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FreeBodyDiagrams:Introduction
LearningGoal:
Tolearntodrawfreebodydiagramsforvariousreallifesituations.
Imaginethatyouaregivenadescriptionofareallifesituationandareaskedtoanalyzethemotionoftheobjectsinvolved.
Frequently,thatanalysisinvolvesfindingtheaccelerationoftheobjects,which,inturn,requiresthatyoufindthenetforce.
Tofindthenetforce,youmustfirstidentifyalloftheforcesactingontheobjectandthenaddthemasvectors.Suchaprocedure
isnotalwaystrivial.Itishelpfultoreplacethesketchofthesituationbyadrawingoftheobject(representedasaparticle)andall
theforcesappliedtoit.Suchadrawingiscalledafreebodydiagram.Thisproblemwillwalkyouthroughseveralexamplesof
freebodydiagramsandwilldemonstratesomeofthepossiblepitfalls.
Hereisthegeneralstrategyfordrawingfreebodydiagrams:
Identifytheobjectofinterest.Thismaynotalwaysbeeasy:Asketchofthesituationmaycontainmanyobjects,
eachofwhichhasadifferentsetofforcesactingonit.Includingforcesactingondifferentobjectsinthesame
diagramwillleadtoconfusionandawrongsolution.
Drawtheobjectasadot.Drawandclearlylabelalltheforcesactingontheobjectofinterest.Theforcesshouldbe
shownasvectorsoriginatingfromthedotrepresentingtheobjectofinterest.Therearetwopossibledifficulties
here:omittingsomeforcesanddrawingtheforcesthateitherdon'texistatallorareappliedtootherobjects.To
avoidthesetwopitfalls,rememberthateveryforcemustbeappliedtotheobjectofinterestbysomeotherobject.
Oncealloftheforcesaredrawn,drawthecoordinatesystem.Theoriginshouldcoincidewiththedotrepresenting
theobjectofinterestandtheaxesshouldbechosensothatthesubsequentcalculationsofvectorcomponentsof
theforceswillberelativelysimple.Thatis,asmanyforcesaspossiblemustbeeitherparallelorperpendicularto
oneoftheaxes.
Eventhoughreallifecanpresentuswithawidevarietyofsituations,wewillbemostlydealingwithaverysmallnumberof
forces.Herearetheprincipalonesofinterest:
Weight,ortheforceduetogravity.Weightactsoneveryobjectandisdirectedstraightdownunlessweare
consideringaprobleminvolvingthenonflatearth(e.g.,satellites).
Normalforce.Thenormalforceexistsbetweentwosurfacesthatarepressedagainsteachotheritisalways
perpendiculartothesurfaces.
Forceoftension.Tensionexistsinstrings,springs,andotherobjectsoffinitelength.Itisdirectedalongthestringor
aspring.Keepinmindthataspringcanbeeithercompressedorstretchedwhereasastringcanonlybestretched.
Forceoffriction.Africtionforceexistsbetweentwosurfacesthateithermoveorhaveatendencytomoverelative
toeachother.Sometimes,theforceofairdrag,similarinsomewaystotheforceoffriction,maycomeintoplay.
Theseforcesaredirectedsothattheyresisttherelativemotionofthesurfaces.Tosimplifyproblemsyouoften
assumethatfrictionisnegligibleonsmoothsurfacesandcanbeignored.Inaddition,thewordfrictioncommonly
referstoresistiveforcesotherthanairdragthatarecausedbycontactbetweensurfaces,soyoucanignoreair
draginproblemsunlessyouareexplicitlytoldtoconsideritseffects.
Thefollowingexamplesshouldhelpyoulearntodrawfreebodydiagrams.Wewillstartwithrelativelysimplesituationsinwhich
theobjectofinterestiseitherexplicitlysuggestedorfairlyobvious.
PartA
Ahockeypuckslidesalongahorizontal,smoothicysurfaceataconstantvelocityasshown.Whichofthefollowingforces
actonthepuck?
Checkallthatapply.
https://session.masteringphysics.com/myct/itemView?view=print&assignmentProblemID=83957182 1/9
10/4/2017 MasteringPhysics: Assignment 3 - Forces Part One
ANSWER:
acceleration
friction
airdrag
weight
normalforce
forceofvelocity
forceofpush
Correct
Thereisnosuchthingas"theforceofvelocity."Ifthepuckisnotbeingpushed,therearenohorizontalforcesactingon
it.Ofcourse,somehorizontalforcemusthaveactedonitbefore,toimpartthevelocityhowever,inthesituation
described,nosuch"forceofpush"exists.Also,theairdraginsuchcasesisassumedtobenegligible.Finally,theword
"smooth"usuallyimpliesnegligiblesurfacefriction.Yourfreebodydiagramshouldlookliketheoneshownhere.
