Malvern College; formerly

Q-Ievel Physics Project

d material for modern
orswere closely associ ted
n ~hysics Project and thus
of its spirit. These books are
. al sense, nor do they give
that pupils will be carrying
they show the relevance and
rid of the. principles studied

--

--------

------------

---------

- ---

----

---

----

--------

I
E

r---

LONGMAN PHYSICS TOPICS

General Editor: John L. Lewis

[MASS IN MOTION [
Jim Jardine
Head of the Physics Department
George Watson's College, Edinburgh
formerly Scottish Team, Nuffield Physics Project

Illustrated by Geoffrey Salter

25mm

E
E

CD
N

--

---------

~~-

LONGMAN

GROUP LIMITED

I ANSWERS

London
Associated

companies,

branches and representatives

throughout

~~~-----I

the world

Longman Group Ltd 1970

A II rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system
or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording
or otherwise - without the prior permission of
the copyright owner.

First published

1970

ISBN 0 582 32202 2

Printed in Great Britain by

Butler and Tanner Ltd, Frome and London

~"-

~~
,:,

The author and publisher are grateful to the following for permission to reproduce copyright photographs:
front cover Ford
Motor Company Limited; back cover Picturepoint Limited; page
4 Teltron Limited; page 5 (left) Dr. Harold E. Edgerton,
Massachusetts
Institute of Technology;
page 5 (right) Stanley
Rosenthal, Syndication International;
page 6 ICI; page 7 (above)
British Nylon Spinners Limited and G. Q. Parachute Company
Limited; page 7 (below) Dunlop Company Limited; page 8 (above)
British Hovercraft
Corporation
Limited; page 8 (below left)
Associated Press Limited; pages 8 (below right) and 24 (above)
Esso Petroleum Company Limited; page 9 National Physical
Laboratory, Hovercraft Laboratory (Crown copyright reserved);
page 10 UKAEA; page 13 (above left) Philip Harris Limited; page
14 (left) Smiths Industries Limited; page 14 (right) John Emery,
Glenalmond;
page 14 (below) Venner Limited; page 15 Panax
Equipment
Limited; page 17 Morris Laboratory
Instruments
Limited; page 18 (left) Strobe Automation
Limited; page 19
(above) BBC; pages 19 (below), 22, 23, 24 (below), 26 (below), 27,
34 (right), 35, 36 (left), 44, 49,50 and 51 Heinemann Educational
Books Limited, from Jardine Physics is Fun 1,2,3; pages 30, 33,
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and 37 Kodansha Limited, from Colour Slides of Physical Phenomena, distributed in the UK by Philip Harris Limited; page 26
(above) British Leyland Corporation Limited; page45 USIS: page
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Weare particularly grateful to Heinemann Educational Books
Limited and to Kodansha Limited for their cooperation.

~-~---

c:

...-

~-"---..---~~---

--

----

,--

[,use the increase in speed is the same during

of change of speed (acceleration) is constant.

rest the speed is directly proportional to the

the speed is not proportional to the distance
ver, proportional
to the distance travelled

NOTE
TO THE
)TEACHER

the images are equally spaced out.

Ilmselves have the same time intervals between
uld be taken of the white second hand of a
the strobe lamp could be used to view a
tr second, or a flywheel rotating at a steady
be 'frozen' if the strobe lamp frequency were

two dimensions, this photograph shows that

tie to m~ve at ~ constant speed in a straight
lorce acting on It.
exerting

a greater force

which produces

times the acceleration produced by one elastic

ird of that of the single trolley.

rduces acceleration of I ml s?
If

If

If

rt

If

/I

3 ml s?
Fmls?

f5 ml. s?

E ml s?

n be attached by Sellotape to the end of the

.sured. A graph of frequency against mass can
ached to the end of the blade and the vibration
be found from the graph. You may like to try
lass (m) and also T' against m.

end on the Earth's

This book is one in the series of Physics background books

intended primarily for use with the Nuffield O-level Physics
Project. Most of the team of writers who have contributed
to the series were associated with that project. It was
always intended that the Nuffield teachers' materials
should be accompanied
by background books for pupils
to read, and a number of such books are being produced
under the Foundation's
auspices. This series is intended
as a supplement to the Nuffield materials - not books
giving the answers to all the investigations pupils will be
doing in the laboratory, certainly not textbooks in the conventional sense, but books, easy to read and copiously
illustrated,
which show how the principles studied in
school are applied in the outside world.
The books are such that they can be used with conventional courses as well as with the new programmes.
Whatever course the pupils are following, they often need
straightforward
books to help clarify their knowledge,
sometimes to help them catch up on any topic they missed
in their school course. It is hoped that this series will meet
that need.
This background
series will provide suitable material
for reading in homework. This volume is divided into
sections, and a teacher may feel that one section at a time
is suitable for each homework session.

gravitational

pull.

This

I CONTENTS;

Forces
Measuring motion
Newton's first and second laws
Inertia
Projectiles
Explosions and collisions
Summary
Answers to questions in the text

4
14
22
30
34

44
59
61

FORCES

To start a ball rolling you throw it or kick it. In each case

you are exertingaforce on the ball. To make it change
direction you can head.the ball.
Again you are exerting a force on the ball. When you
catch a cricket ball you stop its motion by exerting a
force on it.

IANSWERSI
2

3
u
4

Sli

h:
he
b.

a
y
5.
a:
e\

st

6.\
pi;
CL

a
7.
8.

In all the above cases forces are being used to change

the motion of a ball. Does the ball exert a force on you in
each case?' (NB: the answer to this and to the other
numbered questions in this book will befound on pp. 61-4.)

In the tube illustrated here, electrons are given off by a

hot filament and speeded up by an electric force. The beam
is then bent by a magnetic force produced by two large
coils.
Of course it is possible to exert a force on something
without moving it. You can lean against a wall, squeeze a
rubber ball or twist a piece of plasticine, but even then
part of the object moves with respect to the rest.
The next photograph shows a tennis ball which has been
squashed as it strikes a tennis racket. What is the important
difference in the behaviour of rubber and of plasticine after
they have been squashed? 2
4
l

__

- --"'-

fol

iSJ
9.

13

se
0.:
14

---

~--

----------

{hen two bodies interact the

other are equal in magnitude

~g the same law is to say that

in a collision'.

(v - u)
t
v - mu

l.hangeof momentum
[he impulse.
tgtn

in newtons/kilogramme is nump:celeration of gravity g measured

and horizontal

motion are in-

mass m is moving with velocity v

[his is called kinetic energy and its

This photograph shows the titanium boom on the

America's Cup winner Intrepid bent under the action of
tremendous forces. Titanium was chosen since it combines
strength with flexibility.

When a body is stationary, either no forces act on it - an

unlikely state of affairs - or the forces are balanced.
In the diagram left, two balanced forces keep the
television set at rest. If we consider the forces acting
on the linesman's feet in the photograph as a single force,
we can say that he is in equilibrium under the action ofthree
balanced forces. These forces are represented by three
arrows in the diagram. Do you notice anything special about
the directions of these three forces?'

table exerts an upward force on television set

FRICTION
When a car runs out of petrol on a perfectly level road, it
eventually stops. Its motion has been altered. A force, or
forces, must have been acting on the car. What are some of
these forces?'

The following pictures show how motion can be arrested by solid to solid friction in a disc brake (left) or by air
resistance in a parachute.
6

I SUMMARyl
t

high speed film show the motion

.ts a concrete barrier at 60 km/h.
~,singa seat belt! Explain why a
ie injury caused to a passenger

Something to do
Examine the frictional forces between two flat pieces of wood, metal, glass
etc. Can you find more than one way of reducing the friction?
If you can find an old dry wheel bearing (for example, in a bicycle or roller
skate), put a drop of oil on it and see the effect produced.

If forces are necessary to change the shape or motion of

a body, it might be interesting to see what happens if one
of these forces - friction - is reduced.

Something to do
Here is a simple balloon puck you can build at home.
Glue a cork in the centre of the rough side of a piece of hardboard, and then
drill a 3-mm hole through the centre of the cork and board. Fit an inflated
balloon on the cork so that the air escapes through the hole, and place the
puck on a smooth level surface such as a polished table. How does the
puck move when you give it a push?
I

7
I

I FORCES

The photograph shows a hovercraft moving on a

cushion of air. As air friction is very much less than the
friction between solid and solid, or solid and liquid, the
hovercraft's driving engine will not need to exert a large
force to keep it going.

A huge oil storage tank was recently floated on a cushion

of air and then moved 350 metres by a small tractor.

The French Aerotrain is supported and guided by airbearing pads, and is capable of speeds greater than
300 km/h.
If it were possible to reduce the frictional forces completely,
how much force would be needed to keep the Aerotrain
moving?' Can you give an example of a body moving without
frictioni"
8

EXPLOSIONS

