PHYSICS IAS

Unit 01 Mechanics
Topic 01

Menuka Suwinda
Belvoir College International
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Topic 01 - MECHANICS

• Contents
1. Units
2. Motion
3. Adding vectors
4. Resolving Vectors
5. Projectiles
6. Moment
7. Newton’s law
8. Momentum
9. Energy, Work, Power, Efficiency
10. Exam Practice (Past paper questions)
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1. Units
1.1 Fundamental quantities and units
The quantities that do not depend on any other physical quantity for their measurement are
known as fundamental quantities. These quantities do not take support of other
physical quantities for its measurement. There are only 7 fundamental physical quantities.
And rest of all other quantities are derived quantities.

Fundamental (Base) Unit Name Unit Symbol

Quantity
1 Mass kilogram kg
2 Time second s
3 Length metre m
4 Electric current ampere A
5 Temperature kelvin K
6 Amount of substance mole mol
7 Light intensity candela cd

1.2 SI Units
The International System of Units is the modern form of the metric system. It is the only
system of measurement with an official status in nearly every country in the world.
The current definition of each of the seven base units is listed below:

1. The kilogram is the unit of mass; it is equal to the mass of the international prototype
kilogram (is made from a mixture of platinum and iridium and held at the Bureau
international des Poids et Mesures in Paris)
2. The second is the duration of 9 912 631 770 periods of the radiation corresponding
to the transition between two hyperfine level of the ground state of the caesium
-133 atom.
3. The metre is the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time
𝟏
interval of 𝟐𝟗𝟗 𝟕𝟗𝟐 𝟒𝟓𝟖
of a second.
4. The ampere is that constant current which, if maintained in two straight parallel
conductors of infinite length, of negligible circular cross – section, and placed 1m apart
in vacuum, would produce between these conductors a force equal to 2x10-7 newton per
metre of length.
1
5. The kelvin, unit of thermodynamic temperature, is the fraction of the
273.16
thermodynamic temperature of the triple point of water.
6. The mole is the amount of substance of a system which contains as many elementary
entities as there are atoms in 0.012kg of carbon-12.
7. The candela is the base unit of luminous intensity in the International System of
Units; that is, luminous power per unit solid angle emitted by a point light source in a
particular direction.
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1.3 Derived Units

Derived units are units of measurement derived from the seven base units specified by the
International System of Units. They are either dimensionless or can be expressed as a
product of one or more of the base units, possibly scaled by an appropriate power of
exponentiation.

Quantity Definition Derived units Base units

1 Speed 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 ms-1
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
2 Acceleration 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 ms-2
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
3 Force mass x Newton (N) kgms-2
acceleration
4 Pressure 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 Pascal (Pa) kgm-1s-2
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎
5 Work (energy) force x Joule (J) kgm2s2
displacement
6 Power 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 Watt (W) kgm2s-3
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
7 Charge current x time Coulomb (C) As
8 Potential difference (Voltage) 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 Volt (V) kgm2A-1s-3
𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒
9 Resistance 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 Ohm (Ω) kgm2A-2s-3
𝐶𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡
10 Frequency 1 Hertz (Hz) s-1
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒

1.4 Power Prefixes

SI prefixes are used to form decimal multiples and submultiples of SI units. They should
be used to avoid very large or very small numeric values. The prefix attaches directly to
the name of a unit, and a prefix symbol attaches directly to the symbol for a unit.

Factor Name Symbol Factor Name Symbol

10 1 deca- da 10-1 deci- d
10 2 hecto- h 10-2 centi- c
10 3 kilo- k 10-3 mili- m
10 6 mega- M 10-6 micro- μ
10 9 giga- G 10-9 nano- n
10 12 tera- T 10-12 pico- p
10 15 peta- P 10-15 femto- f
10 18 exa- E 10-18 atto- a
10 21 zetta- Z 10-21 zepto- z
10 24 yotta- Y 10-24 yocto- y
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2. Motion

2.1 Definitions
• Distance – The change in the position of a moving body is known as distance .
• Displacement – The change in the position of a moving body in a specific direction is
called its displacement.
𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒
• Speed – The rate of change of distance 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
∆ 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡
• Velocity – The rate of change of displacement 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑
• Average Speed -
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑛
• Instantaneous speed – The speed at any particular instant in time on a journey, which
can be found from gradient of the tangent to a distance- time graph
𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦
• Acceleration – The rate of the change of velocity or
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦
𝑣−𝑢
𝑡

