2/27/2017 Newton'sSecondLawRevisited

CircularMotionandSatelliteMotionLesson2ApplicationsofCircularMotion

Newton'sSecondLawRevisited
Newton'sSecondLawRevisited
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Newton'ssecondlawstatesthattheaccelerationofanobjectisdirectlyproportionaltothenetforce
actingupontheobjectandinverselyproportionaltothemassoftheobject.Thelawisoftenexpressed
intheformofthefollowingtwoequations.

Newton'sSecondLawandaForceAnalysis
InUnit2ofThePhysicsClassroom,Newton'ssecondlawwasusedtoanalyzeavarietyofphysical
situations.Theideawasthatifanygivenphysicalsituationisanalyzedintermsoftheindividualforces
thatareactinguponanobject,thenthoseindividualforcesmustaddupasvectorstothenetforce.
Furthermore,thenetforcemustbeequaltothemasstimestheacceleration.Subsequently,the
accelerationofanobjectcanbefoundifthemassoftheobjectandthemagnitudesanddirectionsof
eachindividualforceareknown.Andthemagnitudeofanyindividualforcecanbedeterminedifthe
massoftheobject,theaccelerationoftheobject,andthemagnitudeoftheotherindividualforcesare
known.Theprocessofanalyzingsuchphysicalsituationsinordertodetermineunknowninformationis
dependentupontheabilitytorepresentthephysicalsituationbymeansofafreebodydiagram.Afree
bodydiagramisavectordiagramthatdepictstherelativemagnitudeanddirectionofalltheindividual
forcesthatareactingupontheobject.

ReviewofUnit2
SuchforceanalyseswerepresentedinUnit2andelaboratelydiscussed.Perhapsyouwould
wishtoreviewtheselessonsbeforeproceedingthroughtheremainderofUnit6.Ifso,use
thefollowinglinkstoUnit2sublessons.
a.DrawingFreeBodyDiagrams
b.DeterminingtheNetForcefromKnowledgeofIndividualForceValues
c.DeterminingAccelerationfromKnowledgeofIndividualForceValues
d.DeterminingIndividualForceValuesfromKnowledgeoftheAcceleration
InthisLesson,wewilluseUnit2principles(freebodydiagrams,Newton'ssecondlawequation,etc.)
andcircularmotionconceptsinordertoanalyzeavarietyofphysicalsituationsinvolvingthemotionof
objectsincirclesoralongcurvedpaths.ThemathematicalequationsdiscussedinLesson1andthe
conceptofacentripetalforcerequirementwillbeappliedinordertoanalyzerollercoastersandother
amusementparkridesandvariousathleticmovements.

CIrcularMotioninaHorizontalPlane
ToillustratehowcircularmotionprinciplescanbecombinedwithNewton'ssecondlawtoanalyzea
physicalsituation,consideracarmovinginahorizontalcircleonalevelsurface.Thediagrambelow
depictsthecarontheleftsideofthecircle.

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Applyingtheconceptofacentripetalforcerequirement,weknowthatthenetforceactinguponthe
objectisdirectedinwards.Sincethecarispositionedontheleftsideofthecircle,thenetforceis
directedrightward.Ananalysisofthesituationwouldrevealthatthereare
threeforcesactingupontheobjecttheforceofgravity(actingdownwards),
thenormalforceofthepavement(actingupwards),andtheforceoffriction
(actinginwardsorrightwards).Itisthefrictionforcethatsuppliesthe
centripetalforcerequirementforthecartomoveinahorizontalcircle.Without
friction,thecarwouldturnitswheelsbutwouldnotmoveinacircle(asisthe
caseonanicysurface).Thisanalysisleadstothefreebodydiagramshownat
theright.Observethateachforceisrepresentedbyavectorarrowthatpoints
inthespecificdirectionthattheforceactsalsonoticethateachforceis
labeledaccordingtotype(Ffrict,Fnorm,andFgrav).Suchananalysisisthefirststepofanyproblem
involvingNewton'ssecondlawandacircularmotion.
Nowconsiderthefollowingtwoproblemspertainingtothisphysicalscenarioofthecarmakingaturnon
ahorizontalsurface.

SampleProblem#1
Themaximumspeedwithwhicha945kgcarmakesa180degreeturnis10.0m/s.Theradiusofthe
circlethroughwhichthecaristurningis25.0m.Determinetheforceoffrictionandthecoefficientof
frictionactinguponthecar.

SampleProblem#2
Thecoefficientoffrictionactingupona945kgcaris0.850.Thecarismakinga180degreeturn
aroundacurvewitharadiusof35.0m.Determinethemaximumspeedwithwhichthecarcanmake
theturn.

Sampleproblem#1provideskinematicinformation(vandR)andrequeststhevalueofanindividual
force.Assuchthesolutionoftheproblemwilldemandthattheaccelerationandthenetforcefirstbe
determinedthentheindividualforcevaluecanbefoundbyuseofthefreebodydiagram.Sample
problem#2providesinformationabouttheindividualforcevalues(oratleastinformationthatallows
forthedeterminationoftheindividualforcevalues)andrequeststhevalueofthemaximumspeedof
thecar.Assuch,itssolutionwilldemandthatindividualforcevaluesbeusedtodeterminethenetforce
andaccelerationthentheaccelerationcanbeusedtodeterminethemaximumspeedofthecar.The
twoproblemswillbesolvedusingthesamegeneralprinciples.Yetbecausethegivenandrequested
informationisdifferentineach,thesolutionmethodwillbeslightlydifferent.
SolutiontoSampleProblem#1
Theknowninformationandrequestedinformationinsampleproblem#1is:
KnownInformation: RequestedInformation:

m=945kg Ffrict=???
v=10.0m/s =????
R=25.0m (coefficientoffriction)

Themassoftheobjectcanbeusedtodeterminetheforceofgravityactinginthedownwarddirection.
Usetheequation
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F =m*g
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grav
wheregis9.8m/s/s.Knowingthatthereisnoverticalaccelerationofthecar,itcanbeconcludedthat
theverticalforcesbalanceeachother.Thus,Fgrav=Fnorm=9261N.Thisallowsustodeterminetwo
ofthethreeforcesidentifiedinthefreebodydiagram.Onlythefrictionforceremainsunknown.

