MECHANI CS

In 1696 Ne wt on beca me wa rde n o f th e Royal Min t a nd was m ade

Master of the Royal Min t in 1699 . He res igne d hi s Ca mbridge pos t in
1701 and wa s knig h te d in 1705. He b ecame preside nt of th e Royal
Soc ietv in 1703 b u t d id virt ua lly no new sci enc e from then on.
Ne w to n is o ften h eld responsib le fo r th e d evelo pme n t of a me chanis tic
phil osophy th at regards e veryt hing as dete r mini sti c an d pre dic table, w ith
living thin gs as co mplex a u tom a ta. Ho wev e r, Newton wa s a lso fasc in a te d
by reli gio us a n d myst ica l questi ons. He left over a th ousand m anuscript
pages con tai n ing hi s ow n resea rc h into bibl ical ch ronologi es an d over
600 000 words o n alc h emy. H is library co n ta ined 138 books on alchemy.

To exp lain all natu re is

100

dill/ c/tll a task

(or (III V one inau or C\ '<'11 (or nv 0 11e {l ge.

'Tis m uc h hertel" II.> do a lill ie vcitlt

certaintv, a nd leave the res t (or others that

th an 10 exp lain all ih ine s.

CO ll ie a {i ' 1' .I'O U ,

Isaac Newton

As the world 's grea tes t physi cist New ton cla imed th at h e s im ply w ro te
d own la ws and derived results from them, but th at he w ould no t
sp ec u lat e id ly abo u t th e u nd erl yin g causes of gravi ty or th e reasons for
the laws of m ot ion . However: in p rivate he in dulged in wild specul a tion s,
lo oked for s igns in the Book of Revelat ions, and believed tha t m any of
h is di scoverie s were already known to the a nc ients.

After Newton
Newton's t heor ies we re ap p lied to as tro nom ical a nd terres tri al phys ics
w ith u npreced en ted s uccess in the two cen turies follo w ing hi s de ath.
They w e re also dev eloped m a the m ati cally, p arti cularly bv Lagr ange and
Ha milton , who p rodu ced ge nera lize d equati on s of great beaury a nd
ma themat ical elegance. T here had never been a theo ry lik e it, a n d the
m echanica l m odel was co p ied in th e o ther sc iences and eve n a dapted for
di sci pli n es lik e econo m ics an d p ol iti cs . H owever, th e re is p hysic s b ey on d
Newton.

Albert Ei nstein ( 187 9- 1955). 'D o not

worr y abo u t yo ur p roblems w ith
mathem atics, I assure y ou min e ar e far
grea te r. '

Tow ards th e e nd of the nin et eenth ce n tury it seemed as if phys ics

wo uld present a fin al coherent a nd co mpl et e th eory of everything. T h is
th eory wou ld inv olve a toms as fu nda m ental mech anica l pa rti cle s
in teracti n g by grav ita tiona l an d elec tromagne tic forces .
Un fo rtunately:
The re were prob lem s accoun ting fo r the spectrum o f heat ra d ia tio n
g iven off by a h ot b ody (b la ck -b o d y radiation ). Accord ing to classic al
physics th is sho u ld depend o n m echan ica l vibra tions of atom s cau sing
elect ro magn e tic wa ves o f th e sa me fre q ue ncy, bu t careful calcu lat ion s
based on th ese ide as led to the prediction of infinite energy radia ted a t
ve ry hi gh frequ en cies (the ultraviolet catastrophe).
J. J. Th oms o n's d isco very of the elect ron sh owed th at atom s a re no t
fu ndam ental, and s ubsequ ent de velop ments in pa r ticl e p hysics
ge nera ted a host o f new a nd p revio usly u nexp ected particles.

Th e n ew ly d iscovered photoelectric effect in whi ch electrons a re

kn ocked off the s urface of a m e tal by light was a lso p rovin g
imp os si ble to expla in us ing th e w ave theory o f light.
Attempts to exp la in light as a mecha nical wa ve m ade o f vib ra ti ons in
some a ll-pe rvasive m edium (the 'lu rn ife ro us ae ther') fail ed when th e
medium proved unde tectable (th e Michelson-Morley experi ment).
New p hys ics was needed , and several revolu tion a rv the o rie s were cre ated
in th e early part o f th e twenti eth cen tury :
.
Einstei n's special theory of relativity (1905), dealing w ith the
m ech a ni cs o f rapi d ly moving objec ts;
Ein stei n 's general theory of relativity (19 15), de al ing w ith the
ge o metry of space and time and the nature o f gr avi ty;

quantum theory, de veloped by m a ny physi cist s including Pl a n ck,

Ein stein , Boh r, S ch ro dinge r, a nd He isenberg (between 1900 a n d 1925 ),
de a lin g wi th the nature of m a tte r o n a sub a tom ic sc ale .

eossn cea PHYSICS

~ , . ,..., _

........... . ~ ...... l.-..l ..... ~ . . .

