Physics 11 Forces and Newton’s Laws

Google: “PHET Forces and Motion Basics” and click on the first link. Click on the play
button on the image to begin the simulation.

Part I - Newton’s First Law

Choose the “Motion” window to start the simulation

Make sure the boxes that say “Force”, “Values” and “Speed” are checked!

a. Apply a force of 50 N right to the box. Describe the motion of the box using
physics terms (i.e. velocity, acceleration, displacement). Refer to the
speedometer in your answer.

- velocity of the box is increasing to the right as the speedometer shows an

increasing number
- acceleration is constant and to the right
- displacement is increasing to the right

b. Reset the scenario (don’t forget to check forces, speed again). Apply a force of
50 N to the right for about 5 seconds then reduce the applied force to zero (the
man should stop pushing). Don’t reset the scenario. Describe the motion of the
box. Refer to the speedometer in your answer.

- the velocity of the box is constant, as the speedometer shows the same
number
- acceleration is zero
- displacement is increasing to the right

c. Apply a force of 50N to the left. Describe the motion of the box.

- velocity of the box is increasing to the left as the speedometer shows an

increasing number
- Acceleration is constant and to the left
- displacement is increasing to the left


d. Explain the exact steps needed to make the box come to a stop.

- apply a force in the opposite direction of the motion (force can be smaller, equal
to, or larger than original force) until the speedometer shows 0 m/s

Summary

Newton’s First Law of Motion States “An object at rest stays at rest and an object in
motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted
upon by an unbalanced force.” Explain how your observations in a - d support this Law.

- When there is no force applied to the box, the box does not move (object at rest
stays at rest)
- When there is a constant force applied to the box, the box moves with increasing
velocity
- When there is a force applied for a short amount of time to the box, the box
continues to move with constant velocity (object in motion tends to stay in
motion)

Part II - Newton’s Second Law

a. Reset the sim, don’t forget to check force, values and speed again. Remove the
box and place a garbage can on top of the skateboard. Using your timer/phone,
measure the amount of time it takes to reach maximum speed using a force of
50 N. Try this again with forces of 100N, and 200N.

Applied Force (N) Time To Max Speed (s)

1 minute and 37 sec = 97 seconds

50

40 seconds
100

20 seconds
200

b. Reset the sim, check force, values, speed and the masses boxes this time. Set
the applied force to 200 N Right. Using your timer/phone measure the amount of
time it takes to reach maximum speed. Repeat with two crates, one crate and a
garbage can, and a refrigerator. Record your findings!

Object – Mass (kg) Time To Max Speed (s)

50 10 seconds

100 20 seconds

150 30 seconds

200 40 seconds


Open up the “Graphical Analysis” Software on the laptop. Create a graph of time vs
mass. Sketch this graph in the space below. Recall how acceleration is related to time.
Note: In this case the final speed of all the trials is the same. Manipulate your time data
to get an appreciation for how the acceleration of the mass changes in each trial.
Sketch an acceleration vs mass graph using this data in the space below (use GA
software to help you)

Summary
Newton’s Second Law states “The acceleration of an object as produced by a net force
is directly proportional to the magnitude of the net force, in the same direction as the net
force, and inversely proportional to the mass of the object.” Explain how your
observations in both a and b support this Law.

- The heavier the object (i.e the larger the mass), the longer it takes to accelerate
to a certain speed
- The larger the force applied, the larger the acceleration.



Part III - Friction’s Effects

The behavior of the skateboard in Part I and part II were not very realistic because
friction was not present. At the bottom of the screen is a simulation that includes friction.
Select this simulation.
a. Set friction to “none”. Notice how the screen changed. Why do you think the app
designers did that?
- the ground changes to ice because different surfaces have different
amounts of friction

b. Make sure that only speed box is checked.

i. Apply a force to get the box to about half of it’s maximum speed, then
remove the force.
ii. While the box is moving, move the friction slider to 1/2 way.

What happened to the box?

- The box slowed down until it came to rest

Summary
Is friction a force? What evidence do you have?

