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UNIVERSITY OF GUYANA
FACULTY OF NATURAL SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS,
PHYSICS & STATISTICS
PHY 1200 – FOUNDATION PHYSICS
(1 ST SEMESTER)
LECTURE 3
(TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 11 2018)
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MECHANICS

Prepared by Samuel Lee – Dept. of Math, Physics & Stats, Faculty of Natural Sciences (2017/2018)
 1.5 Mass, Weight and Density
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Mass: Quantity of matter a body contains. Scalar

quantity. Newton’s 1st law of motion defines it:
 A quantitative measure of Inertia - the natural
tendency of an object to remain in a state of rest or
uniform motion (at constant speed) in a straight
line.
 An intrinsic property of matter and does not
change with location.
 The larger the mass of a body, the greater its
inertia.
 Units – Kilogram (kg), gram (g).
 1.5 Mass, Weight and Density
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Weight:
 Force that a body exerts on anything that freely
supports it.
 Gravitational attraction (force) that exists an object
and the earth solely on the account that they
possess mass.
 Vector quantity i.e. magnitude and direction
Length of line = Magnitude
Direction = Arrow
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Weight:
 Dependent on the location of the object above the
earth’s surface as well as its position to the equator
and earth’s poles (North or South).

 Units – Newton (N); 1 N = 1 kgms-2

 Weight = mass × acceleration due to gravity.

W = mg; g = 9.81 ms-2

Prepared by Samuel Lee – Dept. of Math, Physics & Stats, Faculty of Natural Sciences (2017/2018)
 1.5 Mass, Weight and Density
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Density:
 Ratio of mass of an object to the volume it
occupies.
m
 Density = mass/volume  
V
 Units – kgm-3 (kilogram per cubic meter)
 Importance:
Mass/weight estimations by engineers
Purity tests of substances by chemists
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Density Measurement:
 Liquids:
Liquid is placed into a pre-weighed density bottle
and weighed.
 Solids
Regular shaped objects - dimensions and mass
are measured.
Irregular shaped objects – displacement of liquid
employed.
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Density Measurement (Liquids):
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Density Measurement Solids:

 1.6 Forces and Motion
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Definition of a Force:
A push or a pull which may
motion, deformation or
both motion and
deformation in an object.
It is a vector quantity i.e.
has magnitude and
direction.

(Physics: Principles with Applications by Douglas Giancoli, 7th Edition, pg. 78)
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Force:
 SI Unit – Newton. It is the force required to
produce an acceleration of 1 ms-2 in an object of
mass 1kg. (1N = 1 kgms-2)

 A Force may be resolved into two components:

a) Horizontal component: Fx  F cos
b) Vertical Component: Fy  F sin
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Components of a Vector:

(Physics by Douglas Giancoli, 4th Ed., pg 52)

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LECTURE
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