NEWTON’S LAWS OF MOTION

PROBLEMS

1. An object of 2 kg is at rest at point A. 6 N force, which is parallel to the plane, acts on the body
between A and B. What is the velocity of the object at point B if the plane is smooth?

F= 6N
A B

24 m

2. A block with the mass of 3 kg slides on a horizontal plane. The force of friction between the
plane and the block is ff = 3N. At what distance from point A does the block stop?

V0 = 14 m/s

Ff = 3N

3. A constant pull of 40N, applied on an angle of 370 to a 10kg mass, gives the block a uniform
acceleration of 3m/s2. Find the magnitude of force of friction.
F = 40 N
370 nN

4. What must be the magnitude of F if the block of mass 4 kg moves with constant velocity on
the horizontal plane?
F

370

 = 0.5

5. A car of mass 900 kg slows down uniformly and displaces a distance of 4 m during the last
second of its motion. What is the magnitude of frictional force between the car and the
surface? (Assume that the car is moving on horizontal plane).
6. 3 kg object is placed on a smooth inclined plane as in Figure.
(a) Show all the forces acting on the object including the normal
force.
(b) Find the acceleration and the direction of motion of the object.

370

7. A 4 kg block is sliding down with constant velocity on an inclined plane. What force of friction
is required to maintain this motion?

300

8. A 2 kg block is sliding down with constant velocity on an inclined plane. How large a parallel
upward force is required to pull it up with an acceleration of 2m/s2?

530

9. 1kg object is held on the wall under the effect of 10 N force as in Figure. There is no friction
between the surface of the wall and the object.

wall
(a) Show all the forces acting on the object including the normal force.
1 kg 10 N (b) Find the acceleration of the object.
10. Two blocks are pulled by a force of 50 N as in Figure. Find the tension in the cord.

F = 50 N
T =? 370
1 kg 4 kg

 = 0.5

11. What is the tension in the cord, when the system is released?

6 kg

 = 0.5

4 kg

12. What are the tensions in the cord, T1, T2 and T3, when the system is released?

T1 T2

2 kg 6 kg

T3

2 kg

13. After the wooden block is removed;

2 1 (a) In what direction will the system move and which

object will hit the ground?
(b) What will be the acceleration of the system?
2 kg 3 kg
Wooden
block
9m (c) How long will it take for the object to hit the ground?
ground

(d) With what velocity will the object hit the ground?
14. Two blocks of masses 2kg and 1kg are in contact on a smooth plane. If a force of 6N is applied
on m1 find the reaction force between the blocks.

m1=2kg
m2=1kg
F=6N

15. Identify at least five of action-reaction force pairs in the following diagram.

16. Find the tension in the rope connecting the body to the ceiling of the elevator, if the elevator
decelerates at the rate of 4m/s2 in the downward direction.

1kg

17. What is the apparent weight of a man of 60 kg in an elevator, if the elevator decelerates at the
rate of 3 m/s2 in the downward direction?

18. An elevator and its load weight a total of 3200 N. Find the tension T in the supporting cable
when the elevator originally moving downward at 20 m/s is brought the rest with constant
acceleration in a distance of 50 m.
T

W
19. In order to investigate Newton’s second law, David arranged for a heavy trolley to be
accelerated by small weights, as shown below. The acceleration of the trolley was
recorded electronically. David recorded the acceleration for different weights up to a
maximum of 3.0 N. He plotted a graph of his results.
acceleration
heavy trolley pulley

weight

(a) Describe the graph that would be expected if two quantities are proportional to
one another. [2]

(b) David’s data are shown below, with uncertainty limits included for the value of
the weights. Draw the best-fit line for these data. [2]

1.40
acceleration
/ ms–2 1.20

1.00

0.80

0.60

0.40

0.20

0.00
0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50
weight / N

(c) Use the graph to

(i) estimate the value of the frictional force that is acting on the trolley. [1]

(ii) estimate the mass of the trolley. [2]

 20. A trolley moves down a slope, as shown in figure below.

The slope makes an angle of 250 with the horizontal. A constant resistive force FR acts up the slope on
the trolley.

At time t=0, trolley has velocity v=0.50ms-1 down the slope,

At t=4.0s, v=12ms-1 down the slope.

(a) (i) Show that the acceleration of trolley down the slope is approximately 3ms-2.

(ii) Calculate the distance x moved by the trolley down the slope from the time t=0 to t=4s.

(iii) Sketch the variation with time t of distance x moved by trolly.

(b) The mass of the trolley is 2.0kg.

