Introductory Physics - I

Chapter 4 – Part 1
Newton’s laws of motion (Dynamics)

Lecture 7– January 30
Outline – Chapter 4
• Interactions and forces
• Examples of forces
• Contact forces
• Tension (also a contact force)
• Friction (still contact)
• Gravity (no contact required)
• Newton’s laws
• First
• Second
• Third
• Mass and weight
• Free body diagrams

New Physical Quantities: mass, force

Weight - an example of force
 Interaction and Force

Objects in nature “act” on each other. Because always the action

affects both objects we call it interaction. (inter-action)

The effect of this action is either

• a change in the motion of the two objects
• a deformation of the two objects
• both

The interaction is a phenomenon, a happening (push or pull).

We measure the “strength” of the interaction by the physical
quantity force.
In SI the unit is newton (N).
 Force

The Force is a vector quantity.

The magnitude of the force is measured in newtons.
The direction of the force shows the direction of pull or
push exerted on one of the objects.
Each interaction is described by two forces, one acting
on each of the two objects interacting.

Note: The magnitude of the Isaac Newton 1643-1727

force is measured by the
effects of the force: change in
motion or deformation.
 Examples of forces
1. Contact forces (Frictional
and Normal Forces)
Normal force on m2
Friction force on m2

Another Normal force on m2

When two objects are in contact there is (usually) some interaction

at the surface of contact.
In general, the direction of the force is arbitrary in respect to the surface.
However, we can decompose the force into two components:
• along the surface (tangent to the surface) – Friction force
• perpendicular to the surface – Normal force
Examples of forces
2.Tension

The tension is the force exerted by a string,

rope, cable, or rod when it pulls on an object.

If the string is massless, the tension is the

same at each end of the string

It is usually a self-adjusting force depending

on the circumstances.
 Examples of forces
3. The Gravitational Force

The gravitational force is an attraction that exists

between all pairs of objects.
In all the early book chapters (this course), the second body
is the earth, and the force is a downward force experienced
by all objects near the surface of the earth.
 Measuring forces

We could use any of the two effects

of a force:
- Acceleration
- Deformation

Spring dynamometer

The most common devices use deformation of a

Grip force dynamometer spring or a piezoelectric ceramic.
 Units of force

1 N = 1 kg  1 m/s2

In addition to the SI units there are CGS and British units.

I won’t use these in the course. However, you may encounter
problems using the British (imperial) units.
Note that the pound (lb) is a unit of force and not of mass.
 Superposition of Forces

If there are several forces acting on a body, we

add the forces as vectors to find the net force or
resultant force.

This is the Principle of Superposition for forces.

Often we decompose a force in components

along convenient axes, as we did for velocity.
 Newton’s First Law

An object acted on by no net external force has a

constant velocity (which may be zero) and zero
acceleration.

The object will remain at rest or continue moving with

constant velocity i.e. with the same speed in the same
direction.
 Inertial Reference Frames

An inertial reference frame is one in which Newton’s

laws hold.
Examples of non inertial frames

If the bus moves with constant

velocity, the ball sits still on the
floor.
If the bus accelerates (or put the
brakes) the ball starts to move.
 Inertial Reference Frames

Examples of non inertial frames

We assume that the earth is an inertial frame in this course, although this is not
true because of the earth’s daily rotation and
the motion of the earth in its orbit, as well as the motion of
the solar system and the galaxy.
 Newton’s Second Law
 
Fnet = ma Newton’s second law

• Net force – very important to understand the distinction between

the net force and any individual force.
• The net force refers to forces external to the system (especially
important in problems with two or more bodies)
• This is a vector equation. There are three component equations
for each of the three co-ordinate axes.

Fnet, x = ma x Fnet, y = ma y Fnet, z = ma z

 Mass and Newton’s second law

• Apply forces of various magnitudes to the same object.

• Measure the acceleration produced by each force.
• The ratio between force and acceleration is a constant for a given object.
• This ratio is the mass of the object.
• More precisely, the inertial mass of the object.

𝐹
= 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙
𝑎
 The Gravitational Force

• The gravitational force is an attraction that exists between all pairs of

masses.
• In the problem studied in this course the second body is the earth
and the force is a downward force experienced by all masses.
• We already know that the acceleration of all bodies in free fall is the
same, g.
• Free fall – motion under the action of only one force: the
gravitational force acting on objects near the surface of the Earth (this
is the definition we use here; you may see different definitions).

𝐹Ԧ = 𝑚𝑔Ԧ Weight of the object of mass m. Also denoted by 𝑊.

Weight is not the same as mass even though in the everyday language we use
them interchangeably.
 Newton’s Third Law
When two bodies interact, the force on the bodies due to each other
are always equal in magnitude and opposite in direction.
 
Fon C due to B = − Fon B due to C
 
FCB = − FBC
 How to solve dynamics problems
(problems involving Newton’s laws)
Some points to remember and mistakes to avoid

1. There are forces acting on an object and forces with which the object acts on
other objects.
2. The acceleration of an object depends only on the forces acting ON the
object.
3. The acceleration depends on the sum of all forces on the object (the net
force).
4. You can choose what “object” you are looking at. It can be a single body or a
system of bodies.
5. If the system includes more than one body, only the external forces contribute
to the net force ON the system.
6. The two forces in a Newton’s third law act on different bodies. Only one
force from the pair contributes to the acceleration of a given body.
 How to solve dynamics problems
(problems involving Newton’s laws)
Free body diagrams (FBD) – how to use Newton’s second law to solve problems

1. Pick the object for which you want to write N’s second law.
2. Draw all the forces acting ON that object.
3. Disregard all the of the forces even if the object under study acts with forces
on other objects.
4. Choose an appropriate coordinate system (x and y axes) and write N’s second
law for each axis.
 Problem 4-1

m1 = 2.3 kg
m2 = 1.2 kg
F12 F21 F = 3.2 N

Two blocks sit on a frictionless table.

