Force and motion¶

Force¶

Describes interactions between two objects or an object and environment.

Newtons Laws gives us an toolkit how to handle these interactions.

Types of forces¶

  • contact (Between two objects)

    • normal force (\(\vec{n}\)) object rests on a surface the normal force is perpendicular to the surface (surface pushes the object upwards)

    • friction (\(\vec{f}\)) acts parallel to the surface (if we slide something there is friction, it is always opposite to the direction it moves)

  • tension (\(\vec{t}\)) force applied to an object pulled by a rope

  • weight (\(\vec{v}\)) gravitational attraction

Resultant of force (super position of forces)¶

If two forces act on the same object at the same time, the effect is the same as if a single force would act.

\[ \vec{R} = \vec{F}_1 + \vec{F}_2 \]

We can express any force by its components:

\[\begin{split} \vec{R} = \vec{F}_1 + \vec{F}_2 + \cdots = \sum \vec{F} \\ R_x = \sum \vec{F}_x \\ R_y = \sum \vec{F}_y \end{split}\]