2.2 Motion graphs

• Displacement – Time graphs

Displacement, plotted on the vertical axis, represents the straight-line distance away
from a start point. Time, plotted on the horizontal axis, is the time taken after the start.
𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡
• Since the velocity = the gradient of a displacement time graph also
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
represents velocity. The steeper gradient the larger the velocity.
• A straight line with a constant gradient will represent an object travelling with
constant velocity.
• A curved line with a gradient that changes will represent an object travelling with
a varying velocity.
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• Calculating instantaneous velocities from displacement time graphs

Calculating the gradient of a graph that does not have a convenient straight-line portion
requires a tangent to be drawn to the curve.
Consider the displacement time graph below, which shows a constantly changing gradient
indicating that the velocity of the moving object is constantly changing.

The instantaneous velocity of the moving object at point P will given by the gradient of the
curve at this point.
𝑦
Therefore, instantaneous velocity at point P = ms-1
𝑥
• The instantaneous velocity can be calculated from a curved displacement time graph
by drawing a tangent to the curve at the place where the velocity is required. The
gradient of the tangent to the curve will equal to the instantaneous velocity at that
point.

Example 1-
The table of results below were taken for an object dropped and falling under gravity.
Distance fallen (m) 0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0
Time taken (s) 0.00 0.63 0.99 1.08 1.25 1.40
i). Plot a graph of distance fallen (on the vertical axis) against time taken (on the
horizontal axis)
ii). Explain why your graph is not a straight line.
iii). Calculate the velocity of the object after 1.00 second.

• Velocity – Time graph

Velocity, plotted on the vertical axis, represents the velocity moving away from the start
point. The time taken, plotted on the horizontal axis, represents the time taken since the
start.
𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦
• Since acceleration the gradient of a velocity time graph also
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
represents acceleration.
• The steeper the gradient the larger the acceleration.
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• A straight line with a constant gradient will represent an object travelling with
constant acceleration.
• A curved line with a gradient that changes will represents an object travelling with
a varying acceleration.

• Displacement travelled from velocity time graph

The area between the curve of the corresponding velocity time graph and the time axis is
equal to the displacement of the body.

Example – 2
A ball is dropped from a high window onto a concrete floor. The velocity–time graph for part
of its motion is shown.

i). Calculate the gradient from the origin to A.

ii). What happened to the ball at point A?
iii). Calculate the height of the window above the ground.
iv). Calculate total distance and displacement travelled by the ball.
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• Acceleration time graph

Acceleration time graphs shows how the acceleration of an object changes over time.

Example 3 –
Sketch the corresponding d/t and a/t graphs for following v/t graphs.

2.3 Motion Equations

𝟏
• s = ut + at2
𝟐
• v = u + at
• v2 = u2 + 2as
(𝒗+𝒖)
• s = t
𝟐

where s-displacement, u-initial velocity, v-final velocity, a-acceleration, t-time

These equations only apply where the acceleration is uniform, which does include zero
acceleration. Displacement, velocity and acceleration are all vector quantities, so you
need to define one direction as positive and the opposite direction as negative.
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Example – 4
1). A particle starts from rest and moves with constant acceleration 0.5 ms-2 in a straight
line. Find the time it takes to travel a distance of 8 metres.

2). A particle is moving in a straight line with constant acceleration 0.2 ms-2. After it has
moved a total of 20m, its speed is 8ms-1. Find its initial speed.

3). A particle is moving in a straight line with constant acceleration. It passes point P with
speed 2 ms-1. Ten seconds later, it passes point Q. The distance between P and Q is 40
metres. Find the speed of the particle as it passes point Q.

4). A rocket accelerates from rest for 20s with a constant upward acceleration of 10ms-2
At the end of 20s the fuel is used up and it completes its flight under gravity alone.
Assuming that air resistance can be neglected and taking g = 9.8ms-2, calculate the:
(a) speed reached after 20s.
(b) height after 20s.
(c) maximum height reached.
(d) speed just before the rocket hits the ground.

