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CHAPTER 5  Thus according to Galileo the state of rest and

LAWS OF MOTION the state of uniform linear motion (motion with
(Prepared By Ayyappan C, GMRHSS, Kasaragod) constant velocity) are equivalent.
ARISTOTLE’S FALLACY  If the net external force is zero, a body at rest
 Aristotelian law of motion can be stated as : continues to remain at rest and a body in
An external force is required to keep a body in motion continues to move with a uniform
motion velocity.
NEWTON’S LAWS OF MOTION
• Galileo disproved this by experiments using
 Starting from Galileo’s ideas, Newton formed
inclined planes.
three laws of motion.
GALILEO’S EXPERIMENTS
NEWTON’S FIRST LAW OF MOTION - THE LAW OF
Using single inclined plane
INERTIA
• Galileo studied motion of objects on an inclined
 Everybody continues to be in its state of rest or
plane.
of uniform motion in a straight line unless
• Objects
compelled by some external force to act
i) moving down an inclined plane
otherwise.
accelerate
INERTIA
ii) objects moving up retard
 The inability of a body to change its state of rest
iii) Motion on a horizontal plane is an
or uniform motion along a straight line.
intermediate situation.
 Inertia means resistance to change.
Inertia of rest (static inertia)
 The property of an object by virtue of which it
remains in its state of rest.
• Galileo concluded that an object moving on a  Example:
i) a person standing in a bus tends to fall
frictionless horizontal plane should move with
backward when the bus starts suddenly
constant velocity. ii) Fruits fall down due to inertia of rest
Using Double inclined plane when the branches of a tree are shaken
iii) Dust particles on a carpet fall if we beat
the carpet with a stick
iv) With a quick pull, a table cloth can be
removed from a dining table without
disturbing dishes on it due to the Inertia
of rest.
 A ball released from rest on one of the planes Inertia of motion (kinetic inertia)
rolls down and climbs up the other.  The property by which it remains in state of
 When friction is absent, the final height of the motion
ball is the same as its initial height. i) A person in running bus , falls forward
 If the slope of the second plane is decreased the bus when stops suddenly.
and the experiment repeated, the ball will still ii) Athlete taking a short run before a
reach the same height, but it will travel a longer jump.
distance.
 When the slope of the second plane is zero (i.e. Forces on a book at rest on a horizontal surface
is a horizontal) the ball travels an infinite
distance.
 If there were no friction, the ball would
continue to move with a constant velocity on
the horizontal plane.
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 The two forces are ii) The same bullet fired with moderate speed will
i) the force due to gravity (i.e. its weight not cause much damage
W) acting downward
Reason
ii) the upward force on the book by the
table, the normal force R.  Velocity is high for a bullet from a gun - the
 Since the book is rest the net force on the book change in momentum is high
must be zero.  External force required to stop the bullet is
Forces on a car proportional to change in momentum for a
given time.
Situation -3
When the car is stationary, there is no net force i) A seasoned cricketer catches a cricket ball
acting on it. coming in with great speed far more easily
 During pick-up, it accelerates. It is the frictional than a novice, who can hurt his hands in the
force that accelerates the car as a whole. act
 When the car moves with constant velocity, Reason
there is no net external force.
 External force depends on the time in which the
 Friction on the front wheels opposes the
spinning, so friction must point in the forward momentum change is brought about.
direction.  The change in momentum brought about in a
MOMENTUM ( P ) shorter time needs greater applied force and
• Momentum is the product of its mass and vice versa.
velocity
 
