Dr.

Mohamed Abdulai Koroma

Senior Lecturer of Mathematics
Fourah Bay College University of
Sierra Leone.

Pre-medicine 1 and Pre-pharmacy

Mathematics
1. Plane Geometry
1.1 angles
Definition 1.1 an angle is said to be
acute when it lies between 0 and 90
degrees. i.e 0    90 .
Definition 1.2 an angle is said to be
obtuse when it lies between 90 and
180 degrees. i.e 0    180
Definition 1.3 an angle is said to be
reflex when it is more than 180
degrees. i.e 180  
 
(i) (ii)

 
(iii)

1. Units of Measurement of Angles

Angles are measured either in degrees  0
or in radians  c

1.3 Angles on a Straight Line

Angles on a Straight Line sum up to 180 c

 c

 c
 c
      180

1.3 Parallel Line

Any straight lines on the same plane
which era equidistant from each other
(do not intersect) are parallel .
1.4 Intercept Theorems
When two parallel lines intersect a


third line,(1) alternate angles are

equal; (2) corresponding angles are
equal. 
(1)   alternate angles

  

(2)   Corresponding angles

When two lines intersect, vertically

opposite angles are equal


 

Vertically opposite angles
1.5 Triangles
(1) The sum of the angles in a triangle
is equal to 180 degrees.
A


c 


P B

Proof: A  Q

 
C B
Draw line PAQ parallel to CB.
QAB  ABC (alternate angles)
PAC  ACB (alternate angles)
Now       180 (angles in a straight line)
And this completes the proof.
(2) Exterior angle in a triangle equals
the sum of interior opposite angles.
Proof : A

D C B
DCA  ACB  180 .........(1) ( angles on a straight line)
CAB  ABC  ACB  180 .....(2) (angles in a triangle)
from (1) and (2) we have
DCA  ACB  CAB  ABC  ACB
 DCA  CAB  ABC

And this completes the proof.

1.6 Properties of Special triangles
1.6.1 In an equilateral triangle all the
angles are equal and all the sides are of
the same length.
 A
600

600 600

C B
1.6.2 In an equilateral triangle the
bisector of each angle bisects the
opposite side and is perpendicular to
it. 30 0
300
1.6.3 In an isosceles triangle two sides
are equal and their base angles are
equal. A
ACB  ABC and AC  AB

C B
1.6.4 In an isosceles triangle the
bisector of each of the base angles
intersects the opposite side at right
angles and divides it into two equal
halves. A

C B
1.6.5 In a right angled triangle, one
of the three angles is equal to 90
degrees and the side facing the right
angle is called the hypotenuse.
Hypotenuse
Right angle
1.6.7 In a right angled triangle the
square of the hypotenuse is equal to
the sum of the squares of the other
two sides (Pythagoras' theorem)
A
AC  AB  AC
2 2 2

B C
1.6.8 In any triangle the length of one
side is not grater than the sum of the
lengths of the other two sides. That is,
if ABC is a triangle AB  AC  BC .
Exercise 1.0 solve for the unknowns in
each of the following:
1.
300

1400

x 700

2. y
1500
za
3. 60 0
x y
0
92
z w

4.
0
92

150 70
5.
x
y
 60
6. z 3x
120

w 60 x
7. 25
25
a 85 y
30 z
x

8
80
y
a
1.7 Similar Triangles
Two triangles are said to be similar
when: (i) their angles correspond and
are equal in pairs; (ii) the lengths of the
sides of one triangle are proportional
to those of another.
Consider the following triangles:
A D
F
C B E
CAB  FDE; ABC  DEF ; BCA  EFD
The sides are proportion al and so
AC AB BC
 
DF DE EF

If two triangles are similar the ratio of

their areas is equal to the square of the
ratio of corresponding sides.
i.e.
2 2 2
area of ABC AB AC BC
  
area of DEF DE DF EF

Example1.7.1 consider the figure

Below. A

E B

D C
Given that EB//DC show that
ABE  ACD .
Proof: since EB//DC
AEB  ADC (correspon ding angles)
ABE  ACD (correspon ding angles)
EAB  DAC(common)
Thus ACD  ABE
Exercise 1.7.1 (i)consider the figure
below. A
E

D C B
Given that CED  ABC , show that
ABD  ECD
(ii)consider the figure below.
 A find DE, CE and BD
10cm 8cm
B 7cmC
D E
Exercise 2.7.2 Find the unknown in each
of the following:
(i) A ycm
10cm B
zcm 5cm
E xcm D 8cm C
(ii) z (iii)
x x
8cm z0
0
140
12cm ycm y 0

2. Properties of Four sided figures

1. A rectangle is a four sided figure in
which: (i) opposite sides are
parallel; (ii) opposite sides are
(iii) adjacent sides intersect at right
angles; (iv) the diagonals bisect each
other and intersect at the centre.

