Newtonian Mechanics: Rectilinear Motion

Vern Lindberg
May 25, 2010

Newtons Laws

Fowles Chapter 2.1 gives a wonderful historical perspective on the development of what we
now call Newtons Laws. It is worth a read.
First Law Every body continues in its state of rest, or of uniform motion in a straight
line, unless it is compelled to change that state by forces impressed upon it.
This law guides us in the choice of an inertial reference frame, the only frame in which it
is true. We can imagine carefully arranging a situation with no known net force, perhaps
an air hockey table where the normal and gravitational forces exactly balance. If we give
a puck a small push, it will move in a straight line until it hits the boundary of the
table.
Or will it? I will play part of a video showing a ball rolling on a horizontal tableit will
move in a curve, violating the First Law. The reason is that the frame of reference of
the camera is in a rotating reference frame in which Newtons First Law does not work1 .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAX3ALdienQ&feature=related.
Motion in an inertial reference frame is usually the simplest to describe. We will discuss
motion in a non-inertial reference frame later this quarter in Chapter 5. The concept of
an inertial reference frame continues to be important if the areas of special and general
relativity.
So how do we find an inertial reference frame? In a small lab on earth, the earth is usually
sufficient. If we look at long range motion of projectiles, or the motion of air on the earth,
the appropriate inertial reference frame is one that uses the center of the earth as an origin,
and the direction to the sun to define one of the coordinate axes.
1
Here is an animation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49JwbrXcPjc and another video http://
paer.rutgers.edu/pt3/experiment.php?topicid=8&exptid=166.

And so on. As we get to larger scale motion, or if we measure more precisely, we will need
to be more careful on our choice of reference frame.
Second Law The change in motion is proportional to the motive force impressed and is
made in the direction of the line in which that force is impressed.
Third Law To every action there is always imposed an equal reaction; or, the mutual
actions of two bodies upon each other are always equal and directed to contrary
parts2 .
Newtons Third Law is a careful definition of forces. Forces are interactions between objects
(bodies). If we use F~12 to mean the force of body 1 acting on body 2, we can write
Newtons Third Law as
F~12 = F~21
(1)
Next we define inertial mass. We take two objects, with one of them having a spring as part
of it. We place the objects in an environment where no other forces act, and release the
objects from rest with the spring initially compressed. We observe that after the objects
have separated, they will have final velocities v~1 and v~2 in opposite directions. We define
the ratio of masses as
 
m2  ~v1 
=
(2)
m1  ~v2 
We currently choose a reference mass define as 1 kg exactly, made of platinum-iridium alloy
and kept in a controlled atmosphere in Paris. Secondary references are kept throughout
the world. (And there are problems. The primary reference mass appears to be losing
mass relative to its brethren. See http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20744160/.)
We can write Equation 2 as
(m1 v~1 ) = (m2 v~2 )

(3)

where (m~v ) = m~v 0 since the objects start at rest. And defining linear momentum
p~ = m~v ,
p~1 = p~2
(4)
Dividing by the time of interaction, t, and taking the limit of small time interval we
get
dp~1
dp~2
=
(5)
dt
dt
2

When applied to electric and magnetic forces between two moving charges it may appear that the Third
Law is violated. To correctly treat electromagnetic forces requires an electromagnetic field. Most texts in
Electricity and Magnetism will discuss this.

Newton rigorously defined the change in motion in the Second Law as the time rate of
change of momentum, so the Second Law can be stated mathematically as
d~
p
F~ = k
dt

(6)

Here k is a constant that takes care of units. For example, if we wanted to measure force
in pounds and momentum in kg m/s, k = 0.2248. By choosing kg, m, s, N as our units,
k = 1.
The idea of having k 6= 1 may seem silly in this context, but consider Coulombs Law in
electricity, F = kq1 q2 /r2 . In SI units k = 1/40 , in electrostatic units k = 1.
We can look at the dynamics of a system of particles. An isolated system is one in which no
external forces exist. By Newtons Third Law,
P the sum of internal forces is zero, therefore
we can define a system momentum P~ =
p~i and Newtons Second Law for an isolated
system becomes
X
X
X
dP~
F~ =
F~external +
F~internal = 0 =
(7)
dt
Thus by invoking Newtons Third Law we can extend Newtons First Law to become the
Law of Conservation of Linear Momentum.
Conservation of Linear Momentum If the net external force acting on a system is
zero, then the linear momentum of the system is constant.

