Unit 2 Newton’s Laws of Motion

2.1 What is force?

Simply speaking, a force is a vector representing any push or pull between two objects.
Pull and pushes represented by forces can:
• change the velocity of an object (that is, cause acceleration)
• cause a distortion in the size or shape of an object (we will not investigate these situations this year).
For example, when you hit a cricket ball with a bat, you change the velocity of the ball because the bat exerts a force
on it. When you stretch an elastic band, you change the size and shape of it because you exert forces on it.
Examples of forces that will be considered to investigate motion of macroscopic objects this year include gravity,
contact forces between solids (normal + friction), tension apply by a rope or a string, and air (or other fluids)
resistance (drag).
Gravity is a force of attraction between any two objects with mass and does not need contact between the two
objects. Through gravity, the Earth attracts both you and the Moon towards it (and vice versa), but even the person
sitting next to you on a bus (no matter how repulsive you might think they are) actually exerts a weak, attractive
gravitational force on you.
The force exerted on you by the Earth, through gravity, is called weight.
A force is a vector therefore both magnitude and direction must be determined to fully describe it.
The SI unit for force is Newton (N or kg m s–2).
Example:
To describe the weight 𝑤𝑤
��⃗ = 𝑚𝑚𝑔𝑔⃗ of a 10.0kg bag:
1. Calculate its magnitude 𝑤𝑤 = 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 = 10.0 × 9.8 = 98𝑁𝑁
2. State its direction: vertically downward.
This description can be communicated as followed:
��⃗ = 98𝑁𝑁, 𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝑤𝑤

Note: the force pulling the moon towards the Earth and the one pulling the apple towards the Earth are essentially
the same type of force. This realisation by Newton was the first unification of Physics.

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2.2 Mass and weight
Most people use the words mass and weight to mean the same thing. If asked their weight, most people would
probably answer in kilograms. This is wrong. In physics, mass and weight mean very different things. Mass is a
measure of the amount of matter (‘stuff ’) inside an object. Crudely speaking, the more protons, neutrons and
electrons in all the atoms in an object, the bigger its mass. The SI unit for mass is the kilogram (kg).
Weight is the force representing gravity exerted by Earth (or the planet you happened to be on) on any object with a
mass. Because it’s a force, its SI unit is newtons. The direction of the weight is always towards the centre of the Earth
(if you are on Earth) or vertically downward.
Weight isn’t mass, but it depends on it. In class you’ve investigated the relationship between weight and mass to
validate the model: 𝑤𝑤
��⃗ = 𝑚𝑚𝑔𝑔⃗
where w is weight in newtons, m is mass in kilograms and g is the strength of the gravitational field (g = 9.8 m s–2) at
the Earth’s surface. The strength of the gravitational field can be understood as the acceleration an object in free-fall
under the influence of gravity alone.
Scales don’t measure mass but rather the force exerted by an object on them which has the same magnitude than
the weight of the object; however, they are usually calibrated to show mass in kilograms. On the Moon (where
gravity is approximately one-sixth the strength on Earth), your weight would be roughly one-sixth what it is on Earth
and the scales would read roughly one-sixth what they would on Earth.

Question 1:
Prunella is on the Earth, where her weight is 660 N. Renfrew is on the Moon, where his weight is 114 N. Compare
their masses. (gEarth = 9.80 m s–2, gMoon = 1.62 m s–2)

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2.3 Contact, tension and drag forces.
Contact forces are those that act between objects in contact with one another. The three most commonly discussed
are tension in a rope or string, friction and normal force.
Tension
Tension is the force that a taut rope or string exerts on any object it is attached to. Tension always pulls on the
object in the same direction as the string points. If the string is ideal (negligible mass and not stiff), the magnitude of
tension is always equal at both ends of the string.

