Chapter 2 ::

Forces and Motion

“If I have seen further it is by standing on the
shoulders of Giants.”
― Isaac Newton
 Who is correct
Aristotle:
- Force causes velocity
- Heavier bodies fall faster than lighter ones
- Force was necessary to keep an object
moving

Who is correct
Newton:
- Force causes acceleration
- Heavier bodies fall at the same speed
as the lighter ones
- Force was necessary to cause
a change in the motion of an object
Aristotle:
- Force causes velocity (any Counter example?)

Newton:
- Force causes acceleration/ change of motion

! Newton’s first Law of Motion: every object will remain at rest or

move at a constant speed unless there is a net force
 Aristotle:
- Heavier bodies fall faster than lighter ones

Newton:
- Heavier bodies fall at the same speed as the lighter ones

! Newton’s 2nd Law of Motion:

(where the force and acceleration are in the same direction)
 Forces and Acceleration
! Newton’s 2nd Law of Motion:
(where the force and acceleration are in the same direction)

This ‘feels’ right: if we doubled the force, we double the rate at which it accelerates.
Similarly, if we have an object of twice the mass, we’d require twice the force to make it
accelerate at the same rate.

A child has a mass of 50kg. What is

A car of 2000kg has a driving force of 800N the gravitational force acting on the
and forces of 200N resisting its motion. child? (i.e. its weight)
Determine its acceleration.
Acceleration under gravity is ms-2.
𝑎 Fro Preference: Use
double arrow to indicate
direction (and value if
?
200 2000kg 800 known) of acceleration. ! Weight
Fro Preference: Put mass of
particle inside circle/square.
? A falling sheep of mass 70kg experiences air
resistance of 300 N. Determine the sheep’s
acceleration as it plummets towards the ground.
ms-2
300
70kg
?
70 𝑔
Modelling assumption: no friction
2A
 Force Diagrams and Common Forces
The reaction force of the
plane on the block (i.e.
We consider the forces acting on each
resisting the block sinking
into the plane)
𝑅 object one at a time.

Force pulling the block. When

Resistances to
motion, in this
𝐹 𝑃 a string/cable is involved, this
is tension .
Recall that we often
model an object as a
case the friction particle, i.e. a point with
between the
negligible dimensions.
block and the
plane.
𝑊 The weight of the block.

! Newton’s 1st Law of Motion states than an object at rest will stay at rest and
that an object moving with constant velocity will remain at that velocity unless
an unbalanced force acts on the object.

In other words, if the object is not accelerating, the forces are balanced in every direction,
e.g. forces up = forces down and forces left = forces right.

! The ‘resultant force’ is 40 𝑁

the overall force acting on 35 𝑁
the object. An object will
accelerate in the direction 30 𝑁 30 𝑁
of the resultant force.
5𝑁
Quickfire Examples

5𝑁
? 𝑁
𝑅 ( ↑ ) : 5 −5=0 ? Resultant
3𝑁 𝑃𝑁 𝑅 ( → ) : ( 𝑃 ?− 3 ) 𝑁 ( 𝑃 −3 ) 𝑁
Force
5𝑁
4𝑁
𝑅 ( ↑ ) : 4 −6=−
? 2𝑁 ? Resultant
We’ll worry about the

7𝑁 2𝑁 𝑅 ( → ) :5 −7=−
? 2𝑁
magnitude of this
Force
3𝑁 force in a sec…

6𝑁
Combining with equations
Since involves both force and acceleration, it allows us to connect calculations
involving forces with a calculations involving values.

A body of mass 5kg is pulled along a rough horizontal table by a horizontal

force of magnitude 20N against a constant friction force of magnitude 4N.
Given that the body is initially at rest, find:
(a) the acceleration of the body
(b) the distance travelled by the body in the first 4 seconds

𝑎 a
ms-2 ?
? Diagram
4 5 kg 20 b
m
?
2B
weight & motion due to gravity
weight:
A gravitational force of attraction on an object, caused by the
presence of a massive second object, such as the Earth or Moon.