P  mv Situation -4
 Momentum is a vector quantity  Suppose a stone is rotated with uniform speed
Some Situations relating momentum and applied force in a horizontal plane by means of a string, the
Situation -1 magnitude of momentum is fixed, but its
i) A much greater force is needed to push the direction changes
truck than the car to bring them to the  The force needed to change in momentum is
same speed in same time. provided by our hand through the string.
ii) A greater opposing force is needed to stop a  Our hand needs to exert a greater force if the
heavy body than a light body in the same stone is rotated at greater speed or in a circle of
time, if they are moving with the same smaller radius, or both
speed.
iii) If two stones, one light and the other heavy,
are dropped from the top of a building, a
person on the ground will find it easier to
catch the light stone than the heavy stone.
Reason Reason
 In these cases change in momentum is greater  External force is proportional to change in
for a heavy body. momentum.
 External force required is proportional to NEWTON’S SECOND LAW OF MOTION
change in momentum for the given time.
• The rate of change of momentum of a body is
Situation -2
directly proportional to the applied force and
i) A bullet fired by a gun can easily pierce human
takes place in the direction in which the force
tissue before it stops, resulting in casualty.
acts.
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• That is PROBLEM
 p  
p • A bullet of mass 0.04 kg moving with a speed of
F or F  k 90 m s-1 enters a heavy wooden block and is
t t
stopped after a distance of 60 cm. What is the
• Where Δp – change in momentum in the time
average resistive force exerted by the block on
interval Δt and k – constant of proportionality. the bullet?
• Taking the limit Δt→0, Solution
 
dp • Given m=0.04kg, v0 = 90 m/s , x= 0.6m, v=0
F k • The acceleration of the bullet is given by
dt
v 2  v0  2ax
2
• For a body of fixed mass m,

dp dv   0  90 2  2  a  0.6
 m  ma
dt dt 90 2
  a  6750m / s
• Thus F  kma
2  0.6
• The resistive force is
• The S I unit of force ( newton ) is defined such
that k=1. F  ma  0.04   6750  270N
• Therefore Impulse
  • The product of force and time.
F  ma
• This law is applicable to both single particle and = Change in Momentum
a system of particles.
I  F  t  p
Definition of newton
• One newton is that force, which causes an • Unit of impulse is newton-second (Ns).
acceleration of 1m/s2, to a mass of 1kg. Impulsive force
• A large force acting for a short time to produce
1N  1kgms2 a finite change in momentum.
Newton’s First Law from Second Law • Examples are force when a ball hits on a wall,
  force exerted by a bat on a ball, force on a nail
• We have F  ma , by a hammer etc.
• Thus when F=0 , a= 0- this is first law of motion. PROBLEM
Newton’s second law in vector component form • A batsman hits back a ball straight in the
• The second law of motion is a vector law. It is direction of the bowler without changing its
equivalent to three equations, one for each initial speed of 12 m s–1. If the mass of the ball is
component of the vectors 0.15 kg, determine the impulse imparted to the
ball. (Assume linear motion of the ball)
Solution
Impulse  Change in momentum
 0.15  12  ( 0.15  12)  3.6 Ns
NEWTON’S THIRD LAW OF MOTION
• To every action, there is always an equal and
• Thus , if the force makes an angle with the opposite reaction.
velocity of a body , it changes only the • Forces always occur in pairs. Force on a body A
component of velocity along the direction of by B is equal and opposite to the force on the
force. body B by A.
• The component of velocity normal to the force • Action and reaction force occurs
remains unchanged. simultaneously.
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• Action and reaction forces act on different • Therefore x - component of impulse = - 2mu
bodies, not on the same body – they do not • y – component of impulse = 0
cancel each other. • Impulse and force are in the same direction
FAB   FBA • Thus the force on the ball due to the wall is
normal to the wall, along the negative x-
Examples
direction.
• When a man walks on earth he exerts a force in
• From Newton’s Third law, the force on the wall
the backward direction- Action
due to the ball is normal to the wall, along the
The earth exerts an equal reaction on man in
positive x-direction.
the forward direction. As a result he moves in
Case (b)
forward direction.
• When a bird flies it exerts a force on the air by
its wings.
The air exerts a reaction force on the wings in
the opposite direction. As a result the bird flies.
• When a bullet is fired from a gun , the force
exerted on the bullet is action.
The bullet exerts a reaction force on the gun in
the opposite direction- recoil of gun
• In a rocket the burnt gas at a very high pressure
escapes through the nozzle with a tremendous
force.
This escaping gas exerts a reaction force on the
rocket in the opposite direction. Thus rocket
• Thus
moves forward.
PROBLEM
• Two identical billiard balls strike a rigid wall • Therefore the force on the wall due to the ball
with the same speed but at different angles, is normal to the wall, along the positive x-
and get reflected without any change in speed direction.
as shown in fig. What is ii) The ratio of the magnitudes of the impulses
(i) The direction of the force on the wall due to imparted to the balls is
each ball?
(ii) the ratio of the magnitudes of impulses
imparted to the balls by the wall ?
THE LAW OF CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM
• The total momentum of an isolated system ( a
system with no external force ) of interacting
particles is conserved.
• From Newton’s second law
dp
F
Solution dt
i) To find the direction of force, impulse When F=0, we get
(change in momentum) of the ball is dp
F 0
calculated. dt
Case (a)
dp  0
 p x initial  mu
 p x  final  mu  p  constant
p 
y initial 0
• Therefore, when F=0, initial momentum = final
momentum.
p 
y final 0
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Applications of conservation of momentum COMMON FORCES IN MECHANICS

