Essential University Physics

Fourth Edition, Global Edition

Chapter 4
Force and Motion

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Learning Outcomes
4.1 Articulate the Newtonian paradigm
that it’s about change in motion.
4.2 List Newton’s three laws of motion.
4.3 Solve problems using Newton’s
second law.
4.4 Name the fundamental forces.
4.5 Describe quantitatively how gravity
acts on objects.
4.6 Distinguish apparent weight from
actual weight.
4.7 Identify Newton’s third-law force
pairs and find their values.
4.8 Determine the force exerted by
springs.
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The Wrong Question
• What causes motion? That’s the wrong question!
– Aristotle believed that it took a force—a push or pull—to
keep something moving. This view prevailed for some 2000
years.
• The right question: Why does motion change?
– Galileo and Newton discovered the correct relation between
force and motion: Force is only needed to cause the motion
of an object to change!
– The Aristotelian view: In the absence of a force, an object
will stop moving.
– The Newtonian view: In the absence of a force, the motion
of an object does not change.

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Force

• Force causes change in motion.

• Force is a vector, having both magnitude and direction.
The magnitude of a force can be measured using a spring
scale.

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Newton’s First Law of Motion
• Newton’s first law of motion: A body in uniform motion
remains in uniform motion, and a body at rest remains at
rest, unless acted on by a nonzero net force.
• Uniform motion is motion at a
constant speed in a straight line.
• The first law maintains that
uniform motion is a natural state,
requiring no explanation.
• Net force is the vector sum of all
forces that act on a given object.

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Newton’s First Law of Motion: Got It?
• A curved barrier lies on a horizontal tabletop, as shown. A
ball rolls along the barrier and the barrier exerts a force
that guides the ball in its curved path. After the ball leaves
the barrier, which path does it follow?

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Conceptual Example
A school bus comes to a sudden stop, and all of the
backpacks on the floor start to slide forward. What force
causes them to do that?

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Inertial Reference Frames

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Mass
Mass is the measure of inertia of an object, sometimes
understood as the quantity of matter in the object.

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Newton’s Second Law
• Newton’s second law tells quantitatively how force changes an
object’s “quantity of motion:”
– Newton defined “quantity of motion,” now called momentum, as
the product of an object’s mass and velocity:
𝑝⃗ = 𝑚𝑣⃗
– Newton’s second law equates the rate of change of momentum to
the net force on an object:
𝑑 𝑝⃗
⃗
𝐹!"# =
𝑑𝑡
– When mass is constant, Newton’s second law becomes:
𝑑 𝑚𝑣⃗ 𝑑 𝑣⃗
𝐹⃗!"# = =𝑚 = 𝑚𝑎⃗
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡
– The force required to accelerate a 1-kg mass at the rate of
1 m/s2 is defined to be 1 newton (N).
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Example
What average net force is required to bring a 1500-kg car to
rest from a speed of 100 km/h within a distance of 55 m?

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Mass, Inertia, and Force
• If we solve the second law for the acceleration, we find that
! !
a = F /m
showing that a given force is less effective in changing the motion of a
more massive object:
– The mass m that appears in Newton’s
laws is thus a measure of an object’s
inertia and determines the object’s
response to a given force.
• From Newton’s second law for a force of
magnitude F,
F = mknownaknown , F = munknownaunknown
we get
munknown a
= known
mknown aunknown
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The Fundamental Forces
• Physicists now recognize three fundamental forces:
– Gravity
– The strong force
– The electroweak force
• All common forces fall under these three
categories:
– Nearly all everyday forces, except gravity,
are electromagnetic forces—one aspect
of the electroweak force.
• Historically, more forces were once regarded as fundamental but were
later understood to be related.
• A goal of physics is to unify all forces in a “Theory of Everything.”

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The Force of Gravity: Mass and Weight
• Weight is the force of gravity on an object. Since all
objects in free fall, fall with a downward acceleration 𝑔,
⃗
we can infer the weight of a mass m using Newton’s
second law:
– Mass does not depend on the presence or strength
of gravity:
𝑤 = 𝑚𝑔⃗
• Weight depends on gravity so varies with location:
– Weight is different on different planets.
!
– Near Earth’s surface, g has magnitude of 9.8 m/s2
or 9.8 N/kg and is directed downward.
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Mass and Weight

An equal-arm balance
determines the mass of a
body (such as an apple) by
comparing its weight to a
known weight.
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Weightlessness
• All objects experience the same gravitational
acceleration, regardless of mass.
– Therefore, objects in free fall—under the
influence of gravity alone—appear
“weightless” because they share a common
accelerated motion.
– This effect is noticeable in orbiting
spacecraft:
▪ because the absence of air resistance
means gravity is the only force acting.
▪ because the apparent weightlessness
continues indefinitely since the orbit
never intersects Earth.

