Equations of Motion

Summary

The following equations of motion are valid only when o o acceleration is constant and motion is constrained to a straight line.

The One Dimensional Equations of Motion for Constant Acceleration traditional name 1st 2nd 3rd equation equation equation equation v = v0 + at x = x0 + v0t + at
2 2 2

relationship velocity time displacement time velocity displacement average velocity

v = v0 + 2a(x x0) v = (v + v0)

Merton rule

Graphs of Motion
Summary

On a displacement-time graph o o o o o o o o o o o o slope equals velocity. the "y" intercept equals the initial displacement. when two curves coincide, the two objects have the same displacement at that time. straight lines imply constant velocity. curved lines imply acceleration. an object undergoing constant acceleration traces a portion of a parabola. average velocity is the slope of the straight line connecting the endpoints of a curve. instantaneous velocity is the slope of the line tangent to a curve at any point. positive slope implies motion in the positive direction. negative slope implies motion in the negative direction. zero slope implies a state of rest. The area under the curve is meaningless

On a velocity-time graph

o o o o o o o o o o o o

slope equals acceleration. the"y" intercept equals the initial velocity. when two curves coincide, the two objects have the same velocity at that time. straight lines imply uniform acceleration. curved lines imply non-uniform acceleration. an object undergoing constant acceleration traces a straight line. average acceleration is the slope of the straight line connecting the endpoints of a curve. instantaneous acceleration is the slope of the line tangent to a curve at any point. positive slope implies an increase in velocity in the positive direction. negative slope implies an increase in velocity in the negative direction. zero slope implies motion with constant velocity. the area under the curve equals the change in displacement.

On an acceleration-time graph o o o o o o slope is meaningless. The "y" intercept equals the initial acceleration. when two curves coincide, the two objects have the same acceleration at that time. an object undergoing constant acceleration traces a horizontal line. zero slope implies motion with constant acceleration. the area under the curve equals the change in velocity.

The mathematical transformations between graphs of motion are shown below.

Forces and Inertia Newtons First Law of Motion

Examples of Forces

Forces that act on all objects. o Weight (W, Fg) The force of gravity acting on an object due to its mass. An object's weight is directed down, toward the center of the gravitating body; like the earth or moon, for example.

Forces associated with solids. o Normal (N, Fn) The force between two solids in contact that prevents them from occupying the same space.

The normal force is directed perpendicular to the surface. A "normal" in mathematics is a line perpendicular to a planar curve or surface; thus the name "normal force". o Friction (, F) The force between solids in contact that resists their sliding across one another. Friction is directed opposite the direction of relative motion or the intended direction of motion of either of the surfaces. o Tension (T, Ft) The force exerted by an object being pulled upon from opposite ends like a string, rope, cable, chain, etc. Tension is directed along the axis of the object. (Although normally associated with solids, liquids and gases can also be said exert tension in some circumstances.) o Elasticity (Fe, Fs) The force exerted by an object under deformation (typically tension or compression) that will return to its original shape when released like a spring or rubber band. Elasticity, like tension, is directed along an axis (although there are exceptions to this rule). Forces associated with fluids. Fluids include liquids (like water) and gases (like air). o Buoyancy (B, Fb) The force exerted on an object immersed in a fluid. Buoyancy is usually directed up (although there are exceptions to this rule). o Drag (R, D, Fd) The force that resists the motion of an object through a fluid. Drag is directed opposite the direction of motion of the object relative to the fluid. o Lift (L, Fl) The force that a moving fluid exerts as it flows around an object; typically a wing or wing-like structure, but also golf balls and baseballs. Lift is generally directed perpendicular to the direction of fluid flow (although there are exceptions to this rule). o Thrust (T, Ft) The force that a fluid exerts when expelled by a propeller, turbine, rocket, squid, clam, etc. Thrust is directed opposite the direction the fluid is expelled. Forces associated with physical phenomena. o Electrostatic Force (FE) The attraction or repulsion between charged bodies. Experienced in everyday life through static cling and in school as the explanation behind much of elementary chemistry.

Magnetic Force (FB) The attraction or repulsion between charged bodies in motion. Experienced in everyday life through magnets and in school as the explanation behind why a compass needle points north.

Fundamental forces. All the forces in the universe can be explained in terms of the following four fundamental interactions. o Gravity The interaction between objects due to their mass. Weight is a synonym for the force of gravity. o Electromagnetism The interaction between objects due to their charge. All the forces discussed above are electromagnetic in origin except weight. o Strong Nuclear Interaction The interaction between subatomic particles with "color" (an abstract quantity that has nothing to do with human vision). This is the force that holds protons and neutrons together in the nucleus and holds quarks together in the protons and neutrons. It cannot be felt outside of the nucleus. o Weak Nuclear Interaction The interaction between subatomic particles with "flavor" (an abstract quantity that has nothing to do with human taste). This force, which is many times weaker than the strong nuclear interaction, is involved in certain forms of radioactive decay.

Fictitious forces. These are apparent forces that objects experience in an accelerating coordinate system like an accelerating car, airplane, spaceship, elevator, or amusement park ride. Fictitious forces do not arise from an external object like genuine forces do, but rather as a consequence of trying to keep up with an accelerating environment. o Centrifugal Force The force experienced by all objects in a rotating coordinate system that seems to pull them away from the center of rotation. o Coriolis Force The force experienced by moving objects in a rotating coordinate system that seems to deflect them at right angles to their direction of motion.

"G Force" Not really a force (or even a fictitious force) but rather an apparent gravity-like sensation experienced by objects in an accelerating coordinate system.