Recoil of a gun i) Gravitational force –
• Velocity of a bullet- muzzle velocity  Every object on the earth experiences
• Movement of gun backward, when a bullet is the force of gravity due to the earth.
fired- recoil of gun
• According to conservation of momentum ii) Contact forces
momentum before firing = momentum after  A contact force on an object arises due
firing to contact with some other object: solid
• Thus or fluid.
0  mu  MV  When bodies are in contact there are
Where m- mass of bullet, u- velocity of bullet, mutual contact forces (for each pair of
M- mass of gun, V- recoil velocity of gun bodies) satisfying the third law.
• Therefore
 The component of contact force normal
 mu
V to the surfaces in contact is called
M
normal reaction.
• The negative sign shows that velocity of gun is
opposite to that of bullet  The component parallel to the surfaces
• Recoil velocity is very small (since M > m) in contact is called friction.

Rocket propulsion
• When a rocket is fired, fuel is burnt in the
combustion chamber.
• The hot gas at very high pressure escapes
through the nozzle with a very high velocity
• The escaping gas has a very high momentum iii) Force due to spring
• In order to conserve momentum the rocket  When a spring is compressed or
moves in the forward direction. extended by an external force, a
restoring force is generated.
EQUILIBRIUM OF A PARTICLE
 This force is usually proportional to the
• Equilibrium of a particle in mechanics refers to
the situation when the net external force on the compression or elongation (for small
particle is zero. displacements).
• The forces acting at a point are called  The spring force F is written as
concurrent forces F = – k x where x is the displacement
 If two forces F1 and F2, act on a particle, and k is the force constant.
equilibrium requires  The negative sign denotes that the
force is opposite to the displacement
 Equilibrium under three concurrent forces F1, F2 from the unstretched state.
and F3 requires that iv) Tension in a string ( T )
 The restoring force in a string is called
tension.
 The direction is always away from the
body
The different contact forces of mechanics mentioned
above fundamentally arise from electrical forces.
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MOTION OF CONNECTED BODIES  And

m1  m2
T  m2 g  m2 a  m2 g  m2 g
Body moving on a horizontal frictionless table
m1  m2 
2m1m2
T g
m1  m2 
Motion in a lift

a) Lift at rest or moving with constant velocity

upward or downward

 The net force on m1 is

m1g  T  m1a
 The net force on m2 is
T  m2a  Here acceleration a=0
 Adding two equations  The net force is
m1 g  m1  m2 a N  mg  ma  0
m1 g  N  mg
a
m1  m2   Thus apparent weight = Actual weight

