Chapter 4

Contact Interaction
 4.1 Tarzan and the vine
At rest and motion.

The vine breaks through

Tarzan hangs motionless Tarzans swing
from a vine, which does
not break
Why did the vine break while Tarzan was swinging on it,
but not while he hung motionless from it?

To answer this question we will need to understand how

objects like vines, wires, and strings exert forces
 4.2 A model of a solid: Balls connected by springs

The main properties of atoms important in this chapter are:

All matter consists of atoms, whose typical radius is about

1 x 10-10 m.
Atoms attract each other when they are close to each
other but not too close.
Atoms repel each other when they get too close to each
other.
Atoms in solids, liquids, and gases keep moving even at
very low temperatures.
 4.2 A model of a solid: Balls connected by springs
The ball-spring system is a good model for the atomic system. In
this model:
Each ball in the model represents a massive atomic nucleus,
surrounded by the inner electrons of the atom. Almost all the mass
of an atom is concentrated in the tiny nucleus.
The spring in the model represents the chemical bond, which is due
to the shared outer electrons of both atoms

The ball-spring model for two atoms

Two balls connected by a spring connected by chemical bond
 4.2 A model of a solid: Balls connected by springs
Springs.

Scanning tunneling
microscopes (SMT) images of
A simple model of a solid: tiny balls in
two surfaces of a silicon
constant motion, connected by
crystal.
springs.
 4.3 Tension forces
Tension Forces T
The force exerted by an object like a wire or a
spring is often called a tension force, or
sometimes just the tension in the wire

Question: If the mass of the ball is 1 kg, how large an upward force does the
wire exert on the ball?
Free body Momentum Principle:
diagram for
the ball py = Fnet,y t choose a value of t = 10 s
py = (FT mg) (10 s)

0 = (FT mg) (10 s)

FT = mg = (1 kg)(9.8 N/kg) = 9.8 N

 4.3 Tension forces
Question: If the mass of the ball is 2 kg, how large an upward force would
the wire exert on the ball?

FT = mg = (2 kg)(9.8 N/kg) = 19.6 N

The magnitude of the tension force FT exerted by the wire depends on
the mass of the ball

Question: How does an inanimate object like a wire know how large a
force to exert in a given situation?

Answer: A wire can be thought of a very stiff spring. When a

weight is hung on the end of a wire, the wire does stretch.

Mass of the wire is Each bond in the wire is stretched

negligible compared to by approximately the same amount:
the mass of the hanging the tension is the same throughout
object the wire
 4.4 Length of an interatomic bond
Density, Molar Mass, Avogadros Number.
The length of an interatomic bond
is defined as the center-to-center
distance between adjacent atoms.
The length is the same as the
diameter of an atom.

Question: Does the density of a block of aluminum depend on the

dimensions of the block? Does it depend on the mass of the block?
Answer: Density does not depend on the size, shape, or mass of an
object. Density is a property of the material itself; the ratio of mass to
volume will always be the same for objects made of the same material.
 Example: Diameter of a copper atom (length of a bond in
copper)
One mole of copper has a mass of 0.064 kg. The density of copper is
8.94x103 kg/m3. What is the approximate diameter, in meter, of a
copper atom in solid copper? (2.28x10-10 m)

The cube contains 5 x 5 x 5= 125 atoms.

The number of atoms on one side of the
cube is 125 = 5

A simple cubic arrangement of atoms. The volume of space

associated with each atom is a tiny cube d by d by d.
 Example: Diameter of a copper atom (length of a bond in
copper)
(8.94 g/cm3) [(1 kg)/(1 x 103 g)] [(1 x 102 cm)3 /(1 m)3] = 8.94 x 103 kg/m3 (SI units)

In a cube that is 1 meter on each side, how many copper atoms are there?

(8.94 x 103 kg) (1mol/0.064kg) [(6.02 x 1023 atoms)/(1mol)] = 8.41 x 1028 atoms

Along one edge of the cube, which is 1 m long, there are

3
8.4128 = 4.38 x 109 atoms

A row of 4.38 x 109 atoms is 1 m long, so the diameter of one atom is

d = ( 1m/4.38 x 109 atoms) = 2.28 x 10-10 m

In a solid block of copper, the length of a bond between

two adjacent copper atoms is 2.28 x 10-10 m
Example: Diameter of a copper atom (length of a bond in
copper)

The micro density is the same as the macro density, mass per volume:

Density = (mass of 1 atom) / (volume of 1 atom)

= ma / d3

The mass of one atom can be determined by using the

mass of one mole. One mole contains 6.02 x 1023 atoms
(Avogadro number)

ma = (mass of one mole) / (6.02 x 1023 atoms/mole)

Knowing the macroscopic density and the mass of one

atom, you can solve for the unknown atomic diameter d.
4.X.1 The density of aluminum is 2.7 grams/cm3. What is
the approximate diameter of an aluminum atom (length
of a bond) in solid aluminum?

