CHAPTER 3

NEWTONS LAWS OF
MOTION

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45

3.1 FORCE
Forces are calssified as contact forces or
gravitational forces.
The forces that result from the physical contact
between the objects are called contact forces
and the forces that do not require physical
contact to affect are called field forces. The
gravitational and the electromagnetic forces are
examples of field forces. The force is a vector
quantity. The unit of the force in the SI unit
system is Newton, abbreviated N. In the cgs unit
system its unit is dyne with 1dyne=10-5 N, and
in the British unit system, the force's unit is
pound (lb).
3.2 NEWTON'S FIRST LAW
The law states that an object continues in
its state of rest or uniform motion until it is
forced to change that state by an external force.
Newton's first law sometime calle the law of
inertia.

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46

3.3 MASS AND INERTIA

Inertia is the property of matter that resists
the change of its state and mass is the measure of
this inertia. The mass is a scalar quantity with a
unit of kilogram (kg), in the SI unit system and
gram (g) in the cgs unit system.
3.4 NEWTON'S SECOND LAW
F 21
F 12
This law states that
1
2
the acceleration of an
object
is
directly Figure 3.1 Newtons third law.
proportional to the net
force acting on it and inversely proportional to
its mass, i.e.,

F = ma ,

(3.1)

where F represents the net (resultant) force

acting on the mass. Eq. 3.1 can be written in
components form as

Fx = ma x ,

(3.2a)

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F y = ma y ,

47

(3.2b)

Free-Body Diagram: When solving problems

applying Newton's second law it is very essential
to identify all the forces acting on the body. A
diagram showing all the forces acting on a body
is called a free-body diagram. This diagram does
not include the forces the body exert on other
bodies. If your problem involves more than one
object, a separate free-body diagram is needed
for each object.
3.5 NEWTON'S THIRD LAW
The last law of Newton states that for every
action there is an equal, but opposite reaction,
that is., if two bodies interact, the force exerted
by body number 1 on body number 2 (F 21 ) is
equal and opposite to the force exerted on body
number 1 by body number 2 F 12 (see Figure
3.1), namely
F 21 = F12

(3.3)

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48

Remark: Action and reaction act on different

bodies. That is, the action force and its action
force can never be in the same free-body
diagram.
3.6 WEIGHT AND THE NORMAL FORCE
It is well-known that the earth exerts a force
on every object lying within its field. This force
is called the force of gravity of the object, or the
weight of the object. The weight is always
points vertically downward. From Newton's
second law we can deduce that the weight (W) of
an object is equal to the mass of that object
multiplied by the acceleration of gravity (g), that
is
W = mg

(3.4)

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49

When an object is at rest ( does not move)

on a table or any surface, as shown in Figure 3.2,
the gravitional force on it (its weight) does not
disappear. Why, then, the object doesn't fall?
From Newton's second law, for an object to
remain at rest the net force acting on it must be
zero. This means that there must be another
force on the object to balance the gravitational
force. The surface, at which the object is resting
on, exerts this force. The force exerted by a
surface on an object, which is in contact with it,
and directed perpendicular to the surface itself is
called the normal force (normal means
perpendicular). Due to its name this force will be
labeled N, as shown in Figure 3.2 (b). It should
be noted that the normal force is not a reaction
force for the weight. It is rather a reaction to the

N
m
mg
(a)
(b)
Figure 3.2 (a) An object of mass m is resting on a table. (b) A
free-body diagem of the object.

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50

force exerted by an object on the surface, while

the weight is the force exerted by the earth on
the object.
Remark There is a difference between mass and
weight. While the mass of a body is the measure
of inertia of that body (the same everywhere), its
weight is the force exerted by gravity on it
(depends on the body's position).
Strategy for solving problems using Newtons
laws:
(i) Chose a suitable coordinate system with the
positive direction is the direction of the
acceleration, if it is known.
(ii) Draw a free-body diagram of each body of
the system separately
(iii) Resolve each force into its components
according to the chosen coordinates.
(iv) Identify the known and the unknown
quantities.
(v) Now you can apply Newton's second law for
one body or more of the system according to the
unknown quantities.

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51

8.0 N
Example 3.1 A boy want to
10.0 kg
drag a box, that has a mass
of 10.0 kg,
along a
N
horizontal smooth surface.
8.0 N
He
pulls
the
box
horizontally with a force of
mg
8.0 N. Find
Figure 3.3 Example 3.1 with
the free-body diagram of the
(a) the weight of the box,
box.
(b) the normal force of the
surface, and
(c) the acceleration of the box.

