Lecture 1: Mechanics

Introduction to Physics
• Physics is the most fundamental physical science
• Concerns with understanding the universe and everything it contains and the laws it obeys
• Has 6 main areas:
1. classical mechanics, which is concerned with the motion of objects that are large relative to
atoms and move at speeds much slower than the speed of light;
2. relativity, which is a theory describing objects moving at any speed, even speeds
approaching the speed of light;
3. thermodynamics, which deals with heat, work, temperature, and the statistical behavior of
systems with large numbers of particles;
4. electromagnetism, which is concerned with electricity, magnetism, and electromagnetic fields;
5. optics, which is the study of the behavior of light and its interaction with materials;
6. quantum mechanics, a collection of theories connecting the behavior of matter at the submicroscopic
level to macroscopic observations.
Motion in One Dimension
• In the study of translational motion, we use what is called the particle
model
• we describe the moving object as a particle regardless of its size
• a particle is a point-like object—that is, an object with mass but having
infinitesimal size
• Position of a particle - location of the particle with respect to a
chosen reference point that we can consider to be the origin of a
coordinate system
• Displacement of a particle is defined as its change in position in some
time interval (∆𝑥 = 𝑥𝑓 − 𝑥𝑖 , a vector quantity)
• Distance is the length of a path followed by a particle
• The average velocity 𝑣𝑥ҧ of a particle is defined as the particle’s
displacement ∆𝑥 divided by the time interval ∆𝑡 during which that
displacement occurs (a vector qty)
∆𝑥
𝑣𝑥ҧ =
∆𝑡
• The average speed of a particle, a scalar quantity, is defined as the
total distance traveled divided by the total time interval required to
travel that distance:
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒
𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 =
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
Instantaneous Velocity and Speed

• the instantaneous velocity 𝑣𝑥 equals the limiting value of the ratio

∆𝑥/∆𝑡 as ∆𝑡 approaches zero:
∆𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑣𝑥 = lim =
∆𝑡→0 ∆𝑡 𝑑𝑡
Acceleration
• The average acceleration 𝑎ത𝑥 of the particle is defined as the change in
velocity ∆𝑣𝑥 divided by the time interval ∆𝑥 during which that change
occurs:
∆𝑣𝑥 𝑣𝑥𝑓 − 𝑣𝑥𝑖
𝑎ത𝑥 = =
∆𝑡 𝑡𝑓 − 𝑡𝑖
• the instantaneous acceleration as the limit of the average acceleration
as ∆𝑡 approaches zero:
∆𝑣𝑥 𝑑𝑣𝑥
𝑎𝑥 = lim =
∆𝑡→0 ∆𝑡 𝑑𝑡
• For the case of motion in a straight line, the direction of the velocity
of an object and the direction of its acceleration are related as
follows.
• When the object’s velocity and acceleration are in the same direction, the
object is speeding up.
• On the other hand, when the object’s velocity and acceleration are in
opposite directions, the object is slowing down.
One-Dimensional Motion with Constant
Acceleration
𝑣𝑥𝑓 = 𝑣𝑥𝑖 + 𝑎𝑥 𝑡
𝑣𝑥𝑖 + 𝑣𝑥𝑓
𝑣𝑥ҧ =
2
1
𝑥𝑓 = 𝑥𝑖 + 𝑣𝑥𝑖 + 𝑣𝑥𝑓 𝑡
2
1 1
𝑥𝑓 = 𝑥𝑖 + 𝑣𝑥𝑖 + 𝑣𝑥𝑖 + 𝑎𝑥 𝑡 𝑡 = 𝑥𝑖 + 𝑣𝑥𝑖 𝑡 + 𝑎𝑥 𝑡 2
2 2
1 1 𝑣𝑥𝑓 − 𝑣𝑥𝑖
𝑥𝑓 = 𝑥𝑖 + 𝑣𝑥𝑖 + 𝑣𝑥𝑓 𝑡 = 𝑥𝑖 + 𝑣𝑥𝑖 + 𝑣𝑥𝑓
2 2 𝑎𝑥
2 2
𝑣𝑥𝑓 = 𝑣𝑥𝑖 + 2𝑎𝑥 𝑥𝑓 − 𝑥𝑖
Freely Falling Objects
• Free fall – motion of a particle under the influence of gravity, in which
the air resistance is considered absent
• A freely falling object is any object moving freely under the influence
of gravity alone, regardless of its initial motion.
• Objects thrown upward or downward and those released from rest
are all falling freely once they are released.
• Any freely falling object experiences an acceleration directed
downward, regardless of its initial motion
• Downward acceleration is 𝑎𝑦 = −𝑔 = −9.81 𝑚/𝑠 2
Kinematic Equations Derived from Calculus

∆𝑥 = ෍ 𝑣𝑥𝑛
ҧ ∆𝑡𝑛
𝑛 𝑡𝑓
ҧ ∆𝑡𝑛 = න 𝑣𝑥 𝑑𝑡
∆𝑥 = lim ෍ 𝑣𝑥𝑛
∆𝑡𝑛 →0 𝑡𝑖
𝑛
𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 = 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒
𝑣𝑥 − 𝑡 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑝ℎ
 𝑡
𝑑𝑣𝑥
𝑎𝑥 = ; 𝑣𝑥𝑓 − 𝑣𝑥𝑖 = න 𝑎𝑥 𝑑𝑡 = 𝑎𝑥 𝑡 → 𝑣𝑥𝑓 − 𝑣𝑥𝑖 = 𝑎𝑥 𝑡 (𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑥 )
𝑑𝑡
𝑡 0 𝑡
𝑑𝑥 𝑎𝑥 𝑡 2
𝑣𝑥 = ; 𝑥𝑓 − 𝑥𝑖 = න 𝑣𝑥 𝑑𝑡 = න (𝑣𝑥𝑖 +𝑎𝑥 𝑡)𝑑𝑡 = 𝑣𝑥𝑖 𝑡 +
𝑑𝑡 0 0 2
1
𝑥𝑓 = 𝑥𝑖 + 𝑣𝑥𝑖 𝑡 + 𝑎𝑥 𝑡 2
2