The Laws of Motion Classic mechanics describes the relationship between the motion of object found in our everyday

world and the forces acting on them. As long as the system under study doesnt involve objects comparable in size to an atom or traveling close to the speed of light, classical mechanics provides an excellent description of nature. The topic introduces Newtons three laws of motion and his law of gravity. The three laws are simple and sensible. The first law states that a force must be applied to an object in order to change its velocity. Changing an objects velocity means accelerating it, this implies a relationship between force and acceleration. This relationship, the second law, states that the net force on an object equals the objects mass times its acceleration. Finally, the third law says that whenever we push on something, it pushes back with equal force in the opposite direction. Those are the three laws in a nutshell. Newtons three laws, together with his invention of calculus, opened avenues of inquiry and discovery that are used routinely today in virtually all areas of mathematics, science, engineering and technology. Newtons theory of universal gravitation had a similar impact, starting a revolution in celestial mechanics and astronomy that continues to this day. With the advent of this theory, the orbits of all the planets could be calculated to high precision and the tides understood. The theory even led to the prediction of dark stars, now called black holes, more than two centuries before any evidence for their existence was observed. Newtons three laws of motion, together with his law of gravitation, are considered among the greatest achievements of the human mind. Forces A force is commonly imagined as a push or pull on some object, perhaps rapidly, as when we hit a tennis ball with a racket. We can hit the ball at different at speeds and direct it into different parts of the opponents court. That means we can control the magnitude of the applied force and also its direction, so force is a vector quantity, just like velocity and acceleration.

 Quantities can be subdivided into two groups: scalar quantities and vector quantities. A scalar quantity is a quantity with magnitude and a unit. A vector quantity is a quantity with magnitude, a unit, and a direction. Magnitude is simply the "size" of a quantity. Magnitudes are expressed in numerical form; e.g., 450, 0.45, 2/3, etc. A common example of a scalar quantity is speed. If a man is driving at a speed of 50 km/h, we say the magnitude of the scalar quantity is 50. Notice that the sentence "I am driving 50" is incomplete. Therefore, the magnitude is equipped with a unit, in this case km/h. A vector example is velocity, which is simply speed with a direction. If a plane is traveling at 240 m/s [East], then the magnitude of its velocity is 240 m/s, just like what the magnitude of its speed would be. But, since velocity is a vector, you must include the direction as well. If you pull on a spring, the spring stretches. If you pull hard enough on a wagon, the wagon moves. When you kick a football, it deforms briefly and is set in motion. These are all examples of contact forces, so named because they result from physical contact between two objects. Another class of forces doesnt involve any direct physical contact. Early scientists, including Newton, were uneasy with the concept of forces that act between two disconnected objects. Nonetheless, Newton used this action-at-a-distance concept in his law of gravity, whereby a mass at a location, such as the sun, affects the motion if a distant object such as Earth despite no evident physical connection between the two objects. To overcome the conceptual difficulty associated with action at a distance, Michael Faraday introduced the concept of the field. The corresponding forces are called field forces. According to this approach, an object of mass M, such as the Sun, creates an invisible influence that stretches throughout space. A second object of mass m, such as Earth, interacts with the field of the Sun, not directly with the Sun itself. The force of gravity keeps object bound to Earth and also gives rise to what we call the weight of those objects.

Contact Forces *Applied Force An applied force is a force that is applied to an object by a person or another object. If a person is pushing a desk across the room, then there is applied force acting upon the object. The applied force is the force exerted on the desk by the person.

*Normal Force The normal force is the support force exerted upon an object that is in contact with another stable object. For example, if a book is resting upon a surface, then the surface is exerting an upward force upon the book in order to support the weight of the book. On occasions, a normal force is exerted horizontally between two objects that are in contact with each other. For instance, if a person leans against a wall, the wall pushes horizontally on the person. *Friction Force The friction force is the force exerted by a surface as an object moves across it or makes an effort to move across it. There are at least two types of friction force - sliding and static friction. Thought it is not always the case, the friction force often opposes the motion of an object. For example, if a book slides across the surface of a desk, then the desk exerts a friction force in the opposite direction of its motion. Friction results from the two surfaces being pressed together closely, causing intermolecular attractive forces between molecules of different surfaces. As such, friction depends upon the nature of the two surfaces and upon the degree to which they are pressed together. The maximum amount of friction force that a surface can exert upon an object can be calculated using the formula below: Ffrict = Fnorm