AND

COLLISIONS

total product Ft is often called

r, simply, the impulse.
.mentum will require a certain
lained from a large force acting
a small force acting for a long
cricket ball while keeping your
rill last for a short time and the
lielarge and painful! If, however,
rh the ball, the impulse will take
ed will be smaller. The product
~ch case, since it is equal to the
lhe ball which finishes at rest in
from a wall to the ground, you
ID)rehitti~g the ground which is
mlse. This change would happen
gs rigid, so that the force would
\~7ou usually bend your legs when
i; of the impulse is long and the
fhe impulse would be the same
;S straight or bent.
rr to knock a nail into a plank of
entum of the hammer takes place
large force is exerted on the nail.
plank were resting on a piece of
r as being hammered?"
applies his brakes his car comes
force acts for a long time. In a
.h greater force acts for a short
l
rnge of momentum (area under
Ie same.
laboratory at Crowthorne, cars
ire concrete block to investigate
and passengers. Dummies are
nd without safety belts.
I.

FORCES I

FIELD

FORCES

If we are going to think of a force as something which

changes shape or motion, we will have to admit that some
forces act through empty space. For example, you can
push a trolley without touching it, using two horse-shoe
magnets as shown.

This photograph shows a vehicle propelled by a linear

motor which depends for its operation
on powerful
electromagnetic
forces.
9

You have no doubt charged a plastic rod or pen and

used it to repel or attract other rods or to pick up pieces of
paper. The diagram left shows the dome of a Van de
Graaff generator attracting soap bubbles. The much
bigger Van de Graaff generator in the photograph is used
by nuclear physicists to accelerate atomic particles. In
each case electric forces are exerted.

EXPLOSIONS
AND
COLLISIONS

- --

Very carefully designed experiments have shown that

there is another force which always tends to draw all bits
of matter together-gravitational
attraction. The experiment illustrated above can be used to measure this force.
The heavier the bits of matter are, the greater is the attraction; and the nearer they are together, the greater is the
attraction. As this force is extremely small, a very fine
suspension wire is essential.
The force between the adjacent spheres is measured by
the twist of the wire. A beam of light reflected from a
small mirror fixed to the suspension wire indicates the
amount of twist.
If the force between two chunks of stone is
F when they are 1 metre apart, it will be
F
"4 when they are 2 metres apart and
F

"9 when they are 3 metres apart

What do you think the force would be if they were 4 metres
apart?' This kind of change of force, with the square of the

distance, is called an 'inverse square law' relationship.

10

time

) _ mv - mu

It is this force which holds you on the Earth's surface and

causes things to fall. As in the case of magnetic force and
electric force, this gravitational force acts through empty
space. These three forces are sometimes calledfieldforces,
and we refer to the regions in which the forces act as
magnetic fields, electric fields and gravitational
fields.
Gravitational
force differs from the other two in that it
is always a force of attraction and never of repulsion.

FORCES

I-

e change in momentum
Ict Ft is numerically

equal to the

It stops accelerating

and moves
will be no unbalanced force on
,ng machine show?" What will it
and comes to rest ?43
Ijourney in the lift. Suppose it is
!;celerates upward for 4 seconds,
dy speed for 6 seconds, then
and finally comes to rest. Supor 400 newtons. A graph of the
I(;!eighing machine, measured in
Tin here.

MEASURING

FORCES

Science is concerned with measurement. Lord

said that unless you can measure something
the result in numbers you have not advanced
of science. To study forces, then, we must find
measuring them.

Kelvin once
and express
to the stage
some way of

Adding forces
3ady speed

When several forces (e.g. weights) act side by side, the

combined force is the sum of these forces.

rest

F-

decelerati ng
I
1
I
1
1
1

I
I
1
I
I
I

U~ _.....J....._--'--_.....L..8

10

12

14

1---'-_--J..._---'-......
I

16

18

20

time (seconds)
I

ed force acting on you during the

r' look

like this.

10 N

time .(seconds)

w;: 1

30N

11
----------

I FORCES

If one spring stretched by a certain amount supports

a weight W, then two identical springs stretched by the
same amount will support 2 W, and so on.

Instead of springs we might use a number of identical

elastic bands each, say, 10 centimetres long. One way
of defining a unit of force might be to say that one unit of
force is needed to stretch one band until it was 15 centimetres long. Here we are using the idea that forces change
the shape of a body.

F=3

units _.

--t-E~=~~:~j
-F=3

units

If two such bands were placed side by side, two units of

force would then be needed to stretch both bands to 15
centimetres. Three bands side by side would exert three
units of force when stretched to 15 centimetres and so on.
A number of identical elastic bands could therefore be
used to calibrate a spring in 'units of force'. In this way
a simple spring balance could be constructed.
12

EXPLOSIONS

AND
COLLISIONS

.;is a vector quantity.

--

----

----

You must

e pucks after the collision into

rectionandat right angles to it.

40

r photograph of an atomic col\d a stationary particle. What can

l these

part ides

?41

ration of momentum and mass/

can interpret bubble chamber
t illustrated below. Many new
-ered in this way.

Some examples of commercial spring balances, calibrated in newtons, are shown in the photographs. It is important to remember that spring balances measure force
even if they are calibrated in mass units such as kilogrammes.
About 1660 the British scientist Robert Hooke discovered that, when a spring was stretched, the increase in
length was related to the force in a simple way. Twice the
force produced twice the increase in length, three times the
force produced three times the increase in length, and so
on. We could say that the increase in length of the spring
is directly proportional to the force applied. This statement
is known as Hooke's Law.
There is, however, a limit to Hooke's Law. When do you
think it ceases to be true?"
Something to do
See how the strength of an elastic band varies with the force applied to it.
Does it behave in the way described by Hooke's Law?

13

MEASURING
MOTION

The measurement of motion is much more difficult than

the measurement of force, since it involves speed (distance per unit time) and direction. Even if we restrict
our present studies to the measurement of motion in a
straight line, we still have to measure the distance travelled
in a particular time interval. If it were always possible to
fit a speedometer to the object we were studying, measuring speed would be simplified. This can be done with cars
and even with expensive trolleys but it becomes rather
more difficult when dealing with bouncing balls or atomic
particles!

EXPLOSIONS
AND
COLLISIONS

Fortunately there are several techniques which enable

us to measure small time intervals fairly accurately, and
from these speed can be deduced. Here are some of them.

s'l

14
L

----

MEASURING
MOTION

---

----

STOP

CLOCKS

As hand-operated
stop
measuring intervals ofless
operated clocks such as
p. 14 or the scaler shown

watches are not suitable for

than a second, we use electricallythe one illustrated at the foot of
below.

vehicles of different masses and

.s collide. They then move apart
;:er mechanism enables us to take
0f the straws (attached to the
the collision.
1

eriment are shown in the above

to measure the four speeds and
momentum before and after the
fiomentum is a vector quantity and
1m into account. 39

The scaler has a 1000 Hz oscillator which operates a set of

dials. If it runs for one second the dials read 1000, and
so we can use this clock to read time intervals accurately
to one thousandth of a second. If we operate any of these
devices ourselves (e.g. by pressing a switch at the beginning
and end of a certain interval of time) the result obtained is
not very accurate, as our own reactions are quite slow.
The time between our seeing an event and responding to
it by pressing the switch is called our reaction time.
Something to do
.Devise an experiment to measure your reaction time, using a stop watch or
other timing device.

15

MEASURING
MOTION

EXPLOSIONS

AND
COLLISIONS
l

JJI

f]
]I

Fortunately automatic methods of timing which do not

involve human reaction time can be arranged. This
diagram shows a method of using the scaler as an electronic clock to find the speed of a trolley. When the card,
which is 10 centimetres long, interrupts a beam of light,
the clock is switched on. The clock then runs until the
card passes out of the beam of light.
If the clock reads 50 milliseconds, the trolley has
travelled 10 centimetres in 50 milliseconds, which is 20
centimetres in 100 milliseconds (O.ls) and therefore 200
centimetres in 1 second.
Its average speed is therefore 2 metres/ second. Why
do we say average speed?"

~I

16

caused by a large mass moving

ss moving very quickly. Notice
tainless steel plate exposed out8) orbiting 400 kilometres above
was caused by a 10-7 g microout 20 km/s.
ige caused by a car crashing into
r./h, engineers at Cornell Aero.:ieda vehicle on to a horizontally

MEASURING
MOTION

The diagram at the foot of p. 16 shows the scaler being

used as an electronic clock to find the speed of a rifle bullet.
As it shoots through a thin aluminium foil, the bullet
breaks one circuit and starts the clock. After travelling one