 And b) Lift moves up with acceleration a

m1m2
T  m2 a  g
m1  m2 
Motion in a frictionless pulley

• The net force

N  mg  ma
 N  mg  a 
• Apparent weight > Actual weight

c) Lift moves down with acceleration a

 The net force on m1 is

m1g  T  m1a
 The net force on m2 is
T  m2 g  m2a
 Adding two equations • The net force
m1 g  m2 g  m1  m2 a mg  N  ma
a
m1  m2 g  N  mg  a 
m1  m2  • Apparent weight < Actual weight
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d) Lift falls down freely  Thus , value of static friction may be written as

f s  s N
Angle of friction (θ)

• Here a= g
 N  mg  g   o
• Apparent weight = 0

FRICTION • The angle at which the body begin to slide on an

• Friction is the force which opposes the relative inclined plane is called angle of limiting static
motion between two surfaces in contact. friction or angle of repose
• It acts tangential to the surface of contact. • The weight of the body can be resolved in to
• Arises due to two components.
a) adhesive force between surfaces • Just before sliding
b) irregularities of plane surface mg sin   f s
max

• There are two types

I) Static friction mg cos   N
II) Kinetic friction • Dividing the two equations
mg sin 
max
f
Static friction  s
• Friction between two surfaces in contact as long mg cos  N
as the bodies is at rest. f
max
tan  s  s
N

• Thus coefficient of static friction is the tangent

• Its value increases from zero to a maximum
value called limiting friction (fsmax). of the angle of limiting friction.
• Limiting friction is the static frictional force just
before sliding. PROBLEM-1
• Determine the maximum acceleration of the
Laws of Static Friction train in which a box lying on its floor will remain
• The magnitude of limiting friction is stationary, given that the co-efficient of static
independent of area of the contact between the friction between the box and the train’s floor is
bodies. 0.15.
• The limiting friction is proportional to the Solution
normal reaction N. • Since the acceleration of the box is due to the
N
max static friction,
fs
ma  f s   s N   s mg
 s N
max
fs a  s g
μ
• s - coefficient of static friction.
max a max   s g  0.15  10m / s 2  1.5m / s 2
fs
s 
N
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PROBLEM-2
• A mass of 4 kg rests on a horizontal plane. The
plane is gradually inclined until at an angle =
15° with the horizontal, the mass just begins to
slide. What is the coefficient of static friction
between the block and the surface?
Solution
• We have Solution
tan    s • Net force on 2kg mass is
30  T  2a , a –acceleration
 s  tan150  0.27 • Net force on trolley is
T  f k  20a
Kinetic friction
• Now f k  k N
• Friction experienced by a body when it moves
µk=0.04,
N= 20 x 10= 200 N
• Thus
T  0.04  200  20a
• Two types:
i) Sliding friction T  8  20a
ii) Rolling friction • Solving the equations , we get
• Rolling friction < sliding friction < static friction a=22/23 =0.96m/s2 and T = 27.1 N

Laws of kinetic friction

• Kinetic friction does not depend on the nature of FRICTION AS A NECESSARY EVIL
the two surfaces in contact. • Friction is considered as a necessary evil,
• Kinetic friction is proportional to the normal because it has both advantages and
reaction. disadvantages.
Advantages of friction
fk  N • We are able to walk on the ground due to
f k  k N friction
μ
• We can hold an object in hand due to friction
• kis the coefficient of kinetic friction • Meteors burn in air due to friction.
• Coefficient of kinetic friction is less than that of Disadvantages of friction
static friction • When a vehicle moves lot of energy is lost to
overcome friction
Rolling friction • Excess heat produced in machines causes wear
• Friction when a body rolls on a surface and tear to parts
• Very small compared to sliding friction-surface • Atmospheric friction is disadvantageous to
area of contact is small rockets and satellites
• Advantage of Rolling friction is made use in ball-
bearings Ways to minimize friction
• Using lubricants like, grease, oil, wax etc.
PROBLEM • Using ball bearings or roll bearings
• What is the acceleration of the block and trolley • Using anti-friction metals or alloys
system shown in the figure, if the coefficient of • Separating the surfaces by an air cushion
kinetic friction between the trolley and the • Streamlining the body of vehicles
surface is 0.04? What is the tension in the • Polishing the surfaces.
string? (Take g = 10 m s-2). Neglect the mass of
the string.
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CIRCULAR MOTION  s RN  s Rmg