PartB
Considerablockpulledbyahorizontalropealongahorizontalsurfaceataconstantvelocityasshown.Thereistensionin
therope.Whichofthefollowingforcesactontheblock?
Checkallthatapply.
https://session.masteringphysics.com/myct/itemView?view=print&assignmentProblemID=83957182 2/9
10/4/2017 MasteringPhysics: Assignment 3 - Forces Part One
ANSWER:
weight
forceoftension
normalforce
airdrag
forceofvelocity
acceleration
friction
Correct
Becausethevelocityisconstant,theremustbeaforceoffrictionopposingtheforceoftension.Sincetheblockis
moving,itiskineticfriction.Yourfreebodydiagramshouldlooklikethatshownhere.
PartC
Ablockisrestingonanslope.Whichofthefollowingforcesactontheblock?
Checkallthatapply.
https://session.masteringphysics.com/myct/itemView?view=print&assignmentProblemID=83957182 3/9
10/4/2017 MasteringPhysics: Assignment 3 - Forces Part One
ANSWER:
weight
kineticfriction
forceofpush
normalforce
staticfriction
Correct
PartD
Drawthefreebodydiagramfortheblockrestingonaslope.
Drawtheforcevectorssuchthattheirtailsalignwiththecenteroftheblock(indicatedbytheblackdot).The
orientationsofyourvectorswillbegradedbutnotthelengths.
ANSWER:
https://session.masteringphysics.com/myct/itemView?view=print&assignmentProblemID=83957182 4/9
10/4/2017 MasteringPhysics: Assignment 3 - Forces Part One
AnswerRequested
PartE
Nowconsiderablockslidinguparoughslopeafterhavingbeengivenaquickpushasshown.Whichofthefollowingforces
actontheblock?
Checkallthatapply.
ANSWER:
https://session.masteringphysics.com/myct/itemView?view=print&assignmentProblemID=83957182 5/9
10/4/2017 MasteringPhysics: Assignment 3 - Forces Part One
weight
kineticfriction
staticfriction
forceofpush
normalforce
theforceofvelocity
AnswerRequested
Theword"rough"impliesthepresenceoffriction.Sincetheblockisinmotion,itiskineticfriction.Onceagain,thereis
nosuchthingas"theforceofvelocity."However,itseemsatemptingchoicetosomestudentssincetheblockisgoing
up.
PartF
Drawthefreebodydiagramfortheblockslidinguparoughslopeafterhavingbeengivenaquickpush.
Drawtheforcevectorssuchthattheirtailsalignwiththecenteroftheblock(indicatedbytheblackdot).The
orientationsofyourvectorswillbegradedbutnotthelengths.
ANSWER:
AnswerRequested
https://session.masteringphysics.com/myct/itemView?view=print&assignmentProblemID=83957182 6/9
10/4/2017 MasteringPhysics: Assignment 3 - Forces Part One
PartG
Nowconsiderablockbeingpushedupasmoothslope.Theforcepushingtheblockisparalleltotheslope.Whichofthe
followingforcesareactingontheblock?
Checkallthatapply.
ANSWER:
weight
kineticfriction
staticfriction
forceofpush
normalforce
AnswerRequested
Yourfreebodydiagramshouldlookliketheoneshownhere.
Theforceofpushisthenormalforceexerted,possibly,bythepalmofthehandofthepersonpushingtheblock.
Inalltheprevioussituationsjustdescribed,theobjectofinterestwasexplicitlygiven.Intheremainingpartsoftheproblem,
considerasituationwherechoosingtheobjectsforwhichtodrawthefreebodydiagramsisuptoyou.
Twoblocksofmassesm1 andm2 areconnectedbyalightstringthatgoesoveralightfrictionlesspulley.Theblockofmassm1
isslidingtotherightonaroughhorizontalsurfaceofalabtable.
https://session.masteringphysics.com/myct/itemView?view=print&assignmentProblemID=83957182 7/9
10/4/2017 MasteringPhysics: Assignment 3 - Forces Part One
PartH
Tosolvefortheaccelerationoftheblocks,youwillhavetodrawthefreebodydiagramsforwhichobjects?
Checkallthatapply.
ANSWER:
theblockofmassm1
theblockofmassm2
theconnectingstring
thepulley
thetable
theearth
AnswerRequested
PartI
Drawthefreebodydiagramfortheblockofmassm1 anddrawafreebodydiagramfortheblockofmassm2 .
Drawtheforcevectorsactingonm1 suchthattheirtailsalignwiththecenteroftheblocklabeledm1 (indicatedby
theblackdot).Drawtheforcevectorsactingonm2 withtheirtailsalignedwiththecenteroftheblocklabeledm2 .
Theorientationsofyourvectorswillbegradedbutnotthelengths.
ANSWER:
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10/4/2017 MasteringPhysics: Assignment 3 - Forces Part One
AnswerRequested
https://session.masteringphysics.com/myct/itemView?view=print&assignmentProblemID=83957182 9/9