- - - . Newton for everyday life

----,

Special relativity di v erg es fro m

Newton ian p hy sics w hen t hing s m ove
w ith v eloc itie s co m p arable to the
sp eed o f light, for exa m ple elect ron s
in a p art icl e accelerato r. General
relativity di sag rees w it h Eucl id ean
g eom et ry an d N ewtoni an gravitatio n
ove r extrem el y large d istance s. o r in
ext re mely str ong gr avita ti o nal f ields .
Ouantum theory dive rges f ro m
Newtoni an ph ysic s o n a su batom ic
scale. Howe v er. o rdi nary ex perience is
in co mp le te agreem ent with N ewton 's
pi cture o f th e wo rld .

83

UllLu nU naLeJy:
"1'1.--. ...... ,_......

,
Quantum theory ca n no t be attributed to
on e physi cist alo n e. Planck (185 8-194 7)
(top le ft ) wa s th e first to in tro d uc e
qu antization ( 19 00). Einste in (ab o ve)
prop ose d the photon the o ry of light
( 19 05). Bohr ( 1885- 1962) (to p r ig ht)
quantized the ato m (1913). Sch rodinqer
( 1887- 19 6 1) (bottom le ft) an d
He isenb erg ( 190 1- 1976) (b o tt o m r ig ht)
proposed al terna tive but eq u iva lent
ma th ema tica l th eories ( 1925). Man y
oth er twentieth -century physicists made
majo r con tr i b u tions.

,..~

. . . ..... __ .. :

_~

( .......... .. L

~C

'-

NEWTON'S FIRST LAW OF MOTION

O BJEC T I V E S

all motion is relative

=oJ

the first law of motion

resultant forces change motion
-

- -----'

A natural state of motion

Imagine yourself lost in deep space. All you can see are the distant stars,
but they are too far away to tell if they are moving. Then something
comes into view. It is small and far away but it is getting closer. As it
drifts past, you recognise your twin, also lost in space, and yo u wave
sadly to each other. Some time later a thought occurs to you : is it you
who is moving or is it your twin, or are you both moving? Is there any
way of telling)
A similar thought occurred to Galileo. He imagined being locked
below decks in a windowless room on a ship which mayor may not be
sailing smoothly across the sea. Is there any experiment that could be
carried out inside the room to determine whether the ship is moving or
not? He considered jumping up and down, pouring water into a jug and
throwing a ball, but a moment's reflection shows that none of these
would show the slightest sign of the ship's motion. (If you doubt this and
think that jumping vertically in a moving boat would cause you to land
behind your take-off point, transfer the argument to a jet aircraft
travelling at hundreds of metres per second, or try it on a trainl)
Galileo concluded that uniform motion in a straight line is just as
natural as being at rest, and so rest itself is not special. All it means is at
rest witli respect to your surroundings . We are used to using the Earth as
our frame of reference. but this is simply a small planet orbiting a minor
star some way from the centre of a rotating spiral galaxy which is itself
moving in the gravitational fields of other galaxies . In other words , our
Earth is not so special after all or, as Einstein might have said:

Who is moving?

Th ere is no such thing as absolute rest or absolute motion; all motion

is relative. The laws of mechanics are the same in a laboratory at rest or
in uniform motion.

(a) real world

car freewheels
~ fro m A

where a car might

stop in practice
(b) ideal world - no friction

car continues until it

reaches its starting
height ...

if the track neverrises back up,

the car continues for ever

Galileo 's thought experiment.

This conclusion was revolutionary. It meant that all motion is relative.

For two thousand years people had argued that all bodies tend to come
to rest naturally. Galileo disagreed.

A roller-coaster ride to infinity!