(i) Show that the component of the weight of the trolley down the slope is 8.3N

(ii) Calculate the resistive force FR.

 21. A helicopter has a cable hanging from it towards the sea below as shown in figure below.

A man of mass 80 kg rescues a child of mass 50.5 kg.

The two are attached to the cable and are lifted from
the sea to the helicopter. The lifting process consists
of an initial uniform acceleration follwed by a period
of constant velocity and then completed by a final
uniform deceleration.

(a) Calculate the combining weight of the man and child. [1]

(b) Calculate the tension in the cable during

(i) the initial acceleration of 0.570 ms-2. [2]

(ii) the period of constant velocity of 2.00 ms-1. [2]

(c) During the final deceleration the tension in the cable is 1240 N. Calculate this deceleration. [2]

(d) (i) Calculate the time over which the man and child are

(1) moving with uniform acceleration. [1]

(2) moving with uniform deceleration. [1]

(ii) The time over which the man and child are moving with constant speed is 20s. On figure
below, sketch a graph to show the variation with time of the velocity of the man and child for
the complete lifting process.

2.0
Velocity
(ms-1)
1.0

0 time (s)
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
22. The diagram below represents a balloon just before take-off. The balloon’s basket is
attached to the ground by two fixing ropes.

balloon

basket

fixing rope fixing rope

50 50
ground

There is a force F vertically upwards of 2.15x103 N on the balloon. The total mass of the
balloon and its basket is 1.95x102 kg.

(a) State the magnitude of the resultant force on the balloon when it is attached to
the ground. [1]

(b) Calculate the tension in either of the fixing ropes. [3]

(c) The fixing ropes are released and the balloon accelerates upwards. Calculate the
magnitude of this initial acceleration. [2]

(d) The balloon reaches a terminal speed 10 seconds after take-off. The upward force
F remains constant. Describe how the magnitude of air friction on the balloon
varies during the first 10 seconds of its flight. [2]
23. This question is about force and energies.

(a) A system consists of a bicycle and cyclist travelling at a constant velocity along a
horizontal road.

(i) State the value of the net force acting on the cyclist. [1]

(ii) On the diagram draw labelled arrows to represent the vertical forces acting
on the bicycle. [2]

(iii) With reference to the horizontal forces acting on the system, explain why
the system is travelling at constant velocity. [2]

(b) The total mass of the system is 70 kg. The total resistive force acting on the
system is 40 N and its speed is 8.0 m s–1. The cyclist stops pedalling and the
system comes to rest.

(i) Calculate the magnitude of the initial acceleration of the system. [2]

(ii) Estimate the distance taken by the system to come to rest from the time
the cyclist stops pedalling. [2]

(iii) State and explain one reason why your answer to (b)(ii) is only an estimate.
[2]
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS ON NEWTON’S LAWS OF MOTION

1. Stephen pushes two boxes P and Q, that stay in contact, along a rough table, with a
force F of 30 N.
Box P has a mass of 2.0 kg and box Q has a mass of 4.0 kg. Both boxes move with
constant speed.

The resultant force on box Q is

A. 0 N. B. 5.0 N. C. 15 N. D. 30 N.

2. The diagram shows a girl attempting (but failing) to lift a heavy suitcase of weight W.
The magnitude of the vertical upwards pull of the girl on the suitcase is P and the
magnitude of the vertical reaction of the floor on the suitcase is R.

Which equation correctly relates W, P and R?

A. W = P + R B. W > P + R

C. W < P + R D. W = P = R

3. Objects A and B collide together. They end up joined together and stationary. During the
collision, a force +F is exerted on object A by object B. According to Newton’s third law,
there will also be a force of

A. –F acting on object B. B. –F acting on object A.

C. +F acting on object B. D. +F acting on object A.

4. A lamp of weight W is suspended by a wire fixed to the ceiling. With reference to

Newton’s third law of motion, the force that is equal and opposite to W is the

A. tension in the wire.

B. force applied by the ceiling.

C. force exerted by the lamp on the Earth.

D. force exerted by the Earth on the lamp.

5. If a moving object is subject to a constant force, which of the following can be correctly
deduced from Newton’s first law?

A. The object continues to move with a changing velocity.

B. The object continues to move with a constant velocity.

C. The object continues to move with a changing direction.

D. The object continues to move in the same direction.

6. The net force acting on a body is zero. Which of the following quantities must also have
zero magnitude for this body?

A. Momentum

B. Velocity

C. Speed

D. Acceleration

7. Two unequal masses M and m are joined by a light inextensible string. The string passes
over a light frictionless pulley as shown.
pulley

M m

The masses accelerate when released.

