FORCE AND LAWS OF MOTION

Force:

It is the force that enables us to do any work. To do anything, either we pull or push the object.
Therefore, pull or a push is called force. Or it can be defined as something that can change the
size, shape, and volume, state of rest, motion or direction.

Effect of Force:
a) Force can make a stationary body in motion. For example a football can be set to move by
kicking it, i.e. by applying a force.

b) Force can stop a moving body: For example by applying brakes, a running cycle or a running
vehicle can be stopped.

c) Force can change the direction of a moving object. For example; By applying force, i.e. by
moving handle the direction of a running bicycle can be changed. Similarly by moving
steering the direction of a running vehicle is changed.

d) Force can change the speed of a moving body: By accelerating, the speed of a running
vehicle can be increased or by applying brakes the speed of a running vehicle can be
decreased.

e) Force can change the shape and size of an object. For example: By hammering, a block of
metal can be turned into a thin sheet. By hammering a stone can be broken into pieces.

Balanced Forces

If the resultant of all forces acting on a body is zero then the forces are called balanced forces.


To understand this concept, consider an object rests on a surface such as a block on the table
as shown below in the figure 1. Weight of the block is balanced by the reaction force from the
table. The table pushes up against the block.
 So the weight of a block lying on a table is balanced by the reaction force from the table top
  If the forces on an object are balanced (or if there are no forces acting on it) than the object
that is not moving stays still and the object that is moving continues to move at the same
speed and in the same direction.
Although balanced forces cannot produce motion in a stationary body or stop a moving body but they
can however change the shape of the body.

Unbalanced Forces

If the resultant forces acting on a body is not zero the forces are called unbalanced forces.

 To understand this consider the figure 2 which shows a block on a horizontal table and two
strings X and Y are tied to the two opposite faces of the block.
 Let us now pull the block using this string in two different directions such that two opposite
forces of different magnitudes acts on the block.
 Since two forces acting on the block are of different magnitude the block would begin to
move in the direction of the greater force.
 Thus, the two forces acting on the block are not balanced and the unbalanced force acts in the
direction the block moves.
 So unbalanced forces can move a stationary body and they can stop a moving body.

 The size of the overall force acting on an object is called the resultant force. If the forces are
balanced, this is zero. In the example above, the resultant force is the difference between the two
forces F1 and F2, which is 120 - 60 = 60 N.

 The force that opposes the relative motion between the surfaces of two objects in contact and acts
along the surfaces in contact is called the force of friction or simply friction

 Unbalanced forces can do the following:

 Move a stationary object.
 Increase the speed of a moving object.
 Decrease the speed of a moving object.
 Stop a moving object.
 Change the shape and size of an object.
Laws of motion

 Newton gave three laws of motion that describe the motion of bodies. These laws are known
as Newton's Laws of motion.
 They describe the relationship between the forces acting on a body and its motion due to those
forces.
Newton's First Law of motion
 The first law of motion is stated as:
An object remains in a state of rest or of uniform motion in a straight line unless compelled to
change that state by an applied force.
Inertia
All objects resist a change in their state of motion. The tendency of undisturbed objects whether they
are at rest or moving with uniform velocity is called inertia. Hence, the first law of motion is also
known as the law of inertia. Inertia is of three types:
a) Inertia of rest: The tendency of an object to continue its state of rest
b) Inertia of motion: The tendency of an object to continue its state of motion
c) Inertia of direction: The tendency of an object to continue the same direction
 Greater the inertia of the body greater will be the force required to bring the change in the
state of rest or uniform motion of the body.
 Mass is the measure of the inertia of the body so heavier objects have more inertia then lighter
objects. For example a ball of 2Kg has more inertia then a football and it takes more effort to
kick a 2Kg ball then it takes to kick a football.
 Another example is even a small child can push a toy car. However, an adult also can't push a
loaded vehicle forward.
 Newton's first law of motion gives us a definition of force. It says that
Force is something that changes or tends to change the state of rest or uniform motion of a
body
Momentum

The impact produced by moving objects depends on both their mass and velocity. So, there appears to
exist some quantity of importance that combines the object's mass and its velocity called momentum
and was introduced by Newton. Momentum can be defined as "mass in motion". All objects have
mass; so if an object is moving, then it has momentum - it has its mass in motion.

