Newton’s Laws of Motion

Mark Anthony C. Burgonio, MSc

 Dynamics

Motion Forces
Newton’s Laws of Motion
I. Every body continues in its state of rest, or of
uniform motion in a straight line, unless it is
compelled to change that state by forces
impressed upon it.
II. The change of motion is proportional to the
motive force impressed and is made in the
direction of the line in which that force is
impressed.
III. To every action there is always imposed an equal
reaction; or the mutual actions of two bodies upon
each other are always equal and directed to
contrary parts.
 Interpretations of Newton’s Laws
Physical laws, postulates, operational definitions or empirical observations?

• I and II are physical laws;

1
• III is a consequence of I and II
• I provides the operational definition of zero
force and mass (amount of matter);
2 • II defines the momentum (quantity of motion)
and non-zero force; and
• III is a physical law
 Particle and Rigid Body
Particle is an idealized body that
occupies only a single
point in space, has mass
and has no internal
structure.

Rigid body is a collection of

n
particles linked by a light a

rigid framework. w
 Newton’s First Law
An object at rest stays at rest
unless acted on by an external
force. An object in motion
continues to travel with
constant velocity unless acted
on by an external force.
෍F = 0

The tendency of a body to keep

moving once it is set in motion,
or the tendency of a body at
rest to remain at rest, results
from a property called inertia.
 Types of Inertia
Inertia of rest: It is the inability of a body to change its state of
rest by itself.

Inertia of translation: It is inability of a body to change its state

of uniform translational motion by itself.

Inertia of rotation: It is inability of a body to rotate by itself.

 Newton’s First Law
I. At rest and stays at rest
Some magicians can jerk a tablecloth out from under a dinner setting of glasses and
cutlery, leaving them at rest on the table
II. In motion and stays in motion
In a head-on car crash, the occupants tend to continue in their state of motion and move
forward towards the dashboard. It is usually the seat belts that restrain them
III. Not wanting to change direction
As a car goes round a corner, your body wants to continue in a straight line, so the car door
presses against you as it moves sideways. People often say that they get flung against the
car door. It is actually the door that gets flung against them
IV. Balanced forces, constant velocity
Consider a diagram of the forces acting on a car travelling along a road at constant velocity
When is Newton’s First Law Valid?
 Inertial Reference Frame
Reference frame: rigid body (e.g., Earth) whose particles
can be labeled to create reference points. It is simplified by
introducing a coordinate system (e.g., Cartesian).

Inertial reference frame: If no forces act on a body, any

reference frame with respect to which acceleration of the
body remains zero.

Newton’s laws of motion are valid only in inertial reference

frame (non-accelerating and non-rotating).
 Newton’s Second Law
• A force is a push or a pull.
• A force is an interaction between two objects or between an object and
its environment.
• A force (F) is a vector quantity, with magnitude and direction.
Superposition of Forces
Any number of forces applied at a point on a body have
the same effect as a single force equal to the vector sum
of the forces. This principle is called superposition of
forces.
R = F1 + F2
Any force can be replaced by its component vectors,
acting at the same point.
F = Fx + Fy
Thus,
R = F1 + F2 + F3 + ⋯ = σ F
(vector sum of the forces or net force)
R x = σ Fx and R y = σ Fy
 Newton’s Second Law
If a net external force acts on a body,
the body accelerates. The direction of
acceleration is the same as the
direction of the net force.
The magnitude of force is the
product of the mass of an object and
the magnitude of its acceleration

F∝a
*constant 𝐹Ԧ = constant 𝑎Ԧ

σ F = ma
 Mass and Acceleration
The acceleration of an object is inversely
proportional to the object’s mass if the net
force remains fixed.

Recall, σ F = ma. Let’s say, F1 = F2 = F.

𝑚1 𝑎1 = 𝑚2 𝑎2
𝑚1 𝑎2
=
𝑚2 𝑎1

Mass: measures the object’s inertia, in

kilogram (kg).
 Mass and Weight
Weight of an object is the gravitational force that
the Earth exerts on it. The weight W of an object of
mass m is:
w = mg
The value of g depends on altitude. On other
planets, g will have an entirely different value than
on the Earth (9.81 mΤs2 ).
Mass is an intrinsic property of an object which does
not depend on its location. Meanwhile, weight is not
an intrinsic property of an object since it varies with
the location of an object.
 Pseudo forces
Fictitious, Phantom, d’Alembert or Inertial forces – forces without material source

1. Centrifugal force – is the apparent force that draws a rotating body away from the
center of rotation. It is caused by the inertia of the body as the body's path is
continually redirected. It acts outwards in the radial direction and is proportional
to the distance of the body from the axis of the rotating frame.

