Homework Notes

1-D Kinematics
What is physics?
9/3/2015

Kinematics = the branch of mechanics concerned with the motion of

objects without references to the forces that cause the motion.

Video:
Fact = Matter is anything that has mass and takes up stuff.
Question = How is mass converted into energy?
Opinion = Biology and Chemistry do not relate to Physics.

Lesson 1:

9/8/15
Introduction:

Kinematics = the science of describing the motion of objects using

words, diagrams, numbers, graphs, and equations
o
Branch of mechanics
o
Describes and explains the motion of real-world objects
Scalars and Vectors:

Mathematical quantities that are used to describe the motion of

objects are divided into two categories
o
Scalars = quantities that are fully described by a magnitude
alone
o
Vectors = quantities that are fully described by both a
magnitude and a direction
Distance and Displacement:

Distance = scalar quantity that refers to how much ground and

object has covered during its motion

Displacement = vector quantity that refers to how out of place an

object is, object's overall change in position

Speed and Velocity:

Speed = scalar quantity that refers to how fast an object is moving

o
The rate at which an object covers distance
o
An object with no movement has zero speed

Velocity = vector quantity that refers to the rate at which an object

changes its position
o
Must include direction (same direction as its velocity vector)

Equations o
Average speed = distance traveled / time of travel
o
Average Velocity = displacement / time

Instantaneous speed = the speed at any given instant in time

Average speed = the average of all instantaneous speeds, found by

distance/time
Acceleration:

Acceleration = vector quantity that is defined as the rate at which

an object changes its velocity
o
If an object is not changing its velocity, it is not accelerating

Constant acceleration = object changing its velocity by the same

amount each second

Equation o
Average acceleration = change in velocity/time

The directions depends on two things

o
Whether the object is speeding up or slowing down
o
Whether the object is moving in positive or negative direction
Definitions:

Scalar - quantity that is fully described by a magnitude alone

Vector - quantity that is fully described by both a magnitude and

direction

Distance - scalar quantity that refers to how much ground an object

has covered during its motion

Displacement - vector quantity that refers to how far out of place an

object is

Speed - scalar quantity that refers to how fast an object is moving

Velocity - vector quantity that refers to the rate at which an object

changes in position

Instantaneous speed - speed at any given instant in time

Average speed - average of all instantaneous speeds, found by

distance/time

Acceleration - vector quantity that is defined as the rate at which an

object changes its velocity

Average velocity - displacement/time

Lesson 2:

9/10/15
Introduction:

There are two most commonly used types of diagrams used to

describe motion
o
Ticker tape diagrams
o
Vector diagrams
Ticker Tape Diagrams:

A long tape is attached to a moving object and threaded through a

device that places a tick upon the tape at regular intervals of time
o
The trail of dots provides a history of the object's motion

The distance between dots represents the object's position change

during the time interval
o
A large distance indicates the object was moving fast during
that interval
o
A small distance indicates the object was moving slow during
that interval

Changing distance between dots indicates acceleration

A constant distance between dots indicates constant velocity

Vector Diagrams:

Diagrams that depict the direction and relative magnitude of a

vector quantity by a vector arrow
o
Used to describe the velocity of a moving object during its
motion

Vector arrow represents the direction of an object's motion

The magnitude of a vector quantity is represented by the size of the

vector arrow

If arrows are the same, the object's velocity is constant

If the arrows are changing size, the object is accelerating

Lesson 3:

9/17/15
The Meaning of Shape for a p-t Graph:

Specific features of the motion of objects are demonstrated by the

shape and slope of the lines on a position time graph

A motion describe as constant with a positive slope results in a line

of constant and positive slope

An object accelerating with a positive slope would result in a curved

line in the positive direction

Whatever characteristics the velocity has, the slope will also have

Smaller velocity indicates smaller slope, bigger velocity indicates

bigger slope

The Meaning of Slope for a p-t Graph:

