Chapter 3

FORCE AND MOTION

3.1 The Concept of Force

• A Force is something capable of changing an object's state of motion (its velocity),
• Force is a vector quantity.
• There must be a net force (unbalanced force) acting on an object for the object to
change its velocity.
• Net force, ∑ F, is the vector sum or the unbalanced force acting on an object.
• Unit : Newton (N)

3.2 Newton’s First Law

• Newton’s First Law describes the state of motion of an object when there is no net
force acting on the object.
• "An object at rest remains at rest, and an object in motion will keep moving with
constant velocity (constant speed and direction) if the net force on the object is
zero".
• If ∑ F = 0 , then v =0 , or a = 0 .
• Also known as Law of Inertia.
• Inertia is the natural tendency of an object to resist any attempt to change its
motion. Example: What happen to the passengers in the bus when the driver
suddenly had an emergency brake?

3.3 Newton’s Second Law

• “Newton’s Second Law states that the acceleration of an object depends on the net
force ∑ F and on the mass m, of the object”.
a =∑F/m or ∑ F = m a
S.I unit : Newton (N) or kg.m/s 2

• 1 N is defined as the force that, when acting on a 1 kg mass, produces an

acceleration of 1 m/s2. ( 1 N = 1 kg / ms2 )

Example 1:
A 20 kg box sitting on a horizontal surface is pulled by a horizontal force of 5.0 N. A
friction force of 3.0 N retards the motion. What is the acceleration of the object?
 Ans:
a = + 0.1 m/s2

Example 2 :
Find the weight of a 3.50-kg object.

Ans :
34.3 N downward.

What is the different between mass & weight?

Mass Weight
-Is a measure of the inertia/resistance or Is the gravitational force acting on an
resistance to change in motion of an object. object.
-Constant for a given object. -Depends on the acceleration due to gravity
-Independent of where mass is located. and mass.
Eg: 5.0kg(earth)=5.0kg(moon) Mass of 5.0kg
earth: w=(5)(9.8)=49N
moon: w=(5)(1.67)=8.4N
in deep space: w=0 N

3.4 Newton’s Third Law

• “Newton’s Third Law states that if two objects interact, the force exerted on
object 1 by object 2 is equal in magnitude but opposite in direction to the force
exerted on object 2 by object 1”.
• Mathematically , F12 = - F21 (action and reaction)

1 2

F12 F21
• Applications of Newton’s Third Law :
 i) The Earth exerts a force Fg on any object. The reaction to this force is the force of
the object on the earth, Fg’ . Hence, Fg = Fg’.

ii) A large truck collides head on with a small car and causes a lot of damage to the small
car. Let’s say the force exerted on the truck as Ft and on the car as Fc.
As in Newton’s Third Law, Ft = - Fc.
Hence , mt at = -mc ac
Since mc < mt , then the acceleration of the car is much greater than the truck. That is
why the car experiences greater impact force.

3.5 Some application’s of Newton’s Laws

Problem solving strategy

i) Draw a free body diagram for the object under consideration and label all the
forces acting on the object.
ii) Select a rectangular coordinate system.
iii) Resolve all forces into x and y components.
iv) Add, algebraically, all the x and y components of the forces, respectively.
v) Set ∑ Fx = ma and ∑ Fy = 0 and solve for the unknown quantities.
[The object will accelerate in x-direction and not in y-direction].

Example 3:
A student pulls a box of books on a smooth horizontal floor with a force of 100 N in a
direction of 37o above the horizontal surface. If the mass of the box and the books is 40.0
kg, What is the acceleration of the box and the normal force on the box by the floor?

Ans : a=2.00m/s2, N=332N

Exercise 1:

A 5.0kg box, starting from rest, slides down a smooth 370 inclined place.
a) Find the acceleration of the mass and the normal force by the inclined plane on the
mass.
b) If the plane is 10m long, what will be its speed at the bottom of the plane?
Ans : a=5.9m/s2, N=39N, v=11m/s

Objects in Equilibrium and NFL

-If there are no forces acting on an object, or if there are equal and opposite forces acting
on it, the net force on the object is zero and the object will not accelerate. This state of
motion is called translational equilibrium.
For a system in equilibrium,
∑ F=0, that is ∑ F =0, and ∑ F =0
x y

Example 4 ;
A 3.0kg sign hangs in a hall in the Science Department as shown in Figure 1. What is the
minimum tensile strength necessary for the cord that is used to hang the sign?

450 450
Figure 1

WELCOME TO SCIENCE
DEPARTMENT

Ans:
At least 21N.

3.6 Force of friction

FRICTION FORCES

STATIC
KINETIC FRICTION
FRICTION
 Both are parallel to the contact surface
No relative motion Relative motion
Fs ≤ µs N fk = µk N
fs max = µs N µk is the coefficient of kinetic friction.
µs - coefficient of static friction
N - normal force.
fs is not a fixed value fk is a fixed value
Always equal to the applied force

• Both coefficients of friction are nearly independent of the area contact between
the surfaces, but depend on the nature of the surfaces ( refer serway, page 97 ,
table 4.2 )

Example 5:
The coefficient of static and kinetic frictions between a 3.0 kg box and a desk are 0.40 and
0.30 respectively. What is the net force on the box when the horizontal force applied to
the box is 5.0 N ?
Ans:

The net force, ∑ F = 6.18 N, direction is horizontal.