1.1

The view from Landau and Lifshitz

To define the position of a system of N particles in space, it is necessary to specify

N radius vectors, i.e. 3N co-ordinates. The number of independent quantities which
must be specified in order to define uniquely the position of any system is called the
number of degrees of freedom; here this number is 3N . Landau and Lifshitz3
Degrees of freedom is a powerful concept that is used in a number of fields of physics
and statistics.
Newtons Second Law is based on the fact that for a system of N particles, if at some
instant we know the positions (3N values) and velocities (another 3N values) of the
particles we can uniquely define the accelerations. This implies that the forces can
be functions of time, position and velocity only.
3
MECHANICS by L. D. Landau and E. M. Lifschitz, Vol. 1 of Course of Theoretical Physics Second
Edition (1965).

The equations that arise from Newtons Second Law are relations between acceleration, velocity, and position, as well as time, and are the equations of motion.

Using Newtons Second LawSingle Particle, Constant

Mass

We will consider cases of a single particle with a constant mass. Newtons Second Law for
a single particle (no rotational motion for point particle) can be written
X

d~
p
d~v
d2~r
F~ =
=m
= m 2 = m~a
dt
dt
dt

(8)

or using the dot notation

X

F~ = m~v = m~r

(9)

Fowles (and I) will begin with rectilinear motionthat is motion along a straight line so
that we can drop the vector arrows and use + and for directions of the component. Lets
call the axis of the motion x. The resulting Newtons Second Law differential equation
is called the Equation of Motion, since we can solve it (analytically or numerically) to
determine the motion. Experimentally we find that forces depend on x, v, t only.
X
Fx (x, x,
t) = max = mvx = m
x
(10)
Some classes of solutions are
Constant net force
Net force a function of position only
Net force a function of time only
Net force a function of velocity only
Combinations of the above
We initially look at situations where a first-order differential equation suffices.

2.1

Constant Net Force

Equation 10 tells us that if the net force is constant, then the acceleration is constant. We
can drop the subscript x since we know we are in 1D, and
dv
F
=
dt
m
4

(11)

which can easily be integrated using initial conditions that at t = 0, v = v0 , x = x0 to

get4
Z v
Z t
F
dv =
dt
(12)
v0
0 m
F
v v0 =
t
(13)
m
Symbols with subscripts (x0 , v0 , t0 ) indicate fixed values while symbols without subscripts
are variables. From the definition of velocity we can do another integral to get

Z t
Z x
F
v0 + t dt
dx =
(14)
m
0
x0
F 2
(15)
t
x x0 = v0 t +
2m
These equations are the usual ones for constant acceleration that you have seen before.

2.2

Position Dependent Forces

Consider cases where the 1D force depends only on position, F = F (x). Since the force
depends only on position, x, we can do the following trick to get rid of the explicit reference
to time.
dx
dx dx
dv
x
=
=
=v
(16)
dt
dx dt
dx
This trick is used a lot, so be sure you understand it! The equation of motion then
becomes
dv
m d(v 2 )
dT
F (x) = mv
=
=
(17)
dx
2 dx
dx
where T = 12 mv 2 is the translational kinetic energy of the particle (remember we have no
rotation here!)
We can rewrite Equation 17, with initial conditions T = T0 , v = v0 when x = x0 , as
Z x
W =
F (x) dx = T T0
(18)
x0

where the left hand integral is defined as the net work done. You should recognize this as
the Work-Energy Theorem.
4

I am using somewhat sloppy notation form a mathematical viewpoint, having v as the integration
variable and as a limit on the integral. Forgive me.

For some types of forces called conservative forces, we can write

F (x) =

dV (x)
dx

(19)

where V is the potential energy 5 .

Defining V0 = V (x0 ), Equation 18 can be written as
V (x) + V0 = T (v) T0

(20)

Define Mechanical Energy E(x) = T + V and we get the Energy Equation

E = T0 + V0 = T + V = const
To find the motion we solve Equation 21 for velocity,
r
dx
2
v=
=
[E V (x)]
dt
m
and integrate to get x,
Z

x0

dx
q
= t t0
2
m
[E V (x)]

(21)

(22)

(23)

Notice that for real answers, we must have V (x) E. This is the classical requirement
that gets violated in quantum mechanics when we consider the particle to be represented
as a wave.
In principle, the integral can be evaluated to give (t t0 ) = f (x) and this equation can be
inverted to give x = x(t). In practice we may not be able either to evaluate the integral
in closed form, or to invert the function. In those situations we must rely on numerical
techniques.
Equation 22 gives v = v(x). If we want to know v(t), we must solve for x(t) and either do
a derivative or a substitution.
Example Suppose we have a mass m attached to an ideal6 spring of constant k. If the
initial conditions are T0 = 0, x0 = A at t0 = 0, Find v(x), t(x), x(t), and v(t).
The elastic potential energy can easily be shown to be V (x) = 12 kx2 so we can write
the total mechanical energy for this situation as
1
E = T0 + V0 = 0 + kA2
2
5

(24)

Why T and V instead of K and U? Just the conventions of the field. Yes, in electricity and magnetism
V means potential, not potential energy. We just have to deal with the ambiguity.
6
An ideal spring has no mass, and no length, and a force law of F (x) = kx.