*Air Resistance Force The air resistance is a special type of frictional force that acts upon objects as they travel through the air. The force of air resistance is often observed to oppose the motion of an object. This force will frequently be neglected due to its negligible magnitude (and due to the fact that it is mathematically difficult to predict its value). It is most noticeable for objects that travel at high speeds (e.g., a skydiver or a downhill skier) or for objects with large surface areas. *Tension Force The tension force is the force that is transmitted through a string, rope, cable or wire when it is pulled tight by forces acting from opposite ends. The tension force is directed along the length of the wire and pulls equally on the objects on the opposite ends of the wire. *Spring Force The spring force is the force exerted by a compressed or stretched spring upon any object that is attached to it. An object that compresses or stretches a spring is always acted upon by a force that restores the object to its rest or equilibrium position. For most springs (specifically, for those that are said to obey "Hooke's Law"), the magnitude of the force is directly proportional to the amount of stretch or compression of the spring. At-a-Distance Force *Gravity force (also known as weight) The force of gravity is the force with which the earth, moon, or other massively large object attracts another object towards itself. By definition, this is the weight of the object. All objects upon earth experience a force of gravity that is directed "downward" towards the center of the earth. The force of gravity on earth is always equal to the weight of the object as found by the equation: Fgrav = m * g where g = 9.8 N/kg (on Earth) and m = mass (in kg)

*Electrical force The attractive or repulsive interaction between any two charged objects. *Magnetic Force The attraction or repulsion that arises between electrically charged particles because of their motion; the basic force responsible for the action of electric motors and the attraction of magnets for iron. Electric forces exist among stationary electric charges; both electric and magnetic forces exist among moving electric charges. The magnetic force between two moving charges may be described as the effect exerted upon either charge by a magnetic field created by the other. THE FOUR KNOWN FUNDAMENTAL FORCES IN NATURE: 1. The strong nuclear force between subatomic particles 2. The electromagnetic forces between electric charges 3. The weak nuclear force, which arises in certain radioactive decay processes and 4. The gravitational force between objects. The strong force keeps the nucleus of an atom from flying apart due to the repulsive electric force of the protons. Newtons Law of Motion

Isaac Newton (1643-1727) Greatest English mathematician Before he was 30, he formulated the basic concepts and laws of mechanics, discovered the law of universal gravitation, and invented the mathematical methods of the calculus. As a consequence of his theories, Newton was able to explain the motions of planets, the ebb and flow of the tides, and many features of the motions of the moon and earth. His contributions to physical theories dominated scientific thought for two centuries and remain important today.

Newton's first law of motion is often stated as: An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.

There are two parts to this statement - one that predicts the behavior of stationary objects and the other that predicts the behavior of moving objects. The two parts are summarized in the following diagram.

The behavior of all objects can be described by saying that objects tend to "keep on doing what they're doing" (unless acted upon by an unbalanced force). If at rest, they will continue in this same state of rest. If in motion with an eastward velocity of 5 m/s, they will continue in this same state of motion (5 m/s, East). If in motion with a leftward velocity of 2 m/s, they will continue in this same state of motion (2 m/s, left). The state of motion of an object is maintained as long as the object is not acted upon by an unbalanced force. All objects resist changes in their state of motion - they tend to "keep on doing what they're doing."

Inertia: the resistance an object has to a change in its state of motion. Newton's conception of inertia stood in direct opposition to more popular conceptions about motion. The dominant thought prior to Newton's day was that it was the natural tendency of objects to come to a rest position. Moving objects, so it was believed, would eventually stop moving; a force was necessary to keep an object moving. But if left to itself, a moving object would eventually come to rest and an object at rest would stay at rest; thus, the idea that dominated people's thinking for nearly 2000 years prior to Newton was that it was the natural tendency of all objects to assume a rest position.

 Mass A measure of the objects resistance to changes in its motion due to a force The greater the mass of a body, the less it accelerates under the action of a given applied force. The SI unit of mass is the kilogram. Mass is a scalar quantity that obeys the rules of ordinary arithmetic.