metre it breaks another circuit, in a similar way, and stops
the clock.

height must the car be droppedfor

TICKER

TAPE

When a ticker timer is wired to a 50 Hz supply the arm

vibrates up and down fifty times a second. This vibrating
arm is used to mark a paper tape every fiftieth of a second
as it passes through the timer. By measuring the separation
of the dots on the paper tape, the distance it has travelled
every fiftieth of a second can be found. It is often
convenient to find the distance gone in 10 fiftieths of a
second (a 'tentick') and to express the speed in centimetres
per tentick.
0

t
1 tentick

10

11

iI

.~
J

-1

17

~"

"

tape A

We measure the length of 10 gaps between, say, ticks

and 10 or 1 and 11 and not the distance between ticks
1 and 10. What is the time interval between ticks 1 and

10?10

left was moving at the greater speed?'!

B

t
e:

The distance between the dots depends on the speed at

which the tape is moving. Which tape in the diagrams on the
tape

EXPLOSIONS
AND,
COLLISIONS

al

P
t
d

MULTIFLASH

PHOTOGRAPHY

The stroboscopic or multiflash photograph provides

one of the most flexible methods of studying motion. A
lamp which flashes at regular time intervals (left) is used to
illuminate a moving object, and a time-exposure photograph is taken. Alternatively, a camera (below) with a

o
a
a

11'

fi
E::

r',

rotating disc in front of its open shutter can be used to

photograph a fully lit moving object. In each case a series
of photographs is taken at regular time intelvals on the
same negative. When the images are close together the object is moving slowly, and when they are far apart it is moving quickly. Study the next photograph, which was taken in
this way, and see if you can tell when the tennis racket is moving slowly, when it is speeding up and when it is slowing
down. What can you say about the movement of the ball?'?
If we know the time interval between the images, and
from the scale of the photograph can find the distance
travelled, we can calculate the average speed during each
time interval.
18

IF!

L1
L1
-

c
e
nr

.ugh the water as the propeller

posite direction.
iooth level surface and throw some heavy
, happens. Why do you not normally observe
even a much heavier object?
stopper of a plastic bottle, a simple 'rocket'
ith water and pump in air until the cork is
xperiment out of doors!
it into the air with its mouth open. Explain

This toy car was photographed every tenth of a second

.as it moved past a half-metre stick. What, very roughly,
was its average speed?" Was it going at a steady speed all
the time, or was it speeding up or slowing down?"

19

EXPLOSIONS
AND
COLLISIONS

ACCELERATION
Imagine a car starting from rest on a level road. A camera
is set to take a photograph of the speedometer every two
seconds. The above diagrams show the results that, in
certain circumstances, might be obtained.
A graph showing how the speed varies with time is shown,
left. Describe this motion. 15 Why has the graph this shaper!"
time

v=o

t=3s

15

;;
c
0

55

.....

~
(J)

10

a;

~
"0

Q)
Q)

05

2
time

20

(seconds)

A trolley fitted with a speedometer is allowed to run

down an incline and the speed is noted every second. A
graph showing how the speed varies with time is shown
left. Again we have constant acceleration, this time
because of the gravitational force acting on the trolley.
This agrees with the relation v = u + at, when u = O.

part, the product of the mass (m)

is found to be the same.

V=~O

If the
diagram
speed
speed
speed

losions' this product mv is found

n a special name: momentum.
o account, we have
- m'v'
- m' a' t

20

s start from rest and that a is the

together for a short time t
=

30

"0

C
0

-m'a'

ond law (F

speed has been noted every metre as in the

above, we might have had
after travelling 1 metre = 1 m/ s
after travelling 2 metres = 1.4 m/s
after travelling 3 metres = 1.7 m/s

= m a)

shows us that

= -F'
trolleys at any instant are therecsite in direction. This is really a
third law of motion: 'to every
nd opposite reaction'.
a small carbon dioxide cylinder.
of the cylinder in one direction,
rhe trolley, are propelled in the
-lley accelerates, momentum m v
e m a acting on the trolley at any
n size and opposite in direction
carbon dioxide.

~
~'"
Q)

20

C,)
Q)

C,)
Q)

10

Q)

N~

"0

"0

a.

g.

Q)
Q)

Q)
Q)

'"

2
distance (metres)

10

distance (metres)

The left-hand graph shows the average speed plotted

against distance, and the right-hand graph shows the
square of the speed plotted against distance. Which graph
shows direct proportionalityr'? This agrees with the relation
v2 = u2 + 2as, when u = O.
21

_____
J

NEWTON'S
FIRST AND
SECOND
LAWS

Throw a handful of coins into the air. Watch them rising,

spinning, falling, rolling, sliding ... stopping. There are
many forces acting on the coins, but the coins soon come
to rest. Why? All our everyday experiences lead us to the
same conclusion that, left to their own devices, things will
eventually stop moving. It is little wonder, then, that for
centuries it was thought that a force was needed to keep
things moving. Today, of course, we know that a space
ship will travel from the Earth to another planet and that,
once it is a reasonable distance from the Earth, it will move
freely without any force being needed to push it. As the
Earth's gravitational field is acting on everything on the
Earth's surface, we can never observe the motion of a
body on which no forces are acting. So we do the next best
thing and try to balance the forces acting on the body.

In the linear air track, a light plastic vehicle is supported

on a cushion of air in such a way that the weight of the
vehicle is exactly balanced by the force of the air pushing
up on the vehicle. If the force of the air is increased, the
vehicle rises until the two forces are again balanced. If
this air force is reduced, the vehicle falls very slightly so
that the upthrust increases until the two forces again
balance.
22

PROJECTILES

--

t is observed if the gun fires the

.hotographs on pages 40-1 show
d regardless of the speed at which
led the 'monkey and hunter' exmonkey is hanging from a branch
hunter is about to shoot him.
~.;esthe flash of the gun he drops
uonkey and the bullet will both
snce in the same time, so that the
II. the hunter
will not succeed. Of
gun must not have been adjusted
vity into account!

derstand this more clearly if you

!ation taking place in a giant lift.
the very moment the gun is fired
, then the lift and all it contains
rd at approximately
10 metres/
ere in the lift, you would see the
ss the lift and strike the monkey,
,~ing' beside the branch of the tree.
fr outside the lift could watch what
, of course, see the monkey and
the only difference being that the
e falling too!

---~'\

NEWTON'S
FIRST
AND SECOND LAWS

weight of vehicle

force of air

Air jets along the sides of the track produce balanced

sideways forces in a similar way, so that the vehicle is
supported on a cushion of air and is free to move in only
one direction - along the length of the tube. If we ignore
the slight effects caused by air resistance, we can say that
no forces act on the vehicle along the length of the tube.

This is a multiflash photograph of a straw attached to

an air track vehicle. What can you say about the motion of
the vehicle?" What is your reason for saying thisi'? What
assumption have you made about the flasherr'" How would
you check that it is valid?"
The air track vehicle is free to move in only one dimension. If, however, we float a ring magnet on a cushion of
carbon dioxide gas, it is free to move in two dimensions
over the surface of a sheet of glass.
solid CO2

23

NEWTON'S FIRST
AND SECOND LAWS

If the apparatus illustrated above is used to photograph a single puck moving on the plate of glass, the result
is as shown in the next photograph. What additional in-

formation does this photograph give about the motion of a

body when no unbalanced force acts on it?22

The next multi-flash photograph shows the motion of a

ball-bearing when the gravitational force acting on it is
exactly balanced by fluid friction. The constant speed
produced is called the terminal velocity. After falling for
some time a raindrop or a parachute will reach a terminal
velocity because of air resistance.
24

Although it is not possible in a school laboratory to get

rid of the effects of gravity, experiments conducted in
space-craft and free-fall laboratories support the belief
that, when a body is completely free to move in three
dimensions, it will travel. at a constant speed in a straight
line.

have seen, is no respecter of

both ball-bearings, so that after
ve fallen through the same dis.ed in the photograph.
ectromagnet was used to release
at the instant the other left the
'e

Here you can see a day's ration of freeze-dried food

pellets in mid-air during a zero-g flight.
Three hundred years before space travel became a
reality, Isaac Newton was able to say that 'a body will stay
at rest or move with a constant speed. in a straight line
unless an unbalanced force acts on it'. This statement is
Newton's first law of motion.
25

I PROJECTILES

ACCELERATING

A BODY

Here are three cars of similar mass, each with a different

engine. All are capable of travelling at 110 km/h, which is
'the maximum permitted speed on Britishroads. Why th\n do
the manufacturers fit a 76 bhp engine to the Cooper S model
when this speed can be reached with a 38 bhp engine in the
standard Mini?"

1 elastic thread

Acceleration
c

c.g
(f)

co

.~~
:;l

Q)
U
("\jU

co

2 elastic threads

26

and force

Trolley experiments show that if one unit of force (1 elastic

thread) produces a certain acceleration, two units of force
(2 elastic threads) produce twice the acceleration (see the
