9.

FORCE AND LAWS OF MOTION

❖ Force
• A force is any interaction that , when unopposed, can change the
motion of an object.
• Force can also be discribed as a push or a pull.
• A force has both magnitude and direction. So it is a vector
quantity.
• It is denoted by F.
• SI unit is Newton (n).
Effect of Force
The force or a set of forces acting on a body, can do three things :

✓ A force or a set of forces can change the speed of the body.

✓ A force or a set of forces can change the direction of motion.
✓ A force can change the shape of the body.

Types Of Forces:
The forces that we come across in our daily life, are divided into two
types :

1) Balanced Forces

If the resultant of all the forces acting on a body

is zero, the forces are called balanced forces.

2N 2N
Block
Fnet = F1 – F2 = 2N – 2N = 0 N

When balanced forces act on a body (here a

Block), they do not produce any change in state
of motion of it.

2) Unbalanced Forces

If the resultant of all the forces

acting on a body is not zero, the
forces are called unbalanced
forces.

If an unbalanced force is applied on

the object, there will be a change
either in its speed or in the
direction of its motion.

And the change in speed or direction will be in the direction of resultant force acting.
Inertia
QUESTIONS
- All objects have a tendency to resist the change in the state of motion
or rest. This tendency is called inertia.
- Inertia can be of three type: Rest , Motion and Direction.
- All bodies do not have the same inertia. Inertia depends on the mass of 1. The inertia of an object
a body. Mass of an object is the measure of its inertia. tends to cause the object
i.e. Inertia is directly proportional to the mass of an object. (a) to increase its speed
(b) to decrease its speed
∴ More the mass → more inertia and vice versa. (c) to resist any change in
its state of motion
Examples of Inertia of Rest: (d) to decelerate due to
friction
• When a bus suddenly starts moving forward, the passengers in the bus
fall backward. This is because the lower part of the bodies of the
passengers being in contact with the floor of the bus come in motion 2. Explain why some of
along with the bus. On the other hand, the upper part of their bodies the leaves may get
remain at rest due to inertia of rest. Hence the passengers fall detached from a tree if we
backward. vigorously shake its
• The carpet is beaten with a stick to remove the dust particles. When branch.
the carpet is beaten with a stick, the fibres of the carpet come in
motion and hence move forward. On the other hand, the dust particles 3. An object of mass 2 kg
remain at rest due to inertia of rest. Therefore, they fall down. is sliding with a constant
• Place a fifty paise coin on a piece of a card-board covering the glass. velocity of 4 m s-1 on a
Strike the card board with a finger. The card board flies away and the frictionless horizontal
coin falls into the glass due to inertia of rest. table. The force required
to keep the object moving
with the same velocity is
(a) 32 N (b) 0 N (c) 2 N
(d) 8 N

4. A water tanker filled up

to 2/3 of its height is
• When a tree is vigorously shaken, some of the fruits fall from the tree. moving with a uniform
When a tree speed. On sudden
application of the brake,
is vigorously
the water in the tank
shaken, the
would
branches of
(a) move backward
the tree
(b) move forward
come in (c) be unaffected
motion but (d) rise upwards
the fruits tend to continue in their state of rest due to inertia of rest.
As a result of this, fruits get separated from the branches of the tree.
• A pile of similar carom coins on a table, as shown in figure, is hit at the 5. There are three solids
bottom of the pile using another carom coin or the striker. If the hit is made up of aluminium, steel
and wood, of the same shape
strong enough, the bottom coin moves out quickly. Once the lowest and same volume. Which of
coin is removed, the inertia of the other coins makes them ‘fall’ them would have highest
vertically on the table. inertia?
Examples of Inertia of Motion:

• The passengers fall forward when a fast moving

bus stops suddenly. This is because the lower QUESTIONS
part of the bodies of the passengers comes to
rest as soon as the bus stops. But the upper
parts of their bodies continue to move forward
6. Two balls of the same size
due to inertia of motion.
but of different materials,
• A person falls forward while getting down from a rubber and iron are kept on
moving bus or train. This is because as the foot the smooth floor of a moving
of the person touches the ground, the lower part of his body comes to train. The brakes are applied
rest while the upper part of his body remains in motion due to inertia suddenly to stop the train.
of motion. Will the balls start rolling? If
so, in which direction? Will
Examples of Inertia of Direction: they move with the same
speed? Give reasons for your
• When a fast moving bus negotiates a curve on the road, passengers answer.
fall towards the centre of the curved road. This is due to the tendency 7. An object experiences a
of the passengers to continue to move in a straight line. net zero external
• The sparks produced during sharpening of a knife against a grinding unbalanced force. Is it
wheel leave the rim of the wheel tangentially. This is because of the possible for the object to be
inertia of direction. travelling with a non-zero
• A stone tied to a string is whirling in a horizontal circle. If the string velocity? If yes, state the
breaks, the stone flies away tangentially. The conditions that must be
stone moving in a circular path has the direction placed on the magnitude and
of motion along the tangent at any point of the direction of the velocity. If
circle. The pull of hand keeps it in a circular path. no, provide a reason.
As soon as the string breaks, the force acting on
the string ceases and the stone continues to
move along the tangent of the point of the circle
due to inertia of direction.

