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Physics Unit 1 Notes
Physics Unit 1 Notes
1 Motion
Describing motion
ms-1
A distance-time graph can make it easier to represent motion
A velocity (speed in a given direction) time graph can show the instantaneous speed
DISTANCE-TIME:
VELOCITY-TIME:
Gradient = change in Y
Change in X
ms-1
Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity with time, so it is also a vector. Acceleration
happens when there is:
A change in SPEED, or
A change in DIRECTION, or
A change in speed AND direction
If an objects speed is constant but its velocity is changing, we say it is also accelerating
ms-2
With a train travelling at a constant speed in a circle, it is considered to be accelerating but
its average velocity as it goes round the track back to its starting point is zero, as its
DISPLACEMENT is ZERO
SI units (Systme Internationale): Metre (m)
Kilogram (kg)
Seconds (s)
Ampere (A)]
Kelvin (K)
Candela (cd)
Mole (mol)
Graphs of motion
When something decelerates, it is negative acceleration, so -1 ms-2
A straight line on a velocity time graph is UNIFORM acceleration
ACCELERATION the rate of change of velocity with time
Non-linear graphs (curved graphs) make strips/rectangles under the graph, calculate the
area and add it up this is less accurate than a linear graph
Equations of motion
SUVAT
s = displacement (m)
u = initial velocity (ms-1)
v = final velocity (ms-1)
a = acceleration (ms-2)
t = time (s)
Using vectors
Vectors the length of the arrow represents MAGNITUDE and the direction of the arrow
represents the DIRECTION of the vector
You can either MEASURE the displacement
(labelled the resultant) or use trigonometry or
Pythagorass theorem to calculate it
The sum of two or more vectors quantities is
called their RESULTANT
Eg. If someone is running along a moving walkway with a velocity of 2 ms -1 relative to the
walkway, but if the walkway has a velocity of -2 ms-1, the person will remain in the same
positive relative to the ground.
1.2 Forces
Causes of motion
THE BALL AND THE PENDULUM:
Galileo did the pendulum experiment and found that it rose nearly the same height each
time.
He reasoned that if a ball rolls down a slope onto an infinitely long flat surface, it will
continue moving until something else causes it to stop.
GALILEO realised the importance of distinguishing between motions horizontally and
vertically in a gravitational field
diagram. A diagram which shows all the forces acting on a body in a certain situation is
called a FREE BODY DIAGRAM. This doesnt show forces acting on objects other than
the one being considered.
CENTRE OF GRAVITY the weight of an object acting through a single point (the centre)
The centre is the point at which gravity appears to act, similar to an objects centre of mass
For uniform objects, the centre of the mass will be at the intersection of all lines of
symmetry, especially in the middle of the object
Drag forces
Drag forces are made up of two types of forces FRICTION and AIR RESISTANCE a
result of matter in contact with matter
FRICTION always occurs when two surfaces rub on each other. Although appearing
smooth, they are slightly rough, causing friction.
Friction OPPOSES any motion, but cannot actually CAUSE motion. When an object stops,
so does friction
Friction can be measured using a force meter and moving something across a surface at a
constant velocity
For an object which is not accelerating,
meaning that the frictional
force resisting motion must be exactly
balanced by the pulling force of the hand
AIR RESISTANCE (or aerodynamic drag)
caused when a body moves through air.
Caused by an object having to push air
out of the way in order to move through
it. Air resistance depends on speed, the
faster the object moves, the greater the
aerodynamic drag (think of a car)
As aerodynamic drag increases, objects
with a constant driving force tend to
reach a max. velocity when they
accelerate
Free fall and terminal velocity if
someone jumps from a height, they will
accelerate due to their own weight (N)
and air resistance will affect them
Acceleration of free fall or acceleration
due to gravity (9.81 ms-2)
In an experiment, the acceleration can be measured for various values of the resultant
force acting on the trolley while its mass is kept constant. On a graph of acceleration
against resultant force, a straight line will show that ACCELERATION IS
PROPORTIONAL TO THE RESULTANT FORCE.