Force applied by a flat surface:

The action of a solid plane on a solid object can be solved into two components.
Normal force
When an object pushes on any solid surface, the surface pushes (see Newton’s
third Law). This component of the force representing the action of the solid plane
on the object is normal to the surface and is called the normal force. There’s no
simple formula for normal force. Unless the surface break, the normal force always
adjusts itself to prevent motion through the surface.
Friction
Another action of a solid plane on in contact with a solid object is to resist the
object sliding on the surface. This component is always parallel to the rubbing
surfaces and always acts in the direction opposite to the (actual or potential)
sliding direction and is called friction.

Friction exhibits two behaviours: static (still) and kinetic (sliding) friction. It’s static friction if there’s no sliding
between the two surfaces. It’s kinetic friction if the two surfaces are sliding.
The magnitude of kinetic friction can be considered constant with speed and significantly smaller than the maximum
static friction.

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Drag
Drag is another kind of friction. This force opposes the motion of
objects through a gas or liquid. In air, it’s called air resistance. Drag
increases rapidly with speed and gets larger if you increase the
cross-sectional area.
When a parachutist is falling through air, she accelerates until she
reaches her terminal speed, at which air resistance exactly cancels
her weight (see Newton first and second Law) and so she stops
accelerating but still falls.

2.2 Solving forces into components.

Solving forces into components

To apply Newton’s Laws it is useful to solve forces into vertical and horizontal components or any other set of
normal directions.

To find the vertical (or x) and horizontal (or y) components of any vector force 𝐹𝐹⃗ :

1 Draw the vector 𝐹𝐹⃗ , noting any angles.

2 Draw in a vertical vector ( or any y-component) and a horizontal vector (or any x-component) head-to-tail, which
add up to the original vector.
Note: When finding x–y components, the original vector is always the hypotenuse.

3 Use trigonometry to find magnitudes of the components������⃗

𝑭𝑭 𝒙𝒙 and �������⃗
𝑭𝑭 𝒚𝒚 . Sometimes components can be negative
(for example, the vertical component of velocity in the diagram if we define up as positive).
Note:
• The vertical component of a horizontal vector (or the horizontal component of a vertical vector) is always
zero.
• The vertical component of a vertical vector (and the horizontal component of a horizontal vector) is just the
original vector itself.
• Similar reasoning can be applied to any normal x and y directions.

Example1: tension force applied by a kid on a

toy cart at 29.740 with the horizontal and a
magnitude of 8.06 𝑁𝑁.
Let’s solve the tension in its horizontal and
vertical components.

���⃗𝑥𝑥 = +𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹 = 8.06 × cos(29.74) = 7.00𝑁𝑁

𝐹𝐹
𝐹𝐹⃗ �
���⃗
𝐹𝐹𝑦𝑦 = +𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹 = 8.06 × sin(29.74) = 4.00𝑁𝑁

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Example 2: weight of a cart with a mass 𝑚𝑚 = 20𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘
Let’s solve the weight in its horizontal and vertical components.
����⃗𝑥𝑥 = 𝑚𝑚 × 0 = 20 × 0 = 0.0𝑁𝑁
𝑚𝑚𝑔𝑔
𝑚𝑚𝑔𝑔⃗ � 2
����⃗
𝑚𝑚𝑔𝑔 𝑦𝑦 = −𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 = −20 × 9.8 = 196 = 2.0 × 10 𝑁𝑁(2𝑠𝑠. 𝑓𝑓. )

Example 3: weight of a white board eraser of mass 𝑚𝑚 = 15.0𝑔𝑔 on a

plane inclined at 𝜃𝜃 = 250 with the horizontal.
Let’s solve the weight in its normal to the plane and down the plane
components.
𝑚𝑚𝑔𝑔����⃗𝑥𝑥 = +𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 = 0.015 × 9.8 × sin(25) = 6.2 × 10−2 𝑁𝑁
𝑚𝑚𝑔𝑔⃗ � −2
����⃗
𝑚𝑚𝑔𝑔 𝑦𝑦 = −𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 = −0.015 × 9.8 × cos(25) = 13.3 × 10 𝑁𝑁

The action of a solid plane on a solid object is dual. It pushes the

object perpendicularly to the plane and it resists the object sliding
along the surface, consequently, two forces are used to represent the action of the plane on the object.