Gravitational force = (G * m1 * m2) / d^2.

- Where G is the gravitational constant, m1 and m2 are the
masses of the bodies, and d is the distance between them.

Gravitational acceleration is weaker at higher altitudes. In this

book, we assume g is 10
weight & motion due to gravity
end of chapter
End of chapter
2A

simultaneous equation
weight & motion due to gravity
2C
2C
Normal contact force and vertical motion
If there is no contact with another object

The reaction force balances the weight and

keeps the object equilibrium
HW: A research question
Is reaction force always perpendicular to the plane?

- No, depends on how we define the term. The reaction force is the sum of
normal force and horizontal friction, both of which do not exist individually in
and of themselves

- Yes, it has another name contact force,. When two objects are pushed
together, there is a force on each other due to the contact. This is the contact,
and it can, in principle, point in any direction into the other surface.

Write your
opinion for
HW
Normal contact force and vertical motion
When you stand on a scale in an elevator, the scale measures the normal force exerted by
the scale on you, which corresponds to your weight as perceived in that specific situation
( at rest/moving up/moving down).
Normal contact force and vertical motion

Assumption:
if there is no normal force, two objects lose conctact
the plane will never bend or break
Normal contact force and equilibrium
F
10N What is the reaction
𝑅 force ？

𝑊30·𝑁
Normal contact force and vertical motion
Connected Particles
Up to now we’ve only considered one particle at a time.
When we have multiple connected objects moving in the same direction, they can
be considered as a single particle:

[Textbook] Two particles, and , of masses 5kg and 3kg respectively, are connected by a light inextensible string.
Particle is pulled by a horizontal force of magnitude 40N along a rough horizontal plane. Particle experiences a
frictional force of 10N and particle experiences a frictional force of 6N.
(a) Find the acceleration of the particles.
(b) Find the tension in the string.
(c) Explain how the modelling assumptions that the string is light and inextensible have been used.

a If we considered the two particles as

𝑅1 𝑎 𝑅2 one, we can ignore the tensions (they
cancel as they are in opposite
𝑄 𝑇? 𝑇 𝑃 40 𝑁 directions):
3kg Diagram
5kg
6𝑁 10 𝑁 ms-2

?
3𝑔 𝑁 5𝑔 𝑁 If we considered them as separate
particles (not recommended):
Key Point 1: The tension in a given Key Point 2: Recall that is used for
piece of string is the same in any the ‘reaction’ force, acting At
part of the string (at a given time). perpendicular to the plane. The At
The tension acts away from each reaction forces may be different for
particle in the direction of the string. and , so we used and . Adding the equations to eliminate :
as before.
Connected Particles
[Textbook] Two particles, and , of masses 5kg and 3kg respectively, are connected by a light inextensible string.
Particle is pulled by a horizontal force of magnitude 40N along a rough horizontal plane. Particle experiences a
frictional force of 10N and particle experiences a frictional force of 6N.
(a) Find the acceleration of the particles.
(b) Find the tension in the string.
(c) Explain how the modelling assumptions that the string is light and inextensible have been used.

b For :
N ?
𝑅1 𝑎 𝑅2 c Inextensible acceleration of objects
the same
𝑄 𝑇 𝑇 𝑃 40 𝑁
3kg 5kg Light tension is the same throughout
6𝑁 10 𝑁 ?
the length of the string and the mass
of the string is negligible
3𝑔 𝑁 5𝑔 𝑁
Newton’s 3rd Law
! Newton’s 3rd Law: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Therefore when two bodies and are in contact, if body exerts a force on body ,
then body exerts a force on body that is equal in magnitude and acts in the
opposite direction. Confusion I had as a student: “If
the opposite is equal but opposite,
[Textbook] A light scale-pan is attached to a vertical light inextensible string. surely the object can’t move?”
The scale-pan carries two masses and . The mass of is 400g and the mass of Solution: The forces are acting on
is 600g. rests on top of , as shown in the diagram. different objects!
The scale-pan is raised vertically, using the string, with acceleration 0.5 ms-2.
(a) Find the tension in the string.
(b) Find the force exerted on mass by mass .
(c) Find the force exerted on mass by the scale-pan.

b By Newton’s 3rd Law, we force exerted on by is the same as

that exerted on by . So considering forces at :
a
Considering the whole system
𝑅
(i.e. the triangle):
ms -2 𝐴 ?SoN force exerted on by is
𝑇 0.4 kg
𝐴 4.1N downwards.

