NEWTON’S LAWS

OF MOTION
P R E PA R E D B Y S . A S H E R
 OBJECTIVES

• Students should be able to:

• Define Newton’s law of motion
• Explain Terminal Velocity and air.
A LITTLE HISTORY

• The Greek philosopher Aristotle (384 – 322 BC) believed that inanimate objects did not move
by themselves but were always set in motion by something else from outside – what we would
now call a force. If you push a book sideways on a table it moves. If you stop pushing, it stops.
The harder you push the faster it moves. Observations like these led Aristotle to conclude that
the velocity of an object is proportional to the force that makes it move. Aristotle thought that v
. But this idea does not explain why, for example when you throw or roll a ball it goes on
moving after you stop pushing it.
• Almost 2000 years later, Newton, the 17th century mathematician and scientist, described how
objects moved using three laws – commonly referred to as Newton’s laws of motion.
FORCE AND ACCELERATION 

• Newton's first law 

• Friction and air resistance cause a car to come to rest when the engine is switched off. If these
forces were absent we believe that a body, once set in motion, would go on moving forever
with a constant speed in a straight line. That is, force is not needed to keep a body moving with
uniform velocity provided that no opposing forces act on it
• This idea was proposed by Galileo and is summed up in Newton’s first law of motion: 
• A body stays at rest, or if moving it continues to move with uniform velocity, unless an
external force makes it behave differently.
FORCE AND ACCELERATION 

• It seems that the question we should ask about a

moving body is not ‘what keeps it moving’ but ‘what
changes or stops its motion’. 
• The smaller the external forces opposing a moving
body, the smaller is the force needed to keep it moving
with uniform velocity. An ‘airboard’, which is
supported by a cushion of air, can skim across the
ground with little frictional opposition, so that
relatively little power is needed to maintain motion.
MASS AND INERTIA

• Newton’s first law is another way of saying that all matter has a built-in opposition to being
moved if it is at rest or, if it is moving, to having its motion changed. This property of matter is
called inertia (from the Latin word for laziness)
• Its effect is evident on the occupants of a car that stops suddenly; they lurch forwards in an
attempt to continue moving, and this is why seat belts are needed. The reluctance of a
stationary object to move can be shown by placing a large coin on a piece of card on your
finger. If the card is flicked sharply the coin stays where it is while the card flies off.
MASS AND INERTIA 

• The larger the mass of a body, the greater is its inertia, i.e. the more difficult it is to move it
when at rest and to stop it when in motion. Because of this we consider that the mass of a body
measures its inertia. 
WEIGHT AND GRAVITY

• The weight W of a body is the force of gravity acting on it which gives it an acceleration g
when it is falling freely near the Earth’s surface. If the body has mass m, then W can be
calculated from F = ma. We put F = W and a = g to give
• W = mg
• Taking g = 9.8 m/s2 and m = 1 kg, this gives W = 9.8 N, i.e. a body of mass 1 kg has weight
9.8 N, or near enough 10 N. Similarly a body of mass 2 kg has weight of about 20 N, and so
on. While the mass of a body is always the same, its weight varies depending on the value of g.
On the Moon the acceleration of free fall is only about 1.6 m/s2, and so a mass of 1 kg has a
weight of just 1.6 N there
WEIGHT AND GRAVITY

• The weight of a body is directly proportional to its mass, which explains why g is the same for
all bodies. The greater the mass of a body, the greater is the force of gravity on it but it does
not accelerate faster when falling because of its greater inertia (i.e. its greater resistance to
acceleration).
NEWTON'S SECOND LAW 

• We know that force is equal to mass times acceleration where: F = ma.

• This formula represents newton's second law of motion.
• This is Newton’s second law of motion. When using it two points should be noted. First, F is
the resultant (or unbalanced) force causing the acceleration a. Second, F must be in newtons, m
in kilograms and (a) in metres per second squared, otherwise k is not 1. 
• The law shows that (a) will be largest when F is large and m small
• You should now appreciate that when the forces acting on a body do not balance there is a net
(resultant) force which causes a change of motion, i.e. the body accelerates or decelerates. If
the forces balance, there is no change in the motion of the body. However, there may be a
change of shape, in which case internal forces in the body (i.e. forces between neighbouring
atoms) balance the external forces.
 MOMENTUM AND IMPULSE 

• The extent of damage to two colliding cars depend on 

– The masses of the cars 
– The velocities of the cars 
A 10 tonne truck travelling  at 10m/s may cause greater damage than the same truck travelling at 5m/s. A
car travelling at 20m/s may cause greater damage than the truck travelling at 1m./s.
Momentum is that  physical quantity which takes into account both the mass of an object and its velocity. 
Linear Momentum (p) of an object is the product of the mass (m) of the object and its velocity (v).
Momentum is measured in kgm/s.
P = mv 
 MOMENTUM AND IMPULSE 

• Momentum is a vector quantity.  It is fully described by both direction and magnitude.