There is a DIRECT RELATIONSHIP between F and a (a is proportional to F) i.e. F a
a and m are INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL (a 1/m)
Fa
a 1/m
a F/m
Force = kg ms-2 or N
or
F ma
of F=kma
k=1
so
F=ma
An objects INERTIA depends on its MASS. Mass has only size, with no direction (scalar)
WEIGHT the force acting on an object due to gravitation
All masses have a gravitational field around them. A mass is said to have a Gravitational
field around it which causes the mass to attract another mass which is close to it. The size
of the field depends on the size of the mass and whereabouts in the field you are.
If another mass is put in this field, a force will pull it towards the first mass.
Weight caused by gravitation. The size of the force varies with the strength of the
gravitational field.
g= F/m
W = mg
g is Nkg-1
Statics
When two forces are equal, they cancel each other out and the object theyre acting on is
stationary or in EQUILIBRIUM
VELOCITY diagrams are used to add forces, and to get them into or out of a triangle, then
use Pythagoras theorem.
Principles for adding forces:
Draw the forces acting at the same point
Construct the parallelogram
Draw in the diagonal from the point at which the forces act to the opposite corner
of the parallelogram
Measure or calculate the size and direction of the resultant
RESOLVING FORCES
Projectiles
ACCELERATION IN THE EARTHS GRAVITATIONAL FIELD
Projectile a force acts on an object which starts it moving then it is subject to a constant
force while it moves. In most cases this means the object is in free fall in the earth
gravitational field
An object dropped accelerates vertically downward due to its weight.
Density
When an object is SUBMERGED in fluid, it feels an upward force caused by the fluid
pressure UPTHRUST
The size of the force is equal to the weight of the fluid that has been displaced by the
object. ARCHIMEDES PRINCIPLE
The mass of the fluid displaced is equal to the volume of the object x the density of the
fluid
UPTHRUST is then:
If we compare the weight of the brick with the upthrust when it is submerged, the
resultant force will be downwards.
Weight = 3.38 x 9.81 = 33.2N downwards
Upthrust = 15.8N upwards
Resultant = 33.2 15.8 = 17.6 N downwards
The brick will accelerate downwards until it is at rest and balanced at the bottom
Floating
An object floats when it DISPLACES its own weight in fluid. When an object is at the
surface of a fluid, there is NO UPTHRUST as no fluid has been displaced. As the object
SINKS DEEPER in the fluid, it displaces a greater volume of fluid, thus INCREASING
THE UPTHRUST acting upon it. When the upthrust and weight are BALANCED equally,
the object will FLOAT. So if it wants to float, it has to sink and displace enough fluid to
match its weight.
Hydrometer
Used to determine the density of a fluid. The device has a constant weight, so it will sink
lower in fluids of lesser density because a greater volume of less dense fluid must be
displaced to balance
the counterweight of
the hydrometer. Scale
markings indicate the
density.
If used with alcoholic
drinks, it shows how
much alcohol there is in
it. The lower the
density, the greater the
alcohol content, as
alcohol has a lower
density than the water
it is mixed with.
Fluid movement
LAMINAR (streamline) occurs a lower speeds, and changes to
TURBULENT as the fluid velocity increases past a certain value
This changeover velocity will vary depending on the fluid in question and the shape of the
area through which it is flowing
If water is flowing through a pipe slowly, it is
LAMINAR flow. Look at the laminar diagram, the
arrows closest to the edge of the pipe are shorter
than the rest due to friction, meaning this layer
moves slower than the other layers. The next
layer will experience friction from the outermost
one, and so on until we get to the middle layer.
Each layer closest to the centre will experience
less friction, thus allowing it to move faster. The
inner-most layer moves the fastest, as
In turbulent flow, the fluid velocity in any given place CHANGES over time. The
flow becomes chaotic and eddies form, causing unpredictable higher and lower
pressure areas. Turbulent flow increases the drag on a vehicle and so increases
fuel consumption
Streamline flow produces much less air resistance than turbulent. Thus by altering
the aerodynamics of their suits, skiers can raise the velocity at which the air
movement past their body will change from laminar flow to turbulent flow. This is
the principle behind all streamline designs, such as sports cars and boats
Drag act
VISCOUS DRAG (the friction against you) is greater in water than in air. The frictional
force is due to the fluids viscosity.
