I. The First Law of Motion: Inertia

The basic idea of objects tendency to keep their state of motion leads us to Newton’s
first law of motion. Every object continues in its state of rest, or its uniform velocity
in a straight line as long as no net force acts on it. The tendency of an object to keep
its state of rest or of uniform motion in a straight line is called inertia.

According to law of inertia, force is not needed to keep an object in motion. Suppose
you have given initial push to a toy car which is at rest on floor. Gradually the car
comes to rest. This is not because of the absence of a force, actually because of
friction force which is trying to stop the object. In the absence of the friction force
the object would continue to move on the same staright line.

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II.The Second Law of Motion

If a net force acts on a body, it will cause an acceleration of the body. That
acceleration is in the direction of the net force, and its magnitude is directly
proportional to the magnitude of the net force and inversely proportional to the mass
of the body.

𝑭𝒏𝒆𝒕 = 𝒎𝒕𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒔𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎

**Let us now mathemetically prove that the

acceleration of falling objects does not depend on
mass:

EXAMPLE: A kid is pulling his toy truck with a horizontal force of 20 N. What is the
acceleration of the truck if its total mass is 5 kg ?

SOLUTION:

SOLUTION:

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SOLUTION:

EXAMPLE: When a force F is applied on object K, its acceleration becomes 12 m/s2

and when the same force F is applied on object L its acceleration becomes 4 m/s2.
What will be the acceleration of the system be if the objects were moving together?

SOLUTION:

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III. Newton’s Third Law of Motion: Action & Reaction

According to the Newton’s third law of motion, whenever two objects interact with each
other, they exert forces upon each other. These two forces are called action and
reaction forces.

It should be borne in mind here that the action and reaction forces act on different
objects, and although they are equal and opposite, their resultant is not zero.

FRICTION FORCE

The friction force acting on an object is:

 Dependent on the particular materials that make up the surfaces.

 Directly proportional to the normal (perpendicular) force to the surface.
 Does not depend on area of the contact.
 Always acts in a direction opposite to the motion of the object.

𝑭=𝒌𝑵

The constant ‘k’ introduced in the equation is called the coefficient of friction, which is
dependent on the kind of the surfaces.

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SOLUTION:

SOLUTION:

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There are two types of friction basically. They are ‘Static Friction’ and ‘Kinetic
Friction’.

A. Static Friction: Static friction is friction between

two or more solid objects that are not moving relative
to each other.

For example, in the figure a man tries to push a heavy

box but he cannot move it. The reason is static friction
force which prevents the box to move.

Also static friction can prevent an object from sliding

down a sloped surface or it prevents a car wheel from
slipping as it rolls on the ground.

B. Kinetic Friction: Kinetic friction occurs when two objects are moving relative to
each other and rub together (like a sled on the ground).

For the previous example shown in the figure above, if the man can move the heavy box
by applying a larger force the friction force acting on the object is called as kinetic
friction.

So we may simply identify that kinetic friction is the

force tries to prevent the motion of an object while the
object is in motion.

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EXERCISES

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