The slope reveals pertinent information about an object's velocity

Constant slope = constant velocity, negative slope = negative

velocity, changing slope = changing velocity

The slope of the line is equal to the velocity of the object

Determining the Slope for a p-t Graph:

Slope = y / x
o
Pick two lines on the line and determine their coordinates
o
Find the difference in y-coordinates of these two points
o
Find the difference in x-coordinates for these two points
o
Divide the differences in y-coordinates by the differences in xcoordinates , which will give you the slope

Lesson 4:

9/21/15
Meaning of Shape for a v-t Graph:

Objects moving with constant velocity have zero acceleration

Motion described as constant, positive velocity results in a line of

zero slope on a velocity-time graph

Motion described as changing, positive velocity results in a sloped

line on a velocity-time graph

The slope of the line on a velocity-time graph reveals information

about the object's acceleration

If the acceleration is negative, the slope is negative

The velocity is positive whenever the line lies in the positive region
of the graph

The velocity is negative whenever the line lies in the negative region
of the graph

Positive velocity means the object is moving in the positive

direction, negative velocity means the object is moving in the
negative direction

If the line crosses the x-axis, then the object has changed direction

The object is speeding up if the line is heading away from zero

The object is slowing down if the line is heading towards zero

Meaning of Slope for a v-t Graph:

A car moving at a constant velocity has no acceleration which would

create a horizontal on a v-t graph, which means the acceleration is
equal to the slope in this case

A car acceleration 10 m/s/s would have a slope of 10 m/s/s on a v-t

graph, which means the acceleration is the same as the slope again
The slope of a line on a velocity-time graph is equal to the
acceleration

Relating the Shape to the Motion:

A car with rightward and constant velocity would result in a positive

horizontal line

A car with leftward and constant velocity would result in a negative

horizontal line

A car with leftward velocity and rightward acceleration would result

in a negative line slowing down
Determining the Slope on a v-t Graph:

Slope = y/x

How to calculate:
o
Pick two points on the line, and determine their coordinates
o
Determine the difference in y-coordinates for these two points
o
Determine the difference in x-coordinates for these two points
o
Divide the difference in y-coordinates by the difference in xcoordinates
Determining the Area on a v-t Graph:

For velocity-time graphs, the area bound by the line and axes
represent the displacement

Rectangle: area = b*h

Triangle: area = .5 * b * h

Trapezoid: area = .5 * b * (h1 + h2)

Lesson 5:

9/28/15
Representing Free Fall by Graphs:

A free fall object would result in a curved line starting slow then
accelerating downward on a position-time graph
o
The velocity starts out small then gets large, and the
downward direction is represented with a negative slope

A free fall object would result in a straight diagonal line in the

negative direction on a velocity-time graph
o
The object starts with zero velocity and finishes with a large,
negative velocity

Lesson 6:
9/24/15
Kinematic Equations:

Kinematic equations are used to predict unknown information about

an object's motion if other information is known

The equations can never be used when the acceleration is changing

Can only be used with constant velocity or constant acceleration

The equations:
o
d = vi * t + .5 * a * t
o
vf = vi + 2 * a * d
o
vf = vi + a * t
o
d = (vi + vf) / 2 * t

The d stands for the object's displacement, the t stands for the time
which the object moved, the a stands for the object's acceleration, v
stands for the object's velocity, the f and I after the v stand for final
or initial velocity
Kinematic Equations and Problem-Solving:

The four kinematic equations can be used to solve problems that

have a constant velocity or acceleration, and where some variables
are known

Problem-solving steps:
o
Construct an informative diagram of the physical situation
o
Identify and list the given information in variable form
o
Identify and list the unknown information in variable form
o
Identify and list the equation that will be used to determine
the unknown information from known information
o
Substitute known values into the equation and use
appropriate algebraic steps to solve for the unknown information
o
Check your answer to insure that it is reasonably and
mathematically correct
Kinematic Equations and Free Fall:

A free falling object is an object that is falling under the sole

influence of gravity

Free fall objects experience a downwards acceleration of 9.81 m/s/s

The motion of free fall objects can be describe the four kinematic
equations:
o
d = vi * t + .5 * a * t
o
vf = vi + 2 * a * d
o
vf = vi + a * t
o
d = (vi + vf) / 2 * t

If an object is merely dropped from an elevated height, than the

initial velocity of the object is 0 m/s

Newtons Laws
Lesson 1:
10/6/15
Newton's First Law:

The law of inertia

"an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in

motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted
upon by an unbalanced force"

Two parts of the law:

o
Prediction of the behavior of stationary objects
o
Prediction of the behavior of moving objects

Objects tend to keep on doing what they're doing

Examples:
o
Blood rushes from your to your feet while quickly stopping
when riding on a descending elevator
o
A brick is painlessly broke of a person's hand by slamming it
with a hammer
o
Headrests are placed in cars to prevent whiplash injuries from
rear collisions
Inertia and Mass:

Inertia = the tendency to resist changes in an object's state of

motion or velocity

Force is not needed to keep an object in motion

Mass is solely dependent upon the inertia of an object

The more inertia an object has, the more mass the object has

More massive objects have a greater tendencies to resist changes in

their state of motion

Friction causes moving objects to eventually stop moving

State of Motion:

Ab object at rest will remain at rest

An object will not change its state of motion unless acted upon by
an unbalanced force

Objects naturally resist changes in their velocity

Balanced and Unbalanced Forces:

Balanced Force:
o
An object is at equilibrium when all forces acting against it
balance each other
o
Two forces of equal magnitude in opposite directions will
balance
o
There are no unbalanced forces acting against an object thus
the object maintains its state of motion

Unbalanced Force:
o
Unequal forces acting upon the object cause an unbalanced
force

o
o

Object is not at equilibrium if there is an unbalance force

Unbalanced forces cause acceleration

Lesson 2:
10/8/15
The Meaning of Force:

Force = a push or pull upon an object resulting from the object's

interaction with another object
o
Only exist as a result of an interaction
o
Vector quantity, has both magnitude and direction

Contact Forces:
o
Types of forces that result when two interacting objects are
physically contacting each other
o
Examples = friction, tension, normal, air resistance, and
applied forces

At-a-Distance Force:
o
Types of forces that result even when the two interacting
objects are not in physical contact
o
Examples = gravitational, electrical, and magnetic forces
Types of Forces:

Applied force = force that is applied to an object by another object

or person

Gravity force = force with which the earth, moon, or another

massive object attracts another object towards itself

Normal force = the support force exerted upon an object that is in

contact with another stable object

Friction force = the force exerted by a surface as an object moves

across it or makes an effort to move across it
o
Sliding friction = results when an object slides across a
surface
o
Static friction = results when the surfaces of two objects are
at rest

Tension force = the force transmitted through a string, cable, rope,

or wire when it is pulled tight by forces acting from opposite ends

Spring force = the force exerted by a compressed or stretched

spring upon any object that is attached to it

Weight = force of gravity acting upon an object

Mass = the amount of matter that is contained by the object

Drawing Free-Body Diagrams:

Used to show the relative magnitude and direction of all forces

acting upon an object

The size of the arrow reflects the magnitude of the force

The direction of the arrow shows the direction that the force is
acting

Each force arrow is labeled to indicate the exact type of force

The object will generally represent by a box in the diagram

Determining the Net Force:

Net force = the vector sum of all the forces that act upon an object
o
Causes acceleration

If there is zero acceleration, the net force is zero

Two force of equal magnitude in opposite direction will cancel each

other

Lesson 3:
10/14/15

Newton's Second Law:

The second law of motion predicts the behavior of objects

The acceleration of an object depends directly upon the net force

acting upon the object, and inversely upon the mass of the object
o
As the force increases, the acceleration increases
o
As the mass increases, the acceleration decreases

