2.

FORCE AND LAWS OF MOTION

FORCE: Any action which causes pull or push on a body is called force.
Force cannot be seen but it can be judged only by the effects which it
produces in various bodies around us.
Effects of force:
1] A force can move a stationary object.
2] A force can stop a moving object.
3] A force can change the direction of the moving object.
4] A force can change the speed of the moving object.
5] A force can change the shape and size of the object.
Types of forces: Forces are of two types.
1] Balanced force 2] Unbalanced force
Balanced force: When the resultant of all the forces acting on a body is
equal to zero, then the forces are said to be balanced forces.
Balanced forces can only change the shape of the object and it does not
change the state of rest and motion.
Unbalanced force: When the resultant of all the forces acting on a body is
not equal to zero, then the forces are said to be unbalanced forces.
Unbalanced force can change the state of rest or uniform motion or speed or
direction of the motion of the object.
NEWTON’S LAWS OF MOTION
Newton studied the ideas of Galileo regarding the motion of an object.
He formulated three fundamental laws that govern the motion of objects.
These three laws are known as Newton’s laws of motion.
Newton’s First law of motion:
It states that “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”.
This means all objects resist in changing their state. The state of any object
can be changed by applying external forces only.
e.g. a) A person standing in a bus falls backward when the bus is started
moving suddenly. This happens because the person and bus both are in rest
while the bus is not moving, the legs of the person start moving along with
bus, but rest portion of his body has tendency to remain in rest. Because of
this, person falls backward if he is not alert.
b) A person standing in a moving bus falls forward, if driver applies brakes
suddenly.
Inertia and Mass:
The tendency of a body to resist the change in state of rest or uniform motion
is called inertia.
Newton’s first law of motion is also known as Galileo’s law of inertia.
Inertia of an object measured by its mass. As the mass of an object increases
inertia increases, as the mass decreases inertia decreases. A heavy object will
have more inertia than lighter one.
Types of inertia:
1] Inertia of rest: The tendency of a body to oppose any change in its state
of rest is known as inertia of rest.
e.g. a) when a bus suddenly starts moving forward, then the passengers in
the bus fall backward.
b) When a tree is vigorously shaken, then some of the leaves fall from the
tree.
2] Inertia of motion: The tendency of a body to oppose any change in its
state of uniform motion is known as inertia of motion.
e.g. a) the passengers fall forward when a fast moving bus stops suddenly.
b) A person falls forward while getting down from a moving bus or train.
3] Inertia of direction: the tendency of a body to oppose any change in its
direction of motion is known as inertia of direction.
e.g. a) When the fats moving bus negotiate a curve on the road, then
passengers fall away from the centre of the curved road.
Momentum: Momentum measures the quantity of motion possessed by a
body. It is defined as the product of mass and velocity of the body.
If a body of mass m moves with a velocity v, then momentum p is given by
p= mv
SI unit of momentum is kg-m/s.
If a body at rest, its velocity, v=0 and so momentum.
Newton’s second law of motion: It states that rate of change of momentum
of an object is proportional to the applied external force and takes place in
the direction in which external force acts.
If a body of mass m moving at initial velocity u accelerates uniformly with
an acceleration a for time t, so that its final velocity changes to v, then
Initial momentum, p1 = mu
Final momentum, p2 = mv
Therefore change in momentum = p2 – p1
= mv – mu = m(v-u)
Force α change in momentum / time taken
F α (p2- p1)/t
F α m(v – u)/t
 F α ma
F α kma
The quantity k is constant of proportionality. If k = 1
F = ma
The SI unit of force is newton.
Applications of Newton’s second law of motion
1] A cricket player moves his hands backward while catching fast cricket
ball.
2] During athletics meet, athletes doing high jump and long jump land on
foam or a heap of sand to decrease the force on the body and the landing is
comfortable.
Newton’s third law of motion
It states that, whenever one object exerts a force on another object, then the
second object exerts an equal and opposite force on the first object. Thus,
action and reaction forces are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction.
Applications of Newton’s third law of motion
1] Walking of a person: A person is able to walk because of the Newton’s
third law of motion. During walking, a person pushes the ground in
backward direction and in the reaction, the ground also pushes the person
with equal magnitude of force but in opposite direction. This enables him to
move in forward direction against the push.
2] Propulsion of a boat in forward direction.
3] Rocket propulsion: The propulsion of rocket is based on the principle of
action and reaction.
4] Recoil of gun: When bullet is fired from a gun, then the bullet also pushes
the gun in opposite direction with equal magnitude of force.
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