Newton’s Law of Motion

Isaac Newton, a 17th century scientist, put forth a variety of laws that explain why objects move
(or don't move) as they do. These three laws have become known as Newton's three laws of
motion.

Newton's first law of motion is often stated as:

“An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and
in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.”

Two Clauses and a Condition

The behavior of all objects can be described by saying that
objects tend to "keep on doing what they're doing" (unless
acted upon by an unbalanced force). If at rest, they will
continue in this same state of rest. If in motion with an
eastward velocity of 5 m/s, they will continue in this same
state of motion (5 m/s, East).

It is the natural tendency of objects to resist changes in their state of motion. This tendency to
resist changes in their state of motion is described as inertia.

Forces Don't Keep Objects Moving

Newton's 1ST law of motion declares that a force is not needed to
keep an object in motion. Slide a book across a table and watch
it slide to a rest position. The book in motion on the table top
does not come to a rest position because of the absence of a force;
rather it is the presence of a force: friction - that brings the book
to a rest position. In the absence of a force of friction, the book
would continue in motion with the same speed and direction.

Mass as a Measure of the Amount of Inertia

All objects resist changes in their state of motion. The tendency of an object to resist changes in
its state of motion varies with mass. Mass is that quantity that is solely dependent upon the
inertia of an object. The more inertia that an object has, the more mass that it has. A more
massive object has a greater tendency to resist changes in its state of motion.

State of Motion
Inertia is the tendency of an object to resist changes in its state of motion. The state of motion of
an object is defined by its velocity - the speed with a direction. Thus, inertia could be redefined
as follows: Inertia: tendency of an object to resist changes in its velocity.

As learned in an earlier unit, an object that is not changing its velocity is said to have an
acceleration of 0 m/s/s. Thus, we could provide an alternative means of defining inertia:
Inertia: tendency of an object to resist acceleration.

BALANCED AND UNBALANCED FORCES

Consider a physics book at rest on a tabletop. There are
two forces acting upon the book. One force - the Earth's
gravitational pull - exerts a downward force. The other
force - the push of the table on the book (normal force) -
pushes upward on the book.

Consider another example

involving balanced forces - a
person standing on the floor. There are two forces acting upon the
person. The force of gravity exerts a downward force. The floor exerts an
upward force. Since these two forces are of equal magnitude and in opposite directions, they
balance each other. The person is at equilibrium. There is no unbalanced force acting upon the
person and thus the person maintains its state of motion.

Unbalanced Forces
Now, consider a book sliding from left to right
across a tabletop. The force of gravity pulling
downward and the force of the table pushing
upwards on the book are of equal magnitude and
opposite directions. These two forces balance each
other. Yet there is no force present to balance the
force of friction. As the book moves to the right,
friction acts to the left to slow the book down. There
is an unbalanced force; and as such, the book
changes its state of motion. The book is not at
equilibrium and subsequently accelerates. Unbalanced forces cause accelerations. In this case,
the unbalanced force is directed opposite the book's motion and will cause it to slow down.

The Meaning of Force

A force is a push or pull upon an object resulting from the object's interaction with another
object. Whenever there is an interaction between two objects, there is a force upon each of the
objects. When the interaction ceases, the two objects no longer experience the force.
Forces only exist as a result of an interaction.

Contact versus Action-at-a-Distance Forces

All forces (interactions) between objects can be placed into two broad categories:
1. Contact Forces
 are those types of forces that result when the two interacting objects are perceived to be
physically contacting each other. Examples of contact forces include frictional forces,
tensional forces, normal forces, air resistance forces, and applied forces. 