Hence from Equation 22 we get

r
r
dx
2
kp 2
=
A x2
v=
[E V (x)] =
dt
m
m
p
To make this easier to write, define = k/m and we have

v(x) = A2 x2 .

(25)

Equation 23 becomes
Z

dx

= t0
A2 x2
x x
= t
cos1 
A A

(26)
(27)

The lower limit of evaluation is cos1 (1) = 0, so we can write

x
t = cos1
A
This is easily inverted to give
x(t) = A cos(t) = A cos(t) since cosine is an even function.
A derivative of this gives
v(t) = A sin t

2.3

Velocity Dependent Forces

Forces like air drag are velocity dependent, F = F (v). Using initial conditions v = v0 , x =
x0 at t = t0 , we can start with Equation 11 and rearrange to solve for time,
F (v) = m

dv
dt

m dv
F (v)
Z v
m dv
t t0 =
v0 F (v)
dt =

(28)
(29)
(30)

We can also use Equation 16 to write Newtons Second Law as

F (v) = mv

dv
dx

(31)

and rearranging get

Z

m v dv
F (v)

x x0 =
v0

(32)

So we have ways to get t(v) and can in principle invert to get v(t). We also have x(v) and
can invert to get v(x). Combining we can get x(t).
We will look at the example of drag in detail in Section 3.

2.4

Time dependent forces

If F = F (t) we can do direct integration to get

Z

v v0 =
t0

F (t)dt
m

(33)

and the rather messy

x x0 =

Z t
Z
v0 +
t0

2.5

t0

F (t0 )dt0
m


dt

(34)

General Conclusions

Doing the integrals in closed form (analytically) can be done sometimes, but other times
we need to use numerical integration and the results are given as graphs or tables of data,
rather than functions. Fortunately there are relatively straightforward methods to do this
in Maple, Mathematica, or Easy Java Simulations. It is possible to do numerical integration
in software languages such as FORTRAN, C or C++, and even Excel, but we then need
to examine the algorithms much more closely.
If the force is more general than just F (t), F (x), F (v) we do not have general methods of
solutions, but start with Newtons Second Law and use the methods of differential equations
to solve. If the force is separable, e.g. F (v, t) = F1 (v)F2 (t) then the solution is usually
easier.

Drag force

When an object moves through a fluid, a drag force will arise. At low speeds the fluid
moves smoothly (laminar flow), but at higher speeds viscosity begins to play an increasingly

important role and eventually dominates. We will look at simple situations of drag that
can be solved analytically.
The Reynolds Number is a dimensionless parameter that delineates laminar from turbulent
flow. For a sphere of diameter D moving with speed v through a fluid of density and
dynamic viscosity7 it is defined as
Re =

vD

(35)

The usual model of the drag force for an object moving with velocity ~v is
F~drag = c1~v c2~v |~v |

(36)

or in the case of rectilinear (1D) motion,

Fdrag = c1 v c2 v|v|

(37)

The linear term is called the viscous drag, Stokes drag, or linear drag, and dominates at
low speed, Re < 0.1. There is no turbulence in this case. The coefficient c1 has units kg/s,
and for a sphere of diameter D in a fluid having viscosity ,
c1 = 3D

(38)

For spheres in air, c1 = 1.55 104 D kg/(m s).

At higher speeds, Re > 1000, the second term called the aerodynamic term, the turbulent
term or the quadratic term dominates. For a sphere of cross-sectional area A = D2 /4 in
a medium of density
1
c2 = cd A
(39)
2
where cd is the drag coefficient, about 0.4 for rough spheres. Coefficient c2 has units kg/m.
The equation can be generalized to shapes other than spheres by using the appropriate
cross-sectional area. Some drag coefficients are given in Table 1 and on Figure 1. Drag
coefficients depend strongly on the shape of the object and on the surface roughness. The
extensive field of fluid mechanics deals with such complications.
For a rough sphere in air, c2 0.22D2 . At low speed viscous drag dominates, while at
high speed aerodynamic drag dominates. For 0.1 < Re < 1000 we have a broad transition
7
The SI unit of viscosity is kg/(sm) (Pas). There is a cgs unit, 1 poise = 1 g/(scm. 1 kg/(sm) =
10 poise. The viscosity of water at 25 C is 0.00898 poise and 0.000184 poise for air at this temperature.
Kinematic viscosity, , is the ratio of dynamic viscosity to density, = /. The symbol is sometimes
used for dynamic viscosity.