5). A child throws a stone vertically upwards from the top of a cliff with speed 15 ms-1.
Five seconds later, it hits the sea below the cliff. Taking g = 9.8 ms-2, calculate
a) the velocity of the stone when it hits the sea.
b) the height of the cliff.

3.Adding Vectors

3.1 Adding vectors in the same line

If two or more forces are acting along the same line, then combining them is simply case
of adding or subtracting their magnitudes depending on their directions.
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3.2 Adding perpendicular vectors

To calculate the resultant magnitude of two perpendicular vectors, we can draw them,
one after other, as the two sides of a right-angled triangle and use Pythagoras theorem
to calculate the size of the hypotenuse.

The resultant vector = √122 + 52 = 13N (Pythagoras theorem)

• Direction of the resultant vector

By using trigonometry, we can easily find the direction of the resultant vector
5
Tan a =
12

3.3 Adding two non-perpendicular vectors

The geometry of perpendicular vectors makes calculation of the resultant simple. We can
find the resultant of any two vectors by drawing one after the other, and resultant will be
the third side of the triangle from the start of the first one to the end of the second
one. A scale drawing of the vector triangle will allow measurement of the size and the
direction of the resultant.

Here R is the resultant force

And for this method, without using scale diagram we can use trigonometry to find the
resultant vector as follows,
AD is perpendicular to CD, and p,q,b all are given values
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By using trigonometry, we can find the length of BD, CD and AD

𝐵𝐷
Cos (b) = where BC = q, therefore BD = q x Cos (b)
𝐵𝐶
BD = q Cos (b)

𝐶𝐷
Sin (b) = , CD = q x Sin (b)
𝐵𝐶
CD = q Sin (b)

Therefore AD = p + q Cos (b)

And ADC is a right-angle triangle, therefore we use Pythagoras theorem for find AC
(resultant vector)

AC = √𝐴𝐷2 + 𝐶𝐷2
2
AC = √(𝑝 + 𝑞𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝑏)) + (𝑞 sin(𝑏))2
AC = √𝑝2 + 2𝑝𝑞 cos(b) + 𝑞 2 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 (𝑏) + 𝑞 2 𝑠𝑖𝑛2 (𝑏)
AC= √𝑝2 + 2𝑝𝑞 cos(𝑏) + 𝑞 2 [𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 (𝑏) + 𝑠𝑖𝑛2 (𝑏)] and cos2 (b) + sin2 (b) = 1
AC = √𝒑𝟐 + 𝒒𝟐 + 𝟐𝒑𝒒 𝒄𝒐𝒔(𝒃)

Therefore, Resultant vector = √𝒑𝟐 + 𝒒𝟐 + 𝟐𝒑𝒒 𝒄𝒐𝒔(𝒃)

𝐶𝐷
and the direction of the resultant force = Tan (a) =
𝐴𝐷
𝒒 𝒔𝒊𝒏 (𝒃)
Tan (a) =
𝒑+𝒒 𝒄𝒐𝒔 (𝒃)
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• The parallelogram Rule

There is another method for finding the resultant of two non-perpendicular vectors by
scale drawing. This is called the parallelogram rule. Draw the two vectors to scale -at the
correct angle and scaled so their length represents to the original ones, so that they form a
parallelogram, as shown below. The resultant vector will be the diagonal across the
parallelogram from the starting point.

Example 5 –
Vector a is of magnitude 60cm and acts horizontally. Vector b is of magnitude 50cm and
acts at 60o above the horizontal. Find the resultant of vectors a and b. By using scale
diagram method and show your answer correct by using formulae.

4.Resolving Vectors
Resolving a vector involves writing it as the sum of other vectors – it’s like resolving in
reverse. For example, the vector (a) shown below can be written as the sum of a horizontal
vector (y) and a vertical vector (x).

The separate vectors that the original is resolved into are called components– in the above
example, (y)is the horizontal component of (a) and (x) is the vertical component of (a).
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Calculating components
To find the components of a vector in a pair of perpendicular directions, we will be using a
right-angled triangle.

• Take the vector as the hypotenuse of the triangle

• Take the directions you want to resolve in as the other two sides
• Use trigonometry to work out the size of the components.

In above example,

𝑦
Sin (b) = , therefore y = a Sin (b)
𝑎
𝑥
Cos (b) = , therefore x = a Cos (b)
𝑎

In practical problems, the two directions are usually horizontally and vertically, or if
an inclined plane is involved, along and perpendicular to the plane.