2. Coriolis force – acts in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis and to the
velocity of the body in the rotating frame and is proportional to the object's speed
in the rotating frame.

3. Euler force (azimuthal force) – is the fictitious tangential force that is felt as a
result of any radial acceleration.
 Newton’s Second Law of Motion
The acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net
force acting on it, and inversely proportional to the mass of the
object.
෍ 𝐹𝑥 = 𝑚𝑎𝑥

𝑑𝑝Ԧ
෍ 𝐹റ = = 𝑚𝑎റ ⟹ ෍ 𝐹𝑦 = 𝑚𝑎𝑦
𝑑𝑡
෍ 𝐹𝑧 = 𝑚𝑎𝑧

The SI unit for force is the Newton (N):

1 N = 1 kg · m/s2
System of Units
We will use the SI system.
In the British system, force
is measured in pounds,
distance in feet, and mass
in slugs.
In the CGS system, mass is
in grams, distance in
centimeters, and force in
dynes.
Fundamental Forces of Nature
 Contact Forces Involves direct contact between two bodies.

Reaction forces Restoring force Retarding forces Applied forces

Normal Coulomb Stokes Newtonian

force Spring force Push
friction frictional force frictional force
Tensional
force Static Sliding
friction friction
Pull
Buoyant
force Rolling
friction
 Force exerted on an object by any surface with which it is
Normal Force in contact. Normal means that the force always act ⊥ to
the contact surface, regardless of the surface angle.
 A pulling force exerted on an object by ideal strings
Tension Force (massless, frictionless, unbreakable, and inextensible) and
is always measured ∥ to the string on which it applies.

In a string or a chain,
tension is only
In a rod or a stick,
extensional.
tension can be
extensional or
compressional or
both.
 Force exerted on an object by a surface acts ∥ to the
Frictional Force surface, in the direction that opposes sliding, or the
tendency to slide.

Friction between two surfaces arises from

When a body rests or slides on a surface,
interactions between molecules on the
the friction force is parallel to the surface.
surfaces
 Static Friction
Static friction (Ԧfs ) acts when there is no relative motion between bodies. The static
friction force can vary between zero and its maximum value (Ԧfs,max ), depending on
how hard you push an object. By definition,
Ԧfs,max = μs n

In general,
Ԧfs ≤ μs n

Laws of Limiting friction (maximum static friction, fs,max )

1. The magnitude of limiting frictional force is proportional to the normal force at
the contact surface.
2. The magnitude of limiting frictional force is independent of area of contact
between the surfaces.
 Kinetic (Sliding) Friction
Kinetic friction (Ԧfk ) acts when a body slides over a surface. The coefficient of kinetic
friction μk is the ratio of the magnitudes of the Ԧfk and the n.
Ԧfk = μk n
Experimentally,
𝜇𝑘 < 𝜇𝑠

Rolling friction (Ԧfr ) is the opposing force that comes

into existence when one object rolls over the surface of
another object. The coefficient of rolling friction μr is
the ratio of the magnitudes of the Ԧfr and the n.
Ԧfr = μr n
μr = 0.01 to 0.02 (rubber tires on concrete) and 0.001 to 0.002 (steel
wheels on steel rails)
Approximate Values of Frictional Coefficients
Materials 𝝁𝒔 𝝁𝒌 Materials 𝝁𝒔 𝝁𝒌
Steel on steel 0.74 0.57 Glass on glass 0.94 0.40
Aluminum on steel 0.61 0.47 Copper on glass 0.68 0.53
Copper on steel 0.53 0.36 Teflon on Teflon 0.04 0.04
Brass on steel 0.51 0.44 Teflon on steel 0.04 0.04
Zinc on cast iron 0.85 0.21 Rubber on dry 1.0 0.8
concrete
Copper on cast iron 1.05 0.29 Rubber on wet 0.30 0.25
concrete
 Drag Force or Retarding Force
Drag force (𝐟Ԧ𝐃 ) or retarding force on a body depends
on the shape of the object, the properties of the fluid
and the speed of the object relative to the fluid.
ԦfD = bv n
ԦfD = Dv 2 (gas (air); higher speed)
ԦfD = kv (liquid; low speed)
A falling body reaches its terminal speed, vt when the
resisting force equals the weight of the body.
bvtn = mg
mg 1/n
vt = ( )
b
 Newton’s Third Law of Motion
If you exert a force on a body, the body always exerts a force (the
“reaction”) back upon you. Figure below shows “an action-reaction
pair.”
A force and its reaction force
have the same magnitude but in
opposite directions. These
collinear forces act on different
bodies.

