Laws of Motion

Provide a basis for understanding how forces influence an object’s motion. Newton’s Laws apply to motion
in inertial reference frames. An inertial reference frame is any reference frame that is not accelerating with
respect to the distant object.

1. Newton’s First Law Of Motion (The Law of Inertia) says that an object will have zero acceleration if
no forces act on it. Inertia is the tendency of an object at rest to remain at rest and an object in
motion to remain in motion with its original velocity.

Mass
The property a body has of resisting any change in its state of rest or of uniform motion is called
inertia. The inertia of a body is related to what we can think of as the amount of matter it contains.
A quantitative measure of inertia is mass: The more mass a body has, the less its acceleration when
a given net force acts on it. The SI unit of mass is kilogram (kg) .

Force
Force is defined as the push or pull, a force is normally denoted by F , and it is a vector quantity,
since it has both magnitude and direction. the SI unit of force is Newton or equivalent to kg • m/s 2.
A force is due to the interaction of the two bodies directly or indirectly. Direct force or more
familiar as contact force, such forces arise because of physical contact between objects. For
example, when you kick a ball or push on a door to open it, you exert a contact force on the said
object.
The other class of forces is called indirect or action-at-a-distance forces. Examples of these
forces include gravity, the electrical force between two charges, and the magnetic force between
two magnets.

The Net Force

a. Opposite forces are applied to a box.

F1 F2

b. If the forces are equal in magnitude, the net force acting on the box in the x-direction is
zero. The forces acting on the box are said to be balance.

F1 F2

F net=F 2−F 1

c. If the forces are unequal in magnitude, the resultant is not zero. A nonzero net force, or
an unbalance force, then acts on the box, producing an acceleration.

F1
F1 F2
F2

a
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Contact Force
Contact forces are forces that need physical contact or interaction between two different
bodies. Common examples are as follows
A. Friction force, (f) parallel component of the force exerted by a surface on another
surface which is always in opposite direction of the motion.

f motion

B. Normal force, ( F N ), normal force of the body is always perpendicular to the contact
surface and make 90° with respect to the contact surface.

FN FN

θ
a. b.

Example 1
Find the normal force of the block in the above figures a and b, if the block weighs 50 kg and θ=30°
.

a) Free-body diagram
b) Free-body diagram

FN FN

θ
wy
w
wx
θ
wy
w wx
w
Solution
Solution
∑ F y =0 ∑ F y =0
F N −w=0
F N −w y =0
F N =w=mg
F N =w y
m
F N =50 kg(9.8 ) F N =mg cos θ
s2 m
F N =490 N
( )
¿ ( 50 kg ) 9.8 2 cos 30 °
s
¿ 424.35 N

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 C. Tension is the pulling force that a segment of rope or string exerts on an object to
which it is attached. A segment of string or rope also pulls on adjacent segments of
string or rope. Tension is always a pull along the length of the string.

Non Contact Force

There are forces that are present even without physical contact between the two different bodies.
Some examples are given below,
a. Electrical force between two charges (Electrostatic Force) – force given by a charged body on
the other body. From the “Law of Electrostatics”, it says that like charges repel and unlike
charges attract.
b. Electromotive Force – a force given by a stationary coil of magnet to a rotating part of a motor
and generator is an example of electromagnetic force.
c. Gravitational Force – gravity is another example of non contact force, the moon is attracted to
the earth and maintained in orbit by a gravitational force.

The Weight
The weight (w) of an object is the gravitational force acting on the object. Near the earth’s surface, an
objects weight is

w=mg

2. Newton’s Second Law of Motion (Law of acceleration) says that the acceleration a of an object is
proportional to the net force acting on it. The proportionality constant is the mass m of the object.
The greater the force acting on the object, the greater the acceleration the object has, and the
greater the mass, the less the acceleration. The direction of the acceleration is the same as that of
the force. Thus a=F /m, which is usually expressed in equivalent form

F=ma

3. Newton’s Third Law of Motion (Law of Action – Reaction) says that if one object exerts a force on a
second object, the second object exerts a force on the first object and these forces are equal in
magnitude but in opposite direction.

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Application of Newton’s Second Law of Motion
Newton’s 2nd Law of Motion states that “the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the
net applied force and inversely proportional to the object’s mass. The direction of the acceleration is
 in direction of the net force acting on the object. When several forces act on an object at the same
time, the acceleration is the same as would produced by a single force equal to the vector sum of
these forces. The equation can be written,

a=
∑ F ,m/ s2
m

Applications involving the Newton’s 2nd Law of Motion is best solved by resolving the force and
acceleration into their components, by the equations

∑ F x =ma x ∑ F y =¿ ma y ¿
How to analyze a given problem? Below, are the procedure to follow
1. Sketch a pictorial diagram of the problem.
2. Draw the free – body diagram for the isolated object, showing all forces acting on it.
3. Choose a convenient coordinate system for the free – body diagram and determine the
components of the forces.
4. Solve the component equation for the unknown.
5. Check the reasonable results.

Example 2
Two forces having equal magnitudes of 50 N each are shown acting on an object at the right angles to each
other. Solve the net force acting on it.

F1 Solution:
F 2net=F 21 + F22
F net= √ F 21+ F 22
F2 ¿ √(50 N )2+(50 N)2
¿ 70.71 N

Example 3
An object is pulled by two persons which is 40° and 35° with respect to the horizontal and an applied force
of 40 N and 30 N respectively. Determine the net force acting on the object and its direction.

