Module 7

PHYSICS FOR ENGINEERS

In this Module

 Application of Newton’s Laws

At the completion of this module, you should be able to:

 Identify forces acting on an object and draw a free-body diagram of
the object.
 Determine acceleration

Are you ready? Then start the lesson now!

Lesson
LAWS OF MOTION
1
INTRODUCTION
When a body is at rest, we know from experience that it will remain at rest
unless something is done to change the state. A heavy box on the floor will
stay in place unless it is pushed or pulled. We walk without fear beside a
massive rock on level ground because we know it won’t suddenly move and
crush us.

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Undoubtedly, you have leaned against a chair only to have it moved and send
you scurrying for your balance. Did you then question the relationship of the
interaction between you and the chair to the ensuing motion of the chair?
It was Isaac Newton who first clearly made the connection between the
interactions on a body and its motion. In Newton’s theory, the acceleration of
every object has to be explained in terms of the interactions with other
objects. Newton’s laws of motion cover an enormous range of experience. At
one stroke, they convert what in restropect had previously seemed chaos into
a beautifully organized universe. There have been a few achievements to
rank with this in the history of science.

PREREQUISITES
Before you begin this module, you should be able to:
 Check the units of a given mathematical expression and show that it is
dimensionally correct.
 Add (or subtract) two, three, or four two-dimensional vectors given in
unit-vector notation, finding the resultant.
 Describe the position, velocity, and acceleration of an object moving in
one dimension with constant acceleration.
 Describe the position, velocity, and acceleration of a single body
moving in a plane or moving in projectile motion.

It should be noted that a particle model is used throughout this module,

meaning each body is considered as if it were concentrated at a point and had
no extension in space, much like what we did in Module 4. This should always
be remembered in your study of the examples in this module.
In solving problems in this module, here are some suggested rules to follow:
1. Identify the particular body to be considered.
2. Identify all interactions (forces) between the body and its environment.
3. Choose a suitable inertial coordinate system (though at first this will
seem hard but you will master this as you practice solving)
4. Draw a diagram of the object representing it by a point; show all forces
acting on the body (and show the coordinate system)
5. Resolve the forces not lying along the coordinate axis into their
rectangular components.
We’ve seen in the previous modules how to use kinematics to describe
motion in one and two or more dimensions. But what causes bodies move the
way that they do? Why do you feel pushed backward in a car that accelerates
forward? The answers to such questions take us into the subject of
dynamics, the relationship of motion to the forces that cause it.
The principles of dynamics were clearly stated for the first time by Sir Isaac
Newton (hence the name Newton’s Laws of Motion). However, he did not
derive these three laws. Rather, he deduced them from a multitude of
experiments performed by other scientists, especially Galileo Galilei (who died
the year Newton was born).

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Newton’s First Law of Motion (Law of Inertia)
A body at rest will remain at rest, and an object in motion will stay in
motion unless acted upon by an external net force.
In your previous studies, you may have heard this statement before without
the term external net force. You may have only heard about the term external
force. But imagine for a second, you and your boyfriend (or girlfriend) is
standing in front of a big box (you on one side, he/she on the other). If both of
you pushes the box, the box is experiencing two external forces. So if we
follow the term ”external force”, we can directly conclude that the box will
move. But what if you both pushed the box by the same amount of force?
Obviously, the box will not move. This is because the “external net force”
experienced by the box is equal to zero.
(But then again, if you have no boyfriend or girlfriend, then the box will
definitely move to the direction you are pushing it.)
The tendency of a body at rest to remain at rest, and an object in motion to
remain in motion is called inertia.
To help us understand the concept of external net force, let us look at this
example.
This may be the good time to remind you that a force is a vector quantity thus
adding them is not the same as adding scalars where you just add them
algebraically.
EXAMPLE 1. To extricate an SUV stuck in the mud, workmen used three
horizontal ropes, producing the force vectors shown in the figure.
a) Find the x and y components of each of the three pulls.
b) Use the components to find the magnitude and direction of the
resultant of the three pulls.
Solution:
To help us solve this problem, we might have to go back and recall what we
have learned in Module 2 – Vector Addition. All we have to do is fill them up in
a table to easily solve this problem.
Qua
drant
F
, Angle x- y-
o
Give from x compo compo
rc
n -axis nent nent
e
Angl
e
Qua
drant
788 N 32 °+ 90 °=122°
788 cos 122788
° sin 122°
II,
32 °
985 NQua 31 ° 985 cos 31985
° sin 31 °
drant
I,