2. Action-at-a-distance
 are those types of forces that result even when the two interacting objects are not in
physical contact with each other, yet are able to exert a push or pull despite their
physical separation.
 Examples of action-at-a-distance forces include gravitational forces. For example, the sun
and planets exert a gravitational pull on each other despite their large spatial separation.
Even when your feet leave the earth and you are no longer in physical contact with the
earth, there is a gravitational pull between you and the Earth.
 Magnetic forces are action-at-a-distance forces. For example, two magnets can exert a
magnetic pull on each other even when separated by a distance of a few centimeters. 
 Examples of contact and action-at-distance forces are listed in the table below.
Contact Forces Action-at-a-Distance Forces
Frictional Force
Gravitational Force
Tension Force
Normal Force
Electrical Force
Air Resistance Force
Applied Force
Magnetic Force
Spring Force

The Newton
Force is a quantity that is measured using the standard metric unit known as the Newton. A
Newton is abbreviated by an "N." To say "10.0 N" means 10.0 Newton of force. One Newton is
the amount of force required to give a 1-kg mass an acceleration of 1 m/s/s. Thus, the following
unit equivalency can be stated:
1 Newton = 1 kg • m/s2
Force as a Vector Quantity
A force is a vector quantity. Because a force is a vector that has a
direction, it is common to represent forces using diagrams in which a
force is represented by an arrow. The size of the arrow is reflective of the magnitude of the
force and the direction of the arrow reveals the direction that the force is acting. (Such diagrams
are known as free-body diagrams and are to be discussed later in this lesson.) Because forces are
vectors, the effect of an individual force upon an object is often canceled by the effect of another
force. For example, the effect of a 20-Newton upward force acting upon a book is  canceled by
the effect of a 20-Newton downward force acting upon the book. In such instances, it is said that
the two individual forces balance each other; there would be no unbalanced force acting upon
the book.

Other situations could be two of the individual vector forces

cancel each other ("balance"), yet a third individual force exists
that is not balanced by another force. For example, imagine a book
sliding across the rough surface of a table from left to right. The
downward force of gravity and the upward force of the table
supporting the book act in opposite directions and thus balance
each other. However, the force of friction acts leftwards, and there
is no rightward force to balance it. In this case, an unbalanced
force acts upon the book to change its state of motion.
Types of Forces
There are a variety of types of forces. Previously in this lesson, a variety of force types were
placed into two broad category headings based on whether the force resulted from the contact
or non-contact of the two interacting objects. Now, we are to discuss some of them as tabulated:
Type of Description of Force
Force and
Symbol
 is a force that is applied to an object by a person or another
Applied
object.
Force
 If a person is pushing a desk across the room, then there is an
applied force acting upon the object. The applied force is the
(Fapp)
force exerted on the desk by the person.
 is the force with which the earth, moon, or other massively
large object attracts another object towards itself.
Gravity
 This is the weight of the object. All objects upon earth
Force
experience a force of gravity that is directed "downward"
 
towards the center of the earth. The force of gravity on earth is
(also
always equal to the weight of the object as found by the
known as
equation:
Weight =
Fgrav = m * g
Fgrav)
where g = 9.8 N/kg (on Earth)
and m = mass (in kg)
 is the support force exerted upon an object that is in contact
with another stable object.
 For example, if a book is resting upon a surface, then the surface is
Normal
exerting an upward force upon the book to support the weight of the
Force book.
 On occasions, a normal force is exerted horizontally between
Fnorm two objects that are in contact with each other. For instance, if a
person leans against a wall, the wall pushes horizontally on the
person
Friction  is the force exerted by a surface as an object moves across it or
Force makes an effort to move across it.
 There are at least two types of friction force - sliding and static
Ffrict friction.
 often opposes the motion of an object.
 For example, if a book slides across the surface of a desk, then
the desk exerts a friction force in the opposite direction of its
motion.
 Friction results from the two surfaces being pressed together
closely, causing intermolecular attractive forces between
 molecules of different surfaces. As such, friction depends upon
the nature of the two surfaces and upon the degree to which
they are pressed together. The maximum amount of friction
force that a surface can exert upon an object can be calculated
using the formula below:
Ffrict = µ • Fnorm
 is a special type of frictional force that acts upon objects as they
travel through the air.
Air
 is often observed to oppose the motion of an object.
Resistance
 is frequently be neglected due to its negligible magnitude
Force
(and since it is mathematically difficult to predict its value).
 It is most noticeable for objects that travel at high speeds (e.g., a
Fair
skydiver or a downhill skier) or for objects with large surface
areas.
 is the force that is transmitted through a string, rope, cable, or
Tension
wire when it is pulled tight by forces acting from opposite
Force
ends.
 is directed along the length of the wire and pulls equally on the
Ftens
objects on the opposite ends of the wire.
 is the force exerted by a compressed or stretched spring upon
any object that is attached to it. An object that compresses or
Spring stretches a spring is always acted upon by a force that restores
Force the object to its rest or equilibrium position.
 For most springs (specifically, for those that are said to obey
Fspring "Hooke's Law"), the magnitude of the force is directly
proportional to the amount of stretch or compression of the
spring.