diagrams). Of course other factors such as mass must
remain the same. If three elastic threads, rather than one,
were used to pull the trolley, how much greater would the
acceleration be?"

.,

NEWTON'S FIRST
AND SECOND LAWS

t
t

t
t

t
f

t
f

This result could be expressed by saying thatthe acceleration of a body is directly proportional to the net (or unbalanced) force acting on it. In other words, double the
force: double the acceleration, and so on.

correct, the speed at which the

rorizontally should not affect the
is is confirmed above, where a
:ontal velocities was used.

c.g
'" ro
.~~
::;J
NU

1 trolley

Q)
U

ro

2 trolleys

Acceleration and mass

Using the same apparatus as before, you find that two
elastic threads produce two units of acceleration when
they pull one trolley. If, however, the same force is exerted
on two trolleys, only one unit of acceleration is produced
Doubling the mass has halved the acceleration.

27

NEWTON'S
FIRST
AND SECOND LAWS

If the same two threads were used to pull three trolleys, how
would the acceleration produced compare with the acceleration of one trolley?"

This result could be expressed by saying that the

acceleration produced by a constant net (or unbalanced)
force is inversely proportional to the mass being accelerated. In other words, double the mass: half the acceleration,
and so on.
The results of the two trolley experiments could be sum:
marised by saying that the acceleration a of a body is
directly proportional to the net force applied F, and is
inversely proportional to the mass m.
"

I.e.

IS

F
m

proportional to -

This is really a statement of Newton's second law of

motion.

THE

NEWTON

The unit of mass is the kilogramme. This is defined as the

mass of a platinum block kept at the International Bureau
of Standards at Sevres near Paris.
The metre is the unit of length and is defined in terms of
a particular wavelength in the spectrum of krypton.
The second is based on the natural frequency of the
caesium atom.
From these three basic SI units, we can now define a
unit of force. It is called appropriately after Sir Isaac
Newton. When an unbalanced (resultant or net) force of
1 newton acts on a mass of 1 kilogramme, the acceleration
produced is 1 metre per second per second.
Use the relationship
the following table."
1 N acting
3N
"
FN
"
FN
"
F N "
28

a is proportional to

.!. to complete
m

on 1 kg produces acceleration of 1 m/ S2
" 1 kg"
"
"
rn/s" 1 kg"
"
"
m/s-

"5 kg"
"m kg"

"
"

"
"

rn/sm/ S2

I PROJECTILES

fl.

n
tr
U

fi
a
b

--

lis time the camera was placed in

.'2eball rolled toward the camera.
t. You will see that this picture
left-hand photograph on p. 34.
vertical motion, in this case the
s'ravity, is not affected by the
lievertical and horizontal move-

NEWTON'S
FIRST
AND SECOND LAWS

--_ ..

"

From the last line of this table you can see that

___
(newtons)
~

(metres/ second" )---or

F =ma

~(kilOgrammes)

of apparatus was used which

horizontally and, at the same
tationary ball-bearing. A multi-

Other systems of units may be used with this relationship, but we shall use only SI units in this book.
One of the best known of all the stories about Newton
tells of the time when he was forced to leave Cambridge
because of the plague and return to his home in Lincolnshire. As he watched an apple fall from a tree one day he
wondered if the same force might not keep the Moon
circling the Earth. Whether or not such an incident really
marked the beginning of Newton's theory of gravitation
is not very important, but the story might help you to
remember that 1 newton is approximately the force
exerted by gravity on an average-sized apple. That is, the
weight of an apple is about 1 newton.
29

------.~'\

INERTIA

In the previous section we discussed how an unbalanced

force applied to a body caused it to accelerate. The amount
of acceleration depended on the mass of the body: a
body of small mass was easy to accelerate; a body oflarge
mass was much more difficult. This property of a body to
resist acceleration - or, of course, deceleration - is often
called its inertia. Scientists sometimes refer to the inertial
mass of a body.
You may have tried pushing various masses on a tray
which was covered with ball bearings to reduce friction.
Applying a small force to each of these masses enabled you
to feel how their inertias differed, that is, how reluctant or
otherwise they were to change their motion. The larger
masses were much more difficult to accelerate. We might
say: a body of low inertia (i.e. small mass) is easy to accelerate: a body of high inertia (i.e. large mass) is difficult to accelerate.

\ PROJECTILES

Oi

gr
re
sp
e;
n:

tire
di:
sh
ab
IS

When one block in a pile of blocks is given a sharp

knock, those above it do not move with it although the
frictional forces acting between the blocks are much
greater than the air resistance. The top four blocks are
'reluctant' to move from their original position. That is,
they have inertia.
30

th:

a ball is dropped it accelerates

oultiflash photograph (left) shows
a ball beside a metre stick. Study
ind then decide which of the follow'all are correct. 32
teadily.
ant.
constant.
each time interval increases by a

Something to do
Try to remove the card shown here so that the coin falls straight down into
the tumbler.

Mass is sometimes defined as 'the amount of matter in a

body'. This is not a very useful definition as it does not tell
us how to measure the mass. If we could easily count the
number of nucleons (that is, the protons and neutrons) in
a substance, we might use this as a measure of mass.
However, we cannot do this. Fortunately the 'amount of
matter' in a body affects the ease with which it can be
accelerated or decelerated, and it is this property of
matter - its inertia - which we use to measure mass. For
this reason the terms 'inertia' and 'mass' are often interchangeable.

ring each time interval increases

tal to the time it has been falling.

val to the distance it has fallen.
:!lto the square root of the distance
try to calculate the acceleration of
h. To do this you will need to know
images. It is 0.033 seconds. 33

saw that the mass of a body does

ill in a gravitational
field. The
rbled on twice the mass, trebled
o on. If we ignore air resistance,
t this section, we can say that all
ir size or mass, accelerate toward
teo

INERTIAL

BALANCE

If you have a device for measuring force F, such as a spring

balance, and a method of calculating acceleration a,
perhaps a ticker timer or strobe photogrph, then you can
use the relationship F = ma or m = 7i to measure the
mass or inertia of the body.
~

Something to do
Here is a simple experiment you might like to try.
Clamp a hacksaw blade to a table leg and fix a lump of plasticine to the
end of it. Find how many to and fro swings there are each second (i.e. the
frequency). If you put a larger lump of plasticine on the end, would you expect
there to be more or less resistance to the change of speed during each to and fro
movement? Would you expect this to increase or decrease the frequency? Try
it and see if your prediction is correct.

In the project above you have built a simple inertial

balance. Can you think how it might be calibrated to enable
you to measure unknown masses?" Would it work just as
well on the moon" or in a space ship in outer spacei/? Does
the operation of this balance depend at all on the pull due to
gravity, or is it independent of it ?30

31

\ INERTIA

(n

is
ti.
ngr

fir
oc

Something to do
This diagram shows an alternative form of inertial balance. Long elastic threads
or springs are attached to a trolley or toy car which is then loaded so that the
total mass is increased. How does the loading affect the to and fro frequency?
How could this be refined to measure mass?

GRAVITATIONAL

N
s'
gi

FIELD

When a mass is in a gravitational field, there is a force

acting on it. This gravitational force is something we are
very familiar with and we call it the weight of the body.
The mass of a body is the same everywhere, but the
weight of the body will depend on the strength of the
gravitational field. As the Moon's gravitational field
has a different strength from that of the Earth, the weight
of a body on the Moon will be different from its weight on
the Earth.

c-

A multiflash photograph of two spheres, one bigger and

heavier than the other, is shown opposite. The acceleration
is clearly the same for the small mass m and the large mass

th
th
of
gr.
gr

In

ace

BL
ar

M. What does this tell you about the size of the force acting on
each sphere

?31

force
f
But acceleration = -= - for one body
mass
m

or M for the other body. As they have the same acceleration, then force/ mass -has the same value for different
bodies in a gravitational field. We use this as a way of
measuring the strength of a gravitational field. In future
we will measure field strength in newtons per kilogramme.
32

I~

--

----

,~

Using g for the gravitational field strength, we have

(newtons/kilogramme)

(newtons)
(kilogrammes)

Thus, at the surface of the Earth where the field strength

is about 9.8 newtons/kilogramme, there will be a gravita
tional force of 9.8 newtons on 1 kilogramme, 2 X 9.8
newtons on 2 kilogrammes, 3 X 9.8 newtons on 3 kilogrammes and so on. Since on the Moon the gravitational
field is about one sixth of its value on the Earth, the force
on each mass will be only one sixth as great.
form of inertial balance. Long elastic threads
or toy car which is then loaded so that the
the loading affect the to and fro frequency?
ire mass?

IELD
svitational field, there is a force
tional force is something we are
ve call it the weight of the body.
is the same everywhere, but the
