Chapter No.3 Written By: G.M.

Malik

Questions And Answers

MECHANICS: The branch of physics, which deals with the motion of bodies is called MECHANICS.
Mechanics is further divided into two parts.
(i) Kinematics (ii) Dynamics
KINEMATICS: The branch of mechanics which deals with the study of motion of bodies, without the force
causing that motion, is called KINEMATICS.
DYNAMICS: The branch of mechanics which deals with the study of motion of bodies as well as the
forces causing that motion is called DYNAMICS.

Q.No.1 :Define force, unit of force and inertia.

Answer: Force is an agent which moves or tends to move the body at rest or which
stops or tries to stop the body in motion.
OR
Force is an agency which changes or tries to change the state of rest or of
uniform motion of a body. It is a vector quantity.
Unit of Force:
In S.I. units, the unit of force is Newton. It is represented by the symbol ‘N’
One Newton is that force which produces an acceleration of one meter
per second per second in a body of mass one kilogram.
Inertia: Every body opposes the change in its state of rest or of uniform motion, this
property of the body is called inertia. Newton related the inertia of a boy with its mass,
greater is the mass of a body greater is its inertia.
Q.No.2: Describe Newton’s three laws of motion.
Answer: Newton’s First Law of Motion:
Everybody continues its state of rest or of uniform motion in a straight line unless it is
acted upon by an external force.
Explanation: This law consists of two parts.
( i ) First part says that a body at rest will remain at rest unless we apply an external force
upon it.For example, a book lying on the table will remain in a state of rest unless we disturb
it.
(ii) Second part says that a body in motion will remain in motion forever if no external force
is applied on it. e.g. a ball rolling on the ground should keep on moving forever but it stops
due to external forces which are force of friction, gravity and air resistance.
Newton’s Second Law of Motion
This law states that ,
When a net force acts on a body, it produces acceleration in its own direction. The
acceleration produced is directly proportional to the net force and is inversely proportional
to the mass of the body.
Explanation : If a force ‘F’ acts on a body of mass ‘m’ and ‘a’ is the acceleration
produced in it then according to second law of motion,
aα F ----------------------------------- (i)
a α ----------------------------------- (ii)
combining equations (i) and (ii)
a α
 or a = constant
If F = 1 N, a = 1 m/s2 , and m = 1 kg , then constant = 1
Therefore
a= 1

a=
F = ma --------------------------------- (iii)
Equation ( iii ) is an important result of Newton’s second law of motion.

Newton’s Third Law of Motion:

Thus law states that,
To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction.
Explanation: When a rubber ball hits the ground, it bounces back in the upward direction.
The force with which the ball hits the ground is called action of the ball. At the same time the
earth exerts a force on the ball in the upward direction due to which the ball rises up. This
force is called reaction of the earth.
Note: Action and reaction act on two different bodies.

Q.No.3: How can you deduce first law of motion from second law of motion?
Answer: Deduction of First Law of Motion From Second Law:
According to Newton’s second law of motion,
F = ma
Now if F = 0 then 0 = ma
=> a = 0 ( as m ≠ 0 )
It means that when no force acts on the body, the acceleration of the body will be zero.
Therefore there will be no change in the state of rest or of uniform motion of the body. Hence
if a body is at rest it will remain at rest and if it is in motion it will continue to move which is
according to Newton’s first law of motion. Hence Newton’s first law of motion can be
deducted from Newton’s second law of motion.
Q.No.4: Differentiate between mass and weight.
Answer: Mass Wight
(i) The quantity of matter in a body is (i) Weight is a force with which earth
called its mass. attracts a body towards its centre.

(ii) Mass is a scalar quantity. (ii) Weight is a vector quantity.

(iii) Mass remains same everywhere. (iii)Weight does not remain same everywhere

(iv) Unit of mass is kilogram(Kg). (iv) Unit of weight is Newton (N)

(v) Mass is measured by an ordinary (v) Weight is measured by a spring

balance. balance.

Q.No.5: What is meant by momentum of a body? State and explain law of conservation
of momentum.
Answer: Momentum: The product of mass and velocity of a moving body is called momentum. It is
a vector quantity. It is denoted by P.Its unit is kgm/S.
OR
 The quantity of motion in a body is called momentum.
If ‘m’ is the mass and ‘v’ is the velocity of a moving body then its momentum ‘P’ is given
as,
Momentum = Mass x Velocity
P = mv
Law of Conservation of Momentum:
When two or more bodies collide with one-another, their total momentum remains the same
provided no external force acts upon them. This is called law of conservation of
momentum.
Explanation:
Consider two balls of masses m1 and m2, initially
moving with velocities u1 and u2 respectively
along a straight line in the same direction.
If u1 > u2 then the balls will collide.Let their
velocities after collision become v1 and v2
respectively, then
Total momentum before collision = m1u1 + m2 u2
Total momentum after collision = m1v1 + m2 v2
According to law of conservation of momentum,
Total momentum before collision = total momentum after collision

i.e m1u1 + m2 u2 = m1v1 + m2 v2

Q.No.6a: What is relationship between force and momentum?
Answer: According to Newton’s second law of motion,
F = ma
or F=m( )