Low viscosity = low frictional force (e.g. air)
High viscosity = high frictional force (e.g. treacle)
Newton developed a formula for the friction in liquids which includes several factors, one
of which is THE LIQUID.
The FLUID-DEPENDENT factor is called the COEFFICIENT OF VISCOSITY, ()
The rate of flow of a fluid flowing through a pipe is inversely proportional to the viscosity
of the fluid.
In industry, the rate of flow of liquid chocolate through pipes in the manufacture of
sweets will vary with the chocolates viscosity.
TEMPERATURE also affects viscosity. In general, liquids have a lower coefficient of
viscosity at higher temperature. For gases, viscosity increases with temperature.
Terminal velocity
In order to calculate an objects actual acceleration when falling, we refer to Newtons
second law.
From this, we can calculate the resulting acceleration for falling objects; we need to
include WEIGHT, UPTHRUST caused by the object being fluid in air and the VISCOUS
DRAG force caused by the movement. The changing velocity makes the viscous drag
difficult to calculate, so we consider the equilibrium situation, in which the weight exactly
balances the sum of upthrust and drag, meaning that the falling velocity remains
CONSTANT, thus it is the TERMINAL VELOCITY.
Viscous drag
Viscous drag is the friction force between a solid and a fluid. Calculating this can be
simple, so long as it is a SMALL REGULARLY SHAPED OBJECT (otherwise it is difficult
as the turbulent flow creates and unpredictable situation)
Stokes Law
Viscous drag (F) on a small sphere at low speeds:
Rearrange:
vterm =
Terminal velocity is proportional to the square of the radius. Therefore, a larger sphere
falls faster. More complex situations have more complex equations. This isnt however a
common situation, however the principle that larger objects generally fall faster holds true
for most objects without a parachute.
This is the same thing as working out the area under the force-extension graph
If we consider tensile force per unit area, this takes into account the samples area
of cross-section
If we consider extension per unit length, this takes into account the length of the
sample
Characteristics of solids
As the stress increases, the sample begins NECKING narrowing at one point
Elastic limit at this point the material stops behaving elastically and begins to
behave plastically. When the stress is removed, the material does not return to its
original length
Yield point the material shows a large increase in strain for a small increase in
stress
Plastic zone the extension increases rapidly for small increase in force in this
region. Solids which behave in this way are DUCTILE
Fracture or breaking strength If the average strength along the material is
plotted, the graph slopes down and breaks at E
Deforming solids
Stiffness the ability for a material to resist a tensile force
Tensile strength the tensile stress at which a material fails
In many situations, the force on a material will be tending to reduce the volume, to squash
the material. This is known as a COMPRESSIVE force and puts the material under
COMPRESSION
Compressive force per unit area =compressive stress (Nm-2 or Pa) =
COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH = the compressive strength at which the MATERIAL BREAKS
Some materials have a very low tensile strength, but are strong when they are subjected to
compressive strength such as brick and concrete. The strength of a material under sheer
strength is related to some extent its tensile strength.
STRENGTH a materials ability to withstand stress, whether is it tensile, compressive or
shear
DUCTILE show plastic deformation
BRITTLE materials that crack or break with little deformation
TOUGH materials able to withstand impact forces without breaking and require a large
force to produce a small plastic deformation
COMBINATION more than one material, often gain the best properties of both. Carbon
fibre and living wood are good examples
HARD materials which resist plastic deformation, usually by denting, scratching or cutting
MALLEABLE materials which show large plastic deformation before cracking or
breaking. The most malleable material is Gold
You can measure hardness by measuring the size of a dent produced by pushing a diamond
into the surface with a certain force.
A mineral scale by FRIEDRICH MOHS was used to compare hardness, based on the
principle that a material which could scratch another material should be higher (or at least
the same) on the scale of hardness. This doesnt provide accurate values so isnt often used
in engineering