depend on the strength of the
the Moon's gravitational field
rom that of the Earth, the weight
ill be different from its weight on

Numerical equivalence of gravitational field

strength and acceleration of a falling body
Suppose a body of mass m kilogrammes is put in a
gravitational field whose strength isg newtons/ kilogramme.
The force caused by gravity will be m X g newtons. This is
called the weight of the body.
If a body is released and allowed to fall freely under the
influence of this force, the body will accelerate. This
acceleration is given by

rh of two spheres, one bigger and

l0hownopposite. The acceleration
small mass m and the large mass
about the size of the force acting on

.
force
f
rauon = -= - for one body
mass
m

But as

!...

=-

is also the gravitational field strength g, the

acceleration of gravity must be g metres/second". That is,

the acceleration in m/ S2 has the same numerical value as
the gravitational field strength in N/kg. Thus at the surface
of the earth, where the field strength is 9.8 newtons/kilogramme, the acceleration of a body falling freely under
gravity is 9.8 metres/second".

. As they have the same acceleralas the same value' for different
I field. We use this as a way of
cf a gravitational field. In future
ength in newtons per kilogramme.
33

I PROJECTILESI

You have seen that when a ball is dropped it accelerates

towards the ground. The multiflash photograph (left) shows
a series of images of such a ball beside a metre stick. Study
the photograph carefully, and then decide which of the following statements about the ball are correct. 32
1. Its speed is increasing steadily.
2. Its acceleration is constant.
3. The force acting on it is constant.
4. The distance it drops each time interval increases by a
constant amount.
5. Its average speed during each time interval increases
by a constant amount.
6. Its speed is proportional to the time it has been falling.
7. Its speed is proportional to the distance it has fallen.
8. Its speed is proportional to the square root of the distance
it has fallen.
You might also like to try to calculate the acceleration of
gravity from the photograph. To do this you will need to know
the time interval between images. It is 0.033 seconds. 33

I!I
H
b,

In the last chapter we saw that the mass of a body does

not alter its acceleration in a gravitational field. The
gravitational force is doubled on twice the mass, trebled
on thrice the mass and so on. If we ignore air resistance,
as we will do throughout this section, we can say that all
bodies, regardless of their size or mass, accelerate toward
the Earth at the same rate.

P'
u

'-

5,
H

e[[~

fr,

th
fir

it

t,
b:

YOt
W

g'

34
-

----~-

discussed how an unbalanced

sed it to accelerate. The amount
on the mass of the body: a
sy to accelerate; a body oflarge
cult. This property of a body to
course, deceleration - is often
s sometimes refer to the inertial

I PROJECTILES

Now let us consider what happens when a ball is projected horizontally and then allowed to fall. For example,
we might roll a ball along a table and then allow it to run
off the end. The picture at the foot of p. 34 shows a multiflash photograph of such a ball. It is taken from the side
of the table.

rshing various masses on a tray

call bearings to reduce friction.
ach of these masses enabled you
iiffered, that is, how reluctant or
IUlangetheir motion. The larger
Iifficult to accelerate. We might
(i.e. small mass) is easy to acinertia (i.e. large mass) is dif-

By drawing equally spaced vertical lines on the photograph, you can see that the horizontal speed of the ball
remains constant. That is, it continues to move at the same
speed in its original direction. This is what you might have
expected from Newton's first law of motion, since there is
no horizontal unbalanced force acting on the ball.
So it would appear that the speed of a body in one direction is not affected by a force acting at right angles to that
direction.
This is confirmed by the photograph of the same event
shown below. To take this picture the camera was held
above the table, so that the horizontal velocity of the ball
is shown before and after leaving the table. You can see
that it is constant throughout.
To investigate the vertical motion of the ball a third

pile of blocks is given a sharp

not move with it although the
between the blocks are much
stance. The top four blocks are
their original position. That is,

35
~

~-~~

---

--

-----_._-----------

photograph was taken. This time the camera was placed in

front of the table so that the ball rolled toward the camera.
The result is shown left. You will see that this picture
looks very similar to the left-hand photograph on p. 34.
Does this mean that the vertical motion, in this case the
acceleration caused by gravity, is not affected by the
horizontal motion? Are the vertical and horizontal movements quite independent?
To check this, a piece of apparatus was used which
projected a ball-bearing horizontally and, at the same
time, released a second stationary ball-bearing. A multi-

NEWTON'S
FIRST
AND SECOND LAWS

t
b
sJ

c
IS

r
e:;

36
1--':

ere used to pull three trolleys, how

iuced compare with the acceleraexpressed by saying that the

a constant net (or unbalanced)
nal to the mass being accelerathe mass: half the acceleration,
olley experiments could be sum:
he acceleration a of a body is
.he net force applied F, and is
ihe mass m.

I PROJECTILES

flash photograph of the event is shown here. You can

see by comparing the heights of the ball-bearings at
different times that they fall with the same vertical
acceleration. So the vertical and horizontal motions are
independent.
The grid superimposed on the same photograph makes
this point clear. The horizontal speed is constant, as no
unbalanced force is acting in that direction (Newton's
first law), and the vertical acceleration is constant because
a constant vertical force (gravity) is acting on the ballbearing (Newton's second law).

oportional to F

nt of Newton's second law of

ilogramme. This is defined as the

kept at the International Bureau

ar Paris.
length and is defined in terms of
the spectrum of krypton.
.n the natural frequency of the
c SI units, we can now define a
d appropriately after Sir Isaac
anced (resultant or net) force of
of 1kilogramme, the acceleration
second per second.
is proportional to

.! to complete
m

-es acceleration of 1 m/ S2
"
"
m/s"
"
"
"

"
"

"

m/s?

m/sm/s37

~ROJECTILES

NEWTON'S FIRST
AND SECOND LAWS

If these statements are correct, the speed at which the

ball-bearing is projected horizontally should not affect the
vertical acceleration. This is confirmed above, where a
number of different horizontal velocities was used.

c.g
'" ro
.~~
:;:J Q)
NU

ro

1 trolley

38

[ PROJECTILES

A multiflash photograph of a ball-bearing fired into the

air can be seen here. Which of the following statements about

the ball-bearing are correct ?34

1. Its deceleration as it rises is numerically the same as its
acceleration as it falls.
2. Its vertical motion is independent of its horizontal motion.
3. It is speeding up as it falls.
4. Its horizontal speed is constant.
5. Its vertical speed is constant.
6. At any particular height above the point of projection,
its speed is the same when it is rising as it is when it is falling.

Suppose that in the experiment illustrated on p. 37 the

stationary ball-bearing is released from another point
which is in the direct line of fire of the projected ball. Then,
if there were no gravitational field, the projected ballbearing would strike the stationary one.

'Il

,,
t

.milar mass, each with a different

if travelling at 110 km/h, which is
"peed on British roads. Whythen do
bhp engine to the Cooper S model
rached with a 38 bhp engine in the

w that if one unit of force (1 elastic

lin acceleration, two units of force
ice twice the acceleration (see the
ther factors such as mass must

.'.01

BODY

rce

.'

1111BlIi DII1I

III'! %'I

'.

I!': iii

1!':1II

ze elastic threads, rather than one,

olley, how much greater would the

Iii

"""'"

39

I PROJECTILES

s
t'

Gravity, however, as we have seen, is no respecter of

persons. It acts equally on both ball-bearings, so that after
a given time both will have fallen through the same distance. The result is indicated in the photograph.
In this experiment an electromagnet was used to release
the stationary ball-bearing at the instant the other left the
muzzle.

pe
res
at
un

Ne
40

----

---

-------

rated above is used to photog on the plate of glass, the result

hotograph. What additional in-

srapli give about the motion of a

orce acts on it?22

'otograph shows the motion of a

avitational force acting on it is
d friction. The constant speed
rminal velocity. After falling for
parachute will reach a terminal
.istance.
41

I PROJECTILES

Exactly the same result is observed if the gun fires the

'bullet' at an angle. The photographs on pages 40-1 show
that a direct hit is obtained regardless of the speed at which
the bullet is fired.
This is sometimes called the 'monkey and hunter' experiment. Imagine that a monkey is hanging from a branch
of a tree and sees that a hunter is about to shoot him.
Whenever the monkey sees the flash of the gun he drops
from the branch. The monkey and the bullet will both
have fallen the same distance in the same time, so that the
monkey's attempt to foil the hunter will not succeed. Of
course, the sights of the gun must not have been adjusted
to take the effects of gravity into account!

You can probably understand this more clearly if you

imagine the whole operation taking place in a giant lift.
If the lift rope breaks at the very moment the gun is fired
and the monkey lets go, then the lift and all it contains
