Grade 9 Physics

Chapter 9 – Force and Laws of Motion (Notes)

FORCE:
 A push or pull on a body is called force.
 Forces are used in our everyday actions like pushing, pulling, lifting, stretching,
twisting and pressing.
EXAMPLES:
 A force is used when we lift a box from the floor
 A force is used when we stretch a rubber band
 A force is used when we twist a wet cloth to squeeze out water
EFFECTS OF FORCE:
 A force can move a stationary body.
 A force can stop a moving body.
 A force can change the speed of a moving body.
 A force can change the direction of a moving body.
 A force can change the shape (and size) of a body.
BALANCED FORCES:
 If the resultant of all the forces acting on a body is zero, then the forces are
called balanced forces.
 A body under the action of balanced forces does not change its position of rest (or of
uniform motion) and it appears as if no force is acting on it.
EXAMPLES:
 Suppose a heavy box is lying on the ground. Let us push this box with our hands. We
find that the box does not move (and remains in its state of rest) though as many as
four forces are acting on it. The four forces acting on the box are:
 Force of our push
 Force of friction (which opposes the push and does not allow the box to move)
 Force of gravity (which pulls the box downwards)
 Force of reaction (exerted by the ground on the box upwards which balances the
force of gravity)
  The force of our push on the box is balanced by the force of friction, and the force of
gravity is balanced by the force of reaction of the ground.
 If a number of balanced forces act on a stationary body, the body continues to
remain in its stationary position.
 Similarly, if a number of balanced forces act on a body in uniform motion, the body
continues to be in its state of uniform motion.
 Though balanced forces cannot produce motion in a stationary body or stop a
moving body, they can, however, change the shape of the body.

UNBALANCED FORCES:
 If the resultant of all the forces acting on a body is not zero, the forces are
called unbalanced forces.
 When unbalanced forces act on a body, they produce a change in its state of rest or of
uniform motion.
 That is, unbalanced forces can move a stationary body or they can stop a moving
body.
 In other words, unbalanced forces acting on a body can change its speed or direction
of motion.
EXAMPLES:
 Suppose a toy car is lying on the ground. Let us push this car with our hand. We find
that the toy car starts moving.
 In this case also four forces are acting on the toy car.

 The force of gravity on the car acting downwards and the force of reaction of ground
acting upwards are equal and opposite, so they balance each other.
 Now, due to the wheels of the toy car, the opposing ‘force of friction’ is much less
here.
 The force of our push is, therefore, greater than the force of friction in this case, so
they cannot balance each other.
 Thus, the resultant of all the forces acting on the toy car is not zero. There is a net
unbalanced force acting on the toy car which makes the car move from its position of
rest.
GALILEO’S DEDUCTION:
 By observing the motion of objects on an inclined plane Galileo deduced that objects
move with a constant speed when no force acts on them.
 He observed that when a marble rolls down an inclined plane, its velocity increases.
 Its velocity decreases when it climbs up.

 If the inclinations of the planes on both sides are equal then the marble will climb
the same distance that it covered while rolling down.
 If the angle of inclination of the right-side plane were gradually decreased, then the
marble would travel further distances till it reaches the original height.
 If the right-side plane were ultimately made horizontal (that is, the slope is reduced
to zero), the marble would continue to travel forever trying to reach the same height
that it was released from.

NEWTON’S 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 continue in motion in a straight line with a uniform
speed, unless it is compelled by an external force to change its state of rest or
of uniform motion.
INERTIA:
 The inherent property of a body to resist any change in its state of rest or the
state of uniform motion, unless it is influenced upon by an external
unbalanced force, is known as ‘inertia’.
 Newton’s first law recognizes that every body has some inertia.
 Inertia is that property of a body due to which it resists a change in its state of rest
or of uniform motion.
 This is why, the first law of motion is also known as the law of inertia.
 Greater the inertia of a body, greater will be the force required to bring a change in
its state of rest or of uniform motion.
 In fact, mass is a measure of the inertia of a body.
 If a body has more mass, it has more inertia. That is, heavier objects have more
inertia than lighter objects.
 Thus, the inertia of a body depends on its mass.
TYPES OF INERTIA:
 INERTIA OF REST:
The resistance of a body to change its state of rest. For example, when you
vigorously shake the branches of a tree, some of the leaves and fruits are detached and
they fall down.
 INERTIA OF MOTION:
The resistance of a body to change its state of motion. For example, an athlete runs
some distance before jumping. Because, this will help him jump longer and higher.
 INERTIA OF DIRECTION:
The resistance of a body to change its direction of motion. For example, when you
make a sharp turn while driving a car, you tend to lean sideways.
EXAMPLES:
 A stone has greater inertia than a football. If we kick a stone, it will not move
because of its high inertia but if we kick a football, it will move a long way.
 Similarly, a cricket ball has more inertia than a rubber ball of the same size.
 An opposite experience is encountered when we are standing in a bus and the bus
begins to move suddenly.
 When a motorcar makes a sharp turn at a high speed, we tend to get thrown to one
side.
 When a hanging carpet is beaten with a stick, the dust particles start coming out of
it.
CONCLUSION:
 From the above discussion, it is clear that Newton’s first law of motion gives us a
definition of force.
 It says that a force is something which changes or tends to change the state of
rest or of uniform motion of a body.
 In other words, a force is an influence which can produce an acceleration or
retardation in a body.
 Force is a vector quantity having magnitude as well as direction.