Newtons Second Law of Motion Newton's second law of motion pertains to the behavior of objects for which all existing forces are not balanced. The second law states that the acceleration of an object is dependent upon two variables - the net force acting upon the object and the mass of the object. The acceleration of an object depends directly upon the net force acting upon the object, and inversely upon the mass of the object. As the force acting upon an object is increased, the acceleration of the object is increased. As the mass of an object is increased, the acceleration of the object is decreased.

Newton's second law of motion can be formally stated as follows: The acceleration of an object as produced by a net force is directly proportional to the magnitude of the net force, in the same direction as the net force, and inversely proportional to the mass of the object.

This verbal statement can be expressed in equation form as follows: a = Fnet / m The above equation is often rearranged to a more familiar form as shown below. The net force is equated to the product of the mass times the acceleration. Fnet = m * a Newtons Third Law of Motion According to Newton, whenever objects A and B interact with each other, they exert forces upon each other. When you sit in your chair, your body exerts a downward force on the chair and the chair exerts an upward force on your body. There are two forces resulting from this interaction - a force on the chair and a force on your body. These two forces are called action and reaction forces and are the subject of Newton's third law of motion. Formally stated, Newton's third law is: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The statement means that in every interaction, there is a pair of forces acting on the two interacting objects. The size of the forces on the first object equals the size of the force on the second object. The direction of the force on the first object is opposite to the direction of the force on the second object. Forces always come in pairs - equal and opposite action-reaction force pairs. A variety of action-reaction force pairs are evident in nature. Consider the propulsion of a fish through the water. A fish uses its fins to push water backwards. But a push on the water will only serve to accelerate the water. Since forces result from mutual interactions, the water must also be pushing the fish forwards, propelling the fish through the water. The size of the force on the water equals the size of the force on the fish; the direction of the force on the water (backwards) is opposite the direction of the force on the fish (forwards). For every action, there is an equal (in size) and opposite (in direction) reaction force. Action-reaction force pairs make it possible for fish to swim.

Consider the motion of a car on the way to school. A car is equipped with wheels that spin. As the wheels spin, they grip the road and push the road backwards. Since forces result from mutual interactions, the road must also be pushing the wheels forward. The size of the force on the road equals the size of the force on the wheels (or car); the direction of the force on the road (backwards) is opposite the direction of the force on the wheels (forwards). For every action, there is an equal (in size) and opposite (in direction) reaction. Action-reaction force pairs make it possible for cars to move along a roadway surface. Units of Force and Mass The SI unit of force is the Newton. When 1 Newton of force acts on an object that has a mass of 1 kg, it produces an acceleration of 1m/s2 in the object. From this definition and Newtons second law, we see that the Newton can be expressed in terms of the fundamental units of mass, length and time as 1N=1kg m/s2 In the U.S customary system, the unit of force is the pound. The conversion from Newtons to pounds given by 1N=0.225lb The units of mass, acceleration and force in the SI and U.S customary systems are summarized in Table 4.1 TABLE 4.1 Units of Mass, Acceleration and Force System SI U.S customary Mass kg Slug Acceleration m/s2 Ft/s2 Force N=kg.m/s2 Lb=slug.ft/s2

The Gravitational Force The gravitational force is the mutual force of attraction between any two objects in the universe. Although the gravitational force can be very strong between very large objects, its the weakest of the fundamental forces. A good demonstration of how weak it is can be carried out with a small balloon. Rubbing the balloon in your hair gives the balloon the tiny electric charge. Through electric forces, the balloon then adheres to a wall, resisting the gravitational pull of the entire earth! In addition to contributing to the understanding the motion, Newton studied gravity extensively. Newtons law of universal gravitation states that every particle in the Universe attracts every other particle with a force that is directly proportional to the product of the masses of the particles and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. Work When a force acts upon an object to cause a displacement of the object, it is said that work was done upon the object. There are three key ingredients to work - force, displacement, and cause. In order for a force to qualify as having done work on an object, there must be a displacement and the force must cause the displacement. There are several good examples of work that can be observed in everyday life - a horse pulling a plow through the field, a father pushing a grocery cart down the aisle of a grocery store, a freshman lifting a backpack full of books upon her shoulder, a weightlifter lifting a barbell above his head, an Olympian launching the shot-put, etc. In each case described here there is a force exerted upon an object to cause that object to be displaced.