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Using Newton’s Second Law: The
Free-Body Diagram
• The free-body diagram is an important tool for solving problems
involving the second law:
– Identify the object of interest and the forces acting on it.
– Represent the object as a dot.
– Draw the vectors for only those forces acting on the object,
with their tails starting on the dot.

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Solving Problems with Newton’s
Second Law

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Example
• A 740-kg elevator accelerates upward at 1.1m/s2 , pulled by a cable of
negligible mass. Find the tension force in the cable:
– INTERPRET: The object of interest is the elevator; the forces are gravity
and the cable tension.
– DEVELOP: Newton’s law reads:
! ! ! !
Fnet = T + Fg = ma
– EVALUATE: In a coordinate system with y-
axis upward, Newton’s law reads:
Ty + Fgy = may
Solving gives
T = m(ay + g ) = 8.1 kN
– ASSESS: Does it make sense? Look at some special cases.
▪ When a = 0, T = mg and the cable tension balances gravity.
▪ When T = 0, a = −g and the elevator falls freely.
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Example
A small mass m hangs from a thin string and can swing like a pendulum.
You attach it above the window of your car as shown. What angle does
the string make (a) when the car accelerates at a constant a = 1.20 m/s2,
and (b) when the car moves at constant velocity, v = 90 km/h?

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Newton’s Third Law

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Newton’s Third Law
• The third law tells us forces come in pairs:
– If object A exerts a force on object B,
then object B exerts an oppositely
directed force of equal magnitude on A.
– Obsolete language: “For every action
there is an equal but opposite reaction.”
– Important point: The two forces always
act on different objects; therefore, they
can’t cancel each other.
• Example:
!
– Hand pushes on a book with a force FAB .
– Third law states that the
! book! must push
on hand with a force FBA = -FAB .
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Newton’s Third Law

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Example
On a frictionless horizontal surface, you push with force 𝐹⃗ on
a book of mass m1 that in turn pushes on a book of mass m2.
What force does the second book exert on the first?

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Normal Force

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Measuring Force: Spring Forces (1 of 2)
• A stretched or compressed spring usually produces a force
proportional to the stretch or compression from its
equilibrium configuration. In equation form, we have:
Fs = -kx
• This equation is known
as Hooke’s law.
• The spring force is a
restoring force because
its direction is opposite to
that of the stretch or
compression.

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Measuring Force: Spring Forces (2 of 2)
• We can attach a calibrated scale to an ideal spring (one that
obeys Hooke’s law) to measure force.
• In particular, a spring scale can be used to measure the weight
of an object that hangs from the scale in equilibrium:
– Caution: When a scale is used to accelerate an attached
mass, it can read more or less than the correct weight of
the hanging mass!

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Example
An elevator and its load have a combined mass of 800 kg (see Figure).
The elevator is initially moving downward at 10.0 m/s; it slows to a stop
with constant acceleration in a distance of 25.0 m. What is the tension T
in the supporting cable while the elevator is being brought to rest?

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Example
A 65-kg woman descends in an elevator that briefly accelerates at 0.20g
downward. She stands on a scale that reads in kg. (a) During this
acceleration, what is her weight and what does the scale read? (b) What
does the scale read when the elevator descends at a constant speed of
2.0 m/s?

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Example
Figure shows an air-track glider with mass m1 moving on a level,
frictionless air track in the physics lab. The glider is connected to a lab
weight with mass m2 by a light, flexible, non-stretching string that passes
over a stationary, frictionless pulley. Find the acceleration of each body
and the tension in the string.

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Summary
• In Newtonian physics, force—a push or pull—causes change in motion,
not motion itself.
• Newton’s three laws are as follows:
– First law: A body in motion remains in uniform motion, and a body
at rest remains at rest, unless acted on by a nonzero net force. This
law is implicit in Newton’s second law.
– Second law: The rate at which a body’s momentum changes is
equal to the net force acting on the body:
! ! !
dp !
Fnet = ; for constant mass, Fnet = ma
dt
– Third law: If object A exerts a force on object B, then object B
exerts an oppositely directed force of equal magnitude on A.
! !
• An object’s weight is the force that gravity exerts on it: w = mg
• Springs are convenient force-measuring devices. For an ideal spring,
Hooke’s lab applies: Fs = -kx
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