MOMENTUM:
 We know that a cricket ball is much heavier than a tennis ball.
 Suppose we throw a cricket ball and a tennis ball, both with the same speed or
velocity. It will be found that more force is required to stop the cricket ball (which
has more mass) and less force is required to stop the tennis ball (which has less
mass).
 We conclude that the force required to stop a moving body is directly
proportional to its mass.
 Now, if we throw two cricket balls of the same mass at different speeds or velocities,
it will be found that more force is required to stop that cricket ball which is moving
 with higher velocity and less force is required to stop the cricket ball moving with
lower velocity.
 So, we conclude that the force required to stop a moving body is also directly
proportional to its velocity.
 Thus, the quantity of motion in a body depends on the mass and velocity of the
body.
DEFINITION:
 The momentum of a body is defined as the product of its mass and velocity.
momentum = mass × velocity
p=m×v
p = momentum, m = mass of the body, v = velocity (or speed) of the body
 Momentum is a vector quantity and takes place in the direction of velocity.
 The SI unit of momentum is kg m/s or kg m s–1.
 If a body is at rest, its velocity is zero and hence its momentum is also zero.
 Every moving body possesses momentum.
 Since momentum depends on the mass and velocity of a body, so a body will have a
large momentum:
 (a) if its mass is large, or
 (b) if its velocity (speed) is large, or
 (c) if both its mass and velocity (speed) are large.
APPLICATION:
 Since the application of an unbalanced force brings a change in the velocity of the
object, it is therefore clear that a force also produces a change of momentum.
 Let us consider a situation in which a car with a dead battery is to be pushed along a
straight road to give it a speed of 1 m s-1, which is sufficient to start its engine.
 If one or two persons give a sudden push (unbalanced force) to it, it hardly starts.
 But a continuous push over some time results in a gradual acceleration of the car to
this speed.
 It means that the change of momentum of the car is not only determined by the
magnitude of the force but also by the time during which the force is exerted.
 It may then also be concluded that the force necessary to change the momentum
of an object depends on the time rate at which the momentum is changed.
NEWTON’S SECOND LAW OF MOTION:
 According to Newton’s second law of motion: The rate of change of momentum of
a body is directly proportional to the applied force, and takes place in the
direction in which the force acts.
 The rate of change of momentum of a body can be obtained by dividing the ‘Change
in momentum’ by ‘Time taken’ for change.
𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐦
Force α
𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧
MATHEMATICAL FORMULATION OF SECOND LAW OF MOTION:
 Suppose an object of mass, m is moving along a straight line with an initial velocity,
u.
 It is uniformly accelerated to velocity, v in time, t by the application of a constant
force, F throughout the time, t.
 The initial and final momentum of the object will be, p 1 = mu and p2 = mv
 The change in momentum, Δp = p2 – p1
Δp = mv – mu
Δp = m × (v – u)
m × (v – u)
 The rate of change of momentum =
t
 By the Newton’s Second Law of Motion,
m × (v – u)
Fα
t
k × m × (v – u)
F=
t
(v – u)
F=kma [∵a= ]
t
 The quantity, k is a constant of proportionality.
 The value of constant k in SI units is 1,
F=ma
Force = mass × acceleration
KEY POINTS:
 We can also write the equation F = m × a as:
𝐅
a=
𝐦
 The acceleration produced in a body is directly proportional to the force acting on it
and inversely proportional to the mass of the body.
 Since the acceleration produced is inversely proportional to the mass of a body,
therefore, if the mass of a body is doubled, its acceleration will be halved and if
the mass is halved then acceleration will get doubled (provided the force remains
the same).
 Since the acceleration produced is inversely proportional to the mass of the body, it
means that it will be easier to move light bodies (having less mass) than heavy
bodies (having large mass).
ONE NEWTON:
 The SI unit of force is newton which is denoted by N.
 A newton is that force which when acting on a body of mass 1 kg produces an
acceleration of 1 m s-2 in it.
1 newton = 1 kg × 1 m s-2
APPLICATIONS OF NEWTON’S SECOND LAW OF MOTION:
 A cricket player (or fielder) moves his hands backwards on catching a fast cricket
ball.
 During athletics meet, a high jumping athlete is provided either a cushion or a heap
of sand on the ground to fall upon.
 Seat belts reduce the passengers’ momentum more gently and hence prevent
injuries.
NEWTON’S THIRD LAW OF MOTION:
 The third law of motion states that when one object exerts a force on another object,
the second object instantaneously exerts a force back on the first.
 These two forces are always equal in magnitude but opposite in direction.
 These forces act on different objects and never on the same object.
 According to Newton’s third law of motion: To every action there is an equal
and opposite reaction.
 Whenever one body exerts a force on another body, the second body exerts an equal
and opposite force on the first body.
 The force exerted by the first body on the second body is known as “action” and the
force exerted by the second body on the first body is known as “reaction”.
 It should be noted that “action” and “reaction” are just forces.
 Action (force) and reaction (force) act on two different bodies, but they act
simultaneously.
NOTE:
 Though action and reaction forces are equal in magnitude but they do not produce
equal acceleration in the two bodies on which they act.
 This is because the two bodies on which action and reaction forces act usually have
different masses.
 So, the acceleration produced will be more in the body having less mass whereas the
acceleration produced will be less in the body having more mass.
SOME EXAMPLES TO ILLUSTRATE NEWTON’S THIRD LAW OF MOTION:
 When we walk on the ground, then our foot pushes the ground backward and, in
return, the ground pushes our foot forward.
 When a bullet is fired from a gun, the force sending the bullet forward is equal to the
force sending the gun backward.
 Jet aero planes utilize the principle of action and reaction. The equal and opposite
reaction of the backward going gases pushes the aircraft forward at a great speed.
 During the rowing of a boat, the boatman pushes the water backwards with the oars.
The water exerts an equal and opposite push on the boat which makes the boat
move forward.
 When a man jumps out of a boat (action force) to the bank of the river (or lake), the
boat moves backwards away from him (reaction force).
NUMERICALS:
1. What is the momentum of a man of mass 75 kg when he walks with a uniform velocity of 2 m s –1?
2. Calculate the momentum of a toy car of mass 200 g moving with a speed of 5 m s–1.
3. Calculate the momentum of the following:
(a) an elephant of mass 2000 kg moving at 5 m s–1
(b) a bullet of mass 0.02 kg moving at 400 m s–1
4. A body of mass 25 kg has a momentum of 125 kg m s–1. Calculate the velocity of the body.
5. Calculate the change in momentum of a body weighing 5 kg when its velocity decreases from 20 m
s–1 to 0.20 m s–1.
6. What is the change in momentum of a car weighing 1500 kg when its speed increases from 36 km h–
1 to 72 km h–1 uniformly?