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31 °
Quadrant III,
411 N 53 ° +180° =233 ° 411 cos 233° 411 sin233 °
53 °
∑ F x =179.387 ∑ F y =847.335

R=√179.387 2+ 847.3352=866.116 N

tanθ=
∑y
∑x
∑ y =tan−1 847.335 =78.047 °
θ=tan −1
( )
∑x ( 179.387 )
Since both ∑ x and ∑ y are all positives, our angle is expected to be in the
first quadrant (from 0 ° to 90 °). Thus, our angle is correct.
This basically means that there the external net force acting on the car is
866.116 N .
To simplify the whole definition of the first law of motion, allow me to explain it
into five words in our dialect: “Walai mafall kung walai pafall”.
Newton’s Second Law of Motion (Law of Acceleration)
The net force on a body is equal to the product of the body’s mass and
its acceleration.
The second law of motion pertains to the behavior of objects for which all
existing forces are not balanced. It states that the acceleration of an object
depends directly upon the net force acting upon the object, and inversely
upon the mass of the object. Thus,
a∝F
1
a∝
m
This will then ultimately become:
F=am
Or in vector notation:
F =⃗a m
⃗

This simple equation is the key idea for nearly all the problems we will work
on this module, but we must use it cautiously. We must always be certain that
the forces we include in our analysis are all the forces that is acting on that
body in observation. For example, if you are in a rugby scrum, the net force
on you is the vector sum of all the pushes and pulls on your body, not the
push or pull on another player.
Also, like any other vector equations we have encountered so far, there is
always one equivalent equation for each coordinate system.

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F net , x =a x m F net , y =a y m F net , z=a z m
This all happens if we have an external net force as described in the first law.
If we have an external net force which is ∑ ⃗F =0, then obviously we have an
acceleration which is a⃗ =0.
This supports the first law statement that an object at rest will remain at rest.

An object at rest means V i=0

Suppose our y i=0 , then as mentioned, the a⃗ =0
Then,
1 1
y f = yi +V i t+ a t 2=0+0 ( t ) + ( 0 ) t 2=0
2 2
y f =0

An object in motion means V i=V i

As mentioned, the a⃗ =0
Then,
V f =V i +at=Vi+ ( 0 ) t=V i
V f =Vi

This supports the first law statement that an object in motion will remain in its
motion.
Now let us analyze the given equation:
F =⃗a m
⃗

The unit of acceleration is meters per second square (in metric system). The
m
unit of mass is kilograms (in metric system). So if we have a=1 2 and m=1 kg,
s
we have:
m m
⃗
s ( )
F =⃗a m= 1 2 ( 1 kg )=1 kg 2 =1 N
s
EXAMPLE 2. A hockey puck having a mass of 0.30 kg slides on a frictionless,
horizontal surface of an ice rink. Two hockey sticks strike the puck
simultaneously, exerting the forces on the puck as shown in the figure.
Determine both the magnitude and the direction of the
puck’s acceleration.

Solution:

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Since the figure is given, then we don’t have to draw a free-body diagram
anymore. (This means that if there is no given figure, a free-body diagram will
help you in your analysis.)
We are asked to solve for the magnitude and direction of its acceleration.
Since we are dealing with an xy dimension analysis, then we need to get the x
and y component of the acceleration. We can only do that if we resolve the
given forces into its components. Thus:
Quadrant,
Force Angle from x-axis x-component y-component
Given Angle
Quadrant IV,
5N 360 °−20 °=340 ° 5 cos 340 ° 5 sin 340 °
20 °
Quadrant I,
8N 60 ° 8 cos 60 ° 8 sin 60 °
60 °
∑ F x=8.698 ∑ F y=5.218
At x coordinate:
F x =ax m
m
8.698 kg
F 8.698 N s2 m
a x= x = = =28.993 2
m 0.30 kg 0.30 kg s
At y coordinate:
F y =a y m
m
5.218 kg 2
F y 5.218 N s m
a y= = = =17.393 2
m 0.30 kg 0.30 kg s
To solve for the magnitude:
m
a⃗ =√ 28.9932+ 17.3932=33.810
s2
To solve for the direction:
ay
tanθ=
ax

ay −1 17.393
θ=tan
−1
( )
ax
=tan (
28.993 )
=30.960°

Since both acceleration is positive, thus it is in the first quadrant (0 ° to 90 °).