Galil eo described a simple experiment in which a ball rolls down a
Ll-shaped track and then rises to verv nearly the same height on the far
side of the track . Galileo assumed that the only reason it failed to reach
the original height was because of frictional forces from the track and
air , If these could be removed it really would reach the same height. He
then reduced the slope on the far side so that the ball had to travel
[urther to rise through the same vertical height. It did. What if the far
side never rises up again? The ball will continue rolling forever at a
constant speed in a natural state of motion every bit as significant as
being at rest on Earth!
Most of the movement we see around us is affected by frictional forces
that stop things movin g past their surroundings. However, it is possible
to simulate an ideal friction-free environment on an air track or air table,
and then the riders do continue with almost constant velocity between
collisions. Images from inside orbiting spacecraft also confirm that if
something is dropped or thrown it continues moving in a straight line at
constant speed until it hits something.
One of the most important effects of Galilee's work was the realization
that 110 resultant force is required to maintain uniiorm motion (since none
is required to keep something at rest) . Newton developed Galilee's ideas
into the laws of motion.

(a) real world

in uniform motion.

__ m

.. _

..

__

>fYi' '] Cf'.tf

E'ttXSJCS

MECHANIC S

Newton's first law of motion

- -~----

Objects continue to move at constant velocity (which may be zero) until they are
acted upon by a resultant force .

What does the first law tell us?

The consequences of the fir st Jaw can often seem surprising.
An object moving at constant velocity (rem em ber thi s means constant
speed and direction) is in equilibrium. All the forces that ac t upon it
(if an y) cancel out. Sometimes people find this a bit hard to take.
'S urely,' they argue , 'if a car is travelling forwards at a ste ady 70 mph
the thrust from the eng ine must be a bit bigger than the total of drag
and other frictional forces?' Not true - thrust and drag must balance.
'Well, what about lifting something, surely you need to pull up a bit
harder than gr avity pulls it down? ' Not true - to lift something a t a
steady rate you must apply a lifting force exactly' equal to the weight
of th e thing you are lifting. Of course, to start it moving you need a
bigg er force, but that too agrees with Newton's law: the object is
changing its velocity as it starts to rise .
Anything that is changing its velocitv must have a resultant for ce
acting on it. That could mean accelerating, decelerating, or changing
its direction. For example, when you drop something it falls with an
increasing velocity. The re mu st be a resultant force acting on it. We
call this force gravity. The Moon is changing its velocity. Its speed is
constant but its direction of motion is continually turning toward the
Earth. There must be a force acting on it in the direction of the Earth
- gravity again.

Voyager 1 was launched in 1977, and

Voyager 2 in 1979. They have now

passed and photographed the outer

planets and are headed away from the
solar system. They both carry specially
coded audio recordings entitled
'Sounds of Earth' for the entertainment
of any aliens who happen to find them .

The first la w is so m e times called the 'la w of inertia', since it seems to

encapsulate the tendency of matter to keep moving in the way it is
alread y moving.

There is no resultant force on this cruising Concorde.

Shut your eyes on board a cruising

plane and you can almost imagine it is
motionless. There is no way to
distinguish uniform motion from rest ,
so there is no meaning to the idea of
'absolute rest'; all motion is relative .

PRACTICE

1 A stone is dropped from the top of a sailing

boat's mast to the deck below. Will it land in
front, behind or level with the foot of the mast if:
a The boat is at rest on the water?
b The boat is moving forwards at a steady
speed?
c The boat is moving backwards at a steady
speed?
d The boat is accelerating in the forward
direction?
2 What two forces act on a person in a stationary
lift? How do these forces compare?
3 How do the forces described in question 2
change when the lift is:
a Moving up at constant speed;
b Moving down at constant speed;
c Accelerating upwards;

e Decelerating downwards;

f Decelerating upwards?
4 A friend argues that he knows how to survive if
a lift falls dO\\'I1 its shaft. You have to wait until
the moment just before the crash and then leap
into the air. The lift will crash and you can step
out of the wreckage. Is this possible?
5 A car is driving straight up a steep hill into a
headwind at a steady speed. Draw a free-body
diagram of the forces acting on the car, and use
a vector diagram to show their resultant.
6 If uniform motion requires no resultant force to
keep it going, wh r do we need to put petrol in
cars?
7 Copernicus revolutionized cosmology by
claiming that the planets orbit the Sun rather
than the Earth. If all motion is relative isn't
either point of view equally acceptable?