- Friction must be a force because it caused the box to slow down and stop, which
meant that the friction force was acting in the opposite direction of the motion


Part IV - Back to Newton’s Second Law

Reset the Friction app. Make sure Forces and Speed are checked.
a. Apply a force of 50 N. Describe the movement of the box.
- The box does not move as the friction force counters the applied force
b. Apply a force of 100 N. Describe the movement of the box.
- The box does not move as the friction force counters the applied force
c. Apply a force of 150 N. Describe the movement of the box.
- The box begins to move as the applied force is larger than the friction
force
d. Check the box that says “Sum of Forces”. Repeat procedures a, b, and c. What
was different about c?
- The friction force was less than the applied force

Summary

Newton’s Second Law states “The acceleration of an object as produced by a net force
is directly proportional to the magnitude of the net force, in the same direction as the net
force, and inversely proportional to the mass of the object.” Explain how your
observations relate to the underlined portion of this Law (hint, you might want to look up
the definition of the word “net”).

The net force can be split up into two components: horizontal and vertical. The net force
is the sum of all of the forces in the horizontal or vertical direction. When the box is not
moving, the sum of the friction and applied force is zero, so the net force is zero. when
the box is moving, the sum of the friction and applied force is greater than zero, so the
net force is greater than zero.


Part V: Friction in Detail

a. Reset the app. Check the force and speed box. Apply 50 N of force to the crate.
Slowly click (in 50 N increments) to increase the amount of applied force until the
crate starts to move/accelerate. Note the range of force values when the crate
first started to move. Record this range below (e.g. starts moving somewhere
between 0 and 50 N).

- Starts moving at around 125 N

b. Reset the app. Repeat the steps in “a”. Once you have just made the crate move
do not adjust the force any higher. Allow the block to move with this constant
force for 2.0 seconds. Now reduce the force by 50 N. How does the crate behave
immediately after reducing the force by 50 N? Did it keep accelerating? Move at
a constant speed or decelerate? Does this behaviour surprise you based on your
knowledge of Newton’s 1st and 2nd Law. Why do you think the crate behaves this
way?

- The box decelerates, which is not surprising because the friction force is the only
force acting in the horizontal direction which slows it down

c. Reset the app. Check the speed, force, sum of forces and values boxes. Adjust
the value of the applied force using single Newton increments to determine the
exact force required to make the crate move. Mentally note the value of this force
so you can record it after in the space below. Now keep increasing the value of
the applied force in large 50 N or small single Newton increments. What happens
to size of the friction force? What is the value of the friction force now? Why does
the friction force behave this way?
- There are two different friction forces, the static friction force, and the kinetic
friction force. The static friction force is always larger than the kinetic friction
force. This means that the box needs more force to overcome the static friction at
first, then the kinetic friction is in play after the box starts to move.

d. Repeat step c and after the block has accelerated for 3.0 seconds reduce the
applied force to 0 N. What happens to the size of the friction force after the
applied force goes to 0 N? How does the crate behave?
- The friction force stays the same until the box stops moving, to which then it
disappears.


e. Reset the app. Check the forces, values and speed boxes. Place another crate
on top of the first. Determine the minimum amount of force required to move the
crates. Determine the minimum amount of force required to keep the blocks
moving at a constant speed. Record these below:
- minimum force required to move the crates: 251 N
- minimum amount of force required to keep the blocks moving at a constant
speed: 188 N

i. How do these values compare to the values found for one crate? What
does this tell you about the affect of mass on friction?

- The force required to move the crates is about double that of a single crate
- Mass and friction are directly related, the larger the mass, the more friction is
experiences

f. Reset the app. Check the force and values boxes. Apply 50 N of force to the
crate. What is the value of the force of friction now? Record this. Increase the
applied force and note how the friction force behaves. Record this behaviour in
the space below.
- Force of friction is 50 N
- The force of friction increases to 125 N, to which then the box starts moving and
the force of friction drops to 94 N

Summary
Make four or more general statements about the force of friction based on your
observations in parts a – f.

- Force of friction scales with applied force to a certain point

- Once box starts moving, the friction force decreases
- Friction force is directly proportional to mass
- Different surfaces have different amounts of friction