2. A square has all the futures of a

rectangle. Here, all the sides are of
equal length and the diagonals bisect
at the centre at right angles.
3. A parallelogram is a four sided figure
in which: (i) opposite side are parallel
and equal in length; (ii) the diagonals
bisect at the centre and are equal in
length.
4. In Rhombus all the sides are of equal
length and the diagonals bisect each
other at right angles.
5. In a trapezium two of the sides are
parallel.

Exercise 2.7.3
Solve for the unknowns in each of the
following:
1. (a) 110 0 c

a b e
(b) z 0
(c) z0
300 y0 1200

x0 730
1600
x0
(d) z 0 y0 (e) y0
x0
1300

65 0 260

0 y0
z
(f) y 0

w 0 (g) v0
x0

x0 0 0
53 u0 w0
z 240
2.a xcm
zcm 3cm
b)ycm 10cm
8cm ycm
 0
7cm
12cm
xcm 8cm
in (b) the area of the rectangle is twice
the area of the triangle.
(c) (d) xcm
12cm 18cm
6cm

32cm 7.2cm
xcm
ycm 15.9cm
7.6cm zcm

2.4cm 3.4cm
3. Perimeters and Areas
3.1 The perimeter of a triangle is the
sum of the lengths of its sides.
c b
a
Perimeter p  a  b  c
3.2 The perimeter of a rectangle,
square, trapezium, rhombus or
parallelogram equals the sum of the
lengths of its sides.
 b
d c a a
a b
P  abcd P  2( a  b ) P  4a

a b
a
P  4a P  2( a  b )

3.3 Area of a triangle

(a) For a right angled triangle the area
is half the product of the base and the
height. h Area 
1
bh
2
b
(b) For a triangle with two given sides
the area is half the product of the
lengths the two sides and the sine of
the given angle.
1
a  b Area   a  b sin 
2

(c) For a triangle in which the lengths

of all the three sides are known we find
the semi perimeter and determine the
area as given below:
 1
b s  a  b  c   semi perimeter
c 2

a Area  s ( s  a )( s  b)( s  c)
3.4 The area of a rectangle is equal to
the product of the length and the
width. l
b Area  l  b

3.5 The area of a square is equal to the

product of the square of one side.
 Area  l 2

3.6 Area of a trapezium equals half the

sum of the lengths of the parallel sides
multiplied by the height.
b
1
Area  (a  b)  h
h 2
a
3.7 Area of a parallelogram equals the
product of the base and the height.

a h Area  b  h, where h  a sin 

b
3.8 The area of a rhombus equals half
the product of the lengths of its
diagonals. b a
1
Area   a  b
2
Exercise 3.1 find the area and the
perimeter of each of the following
figures:
6.6cm
1. 5cm 4.6cm 2. 7.2cm

6.7cm
3. 10.7cm 4. 600
450 300
28cm
45cm
5. 36.3cm
37.2cm
30.8cm

67.2cm 26cm
18.4cm
4. Circle theorems
4.1 The angle between a tangent and
the radius to a circle is 90 .
0

T
A
4.2 Angles subtended by an arc or a
chord of a circle on the same segment
D
are equal. A

C B
4.3 Angle in a semi circle is equal to 90 0

C B

4.4 Opposite angles in a cyclic

quadrilateral are supplementary(sum
up to ) A
180 0
B
DAB  BCD  180 0

ABC  CDA  180 0

D
C
4.5 Angle between a chord of a circle
and a tangent is equal to the angle in
the alternate segment.
A
B DCB  BAC

D
C
4.6 Angles subtended on the
circumference of a circle by chords or
arcs of equal lengths are equal.
 F
A
AB  ED
E and ACB  FDE
D B
C
4.7 The angles subtended by chords or
arcs of equal lengths at the centre of a
circle are equal. A
o
D
AB  DC
and AOB  DOC B
C
4.8 The angle subtended by a chord
or an arc at the centre of a circle is
twice that on the alternate
A
segment.