F=
f i
But mv = final momentum, and mv = initial momentum, therefore
F=

Hence rate of change of momentum is equal to applied force. This is also called Newton’s

second law of motion

Q.No.7: Define friction and limiting friction .Also give advantages and disadvantages of friction.
Answer: Friction: The force that produces resistance against relative motion between two surfaces
in contact is called friction.
Limiting Friction: The maximum value of static friction fs (max) is known as limiting
friction.
Advantages of Friction: friction plays an important role in our daily life.
( i) It is due to friction that we can walk on the ground.
(ii The vehicles move on roads due to friction.
(iii) To stop a moving vehicle friction is required, for this purpose we use breaks which
provide friction.
(iv) The nails stay at their position due to friction.
Disadvantages of Friction:
Some of the disadvantages of friction are,
 ( i ) Due to friction, parts machinery , tyres of cars and other vehicles wear out.
(ii) Due to friction, energy is wasted to overcome resistance against motion.
(iii) Due to friction, the temperature of machines rises

Q.No.7: What methods are used to reduce friction?

Answer: The following methods are used to reduce friction,
(i) The parts which slide against one an other are highly polished. This reduces
friction.

(ii) Oil or grease is applied between the parts of machinery which slide over one
another.

(iii) As rolling friction is much less than sliding friction, therefore sliding friction is
converted into rolling friction by using ball bearings.

(iv) The front sides of high speed vehicles are shaped wedge like and pointed so that
minimum friction is offered by air and water.
Q.No.8: Explain the motion of a block on a table under action of an applied force.Explain how
does friction increases with increase in applied force?
Answer : Consider a block is placed on a table. A string is tied to the block and is
passed over a pully as shown in the figure.
If a weight is placed in the pan, a force
equal to weight acts on the block in the horizontal
direction due to tension ‘T’ in the string. This force
tends to pull the block to the right but at the same
time an opposing force starts acting on the block
and does not let the block to move. This opposing
force is called static friction fs.
If the applied force ‘F’ is increased gradually then
friction also increases and does not allow the block
to move.But there comes a limit after which the
block starts moving. Just before the block starts
moving, the value of the static friction becomes
maximum and does not increase any further.
The maximum value of the static friction fs(max) is called limiting friction.
When block is in motion, friction still exist. This friction is called kinetic friction ( fk).
Kinetic friction is usually less than static friction i.e. fk ≤ fs .
In addition to horizontal forces, two other forces also act on the body
(i) the weight W = mg acting acting downward.
(ii) reaction of the table called normal reaction Fn acting upward.
These two forces are equal in magnitude. i.e. Fn = W = mg. It is observed that limiting
friction also increases with an increase in the normal force Fn
i.e. fs(max) α Fn
fs(max) = us Fn
Where us is constant and is called coefficient of static friction.
The kinetic friction fk also increases with increase in normal reaction Fn
i.e. fk α Fn
fk = Uk Fn
Where Uk is constant and is called coefficient of kinetic friction.
 Q.No.9: Why is the friction of rolling bodies less than that of kinetic friction?
Answer: A body with wheels faces less friction as compared to a body of the same size without
wheels.Its reason is that the rolling friction is far less than the sliding friction.
Practically, the wheel is compressed a little temporarily at the contact point under stress.
This little sliding friction is the rolling friction. The rolling friction is about one hundred
times smaller than the sliding friction. Therefore,at the points of the machines where two
surfaces are to move in contact with each other, ball bearing are used. They convert the
sliding friction into rolling friction.

Q.N o.10: Define circular motion, Centripetal force and Centrifugal force.
Answer: Circular motion: The motion of a body along a circular path in which its distance
from some fixed point is always constant is called circular motion.
OR
The motion of an object moving at a constant speed in a circular path is called
uniform circular motion.
Examples: i. Motion of electrons in different orbits of an atom.
ii. The motion of motorcyclist in a death well.

Centripetal Force: The force which keeps a body to move in a circular path is
Called centripetal force. Its direction is always to the centre of the circle. Without
this force circular motion can’t occur.

Equation Of Centripetal Force

If a body of mass ‘m’ is moving with speed ‘v’ along a circular path of radius ‘r’
then the centripetal force Fc can be given by the formula as follows:
Fc =
Centripetal Acceleration: The acceleration produced by centripetal force is
called centripetal acceleration.Its direction is towards the centre of the circle. It is
denoted by ac and is given as:

ac =
Where ‘v’ is velocity of the and ‘r’ is radius of the circle.

Centrifugal Force: A force which opposes a body to move along a circular

path is called centrifugal force. This force is equal in magnitude but opposite
in direction to centripetal force.

NOTE: Banking of roads, Washing machine dryer and Cream separator

Learn from text book.

Written By:

G.M.Malik (M.Sc)