• The normal force labelled 𝑁𝑁 �⃗, 𝐹𝐹

����⃗ �⃗
𝑁𝑁 or sometimes 𝑅𝑅
• The friction force labelled 𝑓𝑓⃗ or 𝐹𝐹
���⃗𝑓𝑓

It is easy to solve these two forces into components parallel and normal to the plane.
Example 4: if N and f are
taken as the magnitude
(positive scalar) of each
respective force.
����⃗𝑥𝑥 = 0
𝑁𝑁
�⃗ �
𝑁𝑁
�����⃗
𝑁𝑁𝑦𝑦 = +𝑁𝑁
���⃗
𝑓𝑓𝑥𝑥 = −𝑓𝑓
𝑓𝑓⃗ �
���⃗
𝑓𝑓𝑦𝑦 = 0

Note: the positive and negative signs are really important to accurately communicate the direction of the
component and must be determined in relation to the chosen positive direction for each axis.

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Question 2:
A block of mass 2kg is at rest on a rough plane which is inclined at 250 to the horizontal.
a. Draw a labelled diagram showing the forces acting on the block.
b. Solve the weight of the block into its components parallel and perpendicular to the plane.
2.4 Internal forces, external forces and net force.
To apply Newton’s Laws of motion we need to describe the interaction between a body of our choice and its physical
environment in terms of forces called external forces. All the interactions that occur between the internal parts of
the body are called internal forces and are not to be considered when applying Newton’s Laws.
Centre of mass and Newton’s laws of motion
How do you apply Newton’s laws of motion to objects with a complex form (like a human body) or composed of
many parts (like a bus full of people)? When you analyse the motion of a group of objects together, we call it a
‘system’. Any forces acting from outside the system are external forces. Forces between parts inside the system (for
example, ‘bums on seats’ in a bus) are internal and don’t contribute to the net external force. This is why you can’t
accelerate the bus forward by pushing on the seat in front of you.
In high school Physics, applying Newton’s Laws, will not allow us to explain the complex motion of the different parts
of a system but only the motion of its centre of mass.

The net force:

The net force acting on a body/object is the vector sum (resultant) of ALL the external forces acting on the object.

��������⃗
𝐹𝐹 ������������������⃗
𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 = � 𝐹𝐹𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸

Summarising external forces into a single net force:

https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/forces-and-motion-basics/latest/forces-and-motion-basics_all.html

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To summarise all the forces acting on an object into the net force and apply Newton’s Laws, you can draw a free-
body diagram. You represent the object with a dot (the centre of mass) and draw arrows to represent each
individual force, with their tails starting at the dot and their lengths in the same proportion as their magnitudes.
We don’t normally include the net force in a free-body diagram because it does not represent a real interaction.
As vectors, forces can be represented by arrows, resolved into components and added using vector addition to give
the resultant or net force.
Each component of the net force can be determined by adding all the components of the external forces.

����������⃗
� 𝐹𝐹 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒,𝑥𝑥
��������⃗
𝐹𝐹 𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 �
�����������⃗
� 𝐹𝐹 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒,𝑦𝑦

Example 1: A table applying a normal force of magnitude 𝐹𝐹𝑁𝑁 (positive scalar) on a

textbook with a mass of 𝑚𝑚 = 2.5𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 on a table

����������⃗
� 𝐹𝐹 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒,𝑥𝑥 = 𝑚𝑚𝑔𝑔
�������⃗
����⃗𝑥𝑥 + 𝐹𝐹 𝑁𝑁,𝑥𝑥 = 2.5 × 0 + 0 = 0𝑁𝑁
��������⃗
𝐹𝐹𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 �
� �����������⃗
𝐹𝐹𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒,𝑦𝑦 = 𝑚𝑚𝑔𝑔����⃗ �������⃗
𝑦𝑦 + 𝐹𝐹𝑁𝑁,𝑦𝑦 = −2.5 × 9.8 + 𝐹𝐹𝑁𝑁

Example 2: a “smart” cart with a mass of 𝑚𝑚 = 250𝑔𝑔 rolling down an inclined plane
(𝜃𝜃 = 300 ) with no friction applying a normal force of magnitude 𝑁𝑁 on the cart.