will accelerate downward at approximately 10 metres/
second/second. If you were in the lift, you would see the
bullet move straight across the lift and strike the monkey,
which would be still 'hanging' beside the branch of the tree.
If a stationary observer outside the lift could watch what
was going on he would, of course, see the monkey and
bullet falling as before, the only difference being that the
hunter and tree would be falling too!
42

NEWTON'S
FIRST
AND SECOND LAWS

into the air. Watch them rising,

sliding ... stopping. There are
coins, but the coins soon come
Lydayexperiences lead us to the
ro their own devices, things will
is little wonder, then, that for
;iat a force was needed to keep
course, we know that a space
arth to another planet and that,
.nce from the Earth, it will move
iieing needed to push it. As the
is acting on everything on the
never observe the motion of a
ire acting. So we do the next best
the forces acting on the body.

PROJECTILES

"

light plastic vehicle is supported

.ch a way that the weight of the
.d by the force of the air pushing
force of the air is increased, the
o forces are again balanced. If
the vehicle falls very slightly so
.ses until the two forces again
43

EXPLOSIONS
AND

When two trolleys spring apart, the product of the mass (m)
and the speed (v) of each is found to be the same.

COLLISIONS

Because in all similar 'explosions' this product mv is found

to be conserved, it is given a special name: momentum.
If we take direction into account, we have
mv

or m at

- m'v'
- m' a' t

Assuming that the trolleys start from rest and that a is the
acceleration as they react together for a short time t
m a = =m' a'

which from Newton's second law (F = m a) shows us that

F = -F'

The forces acting on the trolleys at any instant are therefore equal in size but opposite in direction. This is really a
statement of Newton's third law of motion: 'to every
action there is an equal and opposite reaction'.
A trolley is propelled by a small carbon dioxide cylinder.
As the gas is forced out of the cylinder in one direction,
the cylinder, and hence the trolley, are propelled in the
other direction. As the trolley accelerates, momentum m v
is conserved, and the force m a acting on the trolley at any
instant is exactly equal in size and opposite in direction
to the force acting on the carbon dioxide.
44

2
distance (metres)

------

---

--

--

-------

------

--

---

EXPLOSIONS

AND

COLLISIONS

The photograph below shows this principle being used

to launch a spacecraft, and in the diagram left, retrorockets are being fired to slow down a capsule before it
enters the Earth's atmosphere.

rest on a level road. A camera

of the speedometer every two
rams show the results that, in
~ht be obtained.
speed varies with time is shown,
111

I Why has

the graph this shaper'"

v=1_5m/s

t=35

speedometer is allowed to run

is noted every second. A
i;,peedvaries with time is shown
mstant acceleration, this time
.nal force acting on the trolley.
ion v ~ u + at, when u = O.

l speed

45

A boat is propelled through the water as the propeller

pushes the water in the opposite direction.
Something to do
1. Stand on roller skates on a smooth level surface and throw some heavy
object away from you. Explain what happens. Why do you not normally observe
this result when you throw a ball or even a much heavier object?
2. If a bicycle valve is fitted into the stopper of a plastic bottle, a simple 'rocket'
can be made. Half fill the bottle with water and pump in air until the cork is
forced out. Warning: conduct this experiment out of doors!
3. Blow up a toy balloon and throw it into the air with its mouth open. Explain
what happens.

46

,f 10 gaps between, say, ticks

not

the distance between ticks

e interval between ticks 1 and

dots depends on the speed at

;hich tape in the diagrams on the
r speed?'!

GRAPHY
.ltiflash photograph provides
iethods of studying motion. A
ar time intervals (left) is used to
ie, and a time-exposure photoely, a camera (below) with a

EXPLOSIONS
AND,
COLLISIONS

There is, of course, no way of recharging the balloon in

the last experiment and it soon comes to rest. In a rocket
engine, liquid chemicals are continuously fed under
pressure into the combustion chamber. There they burn
and produce a steady supply of high-temperature, highpressure gas. This gas is then ejected from the nozzle of
the rocket and so propels the rocket in the opposite
direction. The thrust or force exerted on the gas - and so
on the rocket - is given by Newton's second law. So far
we have considered the acceleration of a constant mass m
accelerated by a constant force F to produce a constant
acceleration a.
F = m a = m (.1 v)
(.1t)

where .1 v means a 'change of velocity' and .1 t the time

interval during which the change takes place. In general
the Greek letter .1 (delta) means 'a small change of'.
Newton's second law is, however, also valid for a changing mass. The force F, in appropriate units, is equal to the
rate of change of momentum; that is
F = .1 (mv)
.1t
This change of momentum .1(mv) can result from a
change of speed .1 v or a change of mass .1 m, so that
.1v

F = m.1t
<isopen shutter can be used to
'ing object. In each case a series
11.1 regular time intelvals on the
mages are close together the obhen they are far apart it is movphotograph, which was taken in
ell when the tennis racket is movding up and when it is slowing
i}

bout the movement of the ball?'?

terval between the images, and

otograph can find the distance
e the average speed during each

or

.1m

F =-v
.1t

In the former we consider a constant mass m accelerating

.1v an d !
.1m. moving at a
A""
In t h e Iatter a chanai
angmg mass -,
~t

.1t

constant speed v. The thrust produced by a rocket motor is

equal to the mass of the propellent passing through the
nozzle every second, .1 m, multiplied by the velocity v of the
.1t

gas leaving the nozzle.

47

COLLISIONS
Collision damage can be caused by a large mass moving
slowly or by a small mass moving very quickly. Notice
the damage caused to a stainless steel plate exposed outside a spacecraft (Gemini 8) orbiting 400 kilometres above
the Earth. The damage was caused by a 10-7 g micrometeorite travelling at about 20 km/ s.
To investigate the damage caused by a car crashing into
a telegraph pole at 50 krn/h, engineers at Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory dropped a vehicle on to a horizontally
mounted pole. From what height must the car be droppedfor
it to reach that speed?"

48

MEASURING
MOTION

-----~

---

EXPLOSIONS
AND
COLLISIONS

.ethods of timing which do not

[time. can be arranged. This
i~f using the scaler as an electrd of a trolley. When the card,
ng, interrupts a beam of light,
The clock then runs until the
of light.
milliseconds, the trolley has
[n 50 milliseconds, which is 20
r~onds(0.1s) and therefore 200
erefore 2 metres/ second. Why

Conservation of momentum
When two bodies collide, the product mass X velocity is
always the same before and after the collision. We can
however measure this product only when both bodies are
free to move. The air track (p. 22) enables accurate
measurements to be taken.

In this photograph a moving vehicle has collided with,

and then stuck to, a stationary one. From which side was
the moving vehicle coming ?36 What can you say about the mass
of the vehiclesr'? Is this an elastic or inelastic collision?"

An elastic collision between a stationary vehicle and a

moving vehicle of the same mass is shown above. The
moving vehicle stops, and the stationary one moves off
at the same speed. Momentum is thus conserved.
49

MEASURING
MOTION

EXPLOSIONS
AND
COLLISIONS

In this photograph two vehicles of different masses and

moving at different speeds collide. They then move apart
at different speeds. A shutter mechanism enables us to take
a multifiash photograph of the straws (attached to the
vehicles) before and after the collision.

The results of this experiment are shown in the above

photograph. You might like to measure the four speeds and
then work out the total momentum before and after the
collision. Remember that momentum is a vector quantity and
that you must take direction into accounti"

50
L

m is much more difficult than

since it involves speed (disdirection. Even if we restrict
measurement of motion in a
measure the distance travelled
l. If it were always possible to
'ect we were studying, measurled. This can be done with cars
.rolleys but it becomes rather
,with bouncing balls or atomic

EXPLOSIONS
AND
COLLISIONS

An air gun pellet is fired into a lump of plasticine

mounted on an air track vehicle. As the mass of the vehicle
with plasticine can be easily found and its velocity determined from the stop clock reading, the total momentum
can be calculated. If we assume that this momentum is
equal to the momentum of the pellet, the speed of a pellet
of known mass can be calculated.

.veral techniques which enable

intervals fairly accurately, and
duced. Here are some of them.

The dry ice puck apparatus (p. 24) can be used to study
elastic collisions in two dimensions. The photograph here
shows a multiflash picture in which a moving puck collided
with a stationary one of equal mass. Use. the photograph
to compare the momentum

before and after the collision.

51

EXPLOSIONS
AND
COLLISIONS

Remember that momentum is a vector quantity. You must

resolve the velocities of the pucks after the collision into
components in the original direction and at right ang les to it. 40

This is a cloud chamber photograph of an atomic collision between a moving and a stationary particle. What can
you say about the masses of these particles?"

By considering conservation of momentum and mass/