• Example
• An object of mass 4kg is travelling due east at 5m/s , another object of mass 2kg is travelling
due west at 3m/s. What is the momentum of each object.
• Solution 
• Let us assign the direction due east as positive, Then the direction due west as negative.
 MOMENTUM AND IMPULSE 

• Momentum of the 4kg car = 4kg x 5m/s = 20kgm/s

• Momentum of 2kg car = 2kg x 3m/s  = 6kgm/s
• Remember that an object with momentum can be stopped if a force is applied against it, for
some time. Recall further that an unbalanced force always changes velocity of an object. If the
velocity as changed, then so too is momentum. 
• So there is a connection between force and change in momentum
• Looking at the equations:
• ΣF = m x a  = m x Δv/ t 
• = Σ F x t = m x Δv
• The product Σ F x t is known as impulse symbol (I) 
 MOMENTUM AND IMPULSE 

• Implulse = change in momentum 

• We call this the impulse- momentum change equation. 
• In collisions, the objects experience an impulse. Impulse is equal to a change in momentum.
• From the impulse – momentum change equation we can see that 
–  The longer the time over which a collision occurs, the smaller the force which acts on the object
involved 
– To increase the effect of the force on an object involved in a collision, the time must be decreased.
IMPACT FORCES ( NEWTON'S SECOND
LAW REVISITED)
• Forces which result from changes in momentum are known as impact forces.
• Impact forces are greatest when the duration of the impact is short. 
• Impact forces occur when one object strikes another; for example, when a footballer kicks a
football or when a gymnist falls on a trampoline.
• Consider an object of mass m moving initially with a velocity v1 
• Let a retarding force act on the object such that , after t seconds its velocity reduces to v2 .
• Then the initial momentum of the object = m x v1 and the momentum of the object after t
seconds = m x v2 
 IMPACT FORCES ( NEWTON'S
SECOND LAW REVISITED)
• The change in momentum during this time = m x v2 – m x v1 
• = m(v2 – v1)
• The rate of change of momentum = change in momentum/ t
• = m(v2 – V1) / t 
• = mass x the rate of change of velocity
• = mass x acceleration 
• = force 
• So force is equal to the rate of change of momentum. This is an
alternative statement to Newton's second law. 
 IMPACT FORCES ( NEWTON'S
SECOND LAW REVISITED)
• Example 
• An object of mass 10kg , initially travelling at 20 m/s, is acted upon by a force which reduces its
velocity to 5m/s in 5 seconds.
• Determine:
• The decelleration of an object
• The average force acting on it 
• The initial momentum of the object 
• The momentum after 5 seconds 
• The rate of change of momentum of the object.
 IMPACT FORCES ( NEWTON'S
SECOND LAW REVISITED)
• Solution
• A) v 2 – v1 /t    =  5 – 20 / 5 = -3m/s2 
• B) F = ma  = 10 x (-3) = -30N 
• C) p1 = mv1 = 10 x 20m/s = 200kgm/s
• D) p2 = mv2 = 10 x 5m/s = 50kgm/s
• E) rate of change of momentum 
• = 50 – 200 / 5 (kgm/s /s) = -30 kgm/s2 
• = -30N
• Note the answer for b is the same as the answer for e .  
 THE CONSERVATION OF LINEAR
MOMENTUM
• Provided that the vector sum of the external forces acting on a system is zero (I.e Σ F = 0), the
total linear momentum of that system remains constant during collisions. This is a statement of
the principle of conservation of linear momentum.
Momentum before collision = momentum after collision
• Consider the head on collision between two objects X and Y
• Objects moving to the right are assigned positive velocities (velocity is a vector quantitiy) , Objects
moving to the left are assigned negative velocities 
• Momenta before collision ΣPb = mxvx – myvy
• Momenta after collision ΣPa = - mxvx + myvy
• Since momentum is conserved ,  ΣPb = ΣPa and mxvx – myvy = - mxv'x + myv'y
• This is a mathematical statement of the principle of conservation of momentum as ot a[plies to
the system of the figure above.
MOMENTUM AND COLLISIONS 