� ����������⃗
𝐹𝐹𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒,𝑥𝑥 = 𝑚𝑚𝑔𝑔 ����⃗𝑥𝑥 + ����⃗
𝑁𝑁𝑥𝑥 = 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 + 0 = 0.250 × 9.8 × sin (30)
��������⃗
𝐹𝐹 𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 �
� �����������⃗
𝐹𝐹𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒,𝑦𝑦 = 𝑚𝑚𝑔𝑔 ����⃗ �����⃗
𝑦𝑦 + 𝑁𝑁𝑦𝑦 = −𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 + 𝑁𝑁 = −0.250 × 9.8 × cos(30) + 𝑁𝑁

Example 3: a textbook sliding on an inclined plane with friction.

���⃗𝑥𝑥 = −𝑓𝑓 + 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 + 0

� 𝐹𝐹
��������⃗
𝐹𝐹𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 �
���⃗
� 𝐹𝐹 𝑦𝑦 = 0 − 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 + 𝑁𝑁

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Question 3:
Three horizontal forces of magnitudes 15N, 11N and 13N act on a particle P in the directions shown in the diagram.

The angles α and β are such that sinα=0.28, cosα=0.96, sinβ=0.8 and cosβ=0.6.

a. Solve each force into their x and y components.

b. Determine the net force.

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2.4 Newton’s first law of motion

Inertia
Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 BC) taught 2300 years ago that the natural state of Earthly objects is to be
stationary, so you need to keep applying an external influence (force) to keep them moving. This seems right—if you
kick a ball, it eventually stops, so you need to kick it again to keep it moving; however, this is wrong. It took almost
2000 years before Aristotle’s idea was conclusively argued against, by English physicist Isaac Newton (1643–1727).
Newton’s revolutionary idea was summarised in his first law of motion (or law of inertia):
If no net external force is applied to an object, its velocity will remain constant.
Or
��������⃗
𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝐹𝐹 �⃗
𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 = 0 𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑣𝑣
⃗ 𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐
Several points to note include:
• An external force is one that is acting on an object from outside. Forces between parts within the object don’t
count.
• Objects at rest (𝑣𝑣⃗ = �0⃗) remain at rest.
• The magnitude and direction of velocity remain constant; that is, objects move in a straight line at constant speed.
• The law applies when the vector sum (resultant force) of all external forces equals zero.
• If an object’s velocity (magnitude or direction) changes, there must be a net external force.
• Inertia means ‘resistance to change’ (of velocity).

Inertia—an object’s ability to keep its velocity constant when there’s

no external net force—is dramatically illustrated in a car crash.
Imagine that you don’t wear a seatbelt and that your car collides
head-on with a tree. Without a seatbelt, there is negligible force
holding you back. So when the collision stops the car, you obey
Newton’s law of inertia and continue to move forwards at your
original high velocity until the steering wheel or windscreen stops
you with a bone crushing force.

Question 4:
A block of mass 4.0.0kg is at rest on a rough plane which is inclined at 20.00 to the horizontal.
a. Draw a labelled diagram showing the forces acting on the block.
b. Solve the weight of the block into its components parallel and perpendicular to the plane.
c. Apply Newton’s first law to determine the friction and the normal force.
Question 5:
You attach a hockey puck to a string and spin it in a horizontal circle on (almost
frictionless) ice. At the moment pictured in, the string breaks and the puck
continues to slide along the ice.
a. Justify that the before the string break there is a external net force.
b. Apply Newton’s first Law to predict which path (A, B, C or D) will the puck
take immediately after the string breaks?

