The Laws of Motion

First Law of Motion

According to NEWTON’S FIRST LAW OF MOTION, “a body at rest will remain at

rest and a body in motion will remain in motion at constant velocity in a straight
line if no net force acts on it”. This law thus provides a definition of force.

Force – any influence that can change the velocity of a body.

To accelerate something, a net force must be applied to it. Conversely, every

acceleration is due to the action of a net force. (Since it is possible for two or
more forces acting on the same body to cancel with a vector sum of zero, a “net
force” or “unbalance force” is required.)

Mass
The property of a body has of resisting any change in its state of rest or of
uniform motion in a straight line is called INERTIA. The inertia of a body is
related to what can be loosely thought of as the “ AMOUNT OF MATTER” it
contains. A quantitative measure of inertia is MASS: the more mass a body has,
the less its acceleration when a net force acts on it.

Second Law of Motion

NEWTON’S SECOND LAW OF MOTION states that “the net force acting on a
body is proportional to the mass of the body and to its acceleration; the direction
of the force is the same as that of the body’s acceleration”.
In a properly chosen set of units, the proportionality between force and the
product of mass and acceleration is an equality, so that

F = ma

where F = force
m = mass
a = acceleration

The second law of motion is the key to understanding the behavior of moving
bodies since it links cause (force) and effect (acceleration) in a definite way.

Weight and Mass

The weight of a body is the gravitational force with which the earth attracts the
body. If a person weighs 150 lb, this mean that the earth pulls that person down
with a force of 150 lb. Weight is different from mass, which is a measure of the
response of the body to an applied force. The weight of a body varies with its
location near the earth (or other astronomical body), whereas its mass is the
same everywhere in the universe.
The weight of a body is the force that causes it to be accelerated downward with
the acceleration of gravity g. Hence, from the second law of motion, with F = W
and a = g,

W = mg

where W = weight
m = mass
g = acceleration due to gravity

Because g is constant near the earth’s surface, the weight of a body there is
proportional to its mass – a large mass is heavier than a small one.

System of Units To find mass (m) given To find weight (W) given
weight (W) mass (m)
SI m kg = __w N__ w N = (m kg)(9.8 m/s2)
2
9.8m/s
British m slugs = __w lb__ w lb = (m slugs)(32 ft/s2)
2
32 ft/s

Conversion of Units:

1 kg = 1000 g
= 2.21 lb
= 0.0685 slug

1 slug = 14.6 kg
= 32 lb

1 N = 0.225 lb

1 lb = 4.45 N

Third Law of Motion

NEWTON’S THIRD LAW OF MOTION states that “when one body exerts a force
on another body, the second exerts an equal force in the opposite direction on
the first”.
Thus FOR EVERY ACTION FORCE, THERE IS AN EQUAL AND OPPOSITE
REACTION FORCE.; no force can occur all by itself. Action and reaction forces
never balance out because they act on different bodies.

Problem Set:
1. A 100 kg man slides down a rope at constant speed
a.) what minimum breaking strength must the rope have? (ans. 980 N)
 b.) If the rope has precisely this strength, will it support the man if he tries
to climb back up?
2. a.) what is the weight of an object whose mass is 5 kg? (ans. 49 N)
b.) what is the acceleration when a net force of 100 N acts on it? (ans. 20
m/s2)
3. A force of 1 N acts on
a.) a body whose mass is 1 kg and
b.) a body whose weight is 1 N. (ans. a.) 1 m/s2 b.) 9.8 m/s2
4. A 10 kg body is observed to have an acceleration of 5 m/s 2. What is the net
force acting on it? (ans. 50 N)
5. A force of 80 N gives an object of unknown mass an acceleration of 20 m/s 2.
What is its mass? (ans. 4 kg)
6. A 60 kg woman is in an elevator cab whose upward acceleration is 2 m/s 2.
What force does she exert on the floor of the cab? (ans. F = 708 N)
7. A force of 3000 N is applied to a 1500 kg car at rest.
a.) what is its acceleration? (ans. 2 m/s 2)
b.) what will its velocity be 5 s later? (ans. 10 m/s)
8. An empty truck whose mass is 2000 kg has a maximum acceleration of 1 m/s 2.
What will its maximum acceleration be when it carries a load of 1000 kg? (ans.
0.67 m/s2)
9. A 1000 kg car goes from 10 to 20 m/s in 5 s.
a.) what force is acting on it? (ans. 2000 N)
b.) what is the origin of this force?
10. A 60 g tennis ball approaches a racket at 15 m/s is in contact with the racket
for 0.005 s, and then rebounds at 20 m/s. Find the average force that the racket
exerted on the ball. (ans. -420 N “opposite direction”)
11. The brakes of a 1000 kg car exert 3000 N.
a.) how long will it take the car to come to a stop from a velocity of 30
m/s? (ans. 10 s)
b.) how far will the car travel during this time? (ans. 150 m)
12. a.) what is the weight of an object whose mass is 50 slugs? (ans. 1600 lb)
b.) what is the mass of an object whose weight is 50 lb? (ans. 1.56 slugs)
13. A net force of 75 lb acts on a body of mass 25 slugs which is initially at rest.
a.) find its acceleration. (ans. 3 ft/s 2)
b.) how fast will the body be moving 12 s later? (ans. 36 ft/s)
14. A net force of 150 lb acts on a body whose weight is 96 lb. What is its
acceleration? (ans. 50 ft/s2)
15. How much force is needed to bring a 3200 lb car from rest to a velocity of 44
ft/s in 8 s? (ans. 550 lb)
16. The brakes of a certain 2400 lb car can exert a maximum force of 750 lb.
a.) what is the minimum time needed to slow the car down from 60 to 20
ft/s? (ans. 4 s)
b.) how far does the car travel in this time? (ans. 160 ft)