Table 1: Some drag coefficients (Wikipedia) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag_

coefficient
smooth sphere
0.1
rough sphere
0.4
2004 Honda Accord 0.29
2003 Hummer H2 0.57
bullet
0.295 flat plate, face on 1.28

Figure 1: Drag coefficients for various shapes (Wikipedia)

range of velocities where both the linear and quadratic terms apply. The center of the
transition in air will occur when c1 = c2 , or
c2
1.55 105
=
vD = 1
c1
0.22

(40)

Solving for the speed, in m/s when D is in m,

v=

7.14 104
D

(41)

Thus for a BB pellet, diameter 4.5 mm, the transition speed is 15 cm/s. So for most of its
motion the BB is moving much faster and the quadratic term is the important one. For
the BB in air ( = 1.204 kg/m3 , = 1.983 105 kg/(m s)) at 15 cm/s, Re = 40 which is
in the transition region as expected.
10

CAVEAT: Drag is more complicated than Equation 37 suggests, especially in the transition
region.

3.1

Horizontal motion with linear drag

A block of mass m moves along a horizontal frictionless surface in a fluid at speeds where
linear drag dominates. Find the motion subject to initial conditions v = v0 , x0 = 0 at
t0 = 0.
The only unbalanced force acting is the linear drag, F = c1 v.
dv
c1 v = m
dt
Z
Z t
m v dv
dt =
c1 v0 v
0

(42)
(43)

and upon evaluating the integral

m
ln(v/v0 )
c1

(44)

v = v0 exp(t/ )

(45)

t=
which is easily inverted to
where a characteristic time =
Z

m
c1 .

Then using v = dx/dt we write

Z
dx =

v0 exp(t/ )dt

(46)

x = v0 (1 exp(t/ ))

(47)

Now check limiting cases. At t = 0 we have v = v0 and x = 0 as required by the initial

conditions.
As t v 0 and x v0 . The block moves a finite distance to the right and
stops.

3.2

Vertical Motion Near Earth With Linear Drag

An object of mass m is falling vertically in a fluid at speeds that provide a linear drag.
This occurs near the earth with a constant gravitational field ~g . Initially at time t0 = 0
the object has position x0 = 0 and velocity v0 .

11

Fowles and Cassiday pick up as the positive direction. For variety I will choose down as
the positive direction. The equation of motion, Newtons Second Law is then
mg c1 v = m

dv
dt

(48)

The terminal velocity vterminal , occurs when the acceleration is 0, hence vterminal = mg/c1 .
Rearrange to get
Z v
Z t
mdv
dt =
(49)
v0 mg c1 v
0
Evaluate the integral (e.g change variables, u = mg c1 v) and introduce = m/c1 =
vterminal /g as before to get
mg c1 v
mg c1 v0
1 v/g
= ln
1 v0 /g

t = ln

(50)
(51)

With a little bit of algebraN.B. you should always fill in the steps of algebra
this can be inverted to give
v = g + (v0 g )et/
(52)
Note that at t = 0 this gives v = v0 as it must, and as t , v vterminal g , the
terminal velocity.
We can rewrite Equation 52 as
v = v0 et/ + vterminal (1 et/ )

(53)

and note that the initial velocity v0 exponentially disappears while the terminal velocity
vterminal exponentially appears.
Since v = dx/dt we can integrate the velocity with respect to time to get


t/
x = vterminal t + (v0 vterminal ) 1 e

(54)

and for t = 0 this gives x = 0 as required, and as t ,

x vterminal t + (v0 vterminal ) vterminal t

3.3

Horizontal Motion With Quadratic Drag

A block moves on a horizontal frictionless surface where the net force is quadratic drag,
F = c2 v|v|. At time t0 = 0, x0 = 0, v = v0 . Find the subsequent motion.
12

We can assume that v0 > 0 so that we can write the equation of motion
c2 v 2 = m
Hence
Z

t=

Z
dt =

v0

dv
dt

mdv
m
=
c2 v 2
c2

(55)


1
1

v v0


(56)

Defining k = c2 v0 /m and inverting this we get

v=

v0
1 + kt

(57)

Note that at t = 0, v = v0 as required, and as t , v 0. Integrating again

Z x
Z t
v0 dt
v0
dx =
=
ln(1 + kt)
x=
1
+
kt
k
0
0

(58)

At t = 0, x = 0 as required, but as t , x .
Is this reasonable? If you project a block at high speeds will it continue on indefinitely? If
not, what would make it stop?

