Newtons Laws of Motion

Newtons First Law of Motion

A body at rest will stay at rest or if moving will continue to move with a uniform
velocity unless disturbed by an unbalanced force.
Newton's first law of motion is sometimes referred to as the "law of inertia."
Example
i

A person riding a bicycle along a level road does not come to rest immediately he
stops pedaling. The bicycle continues to move forward but will eventually come
to rest due to friction and air resistance.

ii

A spacecraft in outer space will continue to travel at high speed in a straight line
for many years without the need for an engine or any fuel. This is because in
outer space there is little or no friction or any other force to stop the spacecraft so
it simply just keeps on moving.

iii

In a collision of two motor cars the passengers are frequently injured when the
car stop suddenly and they hit the windscreen. This happens because an
external force acts on the car (brakes) however no force was applied to the
passengers so he / she continues to move forward in a straight line with a
uniform velocity. To prevent injuries cars are fitted with seat belts to act as a
restraining force for passengers.

Newtons Second Law of Motion

Newtons second law state that the acceleration of a body:
is directly proportional to the force applied
is inversely proportional to the mass of the object
This is consistent with our experience that the harder we push on a moveable body, the
quicker its speed changes.
The law may also be expressed as:

The net (or resultant) force acting on a body

is equal to the product of its mass and its
acceleration.

Force = mass acceleration (F = ma)

Newtons Third law of Motion

Newtons third law states that if a body A exert a force on body B, then body B
exert an equal but opposite force on body A
Newtons third law can also be stated as for every action there is an equal but
opposite reaction.

Inertia

Inertia of a body is its reluctance to start moving and its reluctance to stop once it
has begun moving.
The mass of a body is a measure of its inertia.

Momentum
The momentum of a body is defined as the mass of the body multiplied by its
velocity.
P = m

Momentum = mass velocity

Momentum is simply mass in motion.

Unit of momentum
The unit of momentum is kilogram metre per second (kgm/s)
Force and Momentum
The rate of chance of momentum of a body is directed proportional applied force and
occurs in the direction of the force.

the chage in momemtum mv mu

mv mu
t
v
by definition a
t

the rate of change of momentum

(v u )
t
so F ma

Fm

p
t

Suppose of force F acts on a

body of mass m for time t and changes its velocity from u to v.

Impulse

The impulse of a force is defined as the force applied to a body multiplied by the

time
The quantity Ft is called the IMPULSE OF THE FORCE on the body.
IMPULSE is a vector quantity AND HAS THE DIRECTION AS THE FORCE.
SI Unit of Impulse is kgm/s or Newton second (N s).

mv mu
t
Ft mv mu p
F

Impulse = change in momentum; Impulse and momentum have the same units kgm/s
Importance of impulse to Sports
The longer a force is applied is the great the impulse and the greater the change in
momentum. This shows the important of follow through
a A cricketer or tennis player can get a large change in momentum and therefore a
larger change in velocity by following through with the racket or bat when striking
the ball. The force applied acts for a longer time, therefore the impulse is , so the
change in momentum is larger and the ball moves with a greater velocity.
b When a ball is been caught, its momentum is reduced to zero, if the hands are
drawn back as the ball is been caught the change is taken place over a longer
time so the force experience is smaller.

The Law of the Conservation of Momentum

When two or more bodies act on one another as in a collision, the total
momentum of the bodies remains constant provided no external forces act on
them.

Total momentum before collision = Total momentum after collision

Before collision
m1v1 + m2v2

After collision
m1v1 + m2v2

If the objects stick together after collision then

Before collision
After collision
m1v1 + m2v2
=
(m1 + m2)V
where V is the common velocity

Types of Collisions
We will discuss three types of collisions
1 An elastic collision is one in which the total kinetic energy is the same
(conserved) before and after collision.
E.g. two billiard balls (no deformations) colliding with each other
2 An inelastic collision is one in which the total kinetic energy is not the same
after collision. Kinetic energy is not conserved.
E.g. A tennis ball bouncing off the floor loses up to 25 % of its kinetic energy as
sound, heat or light.
3 A perfectly inelastic collision is one in which the colliding objects stick together.
E.g. A bad car accident where the cars stick together or two train cars collide and
stick together.
Type of Collision
Elastic
Inelastic
Perfectly Inelastic

Momentum
Conserved
Conserved
Conserved

Kinetic Energy
Conserved
Not conserved
Not conserved

Total Energy
Conserved
Conserved
Conserved