Solution The free-body diagram of the system is

shown in Figure 3.3.
(a) The weight of thje box is
W = mg = 10.0(9.8) = 98 kg
(b) Using Newton's second law and noting that
ther is no vertical motion, we have

F y = ma y = 0
Or

N mg = 0, so N = mg = 98 kg

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52

(c) Now, applying Newton's second law along

the x-axis we have

Fx = ma x
or
a=

F 8.0
=
= 0.8 m/s2.
m 10.0

Example
3.2
Two
masses m1 and m2 (m1>
m2) are suspended
vertically by a light
string that passes over a
light, frictionless pulley
as in Figure 3.4(a)
(Atwood's machine).
Find the acceleration of
the masses and the
tension in the string.

m2
m1
(a)
a

T
a
m2g

m1g
(b)

Figure 3.4 Example 3.2. (a) The

Solution The free-body Atwood's machine. (b) the free-body

diagram of the two masses.
diagram of the system is
shown in Figure 3.4 (b), with the positive sense
is taken downward. T represents the tension, the

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53

force applied by the string. Applying Equation

(3.1) for m1, yield
m1 g T = m1a ,

and for m2, we obtain

m2 g T = m2 a .

Solving Equation 1 and Equation 2 for a and T,

we get
m m2
g ,
a = 1
m1 + m2
and
2m1m2
g .
T =
m
m
+
1
2

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Example 3.3 Two blocks

are in contact on a smooth
horizontal
table.
A
constant force F is
applied to one block as in
Figure 3.5.
a) Find the acceleration of
the system.
b) Find the contact force
between the two blocks

54

m2

m1

N1

N2
Fc

F
Fc

m2g

m1g

Figure 3.5 Example 3.3. with the

free-body diagram of the two
masses.

Solution Applying Newton's second law for

mass m1 :
F Fc = m1a .

For mass m2 :
Fc = m2 a .

a) Adding Equations (1) and (2), you get

F = (m1 + m2 )a ,

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55

F
m1 + m2
You can find the acceleration of the system by
applying Newton's second law to the whole
system.
or

a=

b) Substituting for a in Equation 2, you obtain

Fc =

m2 F
m1 + m2

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56

Example 3.4 A boy of mass

N
45.0 kg stands on a platform
scale in an elevator, as in
Figure 3.6. Find the scale
reading when the elevator
a) moves with constant
mg
velocity,
b)
ascends
with
an Figure 3.6 Example 3.4.
acceleration of 3.50 m/s2,
c) descends with an acceleration of 3.50 m/s2
Solution Noting that the scale reads its reaction
force, and applying Newton's second law in the
three cases, you get
a)
or

F = N mg = 0 ,
N = mg = 441 N .

So the scale will read the actual weight of the

man.
b)

F = N mg = ma ,

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or
N = m( g + a ) = 599 N
c)
or

F = N mg = ma ,
N = m( g a ) = 284 N

57

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58

3.7 FRICTIONAL FORCES

It is m the force that two surfaces in contact
exert on each other to oppose the sliding of one
surface over the other. This kind of force results
mostly from the interaction between the atoms
and the molecules on the surfaces.
Consider that you want to push your
textbook along a horizontal table (Figure 3.7).
Regarding the frictional force, three cases have
to be considered:
Case 1: Before starting pushing, the book is
initially at rest, and this means that its
acceleration is zero. As the force of friction is
the only force acting horizontally on the book,
this force in this case is equal to zero.
Case 2: If you push the book gently, the book
will not move and remains at rest. Here, there
are two forces acting horizon-tally on the book:
the pushing force F and the frictional force. For
the acceleration to be zero, these two forces
must be equal in magnitude and opposite in

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59

N
F

fs
mg
(a)

(b)

fk
mg
(c)

Figure 3.7 (a) Case 1: fs=0. (b) Case 2: f s = F s N . (c) Case 3:

fk = k N .

direction. This force is called the force of static

friction and will be denoted hereafter by fs.
Case 3. Now, slowly increasing the pushing
force, the book will begin to move when the
pushing force reaches a critical value fs(max.).
Once in motion, the frictional force is less than
fs(max.), and is called the force of kineticfriction , denoted by fk.
It is found, experimentally,
that the
frictional forces fs and fk, between two surfaces,
are proportional to the normal force N pressing
the two surfaces together. i.e.,
fs s N ,
and

(3.4)

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fk = k N .