Exercise 2 : A block slides with a constant velocity down a plane inclined at 370 to the
horizontal. What is the coefficient of kinetic friction between the block and the plane?

370

3.7 Torque and the second condition for equilibrium

The second condition for equilibrium asserts that if an object is in rotational equilibrium,

the net torque acting on it about any axis must be zero. That is

∑τ = 0
Conditions for Static equilibrium:

1. The resultant external force must be zero.

 ∑F =0

2. The resultant external force must be zero.

∑τ = 0
Example 3:

Three masses are suspended from a meterstick as shown in Figure 1. How much mass must

be suspended on the right side for the system

3.8 The center of gravity

A rigid body is an object/systems of particles in which the interparticle distances are fixed

and remain constant.

The center of mass of a system is the point at which all the mass of the system may be

considered to be concentrated.

If g is constant, then the center of gravity is at the center of mass.

How to determine the location of the center of gravity???

X cg =
∑m x i i
Ycg =
∑m y
i i

∑m i ∑m i

Example 4:

Four objects are situated along the y-axis as follows : a 2.0kg object is at +3.00m, a 3.00-kg

object is at +2.50m, a 2.50kg object is at the origin, and a 4.00-kg object is at -0.500m.

Where is the center of gravity of this system?

Solution :

Ycg =
∑m y i i

∑m i
2.00 kg ( +3.00 m) +3.00 kg ( +2.50 m) + 2.50 kg (0) + 4.00 kg ( −0.50 m)
=
2.00 kg +3.00 kg + 2.50 kg + 4.00 kg
= 1.00 m.

Example 5

A meter stick is found to balance at the 49.7 cm mark when placed on a fulcrum. When a

50.0g mass is attached at the 10.0cm mark, the fulcrum must be moved to the 39.2cm mark

for balance. What is the mass of the meter stick??

Solution:

xcg =
=
= 39.2 cm,
49.7mstick + 500 g = 39.2mstick + 1960g
mstick = 139 g.

3.9 Examples of objects in equilibrium

Problem-Solving strategy

1. Draw a simple, neat diagram of the system.

2. Draw a separate free-body diagram for each object.
3. Resolve the forces into components and apply the equilibrium condition for the
forces.
4. Arbitrarily choose an origin for calculating the torques acting on the object, and
apply the equilibrium condition for torque.
5. Solve for the unknowns in the set of simultaneous equations obtained from step 3
and 4.

Example 6

A hungry 700N bear walks out on a beam in an attempt to retrieve some goodies hanging at

the end as shown in Fig.P8.14. The beam is uniform, weighs 200N, and is 6.00m long; the

goodies weigh 80.0N.

a) Draw a free-body diagram for the beam.

b) When the bear is at x=1.00m, find the tension in the wire and the components of the

reaction force at the hinge.

c) If the wire can withstand a maximum tension of 900N, what is the maximum

distance the bear can walk before the wire breaks??

Solution:

(a) See the diagram below:

(b) If x = 1 m, then
∑τ =(-700N)(1.00m) - (200N)(3.00m) - (80.0 N)(6.00 m) + (0.866T)(6.00 m).
left end

Equating this to zero gives: T = 343 N.

From ∑Fx =0
H = 0.500T = 171 N.
From ∑Fy = 0
V = 980 N - 0.866T = 683 n.
(c) If T = 900 N
∑τ left end =(-700 N)(x) - (200 N)(3.00 m) - (80.0 N)(6.00 m) + (779.4 N)(6.00 m).
Equating this to zero and solving for x gives: x = 5.14 m.

Example 7:

A 500N uniform rectangular sign 4.00 m wide and 3.00 m high is suspended from a

horizontal, 6.00- m-long uniform, 100N rod, as indicated in figure below. The left end the

rod is supported by a hinge and the right end is supported by a thin cable making a 30.00

angle with the vertical.

a) Find the tension, T, in the cable.

b) Find the horizontal and vertical components of force exerted on the left end of the

rod by the hinge.

ICE CREAM
SHOP

SOLUTION:

(a) The free body diagram of the horizontal rod is shown to the right.
Summing the torques about the left end of the rod yields
-Wrod(3.00 m) -Wsign(4.00 m)+ (Tsin60°)(6.00 m) = 0,
giving (0.866 T)(6.00 m) = (100 N)(3.00 m) + (500 N)(4.00 m),
or T = 443 N.
(b) Summing the force components in the horizontal direction yields
Fh - Tcos60° = 0, or Fh = 443 cos60° = 222 N.
Summing force components in the vertical direction yields
Fv + Tsin60° - Wrod - Wsign = 0, or Fv = 216 N