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2.5 Newton’s second law of motion
Newton’s first law of motion tells us that you need a net external force to change velocity as an object demonstrate
inertia.
��������⃗
The second Law is a cause and effect relationship between the net external force 𝐹𝐹 𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 and the rate of change of
velocity (acceleration 𝑎𝑎⃗) that fully define inertia 𝑚𝑚.
��������⃗
𝐹𝐹 𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 = 𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑎
⃗
Several points to note include:

• Inertia and mass share the exactly the same value and 𝑚𝑚 is is often simply considered to be the mass.
However, the reason for this is still to be understood.
• Similar to the first law of motion, only external forces count.
• ��������⃗
𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 𝐹𝐹 �⃗
𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 = 0 𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑎𝑎
�⃗ 𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑣𝑣⃗ 𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐. This agrees with the first law.
⃗=0
• The net external force is always in the same direction as the acceleration.
• However, the net force is not necessarily in the same direction as velocity.

Note: as mentioned above, the second law of motion says that the bigger the mass, the harder it is to change its
velocity (the bigger the inertia). So mass is a measure of an object’s inertia. If several forces are acting on an object
but Fnet equals zero (their vectors form a closed loop), then a equals zero also. Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean those
forces have no effect on the object. Components of the forces will push or pull in opposite directions, so the object
could still be stretched compressed, bent, sheared or twisted.
Free-fall
Newton’s second law helps us to understand why (without air resistance) all objects fall with the same acceleration.

Let’s apply Newton’s second Law to a object falling under the action of gravity only.
��������⃗
𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺𝐺 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 ∴ 𝐹𝐹 𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 = 𝑚𝑚𝑔𝑔
⃗
��������⃗
𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑛𝑛′ 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿: 𝐹𝐹 𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 = 𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑎
⃗
∴ 𝑚𝑚𝑔𝑔⃗ = 𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑎⃗
∴ 𝑔𝑔⃗ = 𝑎𝑎⃗
No matter how big 𝑚𝑚 is, it always cancels to give 𝑔𝑔⃗ = 𝑎𝑎⃗; in free-fall, acceleration is always 𝑔𝑔⃗.
If you double the mass, you double the weight force; however, the second law says you also double the force
required to achieve the same acceleration, so the two effects cancel out.

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Example 1:
A PASCO SMART cart with a mass 𝑚𝑚 = 250 𝑔𝑔 is accelerating down an inclined plane (𝜃𝜃 = 300 ) with no significant
friction.
Let’s apply the second Law to determine its acceleration down the
plane and the magnitude of the normal force.

� 𝐹𝐹����������⃗
𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒,𝑥𝑥 = 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 + 0
��������⃗
𝐹𝐹𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 �
�����������⃗
� 𝐹𝐹 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒,𝑦𝑦 = −𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 + 𝑁𝑁

Applying Newton’s second Law

��������⃗
𝐹𝐹𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 = 𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑎⃗
𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑎
����⃗𝑥𝑥 = 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
�
𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑎
����⃗
𝑦𝑦 = −𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 + 𝑁𝑁

The motion being along the incline plane the acceleration must be in the x direction only:
𝑎𝑎𝑥𝑥 = 9.8 × sin(30) = 4.9𝑚𝑚𝑠𝑠 −2
����⃗𝑥𝑥 = 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 ∴ ����⃗
𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑎
�
0 = −𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 + 𝑁𝑁 ∴ 𝑁𝑁 = 0.250 × 9.8 × cos(30) = 2.1𝑁𝑁

Question 6
Renfrew and Prunella are fighting over a crate of physics books on almost frictionless wheels. They pull on the crate
with ropes. Calculate the acceleration of the crate.

Question 7:
Draw a free body diagram for the ball for the second position and the fourteenth position.
Justify you answer.