Sliding vs. Static Friction

There are two types of friction force - static friction and sliding friction.
Sliding friction
 results when an object slides across a surface.
 Consider pushing a box across a floor. The floor surface offers resistance to the movement
of the box. We often say that the floor exerts a friction force upon the box. This is an
example of a sliding friction force since it results from the sliding motion of the box.

Static Friction
 results when the surfaces of two objects are at rest relative to one another and a force exists
on one of the objects to set it into motion relative to the other object.
 Suppose you were to push with 5-N of force on a large box to move it across the floor. The
box might remain in place. A static friction force exists between the surfaces of the floor
and the box to prevent the box from being set into motion. The static friction force balances
the force that you exert on the box such that the stationary box remains at rest.

FREE-BODY DIAGRAMS
Free body diagram
 is a special example of the vector diagrams used to show the
relative magnitude and direction of all forces acting upon an
object in a given situation.
 The size of the arrow in a free-body diagram reflects the
magnitude of the force. The direction of the arrow shows the
direction that the force is acting. Each force arrow in the diagram
is labeled to indicate the exact type of force.
 It is generally customary in a free-body diagram to represent the object by a box and to draw the
force arrow from the center of the box outward in the direction that the force is acting.
 This example of a free-body diagram depicts four forces acting upon the object. Objects
do not necessarily always have four forces acting upon them. There will be cases in which
the number of forces depicted by a free-body diagram will be one, two, or three.

Guidelines in Constructing a Free Body Diagram

 The main rule for drawing free-body diagrams is to depict all the forces that exist for that
object in the given situation.
 To construct free-body diagrams, it is extremely important to know the various types of forces.
If given a description of a physical situation, begin by using your understanding of the force
types to identify which forces are present.
 Then determine the direction in which each force is acting.
 Finally, draw a box and add arrows for each existing force in the appropriate direction;
label each force arrow according to its type. If necessary, refer to the list of forces and their
description in order to understand the various force types and their appropriate symbols.
 Samples of FBD for certain scenarios are provided:

A flying squirrel is gliding

An egg is free-falling from a (no wing flaps) from a tree
A book is at rest on a
nest in a tree. Neglect air to the ground at constant
tabletop. 
resistance.  velocity. Consider air
resistance.

A rightward force is applied

A gymnast holding onto a
to a book in order to move it
bar, is suspended motionless A car is coasting to the right
across a desk with a
in mid-air. The bar is and slowing down. Neglect
rightward acceleration.
supported by two ropes that air resistance. 
Consider frictional
attach to the ceiling.
forces. Neglect air resistance. 

Determining the Net Force

In the statement of Newton's first law, the unbalanced force refers to that force that does not
become completely balanced (or canceled) by the other individual forces. If either all the vertical
forces (up and down) do not cancel each other and/or all horizontal forces do not cancel each
other, then an unbalanced force exists.

The existence of an unbalanced force for a given situation can be quickly realized by looking at
the free-body diagram. Free-body diagrams for three situations are shown below. Note that the
actual magnitudes of the individual forces are indicated on the diagram.

In each of the above situations, there is an unbalanced

force. It is commonly said that in each situation there is a net
force acting upon the object. The net force is the vector sum
of all the forces that act upon an object. That is to say, the net
force is the sum of all the forces, taking into account the
fact that a force is a vector and two forces of equal magnitude and opposite direction will cancel
each other out. At this point, the rules for summing vectors (such as force vectors) will be kept
relatively simple. Observe the following examples of summing two forces:

Observe in the diagrams above that a downward vector will provide a partial or full
cancellation of an upward vector. And a leftward vector will provide a partial or full
cancellation of a rightward vector. The addition of force vectors can be done in the same
manner in order to determine the net force (i.e., the vector sum of all the individual forces).
Consider the three situations below in which the net force is determined by summing the
individual force vectors that are acting upon the objects.