FORCE

Presented by : Jignasha Patel

INTRODUCTION
• We all know that how motion is described in
terms of velocity and acceleration. We now
investigate the cause of motion.
• What causes a body at rest to move? What
causes a moving body to come to a stop? What
causes a body to accelerate or decelerate? What
is involved when an object moves in a circle?
• Our answer is that in each case, a force is
required. The relation between force and motion
is described in Newton’s three laws of motion.
• These laws are very simple statements and
enable us to describe the future (or past)
motion of a body if we know the forces acting
on it.
• Since basic cause of motion is the force, we
shall discuss this important physical quantity
first before dealing with Newton’s laws of
motion.
FORCE
• In physics, a force is any influence (have effect
on) that causes an object to undergo a change
in direction, or a change in shape.
• In everyday language, a force is defined as
under:
“A Force is a push or pull which
produces or tends to produce, a stop or tends
to stop motion in a body. “
• This is the intuitive (idea obtained by your
feelings rather than by considering the facts.)
definition of force.
• For example, a rubber ball lying on the
ground is at rest but when it is pushed, it
begins to move.
• Similarly, when u apply your hand to a moving
ball, it is stopped. Sometimes, this push or pull
tends to produce or stop motion but fails to
do so e.g., a man cannot move or stop a truck.
• The above notion of fore is all right in
everyday conversation but not for the
applications of Newton’s laws of motion to
problems in physics. We have coined a clear
definition of force.
• We know that a body at rest or moving with a
constant velocity (i.e., with constant speed in
a straight line) has zero acceleration.
• If the velocity of the body is changing (in
magnitude or in direction or both) , it is
accelerating.
• It has been found experimentally that if a
body has zero acceleration, no net force acting
on it. On the other hand, force is required to
produce acceleration in a body.
• Thus a force is an agent that produces or
tends to produce acceleration (or retardation)
in a body.
• Since force has magnitude as well as direction,
it is a vector quantity.
• If several forces act simultaneously on the
same object, it is the net force that
determines the motion of the object.
• The net force is the vector sum of all the forces
acting on the object. We often call the net
force as the resultant force or the unbalanced
force.
SI Unit of force
F=ma
• The SI unit of ‘m’ is 1 kg and that of ‘a’ is
1 ms-2.
∴ SI unit of force F = 1 kg × 1 ms-2 = 1 kg ms-2
or 1 N
• Hence one Newton (1 N) is that force which
produces an acceleration of 1 ms-2 in a mass
of 1 kg. The CGS unit is dyne or gm cms-2.
• The dimensional formula of force is
[F] = [M] [L T-2] = [MLT-2].
Resolution of forces
 
• When we add two forces such as AandB, we
can replace the separate forces by a single
  
equivalent resultant force, R  A B .
• We can do this in reverse i.e., we can replace a
single force by any two (or more) forces
whose sum gives us back the original force.
This is called resolution of a force.
• The process of splitting a single vector into
two or more vectors in different directions in a
plane such that their sum gives back the
original vector is called resolution of a force.
• For simplicity instead of force, here we take
two vectors into account. The vectors into
which the given vector F is resolved (or
splitted) are called the vector components of
F .
• Figure shows that the original
vector resolved into two
 
non-parallel vectors A and B
such that :  
F  A B
 
• Thus, Aand B are the vector

components of F .
• As any number of vectors can be combined to
give a single equivalent vector, therefore, a
vector can be resolved into any number of
vector components.
• The resolution of a vector into its components
often simplifies many problems related to
vectors.
NEWTON’S LAW OF MOTION
• Newton’s laws of motion are three physical
laws that form the basis for classical
mechanics.
• They describe the relationship between the
force acting on a body and its motion due to
those forces.
• This three laws of motion were first given by
Sir Issac Newton and first published on July 5,
1687.
 Newton’s First Law Of Motion

• Newton’s first law of motion may be stated as

under :
Everybody continues in its state of rest
or of uniform motion in a straight line unless it is
compelled by some external force to change that
state.
• In other words, if a body is at rest or moving with
a constant velocity (i.e, with constant speed in a
straight line), no net force is acting on it.
• Note : Net force means vector sum of all the
forces acting on the body.
• Newton’s first law of motion has two parts.
The first part states that a body at rest will
remain at rest unless some external force acts
on it to change its state of rest.
• The second part states that a moving body
continues to move with constant velocity
unless some external force acts on the body to
change its uniform motion (i.e., motion with
constant velocity).
• The first part of the law is consistent with
everyday experience.
• It appears that second part of the law
contradicts everyday experience. For example,
a boll rolling on a road stops after covering
some distance. The ball has stopped because
external frictional force is acting on it.
• If a body is at rest or moving with a constant
velocity (i.e., with a constant speed in a
straight line) , the net force acting on a body
is zero.
• Now state of rest or motion with constant
velocity means zero acceleration. Hence
Newton’s first law of motion can also be
expressed as under :
• If no net force acts on a body, then body’s
acceleration is zero (i.e., either the body is at rest
or is moving with a constant velocity).
 Law of Inertia :
• Newton’s first law of motion is also called law
of inertia. The reason is simple. Now inertia of
body means the resistance of the body to change
in its state of rest or of uniform motion in a
straight line.
• According to Newton’s first law of motion, a body
at rest will remain at rest and if it is moving, it will
continue to move with constant velocity unless
some external force changes its state of rest or of
uniform motion in a straight line.
• In other words, a body of its own cannot
change its state of rest or of uniform motion.
• The statement of Newton’s first law of
motion and definition of inertia are
equivalent.
• Hence Newton’s first law of motion is rightly
called law of inertia.
Example of Newton’s First Law of Motion :

