Finish Line & Beyond

Science Class 9th

FORCE AND LAWS OF MOTION

Balanced and Unbalanced Forces

Law of Motion

1st Law of Motion

2nd Law of Motion

3rd Law of Motion

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Force

A force is a push or pull upon an object resulting from the object's interaction with
another object. Whenever there is an interaction between two objects, there is a
force upon each of the objects. When the interaction ceases, the two objects no
longer experience the force. Forces only exist as a result of an interaction.

Balanced and Unbalanced Forces

Balanced forces do not cause a change in motion. They are equal in size and
opposite in direction.

For an example:- If any one man compete against another one who is just about as
strong as second is , there will probably be a time when both men are pushing as
hard as they can, but both men’s arms stay in the same place. This is an example of
balanced forces. The force exerted by each person is equal, but they are pushing in
opposite directions, in this case together.

Because the force that each man is exerting is equal, the two forces cancel each
other out and the resulting force is zero. Therefore, there is no change in motion.

Unbalanced forces always cause a change in motion. They are not equal and
opposite.

When two unbalanced forces are exerted in opposite directions, their combined force
is equal to the difference between the two forces and is exerted in the direction of
the larger force.

LAW OF MOTION

First Law of Motion:- Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to

remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it.

There are many more applications of Newton's first law of motion. Several
applications are listed below.

• Blood rushes from head to r feet while quickly stopping when riding on a
descending elevator.
• The head of a hammer can be tightened onto the wooden handle by banging
the bottom of the handle against a hard surface.
• A brick is painlessly broken over the hand of a physics teacher by slamming it
with a hammer.
• To dislodge ketchup from the bottom of a ketchup bottle, it is often turned
upside down and thrusted downward at high speeds and then abruptly halted.
• Headrests are placed in cars to prevent whiplash injuries during rear-end
collisions.

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• While riding a skateboard (or wagon or bicycle), you fly forward off the board
when hitting a curb or rock or other object which abruptly halts the motion of
the skateboard.

Second Law of Motion- The change of momentum of a body is proportional

to the impulse impressed on the body, and happens along the straight line
on which that impulse is impressed.

The second law of motion states that the rate of change of momentum of an object is
proportional to the applied unbalanced force in the direction of force.

MATHEMATICAL FORMULATION OF SECOND LAW OF MOTION

Suppose an object of mass, m is moving along a straight line with an initial velocity,
u. It is uniformly accelerated to velocity, v in time, t by the application of a constant
force, F throughout the time, t. The initial and final momentum of the object will be,
p1 = mu and p2 = mv respectively.

The change in momentum α p2 – p1

α mv – mu
α m×(v – u).

m × (v − u )
The rate of change of momentum α
t
t

m × (v − u )
Or, the applied force, Fα
t

km × (v − u )
F= = kma
t

(v − u )
Here a [= ] is the acceleration, which is the rate of change of velocity. The
t
quantity, k is a constant of proportionality. The SI units of mass and acceleration are
kg and ms-2 respectively. The unit of force is so chosen that the value of the
constant, k becomes one. For this, one unit of force is defined as the amount that
produces an acceleration of 1 m s-2 in an object of 1 kg mass. That is,

1 unit of force = k × (1 kg) × (1 m s-2).

Thus, the value of k becomes 1. From Eq.

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F = ma

The unit of force is kg m s-2 or newton, which has the symbol N. The second law of
motion gives us a method to measure the force acting on an object as a product of
its mass and acceleration.

The first law of motion can be mathematically stated from the mathematical
expression for the second law of motion

F = ma

m × (v − u )
or F=
t

or Ft = mv – mu

That is, when F = 0, v = u for whatever time, t is taken. This means that the object
will continue moving with uniform velocity, u throughout the time, t. If u is zero then
v will also be zero. That is, the object will remain at rest.

Example:-

1) A constant force acts on an object of mass 5 kg for a duration of 2 s. It

increases the object’s velocity from 3 m s–1 to 7 m s-1. Find the magnitude of
the applied force. Now, if the force was applied for duration of 5 s, what
would be the final velocity of the object?

Solution:

We have been given that u = 3 m s–1

and v = 7 m s-1, t = 2 s and m = 5 kg.
From Eq. we have,

m × (v − u )
F=
t

5kg (7 m /s 3 m /s)
F=
2s

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Now, if this force is applied for a duration of 5 s (t = 5 s), then the final
velocity can be calculated by

Ft
v= u+
m

On substituting the values of u, F, m and t, we get the final velocity,

v = 13 m s-1.

2) Which would require a greater force –– accelerating a 2 kg mass at 5 m

s–2 or a 4 kg mass at 2 m s-2?

Solution:

From Eq. we have F = ma.

Here we have m1 = 2 kg; a1 = 5 m s-2
and m2 = 4 kg; a2 = 2 m s-2.
Thus, F1 = m1a1 = 2 kg × 5 m s-2 = 10 N;
and F2 = m2a2 = 4 kg × 2 m s-2= 8 N.
⇒ F1 > F2.
Thus, accelerating a 2 kg mass at 5 m s-2 would require a greater force.

3) A motorcar is moving with a velocity of 108 km/h and it takes 4 s to stop

after the brakes are applied. Calculate the force exerted by the brakes on
the motorcar if its mass along with the passengers is 1000 kg.

Solution:

The initial velocity of the motorcar

u = 108 km/h
= 108 × 1000 m/(60 × 60 s)
= 30 m s-1
and the final velocity of the motorcar
v = 0 m s-1.
The total mass of the motorcar along
with its passengers = 1000 kg and the
time taken to stop the motorcar, t = 4
s. From Eq. we have the magnitude
of the force applied by the brakes F as
m(v – u)/t.
On substituting the values, we get
F = 1000 kg × (0 – 30) m s-1/4 s
= – 7500 kg m s-2 or – 7500 N.
The negative sign tells us that the force
exerted by the brakes is opposite to the
direction of motion of the motorcar.

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4) A force of 5 N gives a mass m1, an acceleration of 10 m s–2 and a mass

m2, an acceleration of 20 m s-2. What acceleration would it give if both the
masses were tied together?

Solution:

From Eq. we have m1 = F/a1; and

m2 = F/a2. Here, a1 = 10 m s-2;
a2 = 20 m s-2 and F = 5 N.
Thus, m1 = 5 N/10 m s-2 = 0.50 kg; and
m2 = 5 N/20 m s-2 = 0.25 kg.
If the two masses were tied together,
the total mass, m would be
m = 0.50 kg + 0.25 kg = 0.75 kg.
The acceleration, a produced in the
combined mass by the 5 N force would
be, a = F/m = 5 N/0.75 kg = 6.67 m s-2.

Third Law of Motion: - For a force there is always an equal and opposite reaction:
or the forces of two bodies on each other are always equal and are directed in
opposite directions.

For example Let us consider two spring balances connected together. The fixed end
of balance B is attached with a rigid support, like a wall. When a force is applied
through the free end of spring balance A, it is observed that both the spring balances
show the same readings on their scales. It means that the force exerted by spring
balance A on balance B is equal but opposite in direction to the force exerted by the
balance B on balance A. The force which balance A exerts on balance B is called the
action and the force of balance B on balance A is called the reaction. This gives us
an alternative statement of the third law of motion i.e., to every action there is an
equal and opposite reaction.

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