F 1=40 N Free-body diagram

F1 y
θ1 F1 θ2 F2x
θ2
F2
F 2=30 N θ1 F1x
F2 y

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Solution
F 1 x =F 1 cos θ1
¿ 40 cos 40 ° F 2 x =F 2 cos θ 2
¿ 30.64 N ¿ 30 cos 325 °
¿ 24.57 N ¿ 8.5 N

∑ F x =F 1 x + F 2 x F=
2
√ (∑ F ) +(∑ F )
x y
2

¿ 30.64 N +24.57 N
¿ 55.21 N ¿ √ 55.212+ 8.52
¿ 55.85 N
F 1 y =F1 sin θ1
∑ Fy
¿ 25.71 N
¿ 40 sin 40° θ=tan −1
( )
∑ Fx
8.5
F 2 y =F2 sin θ2
¿ 30 sin 325°
¿ tan−1 ( 55.21 )
θ=8.75 ° Quadrant 1
¿−17.21 N

∑ F y =F 1 y + F 2 y
¿ 25.71 N +(−17.21 N)

Example 4
A man is pushing a 25 kg mystery box hoping to identify what is inside. He exerts a force of 150 N on a box at
35° angle with respect to horizontal. Calculate (a) the acceleration of the box, and (b) the magnitude of the
normal force exerted by the floor on the box. Neglect friction.

P=150 N Free-body diagram

FN
35° Px
35 °
P

Py

w=mg
Solution
∑ F x =ma x ∑ F y =0
P x =ma x F N −P y −w=0

Px F N =P y +w
a x=
m
¿ Psin 35 °+ mg
Pcos 35 °
¿ ¿ ( 150 N ) ¿
m

¿ ( 150 N ) ¿ ¿ ¿ 331.04 N

m
¿ 4.91 5
s2
Example 5
Two blocks are pulled along a frictionless surface by a horizontal force as shown in the figure below.
(a) What is the acceleration of the system? (b) What are the tension forces in the system?
 m 2=15 kg m 1=10 kg

Block 2 Block 1 P=50 N

Free – body diagram

FN 2
FN 1

T T P

w 2=m2 g w 1=m1 g

Solution
(a) From Block 1 P
a x=
∑ F x =m1 a x m1+ m2

P−T =m1 a x (1) 50 N

a x=
10 kg+15 kg
From Block 2
∑ F x =m2 a x a x =2 m/s 2

T =m2 ax (2)
(b) To find the tension,
T =m2 ax
Substitute (2) in (1)
P−m2 a x =m 1 a x T =( 15 kg ) ¿

P=m1 a x + m2 a x T =30 N

P=ax ( m 1+ m 2)

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Example 6
The Atwood’s machine, consists of two masses suspended from a fixed pulley. If m 1=0.50 kg and
m2=0.80 kg , what is (a) the acceleration of the system? (b) the magnitude of the tension in the string?
 Free-body diagram

T T

m2 ay m1 ay

w 2=m2 g w 1=m1 g
m2
m1

Solution m 1−m 2
From block 1
∑ F y =m1 a y
a y =−g ( m 1 +m 2 )
T −w 1=m1 a y (1)

From block 2
a y =−( 9.8 m/ s2 ) ( 0.5 kg−0.8 kg
0.5 kg +0.8 kg )
∑ F y=−m2 a y
T −w 2=−m 2 a y a y =2.26 m/s 2
T =w 2−m2 a y (2)
(b) To find the magnitude of tension
T =w 2−m2 a y
Substitute (2) to (1)
w 2−m2 a y −w1=m 1 a y
¿ m2 g−m2 a y
w 2−w 1=m1 a y + m2 a y
m 2 g−m 1 g=a y ( m 1+ m 2)
¿ ( 0.8 kg ) ( 9.8 m/ s2 ) −( 0.8 kg ) ( 2.26 m/s 2 )

T =6.03 N

Exercises
1. A tractor pulls a loaded wagon on a level road with a constant force of 440 N. if the total mass of the
wagon and its contents is 275 kg, what is the wagon’s acceleration?
2. A boy pulls a box of mass 30 kg with a force of 25 N. ignoring friction, (a) what is the acceleration of
the box? (b) What is the normal force exerted on the box by the ground?
3. A girl pushes a 25 kg lawn mower. If F = 30 N and θ = 37° , (a) what is the acceleration of the lawn
mower, and (b) what is the normal force exerted on the mower by the lawn? Ignore friction.
4. What horizontal force must be applied to a 15.0 kg body in order to give it an acceleration of 5.0
m/s2?
5. A force of 10.0 N acts horizontally on a 20.0 kg mass that is at rest on a smooth table. Find (a) the
acceleration, (b) the velocity at 5.0 s, and (c) the position of the body at 5.0 sec.

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6. A 20.0 kg block slides down a smooth inclined. The plane is 10.0 m long and is inclined at an angle of
30° with the horizontal. Find (a) the acceleration of the block, and (b) the velocity of the block at
the bottom of the plane.
7. Two masses m A =2.0 kg and m B =20.0 kg are connected as shown in the figure. The table is
frictionless. Find (a) the acceleration of the system, (b) the velocity of m B at t = 3.0 s, and (c) the
position of m B at t=3.0 s .

8. Determine the normal force acting on the object whose mass is 15 kg and placed on inclined plane
35° with the horizontal.
9. Based on problem 8, what is the tension if the object is pulled upward of the incline?
10. Calculate the horizontal force acted on an object if it is pulled 28 ° with respect to the horizontal.
The mass of the object is 50 kg.