C B

Exercise 4.1 Find the value of the

unknown in each of the following:
 180
a0
0 0 z0
x z
b0 0 y0 x0 y0
38
1200
Show that x  y  z  900

w0
z0
y0
y0 x0
x 0 1300
27 0
820

z0
APPLIED MAHEMATICS
1. DYNAMICS
KINEMATICS OF A PARTICLE MOVING
IN A STRAIGHT LINE
Consider a particle projected with
speed u so that it covers a distance s
after time t reaching a speed of v and
an acceleration of a .
(i) The average speed of the particle is
given by
 sum of speeds total distance
average  
2 time
uv s

2 t
 t (u  v)  2 s.............(1)

(ii) The acceleration of the particle is

velocity change
given by accelerati on 
time
vu
a
t
  at  v  u
 v  u  at...............(2)
Using (2) on the left hand side of (1)
gives
t (u  u  at )  2 s
 t (2u  at )  2 s
1 2
 s  ut  at .........(3)
2
Now a  v  u  t  v  u ............(4)
t a
Substituting (4) in (1) gives
 v u 
 u  v   2 s
 a 
v  u  2as
2 2

 v  u  2as..............(5)
2 2

(2), (3) and (5) are the equations of

Motion for a particle moving with
constant acceleration along a straight
path.
Example 1. A particle is moving on a
straight path has an initial speed of u
and an acceleration a. The particle
covers a distance s after time t .
(i) Given that given that
v  7, u  5, a  1,
find s and t
(ii) If u  10, v  2, t  4,
find s and a
(iii) Given that u  50, s  300, a  4,
find t and v
(iv) if v  60, s  45, a  40,

find t and u
(v) If v  18, s  64, t  8,
find u and a
Example 2. a car starts from rest and
accelerates uniformly to a speed of
60km / h in 30 seconds. Find the distance
covered by the particle in this time.
Solution to example 1.
(i) v  7, u  5, a  1,
to find s and t
We consider the equation

v  u  2as
2 2
 7  5  2(1) s
2 2

49  25  2 s
49  25 24
s   12
2 2
From v  u  at
We have 7  5  (1)t
 t  75  2
(ii) u  10, v  2, t  4,
to find s and a we consider the
equation v  u  at
 2  10  a (4)
 4a  2  10
 12
a  3
4
Solution to example 2.
Since the car starts from rest u  0 .
v  60km/h, t  30 sec .
To find s we consider the equation
v  u  at
 60  0  30a
60
a 2
30
1 2
We now consider s  ut  at
2
1
 s  0(30)  (2)(30) 2

2
s  900km
Example 3. A particle is projected
upward from a point O with speed 25ms 1

Find the maximum height reached by

the particle and the time that elapsed
the time that elapsed before it returns
to O .
Solution: u  20, s  h,
For the upward motion a   g  10
At maximum height v  0 and thus
using the equation v  u  2as
2 2
We have 0 2  252  2 gh
 0  625  2(10)h
 10h  625
 h  62.5m
The time taken to reach maximum
height is given by
v  u  at
 0  25  ( g )t
 0  25  10t
 10t  25
t  2.5
The particle takes the same time to
reach maximum height and to return
to the point o projection from
maximum height.
Thus the total time of flight is
T  2  2.5  5s
Example 4. A boy on a bridge throws a
stone vertically upwards with a speed
of 12m / s . 4 seconds later the stone
hits the water below. Find the speed
with which the particle hit the water
and the initial height of the stone
above the water.
H  maximum height

u  6, a   g  10,
h  initial heightabov e water
t  2, s   h, v  ?
We treat this as the case of a particle
moving up continuously for 2 seconds.
The initial distance of the stone above
the water is negative.
1 2
From s  ut  at
2
1
We have h  6(2)  (10)( 2 )
2

2
h  12  20
h  8m
From v  u  2as
2 2

We have v  6  2(10)( 8)