0.4 kg
N ? 0. 4𝑔
kg Fro Tip: When you have objects stacked on top of each other,
you would typically resolve forces on the top object, and the
0.6 kg
𝐵 1𝑔
two objects combined. It’s too complicated to consider forces
on the bottom object in isolation. We can use Newton’s 3 rd Law
to reverse “force of on ” to “force of on ” and vice versa.
Test Your Understanding
Edexcel M1 May 2013 Q2

?
Pulleys
A pulley is a wheel on which a rope/string/cable passes.
For the purposes of Mechanics Year 1, the two particles hanging either side will
either be horizontal or vertical.
[Textbook] Particles and , of masses and , are attached to the ends of a light
inextensible string. The string passes over a small smooth fixed pulley and the
Why can’t we just model both particles masses hang with the string taut. The system is released from rest.
as a single particle as before? (a) Write down an equation of motion for and for .
The particles are moving in different (b) Find the acceleration of each mass.

?
directions, so the tensions do not
cancel.
(c) Find the tension in the string.
(d) Find the force exerted on the pulley by the string.
(e) Find the distance moved by in the first 4 s, assuming that does not reach
the pulley.
Under what conditions is the tension in
each part of the string the same? a For , : (1)
Single piece of string and smooth 𝐹 For , : (2) ?
pulley. ? b Adding equations:
𝑇 𝑇 ms-2 ?
𝑎 ? 𝑇𝑎 c
Substituting back into (1):
Remember that tension acts
Diagram
N
?
Force exerted on pulley by string:
away from each object in the
𝑇 3𝑚
2𝑚 3 𝑚𝑔 d N
direction of the string. This
includes the pulley!
2 𝑚𝑔
?
Ensure that you add the m (3sf)
direction of acceleration at e
each moving particle, and
resolve forces in this direction.
?
 Horizontal and vertical string
𝑅 [Textbook] Two particles and of masses 0.4kg and 0.8kg respectively are
𝑎 connected by a light inextensible string. Particle lies on a rough horizontal
table 4.5m from a small smooth pulley which is fixed at the edge of the table.
𝐴 𝑇 𝑇 The string passes over the pulley and hangs freely, with the string taut, 0.5m
0.08 𝑔 0.4𝑘𝑔 𝑇 above horizontal ground. A frictional force of magnitude 0.08g opposes the

? 𝑎
motion of particle . The system is released from rest. Find:
(a) The acceleration of the system
0. 4𝑔
Diagram (b) The time taken for to reach the ground
𝑇 (c) The total distance travelled by before it first comes to rest.
𝐵
0.8𝑘𝑔 a For , ,
For , ,
(1)
(2)
0.8 𝑔 Adding: ?
b
?
Strategy for (c): c First find speed of when it hits ground:
1. This is a ‘two-time period’ problem, in this case
(i) before hits ground and (ii) after. Consider how ms-1.
the forces change in the second period after has hit
the floor: the string becomes slack so there is no
This becomes the initial velocity of as we consider the period after
hits the ground.
tension. We will need to recalculate acceleration.
2. Remember that applies across a period of time. ?
String then becomes slack so only force acting on :
The final velocity of in the first period will become
the initial velocity in the second.
hits ground.
start moving.
𝑢=0 𝑠=0 . 5 𝑣 →𝑢𝑠=? comes to rest.
𝑣 =0 m (2sf)
Time Total distance: m (2sf)