Forces & Newton's Laws — A-Level Mathematics Revision
Revise Forces & Newton's Laws for A-Level Mathematics. Step-by-step explanation, worked examples, common mistakes and exam-style practice aligned to AQA, Edexcel and OCR.
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Go to MomentsWhat is Forces & Newton's Laws?
Forces and Newton's Laws at A-Level involve understanding the causes of motion. You will learn to apply Newton's three laws of motion to solve problems involving forces, mass, and acceleration, including situations with friction and connected particles.
Board notes: All A-Level Maths boards (AQA, Edexcel, OCR) cover Forces and Newton's Laws in depth. The complexity of the problems, such as those involving inclined planes and connected particles, is consistent across all boards.
Step-by-step explanationWorked example
A block of mass 5 kg is pulled along a horizontal surface by a force of 20 N. The frictional force is 4 N. What is the acceleration of the block? The net force on the block is F = 20 - 4 = 16 N. Using Newton's second law, F = ma, we have 16 = 5a. So, the acceleration is a = 16/5 = 3.2 m/s².
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Common mistakes
- 1Forgetting to include all the forces acting on an object in a free-body diagram. It is essential to identify all forces, such as weight, reaction force, tension, and friction.
- 2Incorrectly resolving forces into components. When an object is on an inclined plane, for example, it is crucial to resolve the weight into components parallel and perpendicular to the plane.
- 3Confusing Newton's first and second laws. The first law deals with objects in equilibrium (no net force), while the second law deals with objects that are accelerating (net force is not zero).
Forces & Newton's Laws exam questions
Exam-style questions for Forces & Newton's Laws with mark-scheme style solutions and timing practice. Aligned to AQA, Edexcel and OCR specifications.
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Step-by-step method
Step-by-step explanation
4 steps · Worked method for Forces & Newton's Laws
Core concept
Forces and Newton's Laws at A-Level involve understanding the causes of motion. You will learn to apply Newton's three laws of motion to solve problems involving forces, mass, and acceleration, includ…
Frequently asked questions
What is Newton's third law?
Newton's third law states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This means that if object A exerts a force on object B, then object B exerts an equal and opposite force on object A.
How do you solve problems with connected particles?
When two particles are connected by a string, you can consider the system as a whole to find the acceleration. Then, you can consider each particle separately to find the tension in the string.