Example 6 –
1. Bill travels 10km North-east and then 12km due East

(a) Draw a vector diagram showing Bill’s route.

(b) Calculate, without the use of a scale diagram, Bill’s resultant displacement in components
East and North.

2. The diagram below shows a vector V and the line AB.

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The angle between V and AB is 20o. Find the components of V parallel and perpendicular to
AB, given that the magnitude of V is 15.

A common mistake is to resolve correctly, but ignore the direction of the component –
for example, 6 units upwards is not the same as 6 units downwards! To avoid
confusion, decide at the beginning which direction to take as positive.

5. Projectiles-motion in two dimensions under

gravity
If you throw an object, it follows a parabolic path (shown below).

To deal with this situation, we consider the horizontal and vertical components of the
motion separately. Again, we assume that air resistance can be neglected

• horizontally, there is no resultant force on the object, so its velocity is constant

(and there is no acceleration)
• vertically, gravity is the only resultant force. So, its acceleration is g downwards
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As shown in the above figure, a ball projected with “u” initial velocity and at an angle “a” to
the horizontal.

1. Initial vertical component of velocity is “u Sin(a)”. Initial horizontal component of

velocity is “u Cos(a)”.
2. For the whole motion the horizontal component is not changing at all, due to there is
no acceleration act horizontally.
3. Vertical velocity component will reduce until maximum height (h) due to gravitational
acceleration act vertically downwards.
4. When the ball reaches maximum height of h, its vertical velocity component is
equal to 0 ms-1.
5. And then ball changes the direction of motion (which is vertically downwards) and
increase its vertical velocity component (vertically downwards its increasing).
6. The ‘R’ represents the horizontal range of the motion.
7. When it returns to the ground the vertical component of displacement is equal 0
m.
8. The horizontal acceleration always 0 ms-2. And vertical acceleration always 9.81
ms-2 vertically downwards.
9. Since we have to deal with vectors you must carefully use direction signs.

Example 7-
1. A vase is thrown out of a first-floor window, which is 5 m above the ground, with a
horizontal velocity of 4ms-1. Taking g = 9.81 ms-2.
Find:
a) The time taken for the vase to hit the ground
b) The horizontal distance it travels.
c) Its speed as it hits the ground.

2. A ball is thrown from ground level with a speed of 20 ms-1 at an angle of 30o to the
horizontal. Taking g = 9.81 ms-2,
Find:
a) The greatest height it reaches.
b) The time taken for the ball to return to ground level.
c) The horizontal distance the ball travels in this time.

3. A ball is thrown from ground level with a speed of 28.2 ms-1 at an angle of 45o to the
horizontal. Taking g = 9.81ms-2,
Find:
a) The time it takes to reach its greatest height.
b) The time taken to travel a horizontal distance of 30m.
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4. A girl attempting to throw a ball across her bedroom onto a shelf. The shelf is 2m
above floor level and the horizontal distance from the girl to shelf is 5m.
The girl throws the ball with speed ’u’ ms-1 at an angle of 300 to the horizontal. It
lands on the nearest edge of shelf.
5
a) Show the time of flight of the ball is .
𝑢 𝑐𝑜𝑠30
b) Find the value of u.

5. A stone is thrown with a speed of 20 ms-1 at an angle of 400 to the horizontal. Five
meters from the point from which it is projected there is a wall of height 4 metres.
Determine whether the stone will hit the wall.

6.Moment
Torque, moment, moment of force, rotational force or "turning effect" is the
rotational equivalent of linear force. The concept originated with the studies by Archimedes
of the usage of levers. Just as a linear force is a push or a pull, a torque can be thought of as
a twist to an object around a specific axis.
This turning effect pf a single force depends not only on the size of the force and
its direction. And also, on the distance from the line of action to the point. If the force acts
in a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis, the moment defined by

Moment of force = force x perpendicular distance from the pivot to the line of the force

M (Nm) = F(N) x d(m)

• Principle of Moments
If a body is in equilibrium, the sum of clockwise moment about any point must
equal to the sum of anticlockwise moments about that point.
ΣMoment = 0
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• Centre of gravity
The weight of an object caused by the gravitational attraction between the earth
and each particle contained within the object. The sum of these tiny weight forces appears to
act from a single point for any object, and this point is called the centre of gravity.
For symmetrical object, we can calculate the position of its centre of gravity, as it
must lie on every line of symmetry.
But irregular objects, we have to use moments to calculate the position of centre of
gravity.
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7. Newton’s Laws of motion.