2 2
v  36  160
2

v   196  14
Thus, the stone hits the water with a
speed of 14m / s and the initial height
of the stone above the water is 8m
Exercise 1.
The points P, Q, R and S lie on a straight
line such that QR=28m and RS=72m. A
Particle starting from rest at P moves
with constant acceleration and passes
through Q, R and S. Its speeds at R and
1 1
S are 9ms and 15ms respectively. Find
the speed of the particle at Q and
determine how long it takes to travel
from Q to S.
Exercise 2. (a) a particle accelerates
1
from rest at a constant rate of 3ms to
a speed of Vms . It mentioned this
1
speed for some time and then
decelerate at a constant rate of 1.5ms .2

If the total time taken is one minute

and the total distance travelled is one
km find the value of V .
(b) Two stations P and Q are 10km apart
a car travels at a constant speed of
144km / h passes station P at 9 : 00 hours.
At a distance skm from P the car applied
its brakes, producing a
 2
constant retardation of 0.4ms . Given
that the car comes to rest at P, find s
and determine when the car reaches P.
(c) A particle which is moving in a
straight line with constant acceleration
covers a distance of 10m in in 2s, it then
traveled a further distance of 20m in the
next 2s . Find the further distance
travelled in 3 more seconds and the
final speed of the particle at the end of
these 7 s .
(d) A bus being brought to rest with a
constant retardation travels 60m in 4s
and a further 60m in 8s . Find the
retardation of the train and the further
time it takes before coming to rest.
(e) A particle is projected vertically
upwards from a point P rises 20m in the
third second during its motion. Find
the initial speed of the particle and the
Maximum height reached by the
particle from P.
(f) A train sets off from a station P and
accelerate uniformly for t1s and arrives
at a point Q which is 300m . The train
t1

then traveled at a speed of Vkm / h for t 2 s

, covering a further distance of 1250m .
It then decelerate uniformly for t3 s ,
coming to rest at another station R. If
the total time taken is 3 min utes and
2t1  3t3 find the distance from P to R
and the values of t1 , t 2 , t3 and V .
(f) A stone is dropped from the top of a
tower. After one second another stone
is thrown vertically downwards from
the same point at a speed of 15m / s . If
the stones reach the ground
simultaneously , find the height of the
tower.
2. Motion With Variable Acceleration
In some motion, the distance, speed
and acceleration may all be functions
of time. In such situations we use the
methods of calculus.
Is s represents the distance, v the
speed, a the acceleration and t the
time have.
ds
(i) speed(velocity)= v  dt ..........ds..(1)d 2 s
(ii) acceleration a  2 ......(2)
dt dt
 ds
(iii ) v 
dt
 vdt  ds
  vdt   ds
 s   vdt ......................................(3)
dv
(iv ) a 
dt
 adt  dv
  adt   dv
 v   adt.......................................( 4)
Example 1. A particle p moves along a path such that
its distance m from a fixed point O is given by the
expression s  3t 3  14t 2  16t  10. Where t is the
time in seconds. Find (i) the distance of the particle
from O after 2 seconds; (ii) the distance covered by
the particle during the third second, (iii) the speed of
the particle after 4 seconds, (iv) the instance when the
particle is at rest and its distanse from O, (v) the
accelerati on of the particle after 3 seconds.
Solution :
(i) After 2 seconds t  2 ans so
s  3t  14t  16t  10
3 2

 s  3(2)  14(2)  16(2)  10  24  56  32  10

3 2

s  10m
(ii ) the distance covered during the third second is the
Example 1. A particle p moves along a path
such that its distance m from a fixed point O
is given by the expression
s  3t  14t  16t  10. Where t is the time
3 2

in seconds. Find (i) the distance of the

particle from O after 2 seconds; (ii) the
distance covered by the particle during the
third second, (iii) the speed of the particle
after 4 seconds, (iv) the instance when the
particle is at rest and its distanse from O,
(v) the accelerati on of the particle after 3
seconds.
Solution : (i) After 2 seconds t  2 ans so
s  3t  14t  16t  10
3 2

 s  3(2)  14(2)  16(2)  10

3 2

 24  56  32  10  10m
(ii ) the distance covered during the third
second is the distance between t  2 and
t  3.
At t  3, s  3(3)  14(3)  16(3)  10
3 2

 81  126  48  10  13m
Thus the distance covered during the third
second is s  s3  s2  13  10  3m
(iii ) speed  v  ds dt  9t  28t  16
2
v  94   28(4)  16  144  112  16  48m / s
2