Therefore, the solve value for direction above is already correct.
m
Remember also that the gravitational pull of −9.81 is also an acceleration.
s2
Thus we can also apply it to the second law. The force that will get using this
is the force due to gravitational pull ( F g).
F g=mg=W

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This is a good time to tell you the common mistake of interchanging mass and
weight. Remember that mass is an intrinsic property of an object thus it will
not change wherever you go, even if the acceleration due to gravity will
change. Weight, on the other hand, is the measure of the gravitational force
between the object and the Earth (or any other planet) thus it will vary
depending on the acceleration due to gravity.
EXAMPLE 3. If a man weighs 900 N on Earth, what would he weigh on
m
Jupiter, where the free fall acceleration is 25.9 2 ?
s
Solution:
To solve for the weight on Jupiter, we have to solve first for the mass of the
man.
W =F g=mg
Since our weight is pulling us downward, then:
W =−900 N
m
−900 N=m −9.81
( s2 )
m
−900 kg
−900 N s2
m= =
m m
−9.81 2 −9.81 2
s s
m=91.743 kg
Now that we have the mass, we know that mass is unchangeable anywhere
we go, thus mass on Earth is equal to mass on Jupiter.
m
W j=m j a j=( 91.743 kg ) −25.9
( s2 )
W =−2376.144 N
The negative sign is just telling us that the weight is directed downward, thus:
W =2376.144 N
Newton’s Third Law of Motion (Law of Interaction)
For every action, there is always equal but opposite reaction.
If you press against a corner of a textbook with your fingertip, the book
pushes back and make a small dent in your skin. If you push harder, the book
does the same and the dent in your skin is a little larger. This simply activity
illustrates that forces are interactions between two objects: when your finger
pushes on the book, the book pushes back on your finger. This important
principle is known as Newton’s third law.

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Putting it mathematically, if you apply a 50-N push against a wall, the wall will
apply a -50-N push against you. The force exerted by object 1 on object 2 is
equal in magnitude to the force exerted by object 2 on object 1.
F 12=−F21
EXAMPLE 4. Harry and Ron, of masses 45 kg and 50 kg respectively, are
standing on a very slippery icy surface. Ron pushes Harry to the left with a
force of 75 N.
a. What is the acceleration of Harry?
b. What is the force that Harry exerts on Ron?
c. What is the acceleration of Ron?
Solution:
a. Since Ron pushed Harry to the left with a force of 75 N,
F RH =−75 N
Therefore, that is the force that makes Harry accelerate.
F RH =m H a h
m
−75 kg
F RH −75 N s2
aH= = =
mh 45 kg 45 kg
m
a H =−1.667
s2
b. By law of acceleration,
F HR =−F RH =−(−75 N )
F HR =75 N
c. Now we have the force that Harry applied on Ron:
F HR =mR a R
m
75 kg
F 75 N s2
a R = HR = =
mR 50 kg 50 kg
m
a R =1.5
s2
DISCLAIMER: In regards to this module, even though there is no
example given about this one, but expect that there will be problems
that will relate the Laws of Motion to Rectilinear Motion. Problems like:
 given the mass of an object and a force is applied, you will be
asked to solve for the distance travelled by the object after a
certain time interval.
 given the mass and motion of the object, you will be asked to
solve how much force was required for that motion.

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These are both just an example and there might be more problems that
will test your analytic abilities. I suggest you make us of the references I
mentioned in the course syllabus and practice solving problems like
these.

LESSON TEST
Answer the following problems. Show you solutions in a whole
sheet of paper. Send your answers to my facebook account Toper
Man.

1. A 3-kg object undergoes an acceleration given by:

m
a⃗ =2 i^ +5 ^j 2
s
a. Find the resultant force acting on the object.
b. Find the magnitude of the resultant force.
5 m
2. An electron of mass 9.11 × 10−31 kg has an initial speed of 3 ×10 . It travels
s
5 m
in a straight line, and its speed increases to 7 ×10 in a distance of 5 cm.
s
(Assume constant acceleration)
a. Determine the magnitude of the force exerted on the electron.
3. Three forces acting on an object are given by:
F 1=−2 i+2 ^ ^j N
F 2=5 i−3^ ^j N
F 3=−45 i^ N
m
The object experiences an acceleration of magnitude 3.75 2 .
s
a. What is the direction of the acceleration?
b. What is the mass of the object?
c. If the object is initially at rest, what is its speed after 10 s ?
m
4. An object of mass m=1 kg is observed to have an acceleration of a⃗ =10 in a
s2
F 2=5 N is acting on the object directed
direction 60 ° east of north. A force ⃗
north. Determine the magnitude and direction of the other horizontal force
F 1 acting on the object.
⃗

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