1. Newton’s First Law: Every body continues at rest or with constant velocity unless
acted upon by a resultant force.

Followings instructions will help for you to use newton’s first law of motion.
A body that is at rest or moving with constant velocity is said to be in equilibrium.
Equilibrium give details on how to solve problems about bodies in equilibrium, but the general
strategy is:
• Draw a diagram, showing all the forces on the body.
• Check the body really is in equilibrium– is it stationary or moving with constant
velocity?
• Resolve forces in two perpendicular directions – either horizontally and vertically,
or if the body is resting on a slope, then parallel and perpendicular to the slope.
• Equate the total force in each direction to zero.
• If necessary, take moments – this will be required if not all the forces pass through
one point – and equate to zero.
• Solve your equations to find the unknown forces.

Example 8 –
1. An aircraft of mass 11 000kg, which moves at a constant velocity, v, and constant
altitude, is powered by propellers and experiences a drag force.

(a) Draw a labelled free body diagram showing the 4 main forces acting on the aircraft.
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(b)The thrust from the propellers is 225kN and the drag force is given by 10v2. Calculate
the aircraft’s level flight speed.

2. A speedboat is towing a paraglider at a constant speed and height on the end of a light
rope of length 30m, which makes an angle θ with the horizontal. The forces acting on the
paraglider are the vertical lift, L, the horizontal drag, D, his weight, W and the tension in
the rope, T.

(a) Draw a free body diagram of the paraglider showing the forces L, D, W and T.

(b) State the value of the resultant of these forces.

(c) Hence, write an equation relating the magnitudes of:

(i) D, T and θ

(ii) L, W, T and θ.

2. Newton’s Second Law: The rate of change of momentum of a body is proportional

to the resultant force that acts on it.

Newton’s Second Law is most often used in the form,

F = ma
F = resultant force (newtons) m = mass (kilograms) a = acceleration (metres seconds-2)
Note that both F and a are vectors – the force determines not only the size of the
acceleration, but also its direction – a body accelerates in the direction of the resultant force
on it.
Second law problems – like any other mechanics problem – require you to draw a clear
diagram, including all the forces acting on a body. You then need to:
• Resolve forces in the direction in which acceleration is taking place, and use F = ma,
where F is the resultant force in that direction.
• If necessary, resolve forces perpendicular to the direction of acceleration, and use
the fact that the resultant force is zero.
• If two bodies are involved, use the third law to identify equal forces

Example 9 –
A box of mass 2kg is being towed along a rough horizontal surface by a person pulling it
on a string. The string is at 30o to the horizontal, and its tension is 10N. The box is
accelerating at 1.0ms-2. Taking g = 9.81ms-2, find:
(a) the frictional force acting on the box.
(b) the magnitude of the normal reaction force exerted by the ground on the box.
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3. Newton’s Third Law: When two bodies interact, the forces they exert on each
other are of equal magnitude and opposite direction.

Here, we will be applying the third law to bodies in contact, or connected by a rope. It tells
us that, for example:
• the downward force you exert on the floor by standing on it is the same size as the
upward force the floor exerts on you
• if you walk a dog on a lead, the tension in the lead acting on you (due to the dog
tugging you) is of the same magnitude as the tension in the lead acting on the dog,
tugging it towards you.
• When you push on a door, the door pushes back on you with the same magnitude of
force.

Example 10 –
1. A car of mass 800kg is towing a trailer of mass 300kg up a road inclined at 300 to the
horizontal. The car exerts a constant driving force, and starting from rest, achieves a
speed of 10ms-1 in 50 seconds. The frictional forces on the car and trailer are
constant, and of magnitude 150N and 100N respectively. Take g = 9.81ms-2
Find:
(a) the driving force of the car.
(b) the tension in the tow bar.

2. A slimming club is situated at the top of a tall building; to motivate its clientele, the
club has installed its own lift which contains a weighing machine. The lift accelerates
uniformly at 1.0ms-2 for 90% of its journey, both going up and coming down. Taking g =
9.81ms-2,
calculate:
(a) The resultant force required to accelerate a person whose mass is80kg at 1.0ms-2.