Which diagram is the correct free-body diagram for the two masses?

A. B. C. D.

M m M m M m M m
8. A light inextensible string has a mass attached to each end and passes over a frictionless
pulley as shown.

The masses are of magnitudes M and m, where m < M.

pulley
The acceleration of free fall is g. The downward
acceleration of the mass M is

(M − m)g (M − m)g
A. . B. .
string (M + m) M

mass M (M + m)g Mg
C. . D. .
(M − m) (M + m)
mass m

9. A block on a frictionless horizontal table is attached by a light, inextensible string to an

object P of mass m that hangs vertically as shown below.

pulley The pulley has zero friction and the

M
acceleration of free fall is g. The
acceleration of the block and object P is

A. g. B.
m g.
P
M
mass m
m g. m+M
C. D. g.
m+M m

10. A block of mass m is pulled along a horizontal, frictionless surface by a force of

magnitude F. The force makes an angle with the vertical.

block

The magnitude of the acceleration of the block in the horizontal direction produced by
the force F is

F F sin θ
A. . B. .
m m

F cos θ F tan θ
C. . D. .
m m
11. The diagram below shows five wooden blocks joined by inelastic strings. A constant
force accelerates the blocks to the right on a frictionless horizontal table.

W X Y Z accelerating
force

table

In which string is the tension the greatest?

A. W B. X C. Y D. Z

12. Mandy stands on a weighing scale inside a lift (elevator) that accelerates vertically
upwards as shown in the diagram below.

The forces on Mandy are her weight W and

the reaction force from the scale R.

The reading of the scale is

lift
acceleration
A. R + W. B. W.

C. R. D. R – W.

scale

13. An elevator (lift) is used to either raise or lower sacks of potatoes. In the diagram, a sack
of potatoes of mass 10 kg is resting on a scale that is resting on the floor of an
accelerating elevator. The scale reads 12 kg.

The best estimate for the acceleration of the

elevator is

A. 2.0 m s–2 downwards.

elevator
10 kg
B. 2.0 m s–2 upwards.
scale
C. 1.2 m s–2 downwards.

D. 1.2 m s–2 upwards.

 14. A ball of weight W is dropped on to the pan of a top pan weighing balance and rebounds
off the pan.

At the instant that the ball has zero velocity when in

contact with the pan, the scale will read

A. zero.

pan B. a value less than W but greater than zero.

C. W.
00.00
D. a value greater than W.

15. A block of mass M is held at rest on a horizontal table. A heavy chain is attached to the
block with part of the chain hanging over the table. The block and the chain can slide
without friction.
block
table
A. v A. v B. v B. v

chain

0 0 0 0
0 0 t t 0 0 t t
The block is released. Which one of the following graphs best represents the variation
with time t of the speed v of the block as it moves on the table?

A. v A. v B. v B. v C. v C. v D. v D. v

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 t t 0 0 0 t 0 t t t 0 0 t t

C. v 16. D.
C. Av box of mass 80 kg rests von a horizontal
D. v rough surface. A string attached to the box passes over
a smooth pulley and supports a 2.0 kg mass at its other end.

0 0 0 0
0 0 t t 0 0 t t

When the box is released, a frictional force of 6.0 N acts on it. What is the acceleration of the box?

A. 1.4ms-2 B. 1.6ms-2 C. 2.4ms-2 D. 2.8ms-2

17. Newton’s third law of motion is often summarized as ‘Every action (force) has an equal and
opposite reaction.’

A book rests on a table. If the weight of the book is the ‘action’ force, what is the ‘reaction’ force?

A. the pull of the book on the Earth

B. the pull of the Earth on the book
C. the push of the book on the table
D. the pull of the table on the book

18. What is the condition for an object to be in equilibrium?

A. The object’s velocity and the resultant torque on it must be both zero.

B. The object’s velocity must be zero.

C. The resultant force and the resultant torque on the object must be both zero.

D. The resultant force on the object must be zero.

19. A shot-put champion accelerates a 7.0 kg ball in a straight line. The ball moves from rest to a
speed of 12 ms-1 in a distance pf 1.2 m. What is the average force on the metal ball?

A. 70 N B. 210 N C. 420 N D. 840 N

20. A car of mass 750 kg has a horizontal driving force of 2.0 kN acting on it. It has a forward
horizontal acceleration of 2.0 ms-2.

What is the resistive force actimg horizontally?

A. 0.50 kN B. 1.5 kN C. 2.0 kN D. 3.5 kN