• Collisions play a central role in many areas of physics. Collisions may be head – on as in the
figure we spoke of above or glancing as in the image below 
MOMENTUM AND COLLISIONS 

• Collisions may be elastic or inelastic 

• Elastic: momentum conserved, kinetic energy conserved and total energy conserved.
• In elastic collisions, the relative velocity before equals the relative velocity after collision.
Particles approach at a given speed and, after collision, they recede with the velocity vector
having the same magnitude but opposite sign. 
• (v1 – v2) = -(v1 – v2)
• The collision of two billuard balls may be taken as elastic. During this collision there is no
deformation of the particles (the balls) and there is no loss of kinettic energy. 
• Inelastic : Momentum conserved, kinetic energy not conserved , total energy conserved.
MOMENTUM AND COLLISIONS 

• Example 
• A bullet is fired into a stationary block of wood mounted on wheels. The bullet becomes
embedded in the block. Block plus bullet moves off ina forward direction with velocity v. (This
is an example of an inelastic collision). Derive an expression for the velocity of the bullet vb. 
• Momentum before collision = mb x vb + 0 
• Momentum after collision = (mb + mt) x v 
• Mb x Vb = (mb + mt) x v ( conservation of momentum) 
• Therefore: Vb = V(Mb + Mt) / Mb 
 PRACTICAL SITUATIONS INVOLVING
IMPULSE AND MOMENTUM
• As you work through the examples below remember that the force which an object experiences
during a collision depends:
• Inversely on the collision time that is  F α 1/ t;
• Directly on the velocity change during collision, I.e. F α Δv,
• The operating equation is 
• Force x time = momentum change 
• = mass x velocity change 
 PRACTICAL SITUATIONS
INVOLVING IMPULSE AND MOMENTUM
• 1. Riding the Punch 
• A boxer throws a jab at the head of his opponent, who relaxes his neck and allows his head to
move backwards on impact.
• This action minimizes the effect (force) of te jab by extending the impact time. The bigger
the impact time, the smaller the effect of the jab. 
• 2. the use of air bags may increase collision time by a factor of about 100. This means that the
impact force is reduced to one-hundredth of its value as compared to a collision in a car
without air bags.
 PRACTICAL SITUATIONS
INVOLVING IMPULSE AND MOMENTUM
• 3. The follow through in sports such as cricket and lawn tennis 
• How hard the ball is struck depends on the force imparted by the batsman or player but a good
follow- through plays an important role. It ensures that the ball leaves the bat or racket with a
greater velocity because the contact time is increase
NEWTON'S THIRD LAW 

• Newtons third law states that to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. 
• This is a statement of Newton's most famous law. 
• A fish hanging on a spring balance exerts a downward force, equal to its weight W, on the balance. The
balance pulls the fish upwards with a force R, equal but opposite to W . W is an action force and R is a
reaction force.
• There is a pair of forces actin gon any two interacting objects. The magnitude of the force on the
first object equals the magnitude of the force on the second. The direction of the force on the first object
is opposite the direction of the force on the second object.
• Newtons  third law could be restated as follows 
• Forces exist in pairs - equal and opposite action – reaction pairs
NEWTON'S THIRD LAW 

• Blast off – how do rockets work?

• If you tape a balloon to a straw which can slide along a string, blow it up and then let it go, the
balloon moves along the string. When you let go, air escapes from the balloon through the
narrow neck. The backwards moving air stream produces an action force. The reaction force
drives the balloon forwards.
• In a conventional rocket, cold liquid oxygen and cold liquid hydrogen are fed into a
combustion chamber where they are ignited. The heat produced cause the gases to expand
rapidly. The hot gases are forced out the exhaust nozzle at very high speeds, creating an action
force. The corresponding reaction force lifts the rocket off the launch pad. 
NEWTON'S THIRD LAW 

• The mass of gases which exit each second from the exhaist nozzle may be small but the
exhaust gases come out at very high speeds. The rate of change of momentum  (Newton's
second law) in this situation is quite signifcant and so is the resulatnt force. The rocket is
propelled at high speed. 
NEWTON'S THIRD LAW 

• An appreciation of the third law and the effect of friction is desirable when stepping from a
rowing boat. You push backwards on the boat and, although the boat pushes you forwards with
an equal force, it is itself now moving backwards (because friction with the water is slight).
This reduces your forwards motion by the same amount – so you may fall in!