| Derivation/Formula | Reasoning |
|---|---|
| \[F_{\text{foot} \rightarrow \text{ball}} = -F_{\text{ball} \rightarrow \text{foot}}\] | Newtons Third Law states that the force the foot exerts on the ball is equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to the force the ball exerts on the foot, so the forces are indeed equal. |
| \[a = \dfrac{F}{m}\] | Using Newtons Second Law, the same force \(F\) acting on objects of different mass \(m\) produces different accelerations. Because the foots effective mass (foot + leg + body support) is far larger than the balls mass, its acceleration \(a\) is much smaller than that of the ball. |
| Option (a) is incorrect: the forces are equal, not different. | |
| Option (b) is correct: the foot has a much greater mass, so \(a = F/m\) gives it a smaller acceleration. | |
| Option (c) is incorrect: strength does not change the force pair dictated by Newtons Third Law; it only affects how large that equal force can be. | |
| Option (d) is incorrect: both objects have inertia (mass), but it is the difference in their masses, not a special property of the ball, that determines their accelerations. |
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A box rests on the (frictionless) bed of a truck. The truck driver starts the truck and accelerates forward. The box immediately starts to slide toward the rear of the truck bed.
A student is watching their hockey puck slide up and down an incline. They give the puck a quick push along a frictionless table, and it slides up a \( 30^\circ \) rough incline (\( \mu_k = 0.4 \)) of distance \( d \), with an initial speed of \( 5 \) \( \text{m/s} \), and then it slides back down.

Two blocks, A and B, are connected by a light string that passes over a frictionless pulley. Block A, of mass \( 10 \) \( \text{kg} \), rests on a rough plane that makes an angle of \( 45^{\circ} \) with the horizontal, while block B, of mass \( 17 \) \( \text{kg} \), hangs vertically. Starting from rest, what is the minimum coefficient of static friction between block A and the plane required to keep the system in static equilibrium?
Why does a child in a wagon seem to fall backward when you give the wagon a sharp pull forward?
When the brakes of an automobile are applied, the road exerts the greatest retarding force
A person sitting in an enclosed train car, moving at constant velocity, throws a ball straight up into the air in her reference frame.
A \( 15 \) \( \text{N} \) force is pushing a \( 40 \) \( \text{N} \) block down a incline. The angle of the inline is \( \alpha = 40^{\circ} \). The coefficient of static friction between the block and the incline is \( \mu_s = 0.75 \) and the coefficient of kinetic friction is \( \mu_k = 0.65 \).

A small block slides without friction along a track toward a circular loop. The block has more than enough speed to remain firmly in contact with the track as it goes around the loop. The magnitude of the block’s acceleration at the top of the loop is
A rocket-powered hockey puck has a thrust of \(4.40 \, \text{N}\) and a total mass of \(1.00 \, \text{kg}\). It is released from rest on a frictionless table, \(2.10 \, \text{m}\) from the edge of a \(2.10 \, \text{m}\) drop. The front of the rocket is pointed directly toward the edge. Assuming that the thrust of the rocket is present for the entire time of travel, how far does the puck land from the base of the table?
A 0.035 kg bullet moving horizontally at 350 m/s embeds itself into an initially stationary 0.55 kg block. Air resistance is negligible.
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| Kinematics | Forces |
|---|---|
| \(\Delta x = v_i t + \frac{1}{2} at^2\) | \(F = ma\) |
| \(v = v_i + at\) | \(F_g = \frac{G m_1 m_2}{r^2}\) |
| \(v^2 = v_i^2 + 2a \Delta x\) | \(f = \mu N\) |
| \(\Delta x = \frac{v_i + v}{2} t\) | \(F_s =-kx\) |
| \(v^2 = v_f^2 \,-\, 2a \Delta x\) |
| Circular Motion | Energy |
|---|---|
| \(F_c = \frac{mv^2}{r}\) | \(KE = \frac{1}{2} mv^2\) |
| \(a_c = \frac{v^2}{r}\) | \(PE = mgh\) |
