M

Newton’s Laws of Motion

In this tutorial we will be looking at the first two of the Three Fundamental Laws of Motion laid
out by Sir Isaac Newton in his “Principia” of 1687. These are three very important laws that you
will encounter throughout M1 and beyond.

Newton’s First Law

“In the absence of a resultant force, a particle either stays permanently at rest or moves at constant
velocity”.

If forces act on a body and there is no motion, then all the forces must be balanced. Therefore if
many forces act on the body at it remains at rest then all the resultant forces in all directions
must be equal to zero.

Example One
In the diagram below a body is shown at rest under the influence of several forces. Find the
magnitudes of the unknown forces X and Y.

25N 15N To complete this question we have to balance

the horizontal and vertical forces
independently;

X 45N Horizontal Forces;

 45N

Vertical Forces;
  25  15
Y
  40N

If a body is moving with a constant velocity, then there is no overall resultant force acting on it.

Example Two
A body moves horizontally at a constant 5  subject to the forces acting on it shown in the
diagram below. Find the forces X and Y.
5 1 There is no vertical movement;

20N Y   20  50

   50  20  30N
X 15N
The horizontal velocity is constant;


 15N
50N

1 © math-e-matics.co.uk 2008
 M
Newton’s Second Law
“The resultant external force acting on a particle is proportional to the rate of change of momentum”.

This is represented mathematically by the statement;

  

For example a force of 1 Newton produces an acceleration of 1  in a body of mass 1kg.

Example Three
A body of mass 12kg is acted upon by a force of 11N. Find its acceleration.

12kg 11N Using F   we get;

11  12  
a
11
  
12

Example Four
Find the magnitude of the unknown forces X and Y.

X Since there is no acceleration in the vertical plane

it is easier for us to begin by finding the value for
5 2 X;

 15N

10N 12kg Y To find the value of Y we must first find the force
required to move a 12kg object at an acceleration
of 5ms-2. We then add this to the force required to
overcome the 10N force moving the body to the
left;

F  
15N
 12  5  60N

We then add this 60N to the 10N that would be required to overcome the 10N force dragging
the body to the left; this is the resultant force;

Resultant Force  60  10  70N

In previous tutorials we have dealt with vectors. As you have probably noticed in the examples
above force has both a quantity and a direction, therefore it also is a vector. It can therefore be
represented in vector form using i-j notation. In the following example we will attempt a
question concerning force where the forces are represented using i-j notation.

2 © math-e-matics.co.uk 2008
 M
Example Five
Find in vector form, the acceleration produced in a body of mass 1.5kg subject to forces of
(5i+3j)N and (-2i+6j)N. Finally state the magnitude and direction of the acceleration.

To find the resultant vector force it is easy as adding the individual i and j forces;

%5i  3j(  %2i  6j(N

 %3i  9j(*

To find the acceleration in vector form, it is then simply a matter of using F  ;

F



%3i  9j(*
  %2i  6j( 
1.5,-

To find the magnitude and direction of the acceleration we can use Pythagoras’ Theorem and
trigonometry;

||  /%2(  %6(

 √4  36  √40

 6.32 

The direction of the acceleration is found using trigonometry;

opposite 6
tan1   3
adjacent 2

1  tan1 3  71.7°

Gravity and Weight

When speaking in every day English, when we say weight we refer to our mass, however when
speaking to mathematicians, it is important to differentiate between mass and weight. The
weight of a body is the force of gravity acting on the body due to the gravitational influence of
the earth. This is found using F  , where  is the objects mass and  is the gravity of the
earth 9.8 , also represented as the symbol -. For example a person who has a mass of 60kg
has a weight of 60-N or %60  9.8(N. Although the earth’s gravitational pull varies from place to
place you will assume it to be 9.8  unless otherwise stated.

3 © math-e-matics.co.uk 2008
 M
Example Six
A box of mass 100kg is lifted up on to a shelf in a warehouse. Find the force in lifting the rope
when the bricks are lifted with an acceleration of 0.25ms-2.

7 The mass of the box is 100kg;

 weight of box is 100- N

100kg 0.25 2 The force T is the vertical force required to move the box
upwards and accelerate it at 0.25ms-2. This force is the
forced required to hold the weight of the box (i.e. 100g N)
and the force required to accelerate the box (i.e. F  ).

Therefore to find the force required to accelerate the box

100- N
0.25ms-2.
  100 6 0.25  25N

T is therefore the force generated to accelerate the box (25N) and the weight of the box (100g N);

25N  %100  9.8(N  1005N

Therefore the force in the lifting rope, T (Note this is known as the Tension, hence the use of the
symbol T) is 1005N.

In the next tutorial we will be looking at the Third Law of Motion and Connected Particles.

4 © math-e-matics.co.uk 2008