4.X.2 The density of lead is 11.4 grams/cm3. What is the

approximate diameter of a lead atom (length of a bond) in
solid lead?
 The spring force
| spring| = ks |s|
|s| is the absolute value of the stretch: s = L L0
L0 is the length of the relaxed spring
L is the length of the spring when stretched or compressed
Ks is the spring stiffness (also called spring constant)

spring = -kss

where s = | | - L0 may be positive or negative

4.5 The stiffness of an interatomic bond

We will consider the wire to be

composed of many parallel chains of
atoms connected by springs

Question:

Two identical springs linked end to end (in

series). Each shorter spring has a stiffness
of 100 N/m. What will the stiffness of the
longer spring be? (s = 2 m)
 4.5 The stiffness of an interatomic bond
Two identical springs linked end to end (in series)
Weight of the a hang block = 100 N; s = 2 m
System: block
Surroundings: spring, Earth

Free-body diagram
Momentum Principle
py = Fnet,y t
0 = (kss mg)(10 sec)
kss = mg
Ks (2 m) = 100 N Half as stiff as each
ks = 50 N/m of the shorter springs
ks = (1/2)ks
 Examples
Question:
Two identical springs linked side by side (in parallel).
Each shorter spring has a stiffness of 100 N/m. What
will be the stiffness of the two-spring system?

We can think of two springs as a single,

wider spring. The effective spring stiffness
of this double-width spring is:

ks,effective = 100 N / 0.5 m = 200 N/m Each spring support

only 50 N, so each
spring will stretch
ks = 2ks only 0.5 m

Twice as stiff as a single spring

 Cross-sectional area
A = pr2.
A = width x thickness.

Examples:
1) A pencil 0.10 m long and 0.005 m in diameter
A =(0.0025 m)2 = 1.96 x 10-5 m2

2) A wooden board 7 m long, 0.05 m wide, and 0.03 m high

A = (0.05 m)(0.03 m) = 1.5 x 10-3 m

The length of the object

is irrelevant
 Example: Interatomic bond stiffness in copper
A copper wire is 2 m long. The wire has a square cross-section (that is, it has
four sides it is not round). Each side of the wire is 1 mm in width. We hang
a 10 kg mass on the end of the wire. Then the wire is now 1.51 mm longer.
Determine the stiffness of one interatomic bond in copper. (29.6 N/m)

Study this example page

(145 from your textbook)
 Study these problems:

4.X.3 If a chain of 20 identical short springs linked end by end

by a stiffness of 40 N/m, what is the stiffness of one spring?

4.X.4 Nine identical springs are placed side by side (in

parallel), and connected to a large massive block. The stiffness
of the nine-spring combination is 2700 N/m. What is the
stiffness of one of the individual springs?

4.X.5 The 2 meter copper wire with square cross section of 1 mm

by 1 mm stretched 1.51 mm when it supported a 10 kg mass. Cut
a length of this wire 0.2 m long and hang a 10 kg mass from it.
How much will this short wire stretch?
4.6 Stress, strain, and Youngs modulus
Question:
Suppose that we had used a different copper wire, which
was 3 meters long, and had a circular cross section with a
diameter of 0.9 mm. Would our result for the interatomic
bond stiffness have been different?

The result should be not be different,

because the interatomic bond stiffness is a
property of the material:

Youngs modulus is a measure of the

stretchability of a solid material
 4.6 Stress, strain, and Youngs modulus
stress: the tension force per unit area causing a deformation = FT/A

strain: a measure of the amount of the deformation = DL/L0

Y=Youngs Modulus = (FT/A)/(DL/L0) = Stress/Strain

The heavy ball stretches the wire

Strain in vs. stress for a particular an amount DL
aluminum alloy
Relating Youngs modulus to interatomic spring stiffness

Y = (ks,i/d2)/(s/d) = ks,i/d.

Where ks,i is the stiffness of an interatomic bond in a solid, and d is

the length of an interatomic bond (and the diameter of an atom)

A single stretched bond in

a solid wire.
 4.7 Compression (normal) forces

Fnet = +Ftable - Mg

0 = +Ftable Mg
Ftable = Mg

Interatomic springs in the Ftable = FN

contact region are compressed
by the weight of atoms
normal force (perpendicular to the
surface of the table)
 4.8 Friction
Question: To keep the brick moving at a constant speed, you have to
keep pulling. Its tempting to conclude that a constant force is needed to
keep an object moving at a constant speed, which sounds like a
violation of Newtons first law of motion and the Momentum Principle.
Whats going on here?
Since the net force is zero, the brick moves with constant speed.
Fapply = f

Here, the friction force is opposite to the

velocity, tending to slow down the object.