| \(T = 2\pi \sqrt{\frac{r}{g}}\) | \(KE_i + PE_i = KE_f + PE_f\) |
| \(W = Fd \cos\theta\) |
| Momentum | Torque and Rotations |
|---|---|
| \(p = mv\) | \(\tau = r \cdot F \cdot \sin(\theta)\) |
| \(J = \Delta p\) | \(I = \sum mr^2\) |
| \(p_i = p_f\) | \(L = I \cdot \omega\) |
| Simple Harmonic Motion | Fluids |
|---|---|
| \(F = -kx\) | \(P = \frac{F}{A}\) |
| \(T = 2\pi \sqrt{\frac{l}{g}}\) | \(P_{\text{total}} = P_{\text{atm}} + \rho gh\) |
| \(T = 2\pi \sqrt{\frac{m}{k}}\) | \(Q = Av\) |
| \(x(t) = A \cos(\omega t + \phi)\) | \(F_b = \rho V g\) |
| \(a = -\omega^2 x\) | \(A_1v_1 = A_2v_2\) |
| Constant | Description |
|---|---|
| [katex]g[/katex] | Acceleration due to gravity, typically [katex]9.8 , \text{m/s}^2[/katex] on Earth’s surface |
| [katex]G[/katex] | Universal Gravitational Constant, [katex]6.674 \times 10^{-11} , \text{N} \cdot \text{m}^2/\text{kg}^2[/katex] |
| [katex]\mu_k[/katex] and [katex]\mu_s[/katex] | Coefficients of kinetic ([katex]\mu_k[/katex]) and static ([katex]\mu_s[/katex]) friction, dimensionless. Static friction ([katex]\mu_s[/katex]) is usually greater than kinetic friction ([katex]\mu_k[/katex]) as it resists the start of motion. |
| [katex]k[/katex] | Spring constant, in [katex]\text{N/m}[/katex] |
| [katex] M_E = 5.972 \times 10^{24} , \text{kg} [/katex] | Mass of the Earth |
| [katex] M_M = 7.348 \times 10^{22} , \text{kg} [/katex] | Mass of the Moon |
| [katex] M_M = 1.989 \times 10^{30} , \text{kg} [/katex] | Mass of the Sun |
| Variable | SI Unit |
|---|---|
| [katex]s[/katex] (Displacement) | [katex]\text{meters (m)}[/katex] |
| [katex]v[/katex] (Velocity) | [katex]\text{meters per second (m/s)}[/katex] |
| [katex]a[/katex] (Acceleration) | [katex]\text{meters per second squared (m/s}^2\text{)}[/katex] |
| [katex]t[/katex] (Time) | [katex]\text{seconds (s)}[/katex] |
| [katex]m[/katex] (Mass) | [katex]\text{kilograms (kg)}[/katex] |
| Variable | Derived SI Unit |
|---|---|
| [katex]F[/katex] (Force) | [katex]\text{newtons (N)}[/katex] |
| [katex]E[/katex], [katex]PE[/katex], [katex]KE[/katex] (Energy, Potential Energy, Kinetic Energy) | [katex]\text{joules (J)}[/katex] |
| [katex]P[/katex] (Power) | [katex]\text{watts (W)}[/katex] |
| [katex]p[/katex] (Momentum) | [katex]\text{kilogram meters per second (kgm/s)}[/katex] |
| [katex]\omega[/katex] (Angular Velocity) | [katex]\text{radians per second (rad/s)}[/katex] |
| [katex]\tau[/katex] (Torque) | [katex]\text{newton meters (Nm)}[/katex] |
| [katex]I[/katex] (Moment of Inertia) | [katex]\text{kilogram meter squared (kgm}^2\text{)}[/katex] |
| [katex]f[/katex] (Frequency) | [katex]\text{hertz (Hz)}[/katex] |
Metric Prefixes
Example of using unit analysis: Convert 5 kilometers to millimeters.
Start with the given measurement: [katex]\text{5 km}[/katex]
Use the conversion factors for kilometers to meters and meters to millimeters: [katex]\text{5 km} \times \frac{10^3 \, \text{m}}{1 \, \text{km}} \times \frac{10^3 \, \text{mm}}{1 \, \text{m}}[/katex]
Perform the multiplication: [katex]\text{5 km} \times \frac{10^3 \, \text{m}}{1 \, \text{km}} \times \frac{10^3 \, \text{mm}}{1 \, \text{m}} = 5 \times 10^3 \times 10^3 \, \text{mm}[/katex]
Simplify to get the final answer: [katex]\boxed{5 \times 10^6 \, \text{mm}}[/katex]
Prefix | Symbol | Power of Ten | Equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
Pico- | p | [katex]10^{-12}[/katex] | 0.000000000001 |
Nano- | n | [katex]10^{-9}[/katex] | 0.000000001 |
Micro- | µ | [katex]10^{-6}[/katex] | 0.000001 |
Milli- | m | [katex]10^{-3}[/katex] | 0.001 |
Centi- | c | [katex]10^{-2}[/katex] | 0.01 |
Deci- | d | [katex]10^{-1}[/katex] | 0.1 |
(Base unit) | – | [katex]10^{0}[/katex] | 1 |
Deca- or Deka- | da | [katex]10^{1}[/katex] | 10 |
Hecto- | h | [katex]10^{2}[/katex] | 100 |
Kilo- | k | [katex]10^{3}[/katex] | 1,000 |
Mega- | M | [katex]10^{6}[/katex] | 1,000,000 |
Giga- | G | [katex]10^{9}[/katex] | 1,000,000,000 |
Tera- | T | [katex]10^{12}[/katex] | 1,000,000,000,000 |
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