• Acceleration of a body moving in a circle of v2  
m m
radius R with uniform speed v is v2/R directed
towards the centre. v   s Rg
2

• According to the second law, the force  Thus for a given value of μs and R, the maximum
providing this acceleration is speed of circular motion of the car is given by

fC 
mv 2
R
vmax   s Rg
• This force directed forwards the centre is called
the centripetal force. Motion of a car on a banked road
• For a stone rotated in a circle by a string, the
centripetal force is provided by the tension in Banking of roads
the string. • The phenomenon of raising outer edge of the
• The centripetal force for motion of a planet curved road above the inner edge is called
around the sun is the gravitational force on the banking of roads.
planet due to the sun. • We can reduce the contribution of friction to
• For a car taking a circular turn on a horizontal the circular motion of the car if the road is
road, the centripetal force is the force of banked
friction. Forces on a car in a banked road
Motion of a car on a level road

Maximum possible speed of a car on a banked road –

with friction
 Three forces act on the car
i) The weight of the car, mg
ii) Normal reaction, N
iii) Frictional force, f

Maximum speed of the car on a level road

 As there is no acceleration in the vertical
direction

N  mg  0
N  mg
 The centripetal force required for the circular  Since there is no acceleration along the vertical
motion is provided by the frictional force direction, the net force along this direction
between road and the car tyres. must be zero.
 Thus  Thus
mv 2 N cos   mg  f sin 
f  s N 
R
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 The centripetal force is provided by the PROBLEM-1

horizontal components of N and f.  A cyclist speeding at 18 km/h on a level road
takes a sharp circular turn of radius 3 m without
mv 2
N sin   f cos   reducing the speed. The co efficient of static
R friction between the tyres and the road is 0.1.
 But for maximum speed , vmax, f   s N Will the cyclist slip while taking the turn ?
Solution
 Thus
 The condition for the cyclist not to slip is given
N cos   mg   s N sin  by
N cos    s sin    mg v 2  s Rg
mg  Given , R = 3 m, g = 9.8 m s-2, µs = 0.1. v = 18
N
cos    s sin   km/h = 5 m s-1
 Also v 2  s Rg  0.1  3  9.8  2.94m 2 / s 2
2  Here v2 = 25, the condition not obeyed.
N sin    s cos   
mvmax
 The cyclist will slip while taking the circular turn.
R
 Substituting for N in this equation we get,
PROBLEM -2
 A circular racetrack of radius 300 m is banked at
mg sin    s cos   mvmax
2
an angle of 15°. If the coefficient of friction

cos    s sin   R between the wheels of a race-car and the road
is 0.2, what is the (a) optimum speed of the
racecar to avoid wear and tear on its tyres, and
Rg sin    s cos   (b) maximum permissible speed to avoid
2
v max 
cos    s sin   Solution
slipping ?
 Therefore
 Given , =150 ,µs =0.2, R=300m, g =9.8m/s2
Rg sin    s cos   a) Optimum speed is
vmax 
cos   s sin   v0  Rg tan  300  9.8  tan150  28.1m / s
 Dividing numerator and denominator by cos,
we get b) Maximum speed is
Rg tan    s  Rg tan    s 
vmax  v max 
1   s tan 
 38.1m / s
1  s tan  
 Thus maximum possible speed of a car on a
banked road is greater than that on a flat road.
Speed of the car – without friction
 If there is no friction, µs=0,therefore the speed *******
of the car is

v0  Rg tan
 This is called the optimum speed.
 At this speed, frictional force is not needed to
provide the necessary centripetal force.
 Driving at this speed on a banked road will
cause little wear and tear of the tyres.