• In everyday life, there are a large number of

examples of Newton’s first law of motion ( or law
of inertia ) but only few are given below by way
of illustration :

(1) When a train suddenly starts, the passengers

standing in the compartment tend to fall
backward. It is because the lower part of the
body of the passenger, which is in contact with
the train, comes in motion but the upper part
tends to be at rest due to inertia. Consequently,
the passengers tend to fall backward.
(2) When a moving bus is suddenly stopped, the
passengers tend to fall forward. It is because the
lower part of the body of the passenger which is
in contact with the bus comes to rest but the
upper part of the body tends to be in motion due
to inertia. As a result, the passengers tend to fall
forward.
(3) When we beat a carpet with a stick, dust
particles are removed. It is because the carpet is
suddenly set into motion but the dust particles
tend to remain at rest due to inertia. Therefore,
dust particles get removed from the carpet.
(4) When we shake a mango tree, the mangoes
fall down. It is due to the fact that shaking
brings the branches of the tree in motion
while the mangoes tend to be at rest due to
inertia. Consequently, the mangoes get
detached.
 Newton’s Second Law of Motion

• According to Newton’s second law of motion,

the rate of change of linear momentum of a
body with time is directly proportional to the
net external force applied on it and this
change takes place in the direction of the
applied force i.e.,
Applied force ∝ Time rate of change of
linear momentum
• Consider a body of mass m moving with a
velocity v in a straight line. The linear
momentum of the body is p = m v . Let F be
the external force applied on the body in the
direction of motion of the body. If dp is the
small change in the linear momentum of the
body in small time dt due to this force, then
according to Newton’s second law of motion,


 dp

F
dp or F k
dt
dt
• Where k is a constant of proportionality and
its value depends on the choice of unit for the
force. In SI units, the unit of force is so
selected that k=1.
  
 dp d (mv) dv
F  m
dt dt dt
but 
dv 
a , the acceleration produced in
dt
the body.  
F  m a
• The magnitude of the force is F = ma.
 SI Unit of Force :
F=ma
• The SI unit of m is 1 kg and that of a is 1
m/s2.
SI unit of force F = 1 kg × 1 ms-2 = 1 kg ms-2
or 1 N
• Hence one Newton (1 N) is that force which
produces an acceleration of 1 ms-2 in a mass of
1 kg.
• Discussion : The following conclusion can be
drawn from Newton’s second law of motion :
(1) Newton’s second law gives us the relation
between force, mass and acceleration viz.
F=ma
Since m is constant, F α a .
Therefore, Newton’s second law of motion
provides us the definition of force.
“A Force is that which produces or tends
to produces acceleration (or retardation) in a
body.”
(2) If no net force is acting on a body, then
according to Newton’s second law of motion
the rate of change of linear momentum with
time is zero i.e.,
dp
F 0
dt
or
p  mv  constant

Thus the object’s linear momentum

remains constant when the net force acting on
it zero.
• Since m is constant p and is also constant, it
means is v constant. What does constant v
mean?
• It means either the body is at rest or it is
moving with constant velocity. Thus when net
force on a body is zero, the body is either at
rest or moving with constant velocity. This is
Newton’s first law of motion. Therefore,
Newton’s first law is contained in the second
law.
(3) F = m a or a = F/m
• Clearly, second law tells us that mass of a
body is a measure of its inertia. For given net
force, an object with a larger mass will have
smaller acceleration i.e., smaller change in the
velocity of the object.
• Therefore, the mass of an object is that
property of the object which causes it to resist
any change in its velocity. Since inertia means
resistance to change, the mass of a body is a
measure of its inertia.
 Newton’s Third Law Of Motion

• According to Newton’s third law of motion : To

every action, there is an equal and opposite
reaction.
• It simply means that if one body exerts a force
(action) on the second body, then second
body exerts an equal and opposite force
(reaction) on the first body.
• We can restate Newton’s third law of motion
in more quantitative terms as under :
• If body A exerts a force FAB on a body B
(action)and body B exerts a force FBA on a body
A (reaction), then according to Newton’s third
law of motion,
FAB  FBA
• Note that F (action) and  F (reaction) are
AB BA

equal in magnitude but opposite in direction.

Two things are worth noting about Newton’s
third law of motion.
• First, action and reaction act on different
bodies and, therefore, they cannot cancel each
other.
• Thus in the above case, action ( FAB ) is on body B
and reaction (F ) is on body A.
BA

• Secondly, action and reaction involve a pair of

bodies. It does not matter which force in such
a pair is called the action and which the
reaction.
 Example of Newton’s Third Law of Motion :

• In everyday life, there are a large number of

practical examples of the applications of
Newton’s third law of motion. However, we
shall discuss only a few by way of illustration.
(1)Walking : when a person walk on a ground,
he or she exerts a force on the ground and in
turn ground exerts an equal force on the
person. It is this force on the person which
moves him or her forward.
(2) The working of rockets is based on newton’s
third law : The rocket exerts a strong force on the
gases, expelling them. The gases exert an equal
and opposite force on the rocket and it is this
force which moves the rocket forward.
(3)When a gun is fired, the force exerted on the
bullet is equal to the reaction force exerted on
the gun : Since the forces are equal in
magnitude, why does not gun recoil with the
same speed as that of bullet. Recall that a = F/m.
Since the gun is much more massive than the
bullet, the change in its acceleration is very small
as compared to that of the bullet.