d Accelerating downwards;
advan c ed PHYSICS

85

FORCE AND MOTION

OB J

E C TI

V ES

A spa cec ra ft driftin g a t con stant velocity in deep sp ace h as no force s

ac ting upon it. A car travelling a long a rnotorway a t a co ns ta nt
100 km h ' is a ffect ed by ma ny different for ces, bu t both th e car an d the
spacec ra ft ha ve the same ki nd of mot ion - co nstant veloc ity in a strai ght
lin e - and in both cases the resulta nt force is zero . The total fric tional
d rag o n the car is exac tly eq ua l to its forward thru st , a nd the we igh t of
the ca r is ba la nc ed by an equal up ward for ce fro m th e road on the tyr es.

th e eff ects of a res ulta nt force

..c

(no forces )

D~ T
W

w =c T=D
Th e resultant force is zero in b oth cases.
W = w eig ht, C = contact force, T= th rust,
0 = dra g .

H the spacecraft fires its roc kets it will no longer co ntinue at a co nsta nt
ra te; its velocitv will increase and it will accelerate in th e direction of th e
re sulta nt for ce. If the car engine suddenlv stops and th e thrust d isappears
there will be an unbala nced or resultant forc e on th e ca r wh ich op poses its
mo tion. It will decelerate unt il it stops m o ving. In bo th cases the effect of a
resul ta nt force is an accelera tion in the d irec tion of the force (in the cas e
of the car a forward decelera tion is the same as a backwa rd accelera tion ).
The effec t of a resu ltant force is to ch ange th e state of motion of the
obj ect all \ vhic h it acts .

Resultant force, mass, and acceleration

You co uld in vestiga te th e link be tween res ultan t force a nd accelerat io n
bv ap plying kn own forces to a veh icle a nd m easuring its accelerat ion
usin g a mo tion se nsor: eithe r ligh t ga tes or ticker tap e. You sho uld ge t th e
following resul ts.

Using tickertape.

Accel erati on is d irec tly proportio na l to resulta n t force (rid er of

co nstan t mass).
a ex; F (cons tant mass)
Acce lera tio n is in versely proportiona l to rider mass (co nstan t re su ltan t
for ce) .
a

oc

(cons tant resu ltant force)

111

Th is is best summarized by:

This bull frog uses a resultant force t o
acc elera te fr om rest as it jump s.
Using F=

c< _

111

Definition: the newton

rna

Draw a fre e-bod y di agram sho wing

all force s act ing on th e o bjec t
whose mo tion is to be analyse d.
Wo rk out th e resu ltan t force F (t hi s
is equ al to th e vec tor su m o f all t he
fo rces in the f ree-bod y dia gr am) .
Subst it ute va lu es in to F = rn a.

The unit of force (the newton ) is defined so that the co ns tant of proportionality in the
equation abov e can be repl aced by an equality. To do this 1 unit of resulta nt fo rce
m ust make a, 1 kg m ass accelerate at 1 m S- 2, so:
1 newt on = the resultant for ce that accelerates a 1 kg mas s at 1 m S-2
Th is m eans that the ' new t on' is simpl y a fan cy w ay o f savi nq 1 kg m

2
S- 1

Newton brought all this together in his second law of motion:

If a res ul tan t fo rce is applied to an ob ject o f co nst ant m ass, it w ill accele rate in the
d irecti on of the resultant force. T'he acc elerati on is directly proporti onal to the re sult ant
for ce and in ver sel y pr op ortional to th e ma ss (o r inertia) o f the obje ct. If Sl un its are
used through out, thi s can be written as:

F= ma
This is pr o b ab ly the most import ant single equ ation i[1 physics, because it allows us to
p redi ct w hat h app en s ne xt w hen things intera ct.

Worked example 1
5 sec onds after laun ch th e total v ert ica l thr ust o f the sp ace sh utt le is 3.0 x 10' N. Its
ma ss at thi s t im e is 1.9 x 106 kg . What is its accelerat ion?
Result ant ve rt ical for ce = thrust - we ig ht

F= 3.0 x 10' N -1 .9 x 106kg x 9.8 N kg- 1 = 1.14 x 10'N

F =(T - W) = rna
Using a fr ee-body diag ram to fi nd
re sultan t force.

a = ~ = 1.14 :, 10'N
m

= 6.0 m S-2

1.9 