Dynamics

We now concern ourselves with the causes of motion.

Forces
Define force
grade school: push or pull
good for starters
Forces are vectors, so they have both magnitude and
direction.
Examples of forces:
gravitational
magnets
charged particles
you can list some
There are actually 4 kinds of forces that occur in nature:
strong
weak
electromagnetic
gravitational.
Where on the list is push or pull?

Newtons Laws
Greeks: natural state of objects is to be at rest.
Galileo: natural state of objects is to continue doing
whatever they are doing. Remarkable inference!
Newtons First Law: an object at rest stays a test, and an
object moving in a straight line keeps on doing that unless
acted on by an outside force.
If no forces act on an object, its velocity stays constant:
G
G
F = 0 v = constant.
G
G
If v = constant then a = 0 (math).

G
What produces a change in v ?
an external force.
G
G
But if v 0 then a 0.
so forces cause acceleration
forces do not cause a constant velocity

The change in velocity of an object on application of a

force depends on its resistance to a change in its state of
motion.
we call that resistance inertia
mass is a measure of inertia
more mass harder to change state of motion.
Newtons Second Law
G
G
G
F = F = ma.
net

add up all
forces on
an object

the net force

produces a single
acceleration

Where did the Second law come from?

Evidently it is built into nature.
Humans deduced it through observation and experiment.
The law lets us explain observed motion and predict
motion that has not yet happened. That combination
makes it a BIG DEAL.
Correction!
What if an objects mass changes while a force acts on it?
For example, a rocket ship burns fuel, expelling a mass of
gases and particles.
The corrected form of Newtons second law is
G d
G
F = ( mv )
dt
G
dv G dm
=m +v
dt
dt
G
= ma if m is constant.

Newtons first
G law is really a special case of the second
law, with F = 0.

An other Correction!
Relativity has more to say about the 2nd law. You will
hear more about that next week.
With all these corrections, can we really believe
Newtons second law?
I dont recommend stepping
off the roof of the physics
G
G
building and hoping F ma.
G
G
F = ma is fine if you apply it where it is valid. The
corrections apply to extreme cases not normally
encountered.

This illustrates an important idea about the laws of nature:

we discover a law. Do experiments and theories. It
seems to work. Then new capabilities allow us to find
exceptions to the law. A new theory is required. The new
theory must explain old phenomena as well as new, and
the old theory is generally a subset of the new.

Newtons Third Law

As long as I am discussing Newtons laws, I might as well
introduce the third.
For every reaction there is an equal and opposite
reaction.
Like when one of my twin boys slugs his brother, the
other slugs back?

A glass of water sits on the table in front of the room.

How many action-reaction pairs can you find?
Hint: draw a picture. Indicate the forces with arrows.
Label FAB=Fon object A, by other object B.
Do examples if time permits.

Digression: Newton (born 1643).

Trinity College Cambridbe 1661 to study law
studied philosophy, Galileo, Kepler
Plato is my friend, Aristotle is my friend, but my best
friend is truth.
1663, picked up book on astrology at a flea market.
Couldnt understand the math in it. Got a book on trig.
Couldnt understand it. Read Euclids Elements
(geometry). Got it! Led to life in mathematics.
1665-1667: developed differential calculus, integral
calculus, laws of motion (not published in final form until
1687). Good grief! If you are a college student, you
either love him or hate him.
Proponent of preposterous (and correct) idea that forces
can act at a distance without material intervention.