energy, nuclear scientists can interpret bubble chamber
photographs such as that illustrated below. Many new
particles have been discovered in this way.

1,
1:

s
52
1...

by a certain amount supports

nical springs stretched by the
W, and so on.

EXPLOSIONS
AND
COLLISIONS

ight use a number of identical

o centimetres long. One way
might be to say that one unit of
nne band until it was 15 centising the idea that forces change

::.~~:::<:::::::::]I---_.

F=

2 units

=3 units

placed side by side, two units of

-.d to stretch both bands to 15
side by side would exert three
ed to 15 centimetres and so on.
-lastic bands could therefore be
in 'units of force'. In this way
uld be constructed.

speedingup

at rest
THE

PRODUCT

Ft

You have probably stood in a lift and experienced feeling

heavier when the lift starts upward or that sinking feeling
when it starts to go down. Imagine you are standing on a
weighing machine in a lift. The pointer will indicate your
weight when the lift is at rest. There are two forces acting
on you, the downward pull of the earth and the upward
force exerted on your feet by the platform of the weighing
machine. As these two forces are equal in magnitude no
unbalanced force acts on you, and therefore you do not
move.
When the lift starts to move upward, the platform exerts
a greater force on you than it did before. This increased'
force is registered by the pointer. As the earth's pull
remains the same, there is now an unbalanced force acting
on you and thus you accelerate upward.
If the acceleration (a) produced by this unbalanced force
(F) changes your speed from u to v in t seconds, we can
calculate the product Ft from Newton's second law.
53

F =ma

EXPLOSIONS

AND

Ft

=?

COLLISIONS

mv - mu
= m --,-(v_-_u....:...)
t

FORCES

= mv - mu = the change in momentum

In other words, the product Ft is numerically equal to the

change in momentum.
Of course, when the lift stops accelerating and moves
with a steady speed, there will be no unbalanced force on
you. What will the weighing machine show?" What will it
show as the lift decelerates and comes-to rest ?43

Let us consider a typical journey in the lift. Suppose it is

at rest for 2 seconds, it accelerates upward for 4 seconds,
then moves with a steady speed for 6 seconds, then
decelerates for 3 seconds and finally comes to rest. Suppose your weight is 40 kgf or 400 newtons. A graph of the
pointer readings on the weighing machine, measured in
newtons, might be as shown here.
en

600
accelerating (up)

en

Ol
C

ii

steady speed

ctI

400

rest

Cll

:.c
o

ctI

Ol

:.c

decelerating

200

Ol
Qi

!:

10

I
I
I

I
I
I

I
I
I
I

I
I
I
I
I

12

14

16

18

20

time (seconds)

A graph of the unbalanced force acting on you during the

same time would, however, look like this.
en

C
0

~
Cll

100

Cll

.E
"0
Cll

-100

c
ctI

m
.c
c
::J

54

time {seconds)

10 N

iged a plastic rod or pen and

cer rods or to pick up pieces of
"tOWS the dome of a Van de
g soap bubbles. The much
ator in the photograph is used
.celerate atomic particles. In
exerted.

EXPLOSIONS
AND
COLLISIONS

During the upward acceleration, the area underthe graph

(Ft) is 100 X 4 = 400 newton-seconds.
As a = Fim, the acceleration = 100/40 = 25 m/s ' and,
as the time t = 4 seconds, the final speed v = at = 2 . 5 X 4 =

10 m/s-.
Thus the change in momentum = mv = 40

10 = 400

kg m/s.

The product Ft is numerically equal to the change of

momentum. The same can be shown when the lift decelerates and comes to rest.
- ~- IMPULSE
When a force acts for a very short interval of time as, for
example, when you kick a football or strike a golf-ball, a
rapid change of momentum takes place. But the force
acting is rarely constant. A graph of the force (F) against
time (t) might look like this.
experiments have shown that
.h always tends to draw all bits
ational attraction. The experibe used to measure this force.
tcr are, the greater is the attracare together, the greater is the
s extremely small, a very fine

OJ
OJ

OJ

.2o

.2

djacent spheres is measured by

seam of light reflected from a
suspension wire indicates the
chunks of stone is
re apart, it will be

time

.res apart and

time

At any moment the product Ft gives the change of momentum. For example, at the moment A shown above, the
force is F and in a small interval of time, .1 t, the product
F.6.t equals the area under the graph. To find the total
change in momentum we have to measure the area under
the whole curve.

[res apart
would be if they were 4 metres
e of force, with the square of the
rse square law' relationship.

55
--

-----

-----

EXPLOSIONS
AND
COLLISIONS

In such circumstances, the total product Ft is often called

the impulse of the force, or, simply, the impulse.
A given change of momentum will require a certain
impulse. This may be obtained from a large force acting
for a short time or from a small force acting for a long
time. If you try to catch a cricket ball while keeping your
arms rigid, the impulse will last for a short time and the
force exerted on you will be large and painful! If, however,
you let your arm move with the ball, the impulse will take
longer but the force exerted will be smaller. The product
Ft will be the same in each case, since it is equal to the
change of momentum of the ball which finishes at rest in
each case. When you jump from a wall to the ground, you
have momentum just before hitting the ground which is
changed to zero by the impulse. This change would happen
quickly if you kept your legs rigid, so that the force would
be very great and painful. You usually bend your legs when
you land so that the time of the impulse is long and the
force is therefore small. The impulse would be the same
whether you kept your legs straight or bent.
When you use a hammer to knock a nail into a plank of
wood, the change of momentum of the hammer takes place
quickly, so that a briefbut large force is exerted on the nail.

What would happen if the plank were resting on a piece of

sponge rubber as the nail was being hammered?"

Normally when a driver applies his brakes his car comes

to rest gradually. A small force acts for a long time. In a
collision, however, a much greater force acts for a short
time. In each case the change of momentum (area under
the force-time graph) is,the same.
At the Road Research laboratory at Crowthorne, cars
are crashed into a massive concrete block to investigate
the effects on the driver and passengers. Dummies are
placed in such cars with and without safety belts.

56

FORCES

a hovercraft moving on a
";m is very much less than the
solid, or solid and liquid, the
will not need to exert a large

EXPLOSIONS

AND

COLLISIONS

S recently floated on a cushion

netres by a small tractor.
!

supported and guided by airable of speeds greater than

e the frictional forces completely,
needed to keep the Aerotrain
(ample of a body moving without

---------

--

EXPLOSIONS

AND

COLLISIONS

These few frames from a high speed filmshowthemotion

of a dummy when a car hits a concrete barrier at 60 km/h.
This passenger was not using a seat belt! Explain why a
safety belt can reduce the injury caused to a passenger
involved in a car accident:"

58
---------------

I, either no forces act on it - an

or the forces are balanced.
balanced forces keep the
consider the forces acting
photograph as a single force,
rium under the action of three
ces are represented by three
v;unotice anything special about
f;)rces?3

liQMMARY

This summary includes for completeness a few items not

mentioned in the text.
1. Forces change either motion i.e. speed or direction, or
the shape of a body
2. Forces are exerted by: (a) direct contact including
friction (b) magnetic fields (c) electric fields (d) gravitational fields
3. Equations 0.1motion for constant acceleration a

v = u + at
v2 = u?
S -= ut

2 as

+ 1- at?

_ u + v
v=--

average velocity

4. Sf units The fundamental

SI units used in mechanics
are the metre for length, the kilogramme for mass and the
second for time.
s

rol on a perfectly level road, it

t" has been altered. A force, or
Fg on the car. What are some of
'ow how motion can be arrestin a disc brake (left) or by air

5. Newton's first law A body will stay at rest or continue

moving at a constant speed in a straight line unless an
unbalanced force acts on it.
6. Newton's second law The acceleration
of a body is
directly proportional
to the unbalanced force acting on it
and inversely proportional to its mass.

l.e.a
or

F
=-

m
kg

59
--.-~'

\ SUMMARY

third law When two bodies interact the

forces they exert on each other are equal in magnitude
and opposite in direction.
Another way of stating the same law is to say that
'momentum is conserved in a collision' .

7. Newton's

8. Impulse
F=ma
=m(v-u)

==> Ft= mv - mu
impulse = change of momentum
The product Ft is called the impulse.
9. Gravitational field strength
/N

kg
Field strength g measured in newtons/kilogramme is numerically the same as the acceleration of gravity g measured
in metres/second".
10. Projectiles Vertical and horizontal motion are independent of each other.
11. Kinetic energy When a mass m is moving with velocity v
it has energy of motion. This is called kinetic energy and its
value is tmv2.

60
"---------~~-

-----

row it or kick it. In each case

the ball. To make it change
iall.
I

force on the ball. When you

\)p its motion by exerting a

IANSWERSI

1. Yes. At any instant, the force you exert on the ball is exactly equal in magnitude
and opposite in direction to the force the ball exerts on you.
2. The rubber quickly returns to its original shape, but the plasticine
manently deformed.

3. The 'lines of action' of these forces pass through a single point. That is, the
