ONE DIMENSIONAL MOTION

One dimensional motion

By one dimension we mean that the body is moving only in one plane and in a
straight line. Like if we roll a marble on a flat table, and if we roll it in a straight
line (not easy!), then it would be undergoing one-dimensional motion.

There are four variables which put together in an equation can describe this
motion. These are Initial Velocity (u); Final Velocity (v), Acceleration (a),
Distance Traveled (s) and Time elapsed (t). The equations which tell us the
relationship between these variables are as given below.

v = u + at

v2 = u2 + 2as

s = ut + 1/2 at2

average velocity = (v + u)/2

Armed with these equations you can do wonderful things like calculating a cars
acceleration from zero to whatever in 60 seconds !!

TWO AND THREE DIMENSIONAL MOTION

Scalar or Vector?
To explain the difference we use two words: 'magnitude' and 'direction'. By
magnitude we mean how much of the quantity is there. By direction we mean is
this quantity having a direction which defines it. Physical quantities which are
completely specified by just giving out there magnitude are known as scalars.
Examples of scalar quantities are distance, mass, speed, volume, density,
temperature etc. Other physical quantities cannot be defined by just their
magnitude. To define them completely we must also specify their direction.
Examples of these are velocity, displacement, acceleration, force, torque,
momentum etc.
Vector Addition
Parallelogram law of vector addition
If we were to represent two vectors magnitude and direction by two adjacent
sides of a parallelogram. The resultant can then be represented in magnitude
and direction by the diagonal. This diagonal is the one which passes through the
point of intersection of these two sides.

Resolution of a Vector
It is often necessary to split a vector into its components. Splitting of a vector into
its components is called resolution of the vector. The original vector is the
resultant of these components. When the components of a vector are at right
angle to each other they are called the rectangular components of a vector.

Rectangular Components of a Vector

As the rectangular components of a vector are perpendicular to each other, we
can do mathematics on them. This allows us to solve many real life problems.
After all the best thing about physics is that it can be used to solve real world
problems.

Note: As it is difficult to use vector notations on the computer word processors

we will coin our own notation. We will show all vector quantities in bold. For
example 'A' will be scalar quantity and 'A' will be a vector quantity.

Let Ax and Ay be the rectangular components of a vector A

then

A = Ax + Ay this means that vector A is the resultant of vectors Ax and Ay

A is the magnitude of vector A and similarly Ax and Ay are the magnitudes of

vectors Ax and Ay

As we are dealing with rectangular components which are at right angles to each
other. We can say that:

A = (Ax + Ay)1/2

Similarly the angle Q which the vector A makes with the horizontal direction will
be

Q = tan-1 (Ax / Ay)

LAWS OF MOTION
Newton's laws of motion
Through Newton's second law, which states: The acceleration of a body is
directly proportional to the net unbalanced force and inversely proportional to the
body's mass, a relationship is established between Force (F), Mass (m) and
acceleration (a). This is of course a wonderful relation and of immense
usefulness.

F=mxa

Knowing any two of the quantities automatically gives you the third !!

Momentum
Momentum (p) is the quantity of motion in a body. A heavy body moving at a fast
velocity is difficult to stop. A light body at a slow speed, on the other hand can be
stopped easily. So momentum has to do with both mass and velocity.

p = mv

Often physics problems deal with momentum before and after a collision. In such
cases the total momentum of the bodies before collision is taken as equal to the
total momentum of the bodies after collision. That is to say: momentum is
conserved.

Impulse
This is the change in the momentum of a body caused over a very short time. Let
m be the mass and v and u the final and initial velocities of a body.

Impulse = Ft = mv - mu

WORK ENERGY POWER

Work and energy
As we know from the law of conservation of energy: energy is always conserved.

Work is the product of force and the distance over which it moves. Imagine you
are pushing a heavy box across the room. The further you move the more work
you do! If W is work, F the force and x the distance then.

W = Fx

Energy comes in many shapes. The ones we see over here are kinetic energy
(KE) and potential energy (PE)

Transitional KE = ½ mv2

Rotational KE = ½ Iw2

here I is the moment of inertia of the object (a simple manner in which one can
understand moment of inertia is to consider it to be similar to mass in transitional
KE) a w is angular velocity

Gravitational PE = mgh

where h is the height of the object

Elastic PE = ½k L 2

where k is the spring constant ( it gives how much a spring will stretch for a unit
force) and L is the length of the spring. Simple isn't it!!

Power
Power (P) is work( W) done in unit time (t).

P = W/t

as work and energy (E) are same it follows power is also energy consumed or
generated per unit time.