(iv ) At rest the velocity is zero

 9t  28t  16  0
2

28  (28)  4(9)(16)
2
so t 
18
t  2.3568s or t  0.7543s
When t  2.3568,
s  3(2.3568)  14(2.3568)  16(2.3568)  10
3 2

s  9.2983  9.3m
When t  0.7543,
s  3(0.7543)  14(0.7543)  16(0.7543)  10
3 2

s  15.3908  15.4m
 dv
(v) a   18t  28
dt
At t  3, a  18(3)  28  26m / s 2

Example 2 . The accelerati on of a car

which is moving along curved road is
a  12t  34 m/s . Given that the car is
2

moving with a speed of 40 m / s when

it is at a distance of 10m from a gas
station at t  0, find :
(i) the speed of the car at tiime t ; (ii) the distance
of the car from the gas station at any time t ;
(iii) the time when the car is momentaril y at rest
and its distance from the gas station at this
instance; (iv) the maximum speed of the car and
its distance from the gas station at this instane.
Solution :
(i) the speed of the car at time t is v   adt
v   (12t  34)dt  6t  34t  c...................(1)
2

But v  40 at t  0 so (1) gives

40  6(0)  34(0)  c  c  40
2
Thus v  6t  34t  40
2

(ii ) The distance from the gas satation at any time is

 
s   vdt   6t  34t  40 dt  2t  17t  40t  k
2 3

But s  10 at t  10 so k  10
Thus s  2t  17t  40t  10
3

(iii) When the car is at rest v  0 so we have

6t  34t  40  0  3t  17t  20  0
2 2

 (t  4)(3t  5)  0
5
Therefore t  4 s or t  s
3
When t  4 the distance is
s  2(4)  17(4)  40(4)  10
3

 128  68  160  60  230m

 5
When t  the distance is
3
3 2
5 5 5
s  2   17   40   10
3 3 3
 38.7037 m
( v) the maximum speed of th car occur when
the accelerati on is zero.
17
That is 12t  34  0  t 
6
The distance of the car from the gas station is then
3 2
 17   17   17 
s  2   17   40   10
6 6 6
 32.63519m
Exercise 1.
1. Aparticle moving in a straight line such that its
Exertcise1.
displaceme nt from a fixed point after time t seconds
is s  2t  13t  20t. Find the total distance
3 2

1. Apar t i cl e movi ng i n a st
travelled and the maximum speed attained by the
rai g ht
particle in the first 4 seconds of its motion. Find also
l ine such t h at i t s
di s pl aceme nt from a fi x ed poi n
the range of values of t for which the accelerati on of
the particle is negative.
t af t er t i m e t seconds i s s
2. A particle moving in a straight line starts from rest
at a point A. Its accelerati on at time t is
45  12t  9t m / s . If the particle comes to
2 2

rest instantani ously at a point B, find the

distance AB and the time the particle takes to
reach B. Find also the maximum accelerati on
and the maximum speed attained in this time.
3. Two cars P and Q move along a straight road
fro a gas station G such that at time t their
distance from the gas station are xP and xQ ,
respective ly. If xP  5t (t  7) and xQ  t (t  3),
2 3

find (a) the time the cars meet again,

(b) an expression for the velocity of P
relative to Q, (c) the range of values of t for
which P is moving faster tha n Q.
3.Due to track repairs a train retards
2
uniformly at 1m / s , from a speed of
40m / s at A to a speed of 10m / s at B.
The train tra vels a distance of 3.5km,
at a constant speed of 10m / s and
then accelerate s uniformly at 0.2m / s
so that its speed at D is 40m / s.
Sketch the velocity time graph for the
journey from A to D, and show that
the distance between th ese points is
8km. Show that the journey
from A to D takes 330 s more than it
would if the train tra velled at a
constant speed of 40m / s from A to D.
4. A particle moves along a curve such
that its displaceme nt from a fixed point O
1 3 7 2
is x  t  t  12t. Find : (i) the
3 2
distanceof the particle from O after 3
seconds; (ii) the speed of the particle at
any value of t; (iii) when the particle is
at rest and its distance from O; (iv) the
maximum and the maximum accelerati on
of the particle.