One block is pushed with a force F to the right.

Find the acceleration of the two blocks and the force between the blocks (the
force with which m1 pushes m2)

There are vertical forces acting on both objects and the table. I did not show
them here.
 Problem 4-1
• 1. Pick the object for which you want to write N’s second law.
Lets start with the block of mass m1.

• 2. Draw all the forces acting ON that object.

• Disregard all the of the forces even if the object under study acts with forces
on other objects. F12
y F
• 3. Choose an appropriate coordinate system (x and
y axes) and write N’s second law for each axis.
N1 m1g
(ox) F – F12 = m1a
(oy) N1-m1g=0 x
 Problem 4-1
m1 = 2.3 kg
FBD for the block of mass m2 m2 = 1.2 kg
F = 3.2 N

F21 (ox) F21 = m2a F – F12 = m1a

(oy) N2-m2g=0
N2 m2g
Now we can combine the two equations to find the unknowns (a and F12=F21)
Note: I already considered the vector nature of the forces when I wrote the right sign for
the components. The symbols F12 and F21 are the magnitudes of the components
(positive scalars). So, F12=F21.

3.2 – F12= 2.3a 3.2

3.2 = 3.5a 𝑎= ≈ 0.91𝑚/𝑠 2
F21 = 1.2a 3.5
F21 = 1.2 ∙ 0.91 ≈ 1.1 𝑁
 Problem 4-2
m1 = 3.70 kg
m2 = 2.30 kg
Find:
a) Magnitude of acceleration
b) Direction of acceleration
c) Tension in cord

Two blocks are connected by a pulley. One sits on an inclined plane

and the other is hanging without touching the inclined plane.
Simplifying assumptions:
• Plane is frictionless.
• Pulley is massless and frictionless.
• Cord is massless. Same tension in all parts of the cord.
• Cord is inextensible (a1=a2)
Problem 4-2 – force inventory

𝑁
𝑇
𝑇

𝑊1 𝑊2
 Problem 4-2 – choosing axes and FBD

N
y x T

30
m1g
FBD for m1
Problem 4-2 – choosing axes and FBD

FBD for m2

m2g
y
 Problem 4-2
find components for forces which are not along the axes
and write N’s second law for each axis
N
y x T
𝑊𝑡
𝑎Ԧ

𝑊𝑛
𝑊1

𝑊𝑡

(ox) T-Wt = m1a1 (ox) 𝑇 − 𝑚1 𝑔𝑠𝑖𝑛 30𝑜 = 𝑚1𝑎1

(oy) N-Wn=0 (oy) 𝑁 − 𝑚1 𝑔 cos 30𝑜 = 0
 Problem 4-2
find components for forces not along the axes
and write N’s second law for each axis
T

m2g
y

(ox) no components of forces

(oy) m2g-T=m2a2
(oy) W2-T=m2a2
 Problem 4-2
Collect the equations and solve for the unknowns

𝑇 − 𝑚1 𝑔𝑠𝑖𝑛 30𝑜 = 𝑚1 𝑎1
m2g-T=m2a2
𝑁 − 𝑚1 𝑔 cos 30𝑜 = 0

The cord is inextensible: a1=a2=a

𝑇 − 𝑚1 𝑔𝑠𝑖𝑛 30𝑜 = 𝑚1 𝑎
𝑁 − 𝑚1 𝑔 cos 30𝑜 = 0 𝑁 = 𝑚1 𝑔 cos 30𝑜
m2g-T=m2a Not required here but
necessary if we have friction.

𝑇 − 𝑚1 𝑔𝑠𝑖𝑛 30𝑜 = 𝑚1 𝑎 Two equations with two unknowns, a and T

m2g-T=m2a
 Problem 4-2
Collect the equations and solve for the unknowns

𝑇 − 𝑚1 𝑔𝑠𝑖𝑛 30𝑜 = 𝑚1 𝑎 m1 = 3.70 kg

m2g-T=m2a m2 = 2.30 kg

Add the two equations:

m2g − 𝑚1 𝑔𝑠𝑖𝑛 30𝑜 = (𝑚1 + 𝑚2 )𝑎

[𝑚2 −𝑚1 sin(30𝑜 )] 2.30 − 1.85

𝑎= 𝑔= 10 𝑚/𝑠 2
𝑚1 + 𝑚2 6.00

a=0.75 m/s2 Positive sign means the guess about direction was right.
 Problem 4-2
Collect the equations and solve for the unknowns

𝑇 − 𝑚1 𝑔𝑠𝑖𝑛 30𝑜 = 𝑚1 𝑎 m1 = 3.70 kg

m2g-T=m2a m2 = 2.30 kg

T can be found now from either equation.

From the second one:

T=m2(g-a)=2.30 (10-0.75) N=21.3 N