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Second Law Bodies in motion have the property called momentum. A body that has great momentum has a strong tendency to remain in motion and is therefore hard to stop. For example, a train moving at even low velocity is difficult to stop because of its large mass. Newton’s second law applies to this property. It states: When a force acts upon a body, the momentum of that body is changed. The rate of change of momentum is proportional to the applied force. Based on Newton’s second law, the formula for calculating thrust is derived, which states that force equals mass times acceleration (F = MA). Earlier in this chapter, it was determined that mass equals weight divided by gravity, and acceleration equals velocity final minus velocity initial divided by time. Putting all these concepts together, the formula for thrust is: Force =Weight (Velocity final - Velocity initial)/ Gravity (Time) Force = W (Vf - Vi)/Gt Example: A turbojet engine is moving 150 lb of air per second through the engine. The air enters going 100 fps and leaves going 1,200 fps. How much thrust, in pounds, is the engine creating? F = W (Vf - Vi)/Gt Third Law Newton’s third law of motion is often called the law of action and reaction. It states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This means that if a force is applied to an object, the object will supply a resistive force exactly equal to and in the opposite direction of the force applied. It is easy to see how this might apply to objects at rest. For example, as a man stands on the floor, the floor exerts a force against his feet exactly equal to his weight. But this law is also applicable when a force is applied to an object in motion. Forces always occur in pairs. The term “acting force" means the force one body exerts on a second body, and reacting force means the force the second body exerts on the first. When an aircraft propeller pushes a stream of air backward with a force of 500 lb, the air pushes the blades forward with a force of 500 lb. This forward force causes the aircraft to move forward. A turbofan engine exerts a force on the air entering the inlet duct, causing it to accelerate out the fan duct and the tailpipe. The air accelerating to the rear is the action, and the force inside the engine that makes it happen is the reaction, also called thrust. Circular Motion Circular motion is the motion of an object along a curved path that has a constant radius. For example, if one end of a string is tied to an object and the other end is held in the hand, the object can be swung in a circle. The object is constantly deflected from a straight (linear) path by the pull exerted on the string, as shown in Figure 3-26. When the weight is at point A, due to inertia it wants to keep moving in a straight line and end up at point B. Because of the force being exerted on the string, it is forced to move in a circular path and end up at point C.
force that is equal to centripetal force, but acting in an opposite direction, is called centrifugal force. Centripetal force is always directly proportional to the mass of the object in circular motion. Thus, if the mass of the object in Figure 3-26 is doubled, the pull on the string must be doubled to keep the object in its circular path, provided the speed of the object remains constant. Centripetal force is inversely proportional to the radius of the circle in which an object travels. If the string in Figure 3-26 is shortened and the speed remains constant, the pull on the string must be increased since the radius is decreased, and the string must pull the object from its linear path more rapidly. Using the same reasoning, the pull on the string must be increased if the object is swung more rapidly in its orbit. Centripetal force is thus directly proportional to the square of the velocity of the object. The formula for centripetal force is: Centripetal Force = Mass (Velocity2) ÷ Radius For the formula above, mass would typically be converted to weight divided by gravity, velocity would be in feet per second, and the radius would be in feet. Example: What would the centripetal force be if a 10 pound weight was moving in a 3-ft radius circular path at a velocity of 500 fps? Centripetal Force = Mass (Velocity2) ÷ Radius> In the condition identified in the example, the object acts like it weighs 2,588 times more than it actually does. It can also be said that the object is experiencing 2,588 Gs (force of gravity). The fan blades in a large turbofan engine, when the engine is operating at maximum rpm, are experiencing many thousands of Gs for the same reason. |
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