2. Momentum and Kinetic energy

(i) The momentum of a of a body is the
product of ist mas and speed.
momentum  mass  speed  mv
The unit of momentum is the kgm / s
(ii ) The kinetic energy is the energy
possessed by an object by virtue of
its motion. It is half the product of
the mass and the square of the speed.
 1
ke  mv
2

2
(iii ) Principle of Linear Momentum :
This states thet in a conservati ve system
the total momentum is always the same.
(iv) Momentum and Collision (direct impact)
Suppose two particles of masses m1 and m2
moving initially with speeds u1 and u2 collide
directly so that thei r speeds after collision are
v1 and v2 .
before impact after impact
u1 u2 v1 v2
By the conservation of linear
momentum we have
m1u1  m2u2  m1v1  v2u2
The change in kinetic energy due to
impact is
1 1 1 1 2
m1v1  m2 v2   m1u1  m2u2 
2 2 2

2 2 2 2 
1
2
 2 2
 
 m1v1  m2 v2  m1u1  m2u2
2 2

Example 1.
Two particles A and B of masses 2kg and
3kg moving in the same
directions8m /with
s speeds
10m / s and
collide directly. Given that the speed of
B 6after
m / s impact is find the speed of
A after impact.
Find also the change in kinetic energy
due to collision.
Solution: consider the figures given
be v1
before impact after impact
8 10 v1 6  ve
A B A B
By the law of conservation of linear
momentum we have:
m1u1  m2u 2  m1v1  v2u 2
 2(8)  3(10)  2v1  3(6)
 16  30  2v1  18
 2v1  46  18  28  v1  14
total ke before impact 
1
2
1 1
 
m1u1  m2u2  2  82  3  10 2  214
2

2
2

2
total ke after impact 
1
2
2 1
2
2 1
2
 2 2

m1v1  m2 v2  2  14  3  6  250

loss in ke  ke after impact - ke before impact

 250 - 214  36 J
2. Aparticle of mass 4kg moving in a given
direction with a speed of 5m / s collides directly
with a second particle of mass 7kg which is
moving in the opposite direction with a speed of
10m / s. Given that the particles stick toge ther after
impact, find their common speed and the direction
in which t he particles are are now movingm.
solution :
before impact after impact
5 10 v positive
4kg 7kg 11kg direction
Let the positive direction be as given above
By the law of conservati on of linear momentum we
have m1u1  m2u2  (m1  m2 )v
 4(5)  7(10)  (4  7)v
 20  70  11v  50  11v
50
 v    4.545
11
The negative sign her indicates that the
motion is in the reverse directio to that
chosen
Exercise :
1. A railway truck of mass 1200kg is
moving along a straight level track at
7 m / s when it collides with another
truck of mass 8000kg moving in the
same direction at 2m / s. After the
collision the trucks move on together.
Find the common speed of the trucks
after impact.
2.A bullet of mass 0.04kg is fired in to a
block of wood of mass 1.4kg which
rests on a horizontal surface . The
bullet becomes embedded in the block
And after impact they move on
together at a speed of 20m/s. find the
speed at which the bullet is fired.
3. Two particles, A of mass 4kg and B of
mass 2kg, are moving miving
horizontally along the same straight
line when they collide. Both come to
rest instantaneously. If the velocity of A
just before impact was 3m/s, find the
velocity of B and the loss in kinetic
energy in the impact.
4. A gun of mass of mass 4kg fires a
bullet of mass 20g at a speed of
500m/s. find the speed of the gun’s
recoil and the energy of the explosion
in the gun.
5. Two particles A and B of mass 3kg
and 5kg respectively, collide. Just
before impact A is moving with speed
8m/s and B is moving with speed 4m/s
in the opposite direction. Immediately
after impact A rebounds with speed
7m/s. find the speed of B immediately
after impact.
6. A railway truck of mass 3000kg
moving at 4m/s collides with a truck of
mass 2000kg moving at 1m/s. if the
trucks move on together after impact,
find their common speed just after
impact. If a constant retarding force of
400N acts on the trucks after impact,
find the distance they travelled before
coming to rest.