3.4

Vertical Motion Near Earth With Quadratic Drag

For the linear 1D case we write F v. The equivalent expression for the quadratic case
is F v|v|. Having absolute values in calculus expressions is tricky. The usual procedure
is to separate the cases of positive and negative velocity components. The text (and I)
will look at the case of downward motion, and choose downwards as the positive direction.
Then we can write the equation of motion
mg c2 v 2 = m

dv
dt

(59)

Suppose the initial conditions are v = v0 0, y = 0 at t = t0 . The terminal velocity, vt ,

occurs when the acceleration is 0, vt2 = mg/c2 . Then


dv
v2
=g 1 2
(60)
dt
vt
Rearranging we get the integral
Z

(t t0 ) =

dt =
t0

v0

13

dv


g 1 v 2 /vt2

(61)

Now to evaluate the integral. My CRC Handbook gives

Z
1
dx
a+x
=
ln
a>x
2
2
a x
2a a x
but this is not the result given in the text.
Going to http://www.quickmath.com/ I get (for x < a)
Z
dx
1
= tanh1 (x/a)
2
2
a x
a
This is the form used in the text. Hence, evaluating the integral and solving for v,


(t t0 )
1 v0
v = vt tanh
+ tanh

vt

(62)

When t = t0 , v = v0 and when t , v vt , so vt is the terminal velocity.

Note that this works providing v0 < vt since tanh1 v0 /vt is undefined for an argument
greater than 1. If this is the case, we need to redo the integral using another form.
Using this to determine y from integration yields a very messy equation that will not be
used.
Instead we will pursue a way to get v as a function of y using the trick
dv
dv dy
dv
1 dv 2
=
=v
=
dt
dy dt
dy
2 dy
Putting this into Equation 60 gives


v2
dv 2
= 2g 1 2
dy
vt
Z
y=

dy =
0

v0

1
dv 2
vt2 1 v 2 /vt2
ln
=

2g 1 v 2 /vt2
g
1 v02 /vt2

(63)

(64)

and this can be inverted to give



2
2
v 2 = vt2 1 e2gy/vt + v02 e2gy/vt
Calling Lc = vt2 /2g a characteristic length,


v 2 = vt2 1 ey/Lc + v02 ey/Lc

(65)

(66)

and we see the initial velocity (squared) fade out and the terminal velocity (squared) fade
in with a characteristic length.
14

3.5

Getting Quantitative

Suppose we are looking at spheres falling in air. Examples are rain drops and pollen. Given
the diameter and mass we want to determine whether to treat the sphere using linear drag,
quadratic drag, or worst of all have to consider both and the transition (we would use
numeric techniques for this.)
We will use the expressions for the drag coefficients of spheres in air, and the expressions
for terminal velocity, all using SI units.
r
mg
mg
4
2
c1 = 1.55 10 D
c2 = 0.22D
vt (linear) =
vt (quadratic) =
c1
c2
So if we know m and D (and assume we are on the earth with known g) then we can
calculate the terminal velocities that would result in the linear and quadratic cases.
For example a water drop of diameter 10m has mass 4.2 1012 kg, and we compute
linear terminal velocity of 2.65 107 m/s and a quadratic terminal velocity of 1.37
105 m/s. If the drop is released from rest, treating it with linear drag is an excellent
approximation.
If instead we have a water drop of diameter 4 mm with mass 2.7104 kg, and we compute
linear terminal velocity of 16.9 m/s and a quadratic terminal velocity of 0.11 m/s. If the
drop is released from rest, quadratic drag is a good approximation.
If we have a water drop of diameter 0.15 mm with mass 1.4 108 kg, and we compute
linear terminal velocity of 8.94 108 m/s and a quadratic terminal velocity of 7.9 104
m/s. If the drop is released from rest, we will need to model more exactly using both linear
and quadratic terms.
Alternately
we can look at the characteristic times (linear) = m/c1 and (quadratic) =
p
m/c2 g. When linear  quadratic we can use the linear drag. When linear  quadratic
we can use quadratic drag, and when the two are close we must do more complete modeling.
Consider finally a ping-pong ball in air. It has mass 2.7 grams and diameter 40 mm. When
released from rest, how should drag be calculated?
We find that the linear = 17.4 s and the quadratic = 0.035 s. Hence we use quadratic
drag.
Example 2.4.3 gives a third method of deciding.

15