Chapter 4: Forces in One Dimension

Kinematics - study of how objects move

Dynamics - study of why objects move as they do
The causes of acceleration were first studied by Sir Issac Newton. The connection between
acceleration and its causes are summarized in Newtons 3 Laws of Motion
Newtons Laws of Motion - laws relating force and acceleration
Force and Motion
- Force: a push or a pull. Forces can cause objects to speed up, slow down, or change direction
as they move. They are Vector quantities.
- A force exerted on an object causes that objects velocity to change, that is, a FORCE
CAUSES AN Acceleration
- The symbol F is vector and represents the size and direction of force, while F represents only
the magnitude.
- System: the object of interest
- External World: everything around the object that exerts forces on it.
Contact Forces and Field
- Contact Forces - forces that exist when an object from the external world touches a system and
thereby exerts a force on it.
- Field Forces: forces that exists without being in contact. One example, is gravity.
- Forces result from interactions.
- Agent - a specific and identifiable cause of Force
- A FORCE needs both an 1) Agent and 2) System
- Free Body Diagrams: A physical model which represents the forces acting on a system.
- Acceleration Force Graph
- A graph that compares the Acceleration (vertical axis) to the Force (horizontal axis). This
shows a linear relationship between Acceleration and Force where the greater Force is, the
greater the resulting Acceleration
- The slope spends on the mass.
- F = ma (Force = Mass x Acceleration)
- The Force causes the object to Accelerate
Force and Acceleration
- If you double the force you double the acceleration
- If you apply the same force to several different objects, the one with the most bas will have the
smallest acceleration and the one with the least mass will have the greatest acceleration.
- Newton: the unit we use to measure force. It is define as the force that causes a mass of one
kilogram to accelerate at a rate of one meter per second square (m/s^2).
- F = ma = 1 kg (1 m/s^2) = 1 N
Combining Forces
- Net Force: the vector sum of all the forces acting on an object.
Newtons Second Law
- Newtons Second Law of Motion: also called Law of Acceleration. The acceleration of an
object is equal to the sum of the forces on it divided by the mass of the object. It states The

acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force on it and inversely

proportional to its mass
- F = ma Force is equal to mass time acceleration
- The acceleration is in the same direction as the force causing it. If the force is in the positive
direction then the acceleration is positive. If the force is in the negative direction then the
acceleration is negative.
- The larger the mass the smaller the acceleration. The smaller the mass the larger the
acceleration.
Newtons First Law
- A stationary object with no net force acting on it will stay its position.
- Galileo concluded that in the Ideal Case of Zero Resistance, horizontal motion would never
change.
- In the absence of a net force the motion (or lack of motion) of both the moving ball and the
stationary object continues as it was.
- Newtons First Law of Motion - also called the Law of Inertia, The law states the following
- An object at rest will stay at rest, an object in motion will stay in motion, unless acted on
by an outside force
- Inertia: tendency of an object to resist change. It is not a force
- A massive body has more inertia than a less massive body.
- Equilibrium - the condition in which the net force on an object is zero, An object is in
equilibrium if it is at rest of if its moving at a constant velocity.
- Newtons first law identifies a net force as something that disturbs a state of equilibrium
- Thus if there is not net force acting on the object then the object does not experience a change
in speed or direction and is in equilibrium.