Composition and resolution of forces

and velocities.
1. Resultant force
Forces and velocities can be added by
using the triangular law or the
parallelogram law.
The triangular law: consider the forces
given below.
F R F
RN
P
P

The parallelogram law

F R

P
Example1. find the resultant of two
forces of magnitudes 4 N and 5 N which
act at right angle to each other.
4N RN

5N
We have from pythagoras’ theorem
R 2  4 2  52  41
 R  41  6.4
4
tan   0.8    tan 0.8  38.7
1

5
Example 2. two forces acting on a
particle have magnitudes 2 N and 3N . If
the angle between their directions 60 0

is , find the resultant force on the

particle and its direction.
Exercise 1. two forces of magnitudes FN
and PN act on a block of wood such
that the angle between them is  . If RN
is the resultant of the forces, solve for
the unknown on each of the following
Cases: (i) R  10 N , P  3N ,  20 ;0

(II) F  15 N , P  30 N ,   38 0
,
(III) F;  35 N , P  23N , R  42 N
(IV) F  76 N , P  60 N ,  120 , 0

(V) F  48 N , P  36 N ,  1020 ;
(VI) .R  18.3N , P  15.7 N , R  26.5 N

Resolution of forces
Any force can be resolved into two
mutually perpendicular directions.
Consider the forces P and Q in the
x  y plane as given below:
y
Q P
Q sin  P sin 
 
Q cos  P cos x

Thus the sum of the forces along the x

and y directions are:
X  P cos   Q cos 
Y  P sin   Q sin 
The resultant of the Pand Q is
2 and its inclination to
R  X Y 2
Y
the x-axis is given by tan  
X

Example1. Resolve each of the

following forces along the x and y
direction and fin the resultant and its
inclination to the positive x-axis.
50 N
0
y 20 N
60 30 0
x
Resolving along the x direction gives
 3
  50 
1
X  20 cos 30  50 cos 60  20
0 0

 2  2
 10 3  25  5(2 3  5)

Resolving along the x direction gives

1  3
Y  20 sin 30  50 sin 60  20   50
0 0


2  2 
 10  25 3  5(2  5 3 )

The resultant is given by R  X Y

2 2

R 5(2  
2

3  5)  5(2  5 3 )  10 29
2
Its inclination to the positive x direction
Y 5(2  5 3 )
is given by tan   
X 5(2 3  5)
(2  5 3 )
tan    6.94073
(2 3  5)
   tan (6.94073)  81.80
1

This angle is in the second quadrant.

Thus the inclination of the resultant to
the positive x-axis is
  180  81.8014  98.1986
  98.2 0
EXERCISE 1. Find the magnitudes of the
horizontal and vertical components of
(a) a force of 25 N acting at to the
40 0

horizontal, (b) a force of 30 N acting at 76 0

to the horizontal, (c) a force of 18 N

acting at 54 to the vertical,
0

EXERCISE 2.
(a) A set of coplanar forces of
magnitudes 10 N ,12 N ,18 N and 14 N act on a
particle in directions N 60 0
W, south-west,
North and north-west. Find the
magnitude and direction of their
resultant.
(b) A particle is being pulled along a
smooth horizontal plane by three
strings. The directions of the strings are
0 0
N 60 W ,due north and N 30 E . If the
tensions in the string are of magnitude
14 N ,11 N and 9N respectively, find the
resultant force on the particle and give
its direction.
Exercise 3.
(i) A block of mass 3kg is suspended by
means of two light wires such that one
wire makes an angle of 30 with the
0

upward vertical and the other makes

an angle of 30 with the horizontal.
0

Given that the wires are on the same

plane and that the block is in
equilibrium find the tension in each
String.
(ii)A bead of mass 0.5kg is threaded to
the mid point of a light inextensible
string. Both ends of the string are
fastened to the points A and B of two
vertical pegs. Given the A and B are at
a vertical height of 20cm above the
bead and that the length of the string
is 50cm find the tension on each string
and its inclination to the horizontal
when the bead is in equilibrium
(iii) A wooden block of mass 10kg rests
on a smooth plane which is inclined at
an angle of 60 to the horizontal. Given
0

that the block is in equilibrium when a

string which makes an angle of 15 with
0

the plane find the tension in the string.

LAMI’S THEOREM
This states that if three forces are in
equilibrium they are concurrent and
each force is proportional to the sin of
the angle between the other two
forces. P F