7. A constant force acts on an object of mass 5 kg for a duration of 2 s. It increases the object’s velocity
from 3 m s–1 to 7 m s-1. Find the magnitude of the applied force. Now, if the force was applied for a
duration of 5 s, what would be the final velocity of the object?
8. Which would require a greater force - accelerating a 2 kg mass at 5 m s–2 or a 4 kg mass at 2 m s-2?
9. A motorcar is moving with a velocity of 108 km h -1 and it takes 4 s to stop after the brakes are
applied. Calculate the force exerted by the brakes on the motorcar if its mass along with the
passengers is 1000 kg.
10. A force of 5 N gives a mass m1, an acceleration of 10 m s–2 and a mass m2, an acceleration of 20 m s-2.
What acceleration would it give if both the masses were tied together?
11. The velocity-time graph of a ball of mass 20 g moving along a straight line on a long table is given
in the below figure. How much force does the table exert on the ball to bring it to rest?

12. A truck starts from rest and rolls down a hill with a constant acceleration. It travels a distance of
400 m in 20 s. Find its acceleration. Find the force acting on it if its mass is 7 tonnes (Hint: 1 tonne =
1000 kg.)
13. A stone of 1 kg is thrown with a velocity of 20 m s–1 across the frozen surface of a lake and comes
to rest after travelling a distance of 50 m. What is the force of friction between the stone and the ice?
14. A 8000 kg engine pulls a train of 5 wagons, each of 2000 kg, along a horizontal track. If the engine
exerts a force of 40000 N and the track offers a friction force of 5000 N, then calculate: (a) the net
accelerating force and (b) the acceleration of the train.
15. An automobile vehicle has a mass of 1500 kg. What must be the force between the vehicle and
road if the vehicle is to be stopped with a negative acceleration of 1.7 m s–2?
16. A hockey ball of mass 200 g travelling at 10 m s–1 is struck by a hockey stick so as to return it along
its original path with a velocity at 5 m s–1. Calculate the magnitude of change of momentum occurred
in the motion of the hockey ball by the force applied by the hockey stick.
17. A bullet of mass 10 g travelling horizontally with a velocity of 150 m s –1 strikes a stationary
wooden block and comes to rest in 0.03 s. Calculate the distance of penetration of the bullet into the
block. Also calculate the magnitude of the force exerted by the wooden block on the bullet.
18. An object of mass 100 kg is accelerated uniformly from a velocity of 5 m s–1 to 8 m s–1 in 6 s.
Calculate the initial and final momentum of the object. Also, find the magnitude of the force exerted on
the object.
19. How much momentum will a dumb-bell of mass 10 kg transfer to the floor if it falls from a height
of 80 cm? Take its downward acceleration to be 10 m s–2.