Equations:
o
a = Fnet / m
o
Fnet = m * a
The Big Misconception:

Sustaining motion does NOT require a continued force

Net force cause acceleration, and the acceleration is in the same

direction as the net force
Finding Acceleration:

Mass and net force of the object must be known to determine

acceleration
o
a = Fnet / m

Gravity Force Equation:

o
Fgrav = m * g

Friction Force Equation:

o
Ffrict = * Fnorm
Finding Individual Forces:

If the numerical value for the net force and the direction force of the
net force is known, then the value of all individual forces can be
determined

The previous equations, and the information given can all together
also be used to determine all individual forces

Lesson 4:
10/20/15

Newton's Third Law:

The third law states that for every action, there is an equal and
opposite reaction

In every action, there is a pair of forces acting on the two interacting

objects

The size of the forces on the first object will equal the size of force
on the second object

The direction of the force in the first object is the opposite to the
direction of the force on the second object

Forces always come in pairs

Identifying Action & Reaction Force Pairs:

For every action, there is an equal (in size), and opposite (in
direction) reaction force

Who is pushing on whom? And in what direction?

Examples:
o
Baseball pushes glove leftwards, Glove pushes ball rightwards
o
Bowling ball pushes pin leftwards, Pin pushes bowling ball
rightwards

Vectors Motion & Forces in 2 Dimensions

Lesson 1:
11/2/15
Vector Addition:

Magnitude:

Two vectors can be added together to determine the resultant

The Pythagorean theorem can be used to find the result

The displacement will be the hypotenuse

Direction:

Direction of the result can be found using trigonometry

Trigonometry = (So/h, Ca/h, To/a)

Head-to-Tail Method:

Draw vectors using scale on graph paper

The order in which you add the vectors is insignificant

The resultant will still have the same magnitude and direction
Resultant:

Resultant = the vector sum of two or more vectors

When displacement vectors are added, the result is a resultant

displacement

If two or more velocity vectors, the result is a resultant velocity

If two or more force vectors are added, the result is a resultant force

The resultant is basically the vector sum of all the individual vectors
11/6/15
Relative velocity and Riverboat Problems:

The plane travels with a velocity relative to the ground which is the
vector sum of the plane's velocity plus the wind velocity
Tailwind = wind approaching a plane from behind
Headwind = wind that approaches a plane from the front
Resulting velocity of side wind and plane velocity can be found using
the Pythagorean theorem
Direction of the resulting velocity can be found using trigonometry

Independent of Perpendicular Components of Motion:

A force vector directed upwards and rightwards has 2 parts

These 2 parts are referred to as the components

The components are independent, a change in the horizontal

component will not affect the vertical component

A change in one component will affect the resulting magnitude, and

not the other component

Lesson 2:
11/10/15
What is a projectile?

Projectile = an object upon which the only force acting is gravity

o
Any object that once projected or dropped continues In motion
by its own inertia and is influenced only by the downward force of
gravity

All projectiles will have the same free body diagram

Force is only required to maintain acceleration

If a projectile is moving upwards, there is a downward force causing

a downward acceleration
Characteristics of a Projectile's Trajectory:

Projectiles can undergo both a horizontal and vertical motion

Acceleration of gravity = a rate at which free-falling object fall at

There must be a horizontal force to cause horizontal acceleration

Projectiles travel with a parabolic trajectory

o
The downward force of gravity accelerates them downward
from the straight, gravity free, trajectory line

All forces are independent

The horizontal velocity of a projectile is constant

Horizontal and Vertical Components of Velocity:

Vertical velocity changes by 9.8 m/s every second

Lengths of the vector arrows represent the magnitude of the

quantity

Horizontal velocity remains constant and the vertical velocity

changes by 9.8 m/s every second
Horizontal and Vertical Displacement:

The vertical displacement of a projectile is dependent only upon the

acceleration of gravity
o
Vertical displacement equation - y = .5 * 9.81 * t
Force of gravity does not affect horizontal motion
The horizontal displacement of a projectile is only influenced by the
horizontal speed and amount of time it has been moving
o
Horizontal displacement equation - x = v (speed) * t (time)

Initial Velocity Components:

If a projectile is launch at an angle to the horizontal, then the initial

velocity has both a vertical and horizontal component

The horizontal velocity component describes the influence of the

velocity in displacing the projectile horizontally

The vertical velocity component describes the influence of the

velocity in displacing the projectile vertically

Trigonometric functions are used to determine the magnitudes

Horizontally Launched Projectile Problems:

Physics principles can be used to make predictions about the final

outcome of a moving object

With projectiles, information about the initial velocity and position of

the projectile can be used to predict the time the projectile is in the
air and how far it will go

Horizontal Motion equations, x = horizontal displacement, ax =

horizontal acceleration, Vfx = final horizontal velocity, Vix = initial
horizontal velocity
o
X = Vix * t + .5 * Ax * t
o
Vfx = Vix *+ Ax * t
o
Vfx = Vix + 2* Ax * x

Vertical Motion Equations, y = vertical displacement, Ay = vertical

displacement, Vfy = final vertical velocity, Viy = initial vertical
velocity
o
Y = Viy * t + .5 * Ay * t
o
Vfy = Viy + Ay * t
o
Vfy = Viy + 2 *Ay * y
Non-Horizontally Launched Projectile Problems:

Non-horizontally launched projectile = a projectile that begins its

motion with an initial velocity that is both horizontal and vertical

Horizontal acceleration = 0

Vertical acceleration = 9.81

Horizontal component equation =

o
X = Vix * t + .5 * ax * t

Vertical component equation =

o
Y = Viy * t + .5 * ay * t

Momentum and Its Conservation

Lesson 1:
12/1/15
Momentum:

Momentum = the quantity of motion that an object has

o
If an object is in motion, then it has momentum

Amount of momentum depends on two variables

o
How much stuff is moving (mass)
o
How fast the stuff is moving (velocity)

Momentum = mass * velocity

Symbol = p

Unit = kg * m/s

Vector quantity (fully described by both magnitude and direction)

o
The direction is the same as the velocity's direction

Object will have large momentum if both its mass and velocity are
large

Both velocity and mass are of equal important for the momentum
Momentum and Impulse Connection:

In order to stop an object with momentum, it is necessary to apply a

force against its motion for a certain amount of time

The more momentum an object has, the harder it is to stop

A force changes the velocity of an object, and if velocity changes,

the momentum also changes

The force times the time equals the mass times the changes in
velocity

Quantity force * time = impulse, impulse = change In momentum

Impulse-momentum changed equation:

o
F * t = m * v
o
The result of a force acting for a given amount of time is that
the object's mass either speeds up or slows down

Equations in words:
o
Impulse experienced by an object is the force*time
o
The momentum change of an object is the mass*velocity
change
o
The impulse = the momentum change
Real-World Applications:

The effect of collision time:

o
Force and time are inversely proportional
o
The greater the time which the collision occurs, the smaller
the force acting upon the object

To minimize the effect of the force, the time must be

increased

To maximize the effect of the force, the time must be

decreased
o
Example:

Airbags (they are able to minimize the effect of the force

on an object involved in a collision by extending the time
required to stop the momentum of the driver and passenger)
The effect of rebounding:
o
When objects bounce off each other, it is known as
rebounding
o
Rebounding involves a change in the direction of the object
o
A rebounding situation must also be accompanied by a large
impulse
o
A collision characterized by a large momentum change must
also be characterized by a large impulse
o
The crumpling of cars is safer than rebounding during a
collision because crumpling lengthens the time over which the
car's momentum is changed, which reduces the force