(b) The reading (in kg) on the weighing machine when the 80kg person stands on it as
the lift accelerates upwards.

(c) The reading (in kg) of the machine when the same person stands on it as it
accelerates downwards.
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8.Momentum
The momentum of the body is defined as the mass of the body multiplied by its velocity.

Momentum = mass x velocity

p = m x v

• Newton’s 2nd law of motion and momentum

Newton’s second law of motion mentioned that,

“the rate of change of momentum of a body is directly proportional to the resultant force
applied to the body, and is in the same direction as the force.”

This can be written mathematically as:

𝒅𝒑 𝒅(𝒎𝒗)
F = =
𝒅𝒕 𝒅𝒕
𝑑𝑝
Here F is applied force and is the rate of change of momentum in the direction of the
𝑑𝑡
force.

• Principle of conservation of linear momentum.

When a body is in a system, interact the total momentum remains constant with
no external force acting on the body.

Total momentum before collision or explosion = Total Momentum after collision or explosion

• Newton’s third law and conservation of linear momentum.

Conservation of momentum is directly responsible for Newton’s third law. Remember this
told us that for every force, there is an equal and opposite force. If we think of a force as a
𝑑𝑝
way to change momentum ( ) then a force changing momentum in one direction must be
𝑑𝑡
countered by an equal and opposite one to ensure that overall momentum is conserved. For
example, if gravitational pull of the earth causes an apple to fall from a tree, the apple gains
momentum towards earth. For conservation of momentum, the earth must gain an equal and
opposite momentum. This is then caused by an equal and opposite gravitational force on the
earth from the apple. The huge mass of the earth means that its acceleration cannot be
noticed by us.
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9.Energy, Work, Power

9.1 Energy
• Gravitational potential energy –
Energy stored in objects which are in high position/place.

GPE(J) = mass(kg) x gravitational field strength (Nkg-1) x height (m)

GPE = mgh, where g = 9.81 ms-2

• Kinetic energy –
Kinetic energy is the energy stored in the moving the moving body.
𝟏
KE(J) = x mass(kg) x (velocity) 2(m2s-2)
𝟐
𝟏
KE = mv2
𝟐

• Mechanical energy –
The addition of kinetic energy and gravitational potential energy called as mechanical
energy.
➢ According to the principle of conservation of mechanical energy, in closed
system always the mechanical energy is a constant
➢ KE + GPE = K
➢ When KE is decreasing, GPE is increasing by same amount. Opposite is also
same.

9.2 Work
Work in physics, is a measure of energy transfer.so work is measured in joules.

Work done(J) = Force(N) x displacement (m)

W = Fs

• Work done by force at angle

22 | P a g e

In this case, the equation is:

Work done= distance moved × component of force in by a force that direction
Or, to save time resolving:
Work done = Fs Cos θ,
where θ is the angle between the direction of the force and the direction of motion.

9.3 Power
Power is defined as the rate of transfer of energy or the work done per unit time.

𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒚 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒅 (𝑱) 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆 (𝑱)

Power (W) = =
𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒚 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒇𝒆𝒓 (𝒔) 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆 (𝒔)
𝑬 ∆𝑾
P = =
𝒕 𝒕

9.4 Efficiency
The ability of a machine to transfer energy usefully is called efficiency.

𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒚 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒑𝒖𝒕

Efficiency = =
𝒕𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒑𝒖𝒕
𝑼𝒔𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒑𝒖𝒕
Efficiency =
𝒕𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒑𝒖𝒕

Example 11 –
A toy car of mass 0.3kg is moving along a horizontal surface. It is travelling at 4ms-1
when it reaches the foot of a ramp inclined at an angle of 200 to the horizontal.
(a) Calculate the kinetic energy of the car at the instant it reaches the foot of the
ramp
(b) The car rolls up the ramp until it stops. Ignoring resistive forces, calculate the
vertical height through which the car will have risen when it stops. Take g=
9.8ms-2
(c) In practice the car only rises by 75% of this theoretical value. Calculate

i). the energy lost in overcoming resistive forces.

ii). The average resistive force acting on the car, parallel to the slope of the ramp