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Question 8:
A loaded supermarket shopping trolley with a total mass of 60 kg is left standing on a footpath which is inclined at an
angle of 30° to the horizontal. As the tired shopper searches for his car keys, he fails to notice that the loaded
shopping trolley is beginning to roll away. It rolls in a straight line down the footpath for 9.0 s before it is stopped by
an alert (and very strong) supermarket employee. Find:
(a) the speed of the shopping trolley at the end of its roll
(b) the distance covered by the trolley during its roll.
Assume that the footpath exerts a constant friction force of 270 N on the runaway trolley.

SOLUTION
A diagram must be drawn to show the three forces acting on the shopping trolley.
Air resistance is not included as it is negligible. The forces should be shown as
acting through the centre of mass of the loaded trolley as shown on the diagram.
The components of the weight, which are parallel and perpendicular to the
footpath surface, should also be shown on the diagram.
In order to apply Newton’s Second Law, which is used to determine its
acceleration, one must determine the net force by solving the vector sum of all
external forces into its components.

���⃗𝑥𝑥 = −𝑓𝑓 + 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 + 0

� 𝐹𝐹
��������⃗
𝐹𝐹𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 �
� ���⃗
𝐹𝐹𝑦𝑦 = 0 − 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 + 𝑁𝑁

And the apply Newton’s second Law:

��������⃗
𝐹𝐹𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁𝑁 = 𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑎⃗
𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑎
����⃗𝑥𝑥 = −𝑓𝑓 + 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
�
𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑎
����⃗
𝑦𝑦 = −𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 + 𝑁𝑁

The motion being along the incline plane the acceleration must be in the x direction only:
𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑎
����⃗𝑥𝑥 = −𝑓𝑓 + 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 = −270 + 60 × 9.8 × 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠30 = 24𝑁𝑁
�
0 = −𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 + 𝑁𝑁
𝑎𝑎𝑥𝑥 = 0.40𝑚𝑚𝑠𝑠 −2
����⃗
𝑎𝑎⃗ = 0.40𝑚𝑚𝑠𝑠 −2 , 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 𝑡𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑒 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠
The acceleration is constant, therefore.

𝑣𝑣⃗ = 𝑎𝑎⃗𝑡𝑡 + 𝑢𝑢
�⃗
𝑢𝑢
�⃗ = 0, 𝑎𝑎⃗ = 0.40, 𝑡𝑡 = 9.0
𝑣𝑣⃗ = 0.40𝑡𝑡 + 9.0 = 3.6 𝑚𝑚𝑠𝑠−1

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2.6 Newton’s third law of motion

Example 1:

Situation: a man, standing on a skateboard with frictionless bearings,

throws a heavy medicine ball.

Observation: after the throw the man rolls backward while the ball
moves in the forward direction.

Explanation
Newton’s third law:
For every action, there’s and equal and opposite reaction.
Several points to note include:

• For Newton’s third law, if action is represented by a force 𝐹𝐹 �������������������⃗

𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚/𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 ; reaction is represented by an opposing force
�������������������⃗
𝐹𝐹 �������������������⃗
𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚/𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏 = −𝐹𝐹𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏𝑏/𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 .
• Equal and opposite means ‘equal in magnitude but opposite in direction’.
• The action and the reaction are not exerted on the same object.
• Together, the force and the resulting reaction force are called an action–reaction pair.
Example 2:

Note: a common mistake is to wrongly apply Newton’s third Law by thinking that: action and reaction always cancel,
resulting in no net force and hence no acceleration. This is logically wrong. Remember that the action and reaction
act on different objects; however, the net force is determined as the vector sum of all external forces acting on the
same object.
Question 9:
Apply Newton’s Laws to quantitatively
analyse the situation described in the images
below considering that the interaction
between the skaters last for half a second.

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Question 10:

Apply Newton’s Laws to explain how friction between your

shoes and the floor is necessary for you to accelerate
forward when walking.

Question 11:
Take the bathroom scale and get in a lift. Stand on the scale and operate the lift so you go
up several levels. Apply Newton’s Laws to account for the change of reading on the scale.

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