To solve problems involving Newton’s laws of motion, follow the procedure described:
Draw a sketch of the problem.
Identify known and unknown quantities, and identify the system of interest. Draw a free-body diagram, which is a sketch showing all of the forces acting on an object. The object is represented by a dot, and the forces are represented by vectors extending in different directions from the dot. If vectors act in directions that are not horizontal or vertical, resolve the vectors into horizontal and vertical components and draw them on the free-body diagram.
Write Newton’s second law in the horizontal and vertical directions and add the forces acting on the object. If the object does not accelerate in a particular direction (for example, the
-direction) then
. If the object does accelerate in that direction,
.
Check your answer. Is the answer reasonable? Are the units correct?
Problem exercises
A
rocket is accelerating straight up. Its engines produce
of thrust, and air resistance is
. What is the rocket’s acceleration? Explicitly show how you follow the steps in the Problem-Solving Strategy for Newton’s laws of motion.
The wheels of a midsize car exert a force of 2100 N backward on the road to accelerate the car in the forward direction. If the force of friction including air resistance is 250 N and the acceleration of the car is
, what is the mass of the car plus its occupants? Explicitly show how you follow the steps in the Problem-Solving Strategy for Newton’s laws of motion. For this situation, draw a free-body diagram and write the net force equation.
Calculate the force a 70.0-kg high jumper must exert on the ground to produce an upward acceleration 4.00 times the acceleration due to gravity. Explicitly show how you follow the steps in the Problem-Solving Strategy for Newton’s laws of motion.
Use Newton’s laws of motion.
Given :
,
Find:
.
so that
.
. The force exerted by the high-jumper is actually down on the ground, but
is up from the ground and makes him jump.
This result is reasonable, since it is quite possible for a person to exert a force of the magnitude of
.
When landing after a spectacular somersault, a 40.0-kg gymnast decelerates by pushing straight down on the mat. Calculate the force she must exert if her deceleration is 7.00 times the acceleration due to gravity. Explicitly show how you follow the steps in the Problem-Solving Strategy for Newton’s laws of motion.