𝐹Ԧ𝐴,𝐵 = −𝐹Ԧ𝐵,𝐴
 A Paradox?
If an object pulls back on you just as hard as you pull on it, how can it ever
accelerate?
 Free-Body Diagram (FBD)
Free-Body Diagram (FBD)
A single body or a subsystem of bodies isolated from its surroundings showing all the
external forces acting on it is its free body diagram.

Steps for Free-Body Diagram

Step 1: Identify the object or system and isolate it from other objects clearly, specify
its boundary.
Step 2: First draw non-contact external force in the diagram. Generally, it is weight.
Step 3: Draw contact forces which acts at the boundary of the object or system.
Contact forces are normal, friction, tension and applied force.
 Example of FBD
(1) The dog in front pulls on a rope attached to the sled with a horizontal force causing
the sled to gain speed.
(2) A book is at rest on a tabletop.
(3) A gymnast holding onto a bar, is suspended motionless in mid-air. The bar is
supported by two ropes that attach to the ceiling.
(4) A skydiver is descending with a constant velocity. Consider air resistance.
(5) A block having 𝑚1 sits at rest on a horizontal surface. A second block 𝑚2 sits on top
of the first block.
(6) A crate having mass 𝑚1 sits on a frictionless incline plane that makes an angle of
30° with the horizontal. A rope attached to 𝑚1 passes over a pulley at the top of
the incline and has a second mass 𝑚2 attached to the other end.
 Applying Newton’s Laws of Motion
1. Draw a neat diagram that includes the important features of the problem.
2. Isolate the object (particle) of interest and draw a FBD showing each external force that
acts on it. If there is more than one object of interest in the problem, draw a separate
FBD for each.
3. Apply Newton’s second law, σ F = ma, usually in component form.
4. For problems involving two or more objects, make use of Newton’s third law,
FA,B = −FB,A , and any constraints to simplify the equations obtained from applying
σ F = ma.
5. Solve the resulting equations for the unknowns.
6. Check to see whether your results have the correct units and seem plausible.
Substituting extreme values into your solution is a good way to check your work for
errors.
 Tension in an Elevator Cable
An elevator and its load have a
combined mass of 800 kg. The
elevator is initially moving
downward at 10.0 m/s; it slows to a
stop with constant acceleration in a
distance of 25.0 m. What is the
tension T in the supporting cable
while the elevator is being brought
to rest?
 Simple Atwood’s machine
𝑚1 < 𝑚2 𝑚1 : Using Newton’s 2nd law for 𝑚1 :
𝑇 𝑎 ෍ 𝐹𝑦 = 𝑚𝑎𝑦

𝑊1 𝑇 − 𝑊1 = 𝑚1 (+𝑎)
𝑇 − 𝑚1 𝑔 = 𝑚1 𝑎 (1)
Using Newton’s 2nd law for 𝑚2 :
𝑚1 𝑚2 : 𝑇 − 𝑊2 = 𝑚2 (−𝑎)
𝑇 𝑎 𝑇 = 𝑚2 𝑔 − 𝑚2 𝑎 (2)

Substitute (2) into (1):

𝑚2 𝑊2 𝑚2 − 𝑚1
𝑎= 𝑔
𝑚2 + 𝑚1
 Friction in horizontal motion
You want to move a 500-N crate across
a level floor. To start the crate moving,
you have to pull with a 230-N
horizontal force. Once the crate starts
to move, you can keep it moving at
constant velocity with only 200 N.
What are the coefficients of static and
kinetic friction?
 Pulling a crate at an angle
Suppose you move the crate by pulling upward on the rope at an angle of 30° above the
horizontal. How hard must you pull to keep it moving with constant velocity? Given that
𝜇𝑘 = 0.40 and the weight of crate is 500N.
 References
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Philippines. Date Retrieved: April 2021
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