three forces are concurrent. This is always the case when a body is in equilibrium
under the action of three forces.

4. There is friction
\

remains per-

in the car bearings, gears etc. Air resistance will also slow the

car down.
Many people would answer friction between the tyres and the road.' In fact this
would be a misleading answer although in practice some slipping will occur and
some energy will be transformed to heat as a result of this friction. What would
happen if there were no friction between the tyres and the road? What would
happen to a car moving on ice?
Friction does in fact stop the car moving, but it is not principally the friction
between the tyres and the ground, although it is this friction which causes the wheels
and hence the bearings to rotate. When you are oiling your bicycle wheels where do
you put the oil? On the tyres? On the axle bearings?
5. None. A force would, of course, be needed to get it moving (i.e. cause it to
accelerate) and another force would be needed to slow it down and stop it. However, if there were no friction, no force would be needed to keep it moving once
started.

6. Artificial earth satellites keep moving at a steady speed without friction. Stars,
planets, moons etc. are other examples.
You might like to puzzle out how it is possible for a satellite to move at a
constant speed round the earth yet be accelerating downwards all the time! Is there
aforce acting on the satellite? Is acceleration a scalar or vector quantity?
7.

rces are being used to change

the ball exert a force on you in
ver to this and to the other
look will befound on pp. 61-4.)
~e, electrons are given off by a
by an electric force. The beam
force produced by two large
exert a force on something
lean against a wall, squeeze a
fd of plasticine, but even then
I[,hrespect to the rest.
\}s a tennis ball which has been
.is racket. What is the important
if rubber and of plasticine after
:0

I.

16'

8. If a spring is stretched too far it will not return to its original size when the
force is removed. The greatest force which can be applied without this happening
is called the 'elastic limit'. Hooke's law is not applicable beyond this point.
9. The trolley had moved 10 em during the 50 ms and it could have been accelerating
or decelerating during that time. As average speed is the total distance/total time,
we see that it is this quantity that is being measured here. The instantaneous speed,
that is the speed at any instant of time, may have varied during the 50 ms period.
10.

l..

50

second.

11. TapeB.
12. The ball is thrown up into the air and gradually slows down (decelerates). As it
falls it is accelerating. It is then struck by the tennis racket and moves off much
more quickly at (almost) a constant speed in a straight line.
13. Six images appear above the +-metre stick so that the car took about 6/10
second to move a distance of half a metre. It must have been travelling at roughly
0.8 m/s
14. The car was accelerating slightly. The distance between the two left-hand
images is very slightly greater than the distance between the two right-hand
images. If you said it was going at a steady speed you may consider yourself correct.
The photograph is not really good enough to detect much acceleration.

61

---~----ANSWERS

15. Acceleration.
16. The graph is a straight line because the increase in speed is the same during
each interval of time. That is, the rate of change of speed (acceleration) is constant.
17. During constant acceleration from rest the speed is directly proportional to the
time (see the diagram on p. 20) but the speed is not proportional to the distance
The square of the speed is, however, proportional
to the distance travelled
(V2 = 2as).

NOTE
TO THE
\TEACHER

18. It is moving at a constant speed.

19. We deduce this from the fact that the images are equally spaced out.
20. This assumes
them.

that the flashes

themselves

have the same time intervals between

21. A time exposure photograph could be taken of the white second hand of a
black-faced stop clock. Alternatively
the strobe lamp could be used to view a
ticker-timer
vibrating at 50 times per second, or a flywheel rotating at a steady
speed. The motion would appear to be frozen' if the strobe lamp frequency were
the same as that of the moving body.
22. As the puck is free to move in two dimensions, this photograph shows that
once a body is moving it will continue to move at a constant speed in a straight
line provided there is no unbalanced force acting on it.
23. The larger engine is capable of exerting
greater acceleration.
24. The acceleration
thread.

a greater force which produces

would be three times the acceleration produced by one elastic

25. The acceleration would be one third of that of the single trolley.
26. The completed

table reads

1 N acting on 1kg produces acceleration

3N
"
1 kg
FN
1kg
II

II

"II

II

I
.
acce eratton

FN

" 5 kg

FN

" mkg

of 1 m/ S2
3 m/ S2
F m/ S2
II

II

E5 ml. S2

" mE mls?

F
Iii

27. A number of known masses can be attached by Sellotape to the end of the
blade, and the frequency for each measured. A graph of frequency against mass can
then be plotted.
If an unknown mass were then attached to the end of the blade and the vibration
frequency measured, the mass could be found from the graph. You may like to try
plotting the period (T) against the mass (m) and also P against m.
28. Yes.
29. Yes.
30. This experiment
does not depend
explains the previous two answers.

on the Earth's

62
------

----------

gravitational

pull.

This

I CONTENTS

lsentati'es througlwut the world

ation
ystem
msording
'on of

I ANSWERS

31. Iff represents

the force acting on mass m and F represents

a=m=Y

the force on mass M

The force must therefore be proportional to the mass ifforce is to be the same in
mass
each case. That is, twice the force acts on twice the mass, three times the force on
three times the mass and so on.
32. All these statements
with the exception of 7 are correct. The square of the
speed is proportional to the distance (v2 = 2as) and thus the speed is proportional
to the square root of the distance (v = VTciS).
of the ball is 1.1 cmt interval! interval
0.011 m/to sllo s

33. The average acceleration

0.011 X 30 X 30 ml s?

9.9 ml s? approx.

on
34. All these statements except 5 are correct. The vertical speed decreases to zero
at the top of its motion and increases as it falls.

Irateful to the following for perk photographs:

front cover Ford
.over Picturepoint Limited; page
left) Dr. Harold E. Edgerton,
hnology; page 5 (right) Stanley
tional; page 6 ICI; page 7 (above)
and G. Q. Parachute Company
:;ompany Limited; page 8 (above)
lin Limited; page 8 (below left)
:f:S 8 (below right) and 24 (above)
rited; page 9 National Physical
.ory (Crown copyright reserved);
left) Philip Harris Limited; page
ted; page 14 (right) John Emery,
enner Limited; page 15 Panax
Morris Laboratory
Instruments
Automation
Limited; page 19
122,23, 24 (below), 26 (below), 27,
~))and 51 Heinemann Educational
}ysics is Fun 1,2,3; pages 30,33,
nsha Limited, from Stroboscope
nomena; pages 25 (left), 36 (right)
Colour Slides of Physical PhenoPhilip Harris Limited; page 26
.tion Limited; page 45 USIS: page
f~8 and 58 (below) Science Journal;
Id Blackett FRS and the Royal
I; pages 57 and 58 Road Research
n copyright reserved).
o Heinemann Educational Books
ted for their cooperation.

35. s

= ~

2a

(5

4)2

X 10
60 X 60

2 110
X

9.6 metres (approx.)

36. From the left. It is moving at half the speed on the right-hand

side.

37. As the speed is halved the mass must have doubled if momentum
Both vehicles must therefore have the same mass.
38. The two vehicles stick together.

is conserved.

The collision is therefore inelastic.

39. Ten spaces have been measured in each case.

Total momentum before collision = (2 X 6.2) - (3 X 3.6)
12.4
10.8
1.6 units
Total momentum after collision
= (3 X 2.3) - (2 X 2.6)

6.9

5.2
1.7 units

40. See diagram on page 64.

41. As the angle formed

is 90 the masses of the two particles

42. As there is no unbalancedforce,

were at rest.

must be the same.

the reading will be the same as it was when you

43. The reading will now be less than it was when you were at rest. Although your
weight is the same the upward force acting on your feet is less as the lift slows
down.
44. The impulse would
force would therefore be
wood. The area under
change of momentum of

last longer as the plank would sink into the rubber. The
smaller and the nail would not be knocked very far into the
the Ft curve would, of course, still be the same, as the
the hammer head would still be the same.

45. When a car is stopped suddenly, for example by running into a brick wall, the
passenger tends to continue moving at the same speed in a straight line - perhaps
through the windscreen. As the seats are anchored to the floor of the car they will
not move forward. Similarly, if the passenger is wearing seat belts which hold him
in the seat he will not be able to continue at the same speed and is therefore
less likely to be seriously injured by being thrown against the windscreen or dashboard.

63

I
E
E

l"-

53mm

25mm

E
E
<.0
N

64
I

~-~-

..-----L

LONGMAN PHYSICS TOPICS

General Editor J. L. Lewis, Malvern College; formerly
Associate Organiser, Nuffield O-Ievel Physics Project
This series provides background material for modern
courses in physics. The authors weredosely
associated
with the Nuffield Foundation Physics Project, and thus
have an intimate knowledge of its spirit These books are
not textbooks in the conventional sense, nor do they give
the answers to investigations that pupils will be carrying
out in the laboratory. Instead they show the relevance and
application in the outside world of the principles studied
in school.