Week 3

Introduction to Dynamics

Concept Map of the Week

Note: image by Chudaeva, E. (2022).

Concept Trailer

Newton’s Laws

Watch this video.

Then watch the video again and answer the following questions:

1. Which laws of Newton’s mentioned in this video?
2. What are Newton’s laws of motion are about?
3. Explain the situation in which each law is mentioned and describe it using physics terms.
4. What have you learned about Newton’s law?
5. What questions do you have about Newton’s law?

Key Terms

Review the following key terms (Glossary chapter 4):

acceleration

the rate at which an object’s velocity changes over a period of time

dynamics

the study of how forces affect the motion of objects and systems

external force

a force acting on an object or system that originates outside of the object or system

force

a push or pull on an object with a specific magnitude and direction; can be represented by vectors; can be expressed as a multiple of a standard force

free-body diagram

a sketch showing all of the external forces acting on an object or system; the system is represented by a dot, and the forces are represented by vectors extending outward from the dot

friction

a force past each other of objects that are touching; examples include rough surfaces and air resistance

inertia

the tendency of an object to remain at rest or remain in motion

inertial frame of reference

a coordinate system that is not accelerating; all forces acting in an inertial frame of reference are real forces, as opposed to fictitious forces that are observed due to an accelerating frame of reference

law of inertia

see Newton’s first law of motion

mass

the quantity of matter in a substance; measured in kilograms

net external force

the vector sum of all external forces acting on an object or system; causes a mass to accelerate

Newton’s first law of motion

a body at rest remains at rest, or, if in motion, remains in motion at a constant velocity unless acted on by a net external force; also known as the law of inertia

Newton’s second law of motion

Force = mass x acceleration

Newton’s third law of motion

whenever one body exerts a force on a second body, the first body experiences a force that is equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to the force that the first body exerts

normal force

the force that a surface applies to an object to support the weight of the object; acts perpendicular to the surface on which the object rests

system

defined by the boundaries of an object or collection of objects being observed; all forces originating from outside of the system are considered external forces

tension

the pulling force that acts along a medium, especially a stretched flexible connector, such as a rope or cable; when a rope supports the weight of an object, the force on the object due to the rope is called a tension force

weight

is a force acting on an object due to gravity.

More terms can be found in teh textbook Glossary.