- (D) calculate the effect of forces on objects, including the law of inertia, the relationship between force and acceleration, and the nature of force pairs between objects.
Before students begin this section, it is useful to review the concepts of force, external force, net external force, and addition of forces.
[BL] [OL] [AL] Ask students to speculate what happens to objects when they are set in motion. Do they remain in motion or stop after some time? Why?
Misconception Alert
Students may believe that objects that are in motion tend to slow down and stop. Explain the concept of friction. Talk about objects in outer space, where there is no atmosphere and no gravity. Ask students to describe the motion of such objects.
Section Key Terms
| friction | inertia | law of inertia |
| mass | Newton’s first law of motion | system |
Newton’s First Law and Friction
Teacher Support
Teacher Support
[BL] [OL] [AL] Discuss examples of Newton’s first law seen in everyday life.
[BL] [OL] [AL] Talk about different pairs of surfaces and how each exhibits different levels of friction. Ask students to give examples of smooth and rough surfaces. Ask them where friction may be useful and where it may be undesirable.
[OL] [AL] Ask students to give different examples of systems where multiple forces occur. Draw free-body diagrams for these. Include the force of friction. Emphasize the direction of the force of friction.
Newton’s first law of motion states the following:
- A body at rest tends to remain at rest.
- A body in motion tends to remain in motion at a constant velocity unless acted on by a net external force. (Recall that constant velocity means that the body moves in a straight line and at a constant speed.)
At first glance, this law may seem to contradict your everyday experience. You have probably noticed that a moving object will usually slow down and stop unless some effort is made to keep it moving. The key to understanding why, for example, a sliding box slows down (seemingly on its own) is to first understand that a net external force acts on the box to make the box slow down. Without this net external force, the box would continue to slide at a constant velocity (as stated in Newton’s first law of motion). What force acts on the box to slow it down? This force is called friction . Generally, friction is an external force that acts opposite to the direction of relative motion or to prevent slipping. We further identify different types of friction. Kinetic friction is a force by a surface parallel to the surface that opposes the motion of a sliding object and causes it to slow down. When the friction prevents the object from sliding, it is called static friction. Rolling resistance impedes the rolling of a wheel. Drag opposes and slows the motion of an object through a fluid (see Figure 4.3). Think of friction as a resistance to motion that slows things down.
Consider an air hockey table. When the air is turned off, the puck slides only a short distance before friction slows it to a stop. However, when the air is turned on, it lifts the puck slightly, so the puck experiences very little friction as it moves over the surface. With friction almost eliminated, the puck glides along with very little change in speed. On a frictionless surface, the puck would experience no net external force (ignoring air resistance, which is also a form of friction). Additionally, if we know enough about friction, we can accurately predict how quickly objects will slow down.
Now let’s think about another example. A man pushes a box across a floor at constant velocity by applying a force of
+50 N. (The positive sign indicates that, by convention, the direction of motion is to the right.) What is the force of friction that opposes the motion? The force of friction must be −50 N. Why? According to Newton’s first law of motion, any object moving at constant velocity has no net external force acting upon it, which means that the sum of the forces acting on the object must be zero. The mathematical way to say that no net external force acts on an object is F net = 0 F net = 0 or Σ F = 0. Σ F = 0. So if the man applies +50 N of force, then the force of friction must be −50 N for the two forces to add up to zero (that is, for the two forces to cancel each other). Whenever you encounter the phrase at constant velocity, Newton’s first law tells you that the net external force is zero.
Figure 4.3 For a box sliding across a floor, friction acts in the direction opposite to the velocity.
The force of friction depends on two factors: the coefficient of friction and the normal force . For any two surfaces that are in contact with one another, the coefficient of friction is a constant that depends on the nature of the surfaces. The normal force is the force exerted by a surface that pushes on an object out, perpendicular to the surface in response to the object’s pushing into the surface. The normal force prevents the object from penetrating the surface. In equation form, the force of friction is
f = μ N , f = μ N ,where μ is the coefficient of friction and N is the normal force. (The coefficient of friction is discussed in more detail in another chapter, and the normal force is discussed in more detail in the section Newton's Third Law of Motion.)
Recall from the section on Force that a net external force acts from outside on the object of interest. A more precise definition is that it acts on the system of interest. A system is one or more objects that you choose to study. It is important to define the system at the beginning of a problem to figure out which forces are external and need to be considered, and which are internal and can be ignored.
For example, in Figure 4.4 (a), two children push a third child in a wagon at a constant velocity. The system of interest is the wagon plus the small child, as shown in part (b) of the figure. The two children behind the wagon exert external forces on this system (F1, F2). Friction f acting on the wheels is another external force acting on the system. Two more external forces act on the system: the weight W of the system pulling down and the normal force N of the ground pushing up. Notice that the wagon is not accelerating vertically, so Newton’s first law tells us that the normal force balances the weight. Because the wagon is moving forward at a constant velocity, the force of friction must have the same strength as the sum of the forces applied by the two children.
Figure 4.4 (a) The wagon and rider form a system that is acted on by external forces. (b) The two children pushing the wagon and child provide two external forces. Friction acting at the wheel axles and on the surface of the tires where they touch the ground provide an external force that act against the direction of motion. The weight W and the normal force N from the ground are two more external forces acting on the system. All external forces are represented in the figure by arrows. All of the external forces acting on the system add together, but because the wagon moves at a constant velocity, all of the forces must add up to zero.
Mass and Inertia
Teacher Support
Teacher Support
[BL] Review Newton’s first law. Explain that the property of objects to maintain their state of motion is called inertia.
[OL] [AL] Take two similar carts or trolleys with wheels. Place a heavy weight in one of them. Ask students which cart would require more force to change its state of motion. Ask students which would stay in motion longer if you were to set them in motion. Based on this discussion, have students speculate on what inertia may depend on.
[BL] [OL] Explain the concepts of mass and weight. Explain that these terms may be used interchangeably in everyday life but have different meanings in science.
Inertia is the tendency for an object at rest to remain at rest, or for a moving object to remain in motion in a straight line with constant speed. This key property of objects was first described by Galileo. Later, Newton incorporated the concept of inertia into his first law, which is often referred to as the law of inertia .
As we know from experience, some objects have more inertia than others. For example, changing the motion of a large truck is more difficult than changing the motion of a toy truck. In fact, the inertia of an object is proportional to the mass of the object. Mass is a measure of the amount of matter (or stuff) in an object. The quantity or amount of matter in an object is determined by the number and types of atoms the object contains. Unlike weight (which changes if the gravitational force changes), mass does not depend on gravity. The mass of an object is the same on Earth, in orbit, or on the surface of the moon. In practice, it is very difficult to count and identify all of the atoms and molecules in an object, so mass is usually not determined this way. Instead, the mass of an object is determined by comparing it with the standard kilogram. Mass is therefore expressed in kilograms.
Tips For Success
In everyday language, people often use the terms weight and mass interchangeably—but this is not correct. Weight is actually a force. (We cover this topic in more detail in the section Newton's Second Law of Motion.)
Watch Physics
Newton’s First Law of Motion
This video contrasts the way we thought about motion and force in the time before Galileo’s concept of inertia and Newton’s first law of motion with the way we understand force and motion now.
