Forces

Announcements q Put your HW in the box at top of Stolkin. q HW#2 posted, due next Wed. q Reading assignments are posted under the Schedule link. q Lab begins next week. (unless I specify otherwise) q Physics clinic hours posted on course web page (place for help!)

Review of Force Inertia and Mass Gravitational Force Examples

Acceleration and Force

How do you make objects accelerate?
*** You MUST apply a force *** If there is no force being applied on an object, it cannot accelerate. That is, it must have: acceleration = 0 Since a = v/ t, a = 0 v=0 So velocity cannot change unless a force acts on an object. Can you think of a counter-example (where an object accelerates without a force being applied to it) ?

What is a Force ? (Vector)

Force is simply: A PUSH or A PULL

Forces are vectors they have both magnitude and direction

Force and Acceleration

q Experimentally, we find that if we apply a force to an object, it accelerates. q That is, we find that: acceleration (a) is directly proportional to the applied force (F) , and acceleration (a) is inversely proportional to the mass (m) . q In fact, it is experimentally found that:

Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

a=F/m
Here, F is the total force, Ftot .

This is Newtons Second Law, and it is often written:

F = ma

Newtons 1st Law

I think of Newtons First Law as being a consequence of his 2nd Law: If the total force, Ftot = 0 a=Ftot /m=0 v=0 velocity does not change st Newtons 1 Law If the net force acting on an object is zero, it maintains its state of motion. If its at rest it stays at rest If its moving with constant velocity it maintains that velocity.
(glider demo)

Newtons Law If the net force is not zero The object will accelerate by a=Ftot/m If an object is accelerating, there IS A NET FORCE ACTING ON IT.

2nd

What is Mass?
a=F/m
Mass appears to be a measure of how much things will accelerate when an external force is applied. If mass, m, is large, acceleration is small. If m is small, acceleration will be larger. Mass is often said to be a measure of inertia. Inertia: Tendency for a body to maintain its state of motion, whether moving or at rest.

Inertia and Mass

Inertia: Tendency for a body to maintain its state of motion, whether moving or at rest. Large inertia its hard to accelerate the object Small inertia its easy to accelerate the object If m is large a is small

a=F/m
If m is small a is large Mass is the way we quantify inertia. A common unit of mass is kilograms [kg]

Units of Force
F = ma
What are the units? [F] = [mass]*[acceleration] = [kg]*[m/s2 ] = [kg m/s2 ] Since this unit is rather cumbersome, it has been given a single name, called the Newton, [N]. 1 [N] = 1 [kg m/s 2 ]

Total Force
F1 = 10 N -x M = 2kg F2 = 20N +x

In F1 is the only force acting on the mass M, we expect the block to accelerate to the right with an acceleration a = F1 /M = 10 N / 2 kg = 5 m/s 2 If we now add a 2nd force, F2 , pushing to the left, what happens? We have to consider both forces.. That is, the total force acting on the object. The minus sign tells us Total force = Ftot = 10 N 20 N = -10 N the 2 a = Ftot/M = -10 N / 2 kg = -5 m/s direction!

Example
Ch4#8: An object moves with unchanging velocity. Does it then have no forces acting on it? A) YES B)NO B)NO Does it then have no net force acting on it? A) YES

Ch4#12: Car A starts from rest, and starts to accelerate at 1 m/s2. Car B comes racing past at car A at a steady 120 km/hr. Which vehicle has the larger net force acting on it? A) Car A B) Car B

Force (I)
q A force is generally a result of an interaction between two (or more) objects (Try and think of a scenario where a force is applied with only one object involved)? q Can you think of some examples of forces? Gravitational Electric Magnetic Friction Wind drag Van der Waals forces Hydrogen bonds Forces in a compressed or stretched spring +

Forces (II)
q Since two or more objects must be involved, force is intimately tied to the notion of an interaction. q Interactions are now believed to occur through the exchange of force carriers . This is a very important point, and well come back to it later in the course(particle exchange demo) q So far, we know only of four types of fundamental forces in nature: q Gravity, Electromagnetic, Weak, and Strong q All other forces in nature are understood to be the residual effects of these fundamental forces. Well come back to these later in the semester

Everyone knows that when you drop an object from, say 2 [m], it speeds up, and eventually hits the ground. That is, it accelerates.. According to Newtons Second Law, if the object accelerates, the re MUST BE A NET FORCE ACTING ON THE OBJECT. The force which gets the credit for this is called the gravitational force. But, if forces have to occur between 2 objects What is the other object? The earth!

Gravitational Force

qThe acceleration an object (like you) experiences near the earth is due to the gravitational force which the earth exerts on you. q The acceleration near the surface of the earth is equal to 9.8 m/s 2 downward It is given the special letter g (for gravity)

Gravity

g = 9.8 m/s2
q I dont mind if you use 10 m/s 2 for convenience q All objects which are allowed to fall near the surface of the earth will experience this same acceleration (neglecting air resistance)

Weight is defined to be the force on an object due to gravity.

Weight

w = mg
(F = ma)

w = weight in Newtons [N] m = mass in [kg] g = acceleration due to gravity = 9.8 [m/s 2 ]

q Notice that weight is NOT the same as mass. q Mass has to do with the amount of matter inside the object q Weight depends on the mass, and also the value of g q On the moon, the value of g is only about 1/6th of the value on earth! Therefore, objects weigh about 1/6th as much !

Examples
When you stand on the floor, does the floor exert a force on you? A) YES B) NO

Would you rather have a hunk of gold whose mass is measured to 1 kg on the earth or 1 kg on the moon? A) Earth B) Moon C) Theyre the same, so it doesnt matter Would you rather have a hunk of gold whose mass is measured to 10 N on the earth or 10 N on the moon? A) Earth B) Moon C) Theyre the same, so it doesnt matter