Sincetheforceoffrictionistheonlyhorizontalforce,itmustbeequaltothenetforceactinguponthe
object.Soifthenetforcecanbedetermined,thenthefrictionforceisknown.Todeterminethenet
force,themassandthekinematicinformation(speedandradius)mustbesubstitutedintothefollowing
equation:

Substitutingthegivenvaluesyieldsanetforceof3780Newton.Thus,theforceoffrictionis3780N.
Finallythecoefficientoffriction()canbedeterminedusingtheequationthatrelatesthecoefficientof
frictiontotheforceoffrictionandthenormalforce.

Substituting3780NforFfrictand9261NforFnormyieldsacoefficientoffrictionof0.408.


SolutiontoSampleProblem#2
Onceagain,theproblembeginsbyidentifyingtheknownandrequestedinformation.Theknown
informationandrequestedinformationinthesampleproblem#2is:
KnownInformation:
RequestedInformation:
m=945kg
=0.85 v=???
(coefficientof (theminimumspeedwouldbethespeedachievedwith
friction) thegivenfrictioncoefficient)
R=35.0m

Themassofthecarcanbeusedtodeterminetheforceofgravityactinginthedownwarddirection.Use
theequation

Fgrav=m*g
wheregis9.8m/s/s.Knowingthatthereisnoverticalaccelerationofthecar,itcanbeconcludedthat
theverticalforcesbalanceeachother.Thus,Fgrav=Fnorm=9261N.Sincethecoefficientoffriction
()isgiven,theforceoffrictioncanbedeterminedusingthefollowingequation:

Thisallowsustodetermineallthreeforcesidentifiedinthefreebodydiagram.

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Thenetforceactinguponanyobjectisthevectorsumofallindividualforcesactinguponthatobject.
Soifallindividualforcevaluesareknown(asisthecasehere),thenetforcecanbecalculated.The
verticalforcesaddto0N.Sincetheforceoffrictionistheonlyhorizontalforce,itmustbeequaltothe
netforceactingupontheobject.Thus,Fnet =7872N.
Oncethenetforceisdetermined,theaccelerationcanbequicklycalculatedusingthefollowing
equation.
Fnet=m*a
Substitutingthegivenvaluesyieldsanaccelerationof8.33m/s/s.Finally,thespeedatwhichthecar
couldtravelaroundtheturncanbecalculatedusingtheequationforcentripetalacceleration:

SubstitutingtheknownvaluesforaandRintothisequationandsolvingalgebraicallyyieldsamaximum
speedof17.1m/s.

DevelopingtheProperProblemSolvingApproach
Eachofthetwosampleproblemsabovewassolvedusingthesamebasicproblemsolvingapproach.
Theapproachcanbesummarizedasfollows.
SuggestedMethodofSolvingCircularMotionProblems
1.Fromtheverbaldescriptionofthephysicalsituation,constructafreebodydiagram.
Representeachforcebyavectorarrowandlabeltheforcesaccordingtotype.
2.Identifythegivenandtheunknowninformation(expressintermsofvariablessuch
asm=,a=,v=,etc.).
3.Ifanyoftheindividualforcesaredirectedatanglestothehorizontalandvertical,then
usevectorprinciplestoresolvesuchforcesintohorizontalandverticalcomponents.
4.Determinethemagnitudeofanyknownforcesandlabelonthefreebodydiagram.
(Forexample,ifthemassisgiven,thentheFgravcanbedetermined.Andasanother
example,ifthereisnoverticalacceleration,thenitisknownthattheverticalforcesor
forcecomponentsbalance,allowingforthepossibledeterminationofoneormoreofthe
individualforcesintheverticaldirection.)
5.Usecircularmotionequationstodetermineanyunknowninformation.
(Forexample,ifthespeedandtheradiusareknown,thentheaccelerationcanbe
determined.Andasanotherexample,iftheperiodandradiusareknown,thenthe
accelerationcanbedetermined.)
6.Usetheremaininginformationtosolvefortherequestedinformation.
a.Iftheproblemrequeststhevalueofanindividualforce,thenusethekinematic
information(R,Tandv)todeterminetheaccelerationandtheFnetthenusethefree
bodydiagramtosolvefortheindividualforcevalue.
b.Iftheproblemrequeststhevalueofthespeedorradius,thenusethevaluesofthe
individualforcestodeterminethenetforceandaccelerationthenusetheacceleration
todeterminethevalueofthespeedorradius.
Themethodprescribedabovewillserveyouwellasyouapproachcircularmotionproblems.However,
onecautionisinorder.Everyphysicsproblemdiffersfromthepreviousproblem.Assuch,thereis
no magic formulaforsolvingeveryone.Usinganappropriateapproachtosolvingsuchproblems(which
involvesconstructingaFBD,identifyingknowninformation,identifyingtherequestedinformation,and
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usingavailableequations)willnevereliminatetheneedtothink,analyzeandproblemsolve.Forthis
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reason,makeanefforttodevelopanappropriateapproachtoeveryproblemyetalwaysengageyour
criticalanalysisskillsintheprocessofthesolution.Ifphysicsproblemswereamerematteroffollowing
afoolproof,5stepformulaorusingsomememorizedalgorithm,thenwewouldn'tcallthem"problems."

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