• An umbrella protects us from rain. It is based on the

property of inertia of direction. The rain drops falling
vertically cannot change their direction of motion on their
own and wet us, with umbrella on, they move along the
surface of umbrella and fall down.

NEWTON’S FIRST LAW OF

MOTION
"An object remains in a state of rest or of uniform motion in a
straight line unless compelled to change that state by an applied
force."
 OR "A body remains in the state of rest or uniform motion in a
straight line unless and until an external force acts on it." QUESTIONS
In other word, force is required to change the state of Motion.
The first law of motion is also known as the law of inertia.
8. Calculate momentum of a
toy car of mass 300 g moving
Mass with a speed of 18 km/h .

9. What is the momentum of a

• The quantity of matter in a body is known as its mass.
man of mass 75 kg when he
• It is denoted as “m”. walks with a velocity of 2 m/s?
• S.I. units – kg.
10.A ball is thrown vertically
upwards. What is its
Momentum momentum at the highest
point?
"Momentum of a body is the product of mass of the body and velocity of
11. A hockey ball of mass 200
the body."
g travelling at 10 m/s is struck
by a hockey stick so as to
𝑝 = 𝑚𝑣
return it along its original path
with a velocity at 5 m/s.
It is a vector quantity.
Calculate the change of
S.I unit – kg. ms-1 momentum occurred in the
motion of the hockey ball by

NEWTON’S SECOND LAW OF the force applied by the hockey

stick.

MOTION 12. A force of 20N acting on

amass m1 produces an
"The rate of change of momentum of an object is proportional to the
acceleration of 4 ms-2. The same
applied unbalanced force in the direction of force."
force is applied on mass m2
then the acceleration produced
𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑢𝑚
• Rate of change of momentum means → is 0.5 ms-2. What acceleration
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 would the same force produce,
when both masses are tied
• According to this law
together ?
𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑢𝑚
∝ 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑑
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
• Formula:
𝑚(𝑣−𝑢)
𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎 =
𝑡

Applications of Newton’s second law of motion:

The force F can be reduced by increasing the time taken t for the change
in momentum of the body. For example :

(i) Catching a cricket ball: To catch a fast cricket ball, a player pulls his
hands backwards to prevent injury to his hands. By doing so, the player
 increases the time during which high velocity of the cricket ball reduces to
𝑣−𝑢
zero. Thus, the acceleration of the ball 𝑎 = is decreased, and QUESTIONS
𝑡
therefore, the impact of catching the fast ball (i.e., F = ma) is reduced, i.e.,
the player has to apply a smaller force
against the ball in order to stop it. The
1.According to the third law
ball, in turn, exerts a smaller force on
of motion, action and reaction
his hands and the hands are not
(a) always act on the same
injured.
body
(b) always act on different
If the ball was stopped suddenly, the bodies in opposite directions
high velocity of the ball would be (c) have same magnitude and
reduced to zero in a very short directions
interval of time, t. Therefore, rate of (d) act on either body at
change of linear momentum of the normal to each other
ball would be large, and therefore, a
large force would have to be applied for holding the catch. The hands of 2.A book exerts a force of 2N
the player would be hurt. downwards, into a chair that
exerts a force of 5N
(ii) High Jump: In the athletic event dowwards to the floor it
‘High Jump’, the athletes are made to stands on. What is the force
fall either on a cushioned bed or on a that the floor exerts upwards
sand bed. This is done to avoid injury on the chair? (a) 7N (b) 0N
to the athlete. Falling on a cushioned (c) 5N (d) 2N
bed or on a sand bed will increase the
time during which high velocity of the 3. A bullet of mass 20 g is
athlete would be reduced to zero. This horizontally fired with a velocity
would decrease the rate of change of 150 m s-1 from a pistol of mass 2
kg. What is the recoil velocity of
momentum of the athlete and hence
the pistol?
the force on the athlete. The injury to the athlete is thus avoided.

NEWTON’S THIRD LAW OF

MOTION
It states that " when one object exerts a force on another object, the
second object instantaneously exerts a force back on the first."

Or

" To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction."

CONSERVATION OF MOMENTUM
• When two (or more) bodies act upon one another, their total
momentum remains constant (or conserved) provided no
external forces are acting.
• Initial momentum = Final momentum