PHYS 101 Tutorial Worksheet 2: Forces and Newtons Laws

Sept 19-26, 2016

Question 1: Your task is to design and perform a little experiment to determine the
coefficient of static friction, s, between the surface materials of two objects that you
have with you, such as a pencil case and a binder, or a small pad of sticky notes and
your laptop.
State which two objects you will be experimenting with:
a)

Describe your experiment, including a sketch.

b) Which

variable(s) do you think you will need to measure?

CHECKPOINT: Before moving on to the next part, ask your TA to check the
results you obtained so far (30 %)

Question 2: In this question, you will derive an equation for s in terms of

measurable quantities.
a) Draw the free-body diagram for your experiment. Make sure that the lengths of
the vectors are roughly to scale (no need to measure, just as good as you can see
with the naked eye). Label forces and angle(s) that you may need for your
calculation (choose your coordinate system wisely!). Then, express the components
of the forces using the angle(s).

b) Write down Newtons Second Law for both x- and y-components. Simplify and
use the expressions you found in part (a).

down the condition for the physical situation from which you want to find s.
Then, find s, using the expressions you found in part (b).

d) Write

e) Perform

f)

your experiment, collect the data, and calculate the value for s.

Compare your result with values you can find in the literature or ask your TA for
some examples. Does your result look reasonable?

CHECKPOINT: Before moving on to the next part, ask your TA to check

the results you obtained so far (40 %).

Question 3: A stack of two books, with masses m and M , is lying on a table.

a) Draw the free-body diagram for each book. Make sure to draw the relative
magnitudes of the forces correctly.

b) What

is/are the force(s) (magnitude, direction and type) exerted by the top book on
the table?

c) What

is/are the force(s) (magnitude, direction and type) exerted by the table on the
top book?

d) What

is/are the force(s) (magnitude, direction and type) exerted by the bottom
book on the top book?

e) What

is/are the force(s) (magnitude, direction and type) exerted by the top book on
the bottom book?

f)

What is/are the force(s) (magnitude, direction and type) exerted by the bottom book
on the table?

g) What

is/are the force(s) (magnitude, direction and type) exerted by the table on the
bottom book?

h) Which (if any) of the above forces are so small they can be neglected?

CHECKPOINT: Before moving on to the next part, ask your TA to check

the results you obtained so far (30 %)