60

(3.5)

Where the dimensionless constants s and k are,

respectively, the coefficient of static friction
and the coefficient of kinetic friction.
Remarks: 1- The frictional force is always
parallel to the surfaces in contact.
2- The force of static-friction is always opposite
to the applied force
3- The force of kinetic friction is always
opposite to the direction of motion.
4- The frictional force, together with the normal
force constitute the two perpendicular
components of the reaction force exerted by one
of the contact bodies on the other.

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Example 3.5 A block of

mass m slides down a
rough, inclined plane with
the angle of inclination is
as shown in Figure 3.8.
The coefficient of kinetic
friction between the block
and the plane is .
a) Find the normal force
of the plane.
b) Find the acceleration of
the block

61

fk

N
mgsin

mgcos
mg

Figure 3.8 Example 3.5 with the

free-body diagram of the block.

Solution: The free-body diagram of the block is

shown in Figure 3.8. Note that the x-axis is
chosen along the plane.
a) It is clear the the motion is entirely along the
x-axis and there is no motion along the y-axis.
Now applying Newtons second law in the yaxis, we get

Fy =N mg cos = 0 ,
From which we obtain

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62

N = mg cos
(b) Applying Newton's law in the x-axis, we
obtain

Fx = mg sin fk = ma .
Substituting for
have

fk = k N = k mg cos , we

a = g (sin cos )

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63

Example 3.6 A worker

F=300. N
37.
drags a crate along a rough,
60. kg
horizontal
surface
by
pulling on a rope tied to the
Fsin37.
N
crate. The worker exerts a
F
force of 300. N on the rope
Fcos37.
fk
o
that is inclined 37.0 to the
mg
horizontal as shown in
3.9 Example 3.6 with the
Figure 3.9. If the mass of Figure
free-body diagram of the system.
the crate is 60.0 kg, and the
coefficient
of
kinetic
friction between the crate and the surface is
0.30, find the acceleration of the crate.
o

Solution First we construct the free-body

diagram of the system as shown in Figure 3.8.
After resolving the applied forces into its
components according to the chosen axes, we
apply Newton's second law to get, in the y-axis

Fy =N + 300 sin 37. mg = 0

from which we find

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64

N = 588 181 = 407 N .

Now applying Newtons second law in the xaxis, we obtain

Fx = 300 cos 37 fk = ma .
But
fk = k N = 0.3(407) = 122 N ,
so
a=

118
= 1.97 m/s2
60.0

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65

Example 3.7 A 2.0-kg

2.0 kg
block is placed on top of a
F
5.0 kg
5.0-kg block as shown in
Figure 3.10. A horizontal
N
force of F = 44 N is applied
f
to the 5.0-kg block. If the
2g
coefficient
of
kinetic
N
N
f
friction between the 5.0-kg
44 N
block and the surface is
f
5g
0.20, and assuming that
3.10 Example 3.7 with the
the 2.0-kg block is in the Figure
free-body diagram of the two
blocks. Note that the static
verge of slipping,
force is the force that
a) what is the acceleration frictional
accelerate the upper block.
of the system?
b) What is the coefficient of static-friction
between the two blocks?.
2

Solution Study carefully the free-body diagram

of the two blocks (Figure 3.10). The normal
force acting on the 5.0-kg block by the surface is
denoted by N1, while N2 stands for the normal
force acting on the upper block by the lower
one.

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66

a) Applying Newton's second law to the 2.0-kg

block, we have in the x-axis
fs =2a ,

and in the y-axis

N2 2 g =0
or
N2 = 2 g = 20. N

Similarly for the 5.0-kg block, we have

F x = F f k fs = 5 . 0 a ,
and

or

Fy =N1 5.0 g N2 = 0
N1 = 7.0 g = 69 N ,

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67

where the value of N2 is taken from Equation 2.

Note that, the two blocks have the same
acceleration because the 2-kg block does not
slip. Now, Adding Equation 1 and Equation 3 ,
we obtain
F k N1 = 7.0a ,
where we have substituted for fk = k N1 . Now
substituting for N1 from Equation 3, we have
a=

44 0.2 69
= 4.3 m / s 2 .
7.0

b) Substituting for a in Equation 1, we get

s =

2 a 2 4 .3
=
= 0.43 .
N2
20.