2023

DYNAMICS (NOTES)
1.4.3 Newton's Second Law
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Newton's Second Law

 Newton's second law of motion states:

The acceleration of an object is proportional to the resultant force acting on it and

inversely proportional to the object's mass

 Newton's second law explains the following important principles:

o An object will accelerate (change its velocity) in response to a resultant
force
o The bigger this resultant force, the larger the acceleration
o For a given force, the greater the object's mass, the smaller the acceleration
experienced

 The image below shows some examples of Newton's second law in action:

Objects like baseballs and lawnmowers accelerate when a resultant force is applied on
them. The size of the acceleration is proportional to the size of the resultant force

Calculations Using Newton's Second Law

EXTENDED

 Newton's second law can be expressed as an equation:

F = ma

 Where:
o F = resultant force on the object in Newtons (N)
o m = mass of the object in kilograms (kg)
o a = acceleration of the object in metres per second squared (m/s2)

 The force and the acceleration act in the same direction

 This equation can be rearranged with the help of a formula triangle:

 Force, mass, acceleration formula triangle

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Worked Example
A car salesman says that his best car has a mass of 900 kg and can accelerate from 0 to 27 m/s in 3
seconds.

Calculate:

a) The acceleration of the car in the first 3 seconds.

b) The force required to produce this acceleration.

Part (a)

Step 1: List the known quantities


o Initial velocity = 0 m/s
o Final velocity = 27 m/s
o Time, t = 3 s

Step 2: Calculate the change in velocity

Change in velocity = Δv = final velocity − initial velocity

Δv = 27 − 0 = 27 m/s

Step 3: State the equation for acceleration

Step 4: Calculate the acceleration

a = 27 ÷ 3 = 9 m/s2

Part (b)

Step 1: List the known quantities


o Mass of the car, m = 900 kg
o Acceleration, a = 9 m/s2

Step 2: Identify which law of motion to apply


o The question involves quantities of force, mass and acceleration, so Newton's
second law is required:

F = ma

Step 3: Calculate the force required to accelerate the car

F = 900 × 9 = 8100 N

Worked Example
Three shopping trolleys, A, B and C, are being pushed using the same force. This force causes
each trolley to accelerate.
Which trolley will have the smallest acceleration? Explain your answer.
Step 1: Identify which law of motion to apply


o The question involves quantities of force and acceleration, and the image shows
trolleys of different masses, so Newton's second law is required:

F = ma

Step 2: Re-arrange the equation to make acceleration the subject

Step 3: Explain the inverse proportionality between acceleration and mass


o Acceleration is inversely proportional to mass
o This means for the same amount of force, a large mass will experience
a small acceleration
o Therefore, trolley C will have the smallest acceleration because it has the largest
mass
1.5.2 Balanced Forces

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Resultant Force

 When several forces act on a body, the resultant (overall) force on the body can be found by
adding together forces which act in the same direction and subtracting forces which act in
opposite directions:

Diagram showing the resultant forces on three different objects

 When the forces acting on a body are balanced (i.e. there is no resultant force), the body
will either remain at rest or continue to move in a straight line at a constant speed
 When the forces acting on a body are balanced the body will remain at rest or continue to
travel at a constant speed in a straight line

FRICTION
 Friction is a force that works in opposition to the motion of an object
o This slows down the motion of the object
 When friction is present, energy is transferred in the form of heat
o This raises the temperature (thermal energy) of the object and its
surroundings
o The work done against the frictional forces causes this rise in the
temperature

 Friction in solids is caused by imperfections in the surfaces of the objects

moving over one another
o Not only does this slow the object down but also causes an increase
in thermal energy

STATIC FRICTION AND DYNAMIC FRICTION

Static friction IT is the maximum friction that acts on an object when it is at rest.

(sliding or dynamic) friction that acts on an moving object

3.1.6 Drag Force & Air Resistance
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Drag Forces

 Drag forces are forces acting the opposite direction to an object moving through a fluid
(either gas or liquid)
 Examples of drag forces are friction and air resistance
 A key component of drag forces is it increases with the speed of the object. This is shown
in the diagram below:

Frictional forces on a car increase with its speed

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Worked Example
A car of mass 800 kg has a horizontal driving force of 3 kN acting on it.Its acceleration is 2.0 ms

.What is the frictional force acting on the car?

Exam Tip
Remember to consider drag forces in your calculation for the resultant force. More details of this
are in the notes “Force and acceleration”.

Air Resistance

 Air resistance is an example of a drag force which objects experience when moving
through the air
 At a walking pace, a person rarely experiences the effects of air resistance
 However, a person swimming at the same pace uses up much more energy - this is
because air is 800 times less dense than water
 Air resistance depends on the shape of the body (object) and the speed it’s travelling
 Since drag force increases with speed, air resistance becomes important when objects
move faster

A racing cyclist adopts a more streamline posture to reduce the effects of air resistance. The
cycle, clothing and helmet are designed to allow them to go as fast as possible

Exam Tip
If a question considers air resistance to be ‘negligible’ this means in that question, air resistance
is taken to be so small it will not make a difference to the motion of the body. You can take this
to mean there are no drag forces acting on the body.
1.4.6 Circular Motion
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Circular Motion
EXTENDED

 Velocity is a vector quantity, and the velocity of an object is its speed in a

given direction
 When an object travels along a circular path, its velocity is always changing
o The speed of the object moving in a circle might be constant - that is, it is
travelling the same distance every second
o However, the direction of travel is always changing as the object moves along the
circular path
 This means that an object moving in circular motion travels at a constant speed but has
a changing velocity
 The image below shows an example of a famous object that moves in a circular path with
a constant speed but changing direction:

The International Space Station’s velocity is always changing - it whizzes around the Earth at
a constant speed of about 7660 m/s but is always changing direction
  When a force acts at 90 degrees to an object’s direction of travel, the force will cause
that object to change direction

When the two cars collide, the first car changes its direction in the direction of the force

 If the force continues to act at 90 degrees to the motion, the object will keep changing its
direction (whilst remaining at a constant speed) and travel in a circle
 This is what happens when a planet orbits a star (or satellite orbits a planet)

The Moon is pulled towards the Earth (at 90 degrees to its direction of travel). This causes it to
travel in a circular path

 The force needed to make something follow a circular path depends on a number of
factors:
 o The mass of the object

 A greater mass requires a greater force when the speed and radius are
constant
o The speed of the object

o A faster-moving object requires a greater force when the mass and radius
are constant
 The radius of the circle

o A smaller radius requires a greater force to keep the speed and radius
constant

14.2.3 Centripetal Force

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 An object moving in a circle is not in equilibrium, it has a resultant force acting upon it
o This is known as the centripetal force and is what keeps the object moving in a
circle
 The centripetal force (F) is defined as:

The resultant force towards the centre of the circle required to keep a body in uniform
circular motion. It is always directed towards the centre of the body's rotation.

 Note: centripetal force and centripetal acceleration act in the same direction
o This is due to Newton’s Second Law
 The centripetal force is not a separate force of its own
o It can be any type of force, depending on the situation, which keeps an object
moving in a circular path
 Exam
ples of centripetal force

SATELLITES
 Communication satellites
 Geostationary satellites
 Monitoring satellites
Geostationary Satellites

 Geostationary satellites orbit above the Earth’s equator

o The orbit of the satellite is 24 hours
o Has an orbit of 36 000 km above the Earth’s surface, much higher than
polar satellites
o Used for radio and telecommunication broadcasting around the world due
to its high orbit

Some satellite phones and direct broadcast satellite television use geostationary
satellite