Generic forces. When you don't know what to call a force, you can always give it a generic name like o o o o Push Pull Force Applied Force

Summary

Newton's first law of motion (also known as the law of inertia) states that o o o an object at rest tends to remain at rest and an object in motion tends to continue moving with constant velocity unless acted upon by a net external force.

In general, inertia is resistance to change. In mechanics, inertia is resistance to change in velocity (resitance to acceleration). o o Moving objects do not need to be pushed to continue moving. A constant velocity of zero (at rest for an extended period of time) is one type of constant velocity.

In general, a force is an interaction that causes a change. In mechanics, a force is an interaction that causes a change in velocity (an interaction that causes acceleration). o o Forces must be external to cause a change. (Objects cannot push themselves.) When more than one force is present, it is the net force (combination) that matters.

name/symbols weight normal friction tension W, Fg N, Fn , F T, Ft

when/where due to gravity surfaces in contact surfaces in contact strings, ropes, cables, etc

direction down normal to surface tangent to surface along the axis

elasticity buoyancy drag lift thrust

Fe, Fs B, Fb R, D, Fd L, Fl T, Ft

springs, rubber bands, etc. immersed in a fluid moving through a fluid moving through a fluid pushing a fluid

along the axis up opposite velocity of object perpendicular to flow opposite velocity of fluid

Mass and Newtons 2nd Law of Motion

Summary

Newton's second law of motion (also known as the force law) states that o o acceleration is directly proportional to net force when mass is constant, and acceleration is inversely proportional to mass when net force is constant, and consequently o net force is directly proportional to mass when acceleration is constant.

Newton's second law of motion is more compactly written as the equation

F=ma

Mass o Mass is a measure of resistance to acceleration. (More generally, mass is a measure of resistance to all sorts of change.) o o o Mass is a scalar quantity associated with matter. When a system is composed of several objects it is the total mass that matters. The SI unit of mass is the kilogram [kg].

Force o A force is an interaction that causes acceleration. (More generally, a force is an interaction that causes a change.) o o o A force is a vector quantity associated with an interaction. When several forces act on a system it is the net, external force that matters. The SI unit of force is the newton [N = kg m/s ].
2

Action and Reaction Newtons Third Law of Motion

Newton's third law of motion (also known as the law of actionreaction) states that o for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

A force is an interaction between two objects. Forces always occur in pairs that o o o o o o are arbitrarily assigned the names action and reaction, are of the same type, have the same magnitude, act on different objects, act in opposite directions, and may have different effects (since acceleration is inversely proportional to mass).

Friction
independent of o o o surface area, speed (except when v = 0), and temperature

depends on the nature of the surfaces in contact, directly proportional to the normal force, N

= N s k 1.16 1.02 0.72 0.35 0.81.0 0.91.0 0.9 interface rubber rubber rubber concrete car tire asphalt car tire grass skin metals glass glass sheep steel mesh

0.7 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.600.70 0.68 0.58 0.58 0.4 0.62 0.6 0.20.4 0.20.6 0.29 0.28 0.56 0.270.38 0.3 0.040.4 0.1 0.1 0.03 0.050.5 0.2 0.04 0.020.09 0.040.4 0.22 0.17

sheep plastic batten () sheep plastic batten () sheep wood batten () sheep wood batten () masonry brick horseshoe rubber horseshoe concrete steel steel brakes cast iron wood concrete wood brick wood stone wood metals wood felt wood wood leather metals leather oak snow nylon snow hickory, waxed graphite graphite graphite steel ice steel ice ice teflon steel teflon teflon

0.00440.0057 ankle cartillage synovial fluid 0.0013 tendon sheath

Definition o o o Friction is the force between surfaces in contact that resists their relative tangential motion. "Relative tangential motion" is a fancy way to say "slipping". Its direction is opposite the relative velocity (or intended velocity).

Types o Dry Friction The resistive force between clean dry solid surfaces. The phenomena one normally associates with the word friction. Friction is normally synonymous with dry friction. o Viscous Friction The resistive force between surfaces in relative motion through a fluid (liquids & gases). o Rolling Resistance The resistive force experienced by rolling objects. Since rolling does not does not necessarily involve slipping, rolling resistance is not really a form of friction.

Factors affecting dry friction o o Dry friction is directly proportional to the normal force between the two surfaces in contact. Dry friction depends on the materials in contact. This factor is measured by the quantity known as the coefficient of friction which is o the ratio of the friction force to the normal force. unitless always greater than 0 usually less than 1 for most everyday materials

Dry friction is subdivided into two types. Static friction occurs when the two surfaces in contact are not in relative motion; that is, when one surface is stationary relative to the other surface, varies in strength from zero (when no external force is trying to force slippage) to some maximum value (just before slippage occurs) Kinetic friction occurs when two surfaces in contact are in relative motion; that is when one surface is slipping or sliding across another surface,

is always weaker than the maximum static friction.

Factors that don't affect dry friction o Friction is largely independent of surface roughness (despite what you may have read in other textbooks). Protrusions or rough spots may provide microscopic ledges where one surface can rest upon another and apply a normal force. This is not friction. The friction associated with sandpaper is no greater than the friction associated with quartz. Friction and abrasion are different phenomena. Ice, glass, and rubber can all be made smooth but ice has a low coefficient of friction, glass a medium coefficient, and rubber a high coefficient. The material is what determines the amount of friction, not is surface texture. Sanding a slippery surface may increase its friction by removing the low friction surface material and exposing an underlying high friction material. o Friction is independent of speed once an object is moving. Faster does not mean more friction.