NEWTONS LAWS OF MOTION

Contents :

1. Types of Forces
2. First Law
3. Second Law
4. Applying Second Law
5. Third Law
6. Inertial and non inertial frames and pseudo forces

Introduction
Newton's laws of motion are of central importance in classical physics. A large
number of principles and results may be derived from Newton's laws. The first
two laws relate to the type of motion of a system that results from a given set of
forces. The precise definitions of mass, force and acceleration should be
given before we relate) them. And these definitions themselves need use of
Newton's laws. Thus, these laws turn out to be definitions to some extent.

Force is an interaction between two objects. Force is exerted by an object A on

another object B. For any force you may ask two questions, (i) who exerted this
force and (ii) on which object was this force exerted ?
 Types of Forces
Gravitational Force
Any 2 bodies attract each other by virtue of their masses.Force of
attraction between 2 point masses separated by distance r is
F = G m1 m2 / r2
G=Universal Gravitation Constant = 6.67 x 10-11 N m2/ kg2
m1 , m2 are masses

Electromagnetic Force

If 2 particles have charges and are a rest with respect to an observer ,

force between them has magnitude :
F = K Q 1Q2/r2

K= 9 x 109 N m2 / C2

This is called the Coulomb force .

Below are daily life examples of electromagnetic forces :

1. Contact Forces : eg Force exerted by ground on us

2. Tension in string

3. Spring Force
Strong Nuclear Forces

These are the forces which operate inside a nucleus and hold it

together . It operates only if interacting particles are protons

and neutrons or both . They are very strong but very short

ranged forces . Radioactivity , nuclear fission /fusion result from

them .

Weak Nuclear Forces

Operate only inside a subatomic particle. Particle decay is an

important consequence of this force.

First Law of Motion

If the (vector) sum of all the forces acting on a particle is zero

then and only then the particle remains unaccelerated (i.e.,
remains at rest or moves with constant velocity).
Fext = 0 iff a = 0
But rest , motion make sense only when a frame of reference is
specified .
Eg :
An elevator cabin falls down after the cable breaks. The cabin and all
the bodies fixed in the cabin are accelerated with respect to the earth
and the acceleration is about 9.8 m/s 2 in the downward direction.
Consider the lamp in the cabin. The forces acting on the lamp are
(a) the gravitational force W by the earth(downward)
(b) the T (tension) by the rope.(upward)
The sum is (W T) downward.
Measure the acceleration of the lamp from the frame of reference of
the cabin.Acceleration of the lamp is zero.
Instead, if we measure the acceleration from the ground, the lamp has
an acceleration of 9.8 m/s 2. And hence the person B who measured
this acceleration, concludes from Newton's first law that
the sum of the forces is not zero. Thus, W T 0 or W T. If A
measures acceleration and applies the first
law he gets W = T. If B measures acceleration and applies the same first
law, he gets W # T. Both of
them cannot be correct simultaneously as W and T can be either equal
or unequal. At least one of the two
frames is a bad frame and one should not apply the first law in that
frame.
Frames of Reference :

A frame of reference in which Newton's first law is valid is called an

inertial frame of reference. A frame
in which Newton's first law is not valid is called a noninertial frame of
reference.

All frames moving uniformly with respect to an inertial frame

are themselves inertial.
Second Law Of Motion
The acceleration of a particle as measured from an inertial frame is
given by the (vector) sum of all the forces acting on the particle divided
by its mass.
F=ma
This equation is a vector equation, so it is applicable in any possible
direction .
Applying Newtons 2 nd Law
A systematic procedure for applying Newtons 2nd Law is as follows :

Sample Question:
Find acceleration of the block .
(In ground frame is implied here)

1. Decide The System

In this case we want to find acceleration of the block , so we
choose the block as the system.

2. Identify External Force

External forces on the block are:

1. Gravitational force : 10g N vertically downward
2. Normal force by table : (N) in vertical direction
3. Friction force by table : 7 N right
4. External Force : 32 N left

3. Make Free Body Diagram

Depict all external forces on the chosen in a single diagram called

the free body diagram .

7N 32N
N

10g N
4. Write Equations in required directions
R 10 g = m ( 0 ) avertical = 0
32 7 = 10 ah
ah = 2.5 m/s2

Constraint Motion :

Concept : Length of string is constant.

Assumption : String is not slack.
 Thus speed of block along string is same.

V2 = V1 cos 37

Method 2 :

Fix an origin, (suppose here the pulley) and measure string

length wrt to origin .
Let distance of block 2 from origin be x2 and horizontal distance
of block 1 be x1 .
L = sqrt(x2 + h2) + x2

Differentiate both sides wrt time and use :

-
dx/dt = v1 and dx2/dt = v2
Simplify to get reqd relation bet speeds.

Constraints is used to generate an equation to solve problems

based on Dynamics of body.

Newtons Third Law

Simply stated,
If a body A exerts a force F on another body B, then B exerts a force F
on A.
The forces connected by the third law act on two different bodies and
hence will never appear together in the list of forces at step 2 of
applying Newton's first or second law

Horse and Cart

Suppose the cart is at rest when the driver whips the horse. The horse
pulls the cart and the cart
accelerates forward. The question posed is as follows. The horse pulls
the cart by a force F1 in the forward
direction. From the third law of motion the cart pulls the horse by an
equal force F2 = F1 in the backward
direction. The sum of these forces is, therefore, zero (figure 5.15). Why
should then the cart accelerate
forward ?
Fault in Argument :
We have not considered any friction force on the horse . Also , we
applied 3rd law incorrectly ,by considering balance of action reaction
pair acting on same body.
Correct Explanation :
Horse pushes the road backwards and the reaction force by the road
acts on it in the forward direction . Also the cart pulls the horse , as it is
in turn being tried to be pulled by friction.
Thus when the force exerted by friction on horse is greater than on the
cart, the horse and cart move forward.

Sample Question
Q 1 ) A block 'A' of mass m is tied to a fixed point C on a horizontal
table through a string passing round a
massless smooth pulley B . A force F is applied by the experimenter to
the pulley. Show that if
he pulley is displaced by a distance x, the block will be displaced by 2x.
Find the acceleration of the block and
the pulley.
Q2)

Pseudo Forces
It is a tool used to solve equation of motion for a system in frames
where Newtons Law is not applicable, specifically here accelerating
and translating frames .
Suppose the frame of reference S' moves with a constant acceleration 4
with respect to an inertial
frame S. The acceleration of a particle P measured with respect to S' is
ap, s - =a and that with respect to S is ap, s . The acceleration of S' with
respect to S is ag ,s= a0

Since S' is translating with respect to S we have, ap, s , = ap , s as , =a p , s

as% s - > -0
a = ap, s ao
m a = m ap, s m ao
where m is the mass of the particle P. Since S is an inertial frame m ap ,
is equal to the sum of all the
forces acting on P. Writing this sum as F, we get >

ma = F m ao
Thus for applying Newtons Second Law in Non-inertial Frames , we add
an extra term of m a0 to the total external force, where a0 is the
direction of acceleration of frame.