Free-body diagram
 4.8 Friction

Here the friction force pushes the box forward with

increasing speed of the moving belt. Eventually, the box
reaches the speed of the moving belt, the friction force
drops to zero and the box moves with constant speed.
 4.8 Friction

The sliding Friction Force

fk mkFN
where,
FN is the normal force that acts on the object
mk (Greek letter mu) is the coefficient of kinetic friction,

fk does not depend on the speed of the object

Question: If you are pulling a brick at a constant speed, what

happens if you increase your force to be bigger than mkFN ?

The net force becomes nonzero, so the momentum of

the brick will increase.
 4.8 Friction

Question: What will happen if you exert a horizontal force less

than mkFN on a brick on a table?

Static Friction Force

Static ffriction msFN

where,
ms is the coefficient of static friction
 Example: Holding a block against a wall
You hold a 3-kg metal block against a wall by applying a horizontal
force of 40 N. The coefficient of friction for the metal-wall pair of
materials is 0.6 for both static and sliding frictions. Does the block
slip down the wall?

Free-body diagram
 Example: Sliding to a stop
You take the same 3 kg metal block and slide it along the floor, where
the coefficient of friction is only 0.4. You release the block with an
initial velocity of <6,0,0> m/s. How long will it take for the block to
come to stop? How far does the block move?

Free-body diagram
 Study this problem:

4.X.8 When you apply a horizontal force of 80 N to a block, the block

moves across the floor at a constant speed (mk = ms).

a) What happens if instead you apply a force of 60 N?

b) When you apply a force of 60 N, what is the magnitude of the
horizontal component of the force that the floor exerts on the block?
c) What happens if instead you exert a force of 100 N?
d) When you apply a force of 100 N, what is the magnitude of the
horizontal component of the force that the floor exerts on the block?
 Study this problem:

4.X.9 A 5 kg box with initial speed 4 m/s slides across the floor and
comes to a stop after 0.7 s.
a) What is the coefficient of kinetic friction?
b) How far does the box move?
c) You put a 3 kg in the box, so the total mass is now 8 kg, and you
launch this heavier box with an initial speed of 4 m/s. How long does
it take to stop?
 4.9 Speed of sound in a solid and interatomic bond stiffness
Longitudinal waves. The propagation of stretch or compression.
 4.10 Derivative form of the momentum principle

= net

The derivative of the momentum with respect to time is
equal to the net force acting on the object

=

Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity with respect to time.

m net Nonrelativistic form; constant mass

 4.10 Derivative form of the momentum principle

4.X.10 At a certain instant the z component of the momentum of an

object is changing at a rate of 4 kg.m/s per second. At that instant,
what is the z component of the net force on the object?

4.X.11 If an object is moving with constant momentum <10, -12, -8>

kg.m/s, what is the rate of change of momentum d/dt? What is the net
force acting on the object?

4.X.12 The velocity of a ball changes from <5, -3, 0> m/s to
<5.02, -3.04, 0> m/s in 0.01 s, due to gravitational attraction of the
Earth and to air resistance. The mass of the ball is 80 grams. What is
the acceleration of the ball? What is the rate of change of momentum
of the ball? What is the net force acting on the ball?
 4.11 Analytical solution: spring-mass system

Amplitude, A: is the maximum stretch of the spring.

- From x = A to x = - A and back to x = A

Period, T : is the time required for one complete cycle.

Frequency, : is the number of complete cycles per second

- (units are cycles/second or hertz, hz)
Frequency is the reciprocal of the period: f = 1 / T
 4.11 Analytical solution: spring-mass system
Question: What would be the equation
for the spring force in terms of the
position of the block if the origin were
located at the wall?
(Read pages 157 and 158 from your
textbook)

We obtain the following result:

x = A cos(wt)
where,
A is the amplitude (maximum stretch of the
spring

is the angular frequency SI: radians/s

Free-body diagram
 Angular Frequency of a Spring Mass System
Period: m
T 2p
k

1 1 k
Frequency:
T 2p m

The angular frequency is related to the m and k

m is the mass of an object attached to a spring of constant k

The angular frequency gives the number of radians per second

 Example: Mass-spring oscillation

Study this example : page 159

A 50 gram mass is attached to a low-mass horizontal spring whose

relaxed length is 25 cm with ks = 4 N/m. Ignore the friction between
the block and surface of the floor. You stretch the spring so it is 30 cm
long, and release the block.
(a) What is the Amplitude of the oscillation?
(b) How long would it take the block to make one full oscillation?
 4.12 Analytical expression for speed of sound

v = d = (ks,i /ma )1/2 d

model of a metal
where,

v is the speed of sound in a solid

is the angular frequency

ks,i is the stiffness of the interatomic bond

ma is the mass of one atom

d is the length of the interatomic bond