P = E/t

In measuring power Horsepower is a unit which is in common use. However in

physics we use Watt. So the first thing to do in solving any problem related to
power is to convert horsepower to Watts. 1 horsepower (hp) = 746 Watts
 CIRCULAR MOTION

Circular motion

In the diagram v is the tangential velocity of the object. a is the centripetal (acting
towards the center of the circle) acceleration and F is the centripetal force. r is
the radius of the circle and m is mass of the object.

a = v2 / r

F = ma = mv2/r

GRAVITATION

Kepler's Laws
Towards the end of the sixteenth century, Tycho Brahe collected a huge amount
of data giving precise measurements of the position of planets. Johannes Kepler,
after a detailed analysis of the measurements announced three laws in 1619.

1. The orbit of each planet is an ellipse which has the Sun at one of its foci.

2. Each planet moves in such a way that the (imaginary) line joining it to the Sun
sweeps out equal areas in equal times.

3. The squares of the periods of revolution of the planets about the Sun are
proportional to the cubes of their mean distances from it.

Newton's law of universal gravitation

About fifty years after Kepler announced the laws now named after him, Isaac
Newton showed that every particle in the Universe attracts every other with a
force which is proportional to the products of their masses and inversely
proportional to the square of their separation.
Hence:

If F is the force due to gravity, g the acceleration due to gravity, G the Universal
Gravitational Constant (6.67x10-11 N.m2/kg2), m the mass and r the distance
between two objects. Then

F = G m 1 m2 / r 2

Acceleration due to gravity outside the Earth

It can be shown that the acceleration due to gravity outside of a spherical shell of
uniform density is the same as it would be if the entire mass of the shell were to
be concentrated at its center.

Using this we can express the acceleration due to gravity (g') at a radius (r)
outside the earth in terms of the Earth's radius (re) and the acceleration due to
gravity at the Earth's surface (g)

g' = (re2 / r2) g

Acceleration due to gravity inside the Earth

Here let r represent the radius of the point inside the earth. The formula for
finding out the acceleration due to gravity at this point becomes:

g' = ( r / re )g

In both the above formulas, as expected, g' becomes equal to g when r = re.

PROPERTIES OF MATTER

Density
The mass of a substance contained in unit volume is its density (D).

D = m/V
Measuring of densities of substances is easier if we compare them with the
density of some other substance of know density. Water is used for this purpose.
The ratio of the density of the substance to that of water is called the Specific
Gravity (SG) of the substance.

SG = Dsubstance / Dwater

The density of water is 1000 kg/m3

Pressure
Pressure (P) is Force (F) per unit area (A)

P = F/A

Specific Heat
You may have noticed that metals, for example copper, heat faster than water.
You would require 4186 J of heat to raise the temperature of water by 1 degree
Celsius. On the other hand 1 kg of copper would zoom to this temperature after it
receives only 387 J of heat. It is known that every substance has a unique value
of amount of heat required to change the temperature of 1 kg of it by 1 degree
Celsius. This number is referred to as the specific heat of the substance. Let Q
be the heat transferred to m kg of a substance, thereby changing its temperature
by dT. The specific heat c of the substance is defined as

c = Q/mdt

Juggle the expression, and we get the heat transferred from a body to its
surroundings or the other way around. This is given by.

Q = m c dT

For example the heat required to increase the temperature of half a kg of water
by 3 degrees Celsius can be determined using this formula. Here m, mass of
water is 0.5 kg and the dt, the temperature rise = 3 deg C and we know the
specific heat of water is 4186 J/kg. So here the heat required will be

Q = 0.5 x 4186 x 3 =6280 J

It is as simple as that !!

The table below gives the specific heat of some common substances

J/kg. o C cal/g. o C
 Aluminium 900 0.215
Copper 387 0.0924
Glass 837 0.200
Gold 129 0.0308
Ice 2090 0.500
Iron 448 0.107
Silver 234 0.056
Steam 2010 0.480
Water 4186 1.00

ELECTRICITY

Electricity
According to Ohm's Law electric potential difference(V) is directly proportional to
the product of the current(I) times the resistance(R).

V=IR

The relationship between power (P) and current and voltage is

P=IV

Using the equations above we can also write

P = V2 / R

and

P = I2 R

Resistance of Resistors in Series

The equivalent resistance (Req) of a set of resistors connected in series is

Req = R1 + R2 + R3 + - - -

Resistance of Resistors in Parallel

The equivalent resistance (Req) of a set of resistors connected in parallel is

1/Req = 1/R1 + 1/R2 + 1/R3 + - - -