F P Q  
 
sin  sin  sin 
Q

Example 1. A particle of mass 8kg is

attached to an end of a light inelastic
string of length 4m. The other end of
the string is fastened to a fixed vertical
wall. The particle is also held at a
distance of 2.4m away from the wall by
a horizontal force F. Find F and the
magnitude of the tension in the string.
Example 2. A smooth ring R of weight
7.5N is free to move on alight
inextensible string which is fastened to
two points A and B at the same
horizontal level. The ring is kept in
equilibrium by a horizontal force of
0
magnitude F such that angle ABR is 30
and AR is vertical. Find the magnitude
of the force F.
Example 3. One end of a light
inextensible string of length 72m is
fixed to a vertical pole. A particle of
weight 24N is attached to the other
end of the string. The is pulled and
held 24cm away from the pole by a
horizontal force P. Find the magnitude
of P and the tension in the string.
Example 4. An object of weight 9N is
suspended from a point in space by a
light inextensible string. The object is in
equilibrium by means of a horizontal
force F when the string is inclined at an
angle of 63 to the horizontal. Find the
0

magnitude of F and the tension in the

string.
Example 5. A particle of weight 65N is
hanging in equilibrium supported by
two light inextensible strings which are
inclined at 72 and 58 to the
0 0

horizontal. Find the magnitudes of the

tensions in the string.
Example 6. A particle of weight 20N is
held at rest on a smooth plane which is
inclined at 30 to the horizontal by a
0

light string . Find the tension in the

string and the reaction between the
particle and the plane if (i) the string is
parallel to the plane, (ii) the string is
inclined at 60 to the plane.
0

VECTORS
A vector is a quantity that has both
magnitude and direction. A scalar
quantity , on the other hand, has
magnitude only but not direction.
Example of vectors include the
following: displacement; velocity;
acceleration; weight; force.
Examples of scalar quantities are:
length; distance; mass; speed; energy;
work and power.
Representation of vectors
The following are different
  ways

of B
b a
representing vectors: ; b; , ; A
A AB ~

Vectors in two Dimensions

We represent vectors in two
dimensions as follows: 
3   b  a  3 i  2 j, B  b i  b j
(i) a   , B    or (ii)
 1 ~ ~ ~
1
~
2
~
~
 2  b2 

We can represent vectors on the

Cartesian coordinate plane as follows:
y

r r  x i y j
~ ~
~ y ~
j i
~ ~ x
x
We can add and subtract vectors in two
dimensions.
If a  3 i  2 j and b  5 i  4 j we have:
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~

(i) a  b  3 i  2 j  5 i  4 j  3  5i  2  4 j  8 i  6 j
 3 i  2 j   5 i  4  j  3  5 i  2  4  j  2 i  2 j
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

(ii) a 
~
b  
 ~

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Exercise: Given the vectors a  4 i 6 j

, ~ ~ ~
b  7 i  5 j c  10 i  11 j
~ ~, ~
~
, find the following:
~ ~

(i) ; (ii) ; (iii) 3 a 2 c , (iv) 5 b 11 c ,

a b
~ ~
a b
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

(v) 10 a 7 c ~ ~

We can also express velocity, force and

acceleration in component form along
the and directions. Example: If forces
~
i
~
j

of magnitude 20 N and30 N act on a

particle in directions making angles of
300 and 1200 respectively with the positive
x direction find their resultant in vector
form and give its magnitude and
y
direction. 30 N
j 20 N
~
0
60 300 x
i
~
We resolve the 20 N force as follows:
F  20 cos 30 i  20 sin 30 j
~1 ~ ~

 3 1

 20  i  20  j

 2  2 ~
~

 10 3 i  10 j ..............(1)
~ ~

We resolve the 30 N force as follows:

F  30 cos 60 i  30 sin 60 j
~ 2 ~ ~

1  3
 30  i  30 j
~
 2~  2 
 15 i  15 3 j ..............(2)
~ ~
The resultant force is given in vector
form as R  F  F
~ ~1 ~ 2

 10 3 i  10 j  15 i  15 3 j
~ ~ ~ ~

   
 10 3  15 i  10  15 3 j
~ ~

R  52 3  3i  52  3 3  j

~ ~ ~

The magnitude of the resultant force is

R  52 3  3  52  3 3 
2 2

given by ~

  
 25 12  12 3  9  25 4  12 3  27 
 5 12  12 3  9  4  12 3  27
 5 12  9  4  27  5 52  20 13 N
The inclination of the resultant to the
positive x direction is
Y 
  tan 1  
X
 
1 5 2  3 3
 tan 
  tan 1
23 3 
   80.310

5 2 3 3   2 3 3
 

Exercise: If forces of magnitude 10 N and

15 N act on a particle in directions
making angles of and respectively
45 0
150 0

with the positive x direction find their

resultant in vector form and give its
magnitude and direction.