 The momentum, p of an object is defined as the product of its mass, m and velocity, v. That
is, (1)
 Momentum has both direction and magnitude so it is a vector quantity. Its direction is the
same as that of velocity, v.
 The SI unit of momentum is kilogram-meter per second (kg m s-1).
 From our daily life experiences like during the game of table tennis if the ball hits a player it
does not hurt him. On the other hand, when a fast moving cricket ball hits a spectator, it may
hurt him.
 Since the application of an unbalanced force brings a change in the velocity of the object, it is
therefore clear that a force also produces a change of momentum.
  When the object moves then it gains momentum as the velocity increases. Hence greater the
velocity greater is the momentum.
Second Law of motion

Newton's second law of motion gives the relationship between the force and acceleration. The second
law of motion states that the rate of change of momentum of an object is proportional to the applied
unbalanced force in the direction of force. So, Newton's second law of motion can be expressed as

Suppose an object of mass, m is moving along a straight line with an initial velocity, u. It is
uniformly accelerated to velocity, v in time, t by the application of a constant force, F throughout the
time, t.
The initial and final momentum of the object will be, p1 = mu and p2 = mv respectively.
Now change in momentum would be

Now force applied is proportional to rate of change of momentum. So,

where, a =(v-u)/t is the acceleration which is the rate of change of velocity. The quantity, k is a
constant of proportionality
 The unit of force is chosen in such a way that the value of the constant, k becomes one.
-2
 For this, one unit of force is defined as the amount that produces an acceleration of 1 ms in
an object of 1 kg mass. That is,
1 unit of force = k × (1 kg) × (1 m s-2). Thus, the value of k becomes 1.
From Eq. 2 F = ma (3)
-2
 The unit of force is kgms or Newton, which has the symbol N.
 The second law of motion gives us a method to measure the force acting on an object as a
product of its mass and acceleration.
Deduction of first law of motion From second law
From second law of motion, F= ma
 F = m( )
 If there is no unbalanced force acting on the object; F = 0;
  Then m( )=0
 v–u=0
 v=u
This shows that every object will continue its state of rest or uniform motion along a straight line
unless compelled by an external unbalanced force.

Third Law of motion

Newton's third law of motion states that, Whenever a body exerts a force on another body, the second
body exerts an equal and opposite force on the first body
So according to third law of motion to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
This tells us that all forces in nature acts in pairs.
 These two forces are always equal in magnitude but opposite in direction.
 These forces act on different objects and never on the same object.
Few applications of third law of motion are
a. If you throw a heavy ball or block away from your body, the force exerted will push
back on you, possibly pushing you backward onto the ground.
b. A book lying on a table exerts a force on the table which is equal to the weight of the
book (action force). The table supports the book, by exerting an equal force on the
book (reaction). As the system is at rest, net force on it is zero. Therefore, forces of
action and reaction must be equal and opposite.
c. When a gun is fired, the bullet moves forward (action). The gun recoils backwards
Law of conservation of momentum
According to law of conservation of momentum, When two or more bodies acts upon each other their
total momentum remains constant provided no external forces are acting on them. So, Momentum is
never created or destroyed.
When this law is applied for a collision between two bodies, the total momentum of the colliding
bodies before collision is equal to the total momentum after collision.
 Consider two particles say A and B of mass m1 and m2 collide with each other and forces
acting on these particles are only the ones they exert on each other. Let u1 and v1 be the initial
and final velocities of particle A and similarly, u2 and v2for particle B. Let the two particles be
in contact for a time t.
So, Change in momentum of A=m1 (v1-u1)
Change in momentum of B=m2 (v2-u2)
During the collision, let A impart an average force equal to FBA on B and let B exert an
average FAB on A. We know that from third law of motion FBA=-FAB
 canceling t on both sides and rearranging the equation we get
m1u1+m2u2=m1v1+m2v2 (1)
Now, m1u1+m2u2 represents the total momentum of particles A and B before collision
and m1v1+m2v2 represents the total momentum of particles after collision. This means
that Total momentum before collision=total momentum after collision
 Equation 1 which m1u1+m2u2=m1v1+m2v2, is known as the law of conservation of
momentum.
 Thus we conclude that when two particles are subjected only to their mutual interactions, the
sum of the momentums of the bodies remains constant in time or we can say the total
momentum of the two particles does not change because of the any mutual interactions
between them.
 For any kind of force between two particles then sum of the momentum, both before and after
the action of force should be equal i.e. total momentum remains constant.
 The total momentum of two or any number of particles of interacting particles is constant if
they are isolated from outside influences (or no resultant external forces is acting on the
particles).

Facts about Conservation Laws

 They are considered as the fundamental laws in physics.
 They are based on observations and experiments.
 They cannot be proved but can be verified or disproved with the help of experiments.
 A single experiment is enough to disprove a law, while a single experiment is not enough to
prove the same.
 It requires a large number of experiments to prove the law.
 The law of conservation of momentum was formulated 300 years ago.
 There is no single situation present until now that disproves this law.
 Other laws of conservation are – law of conservation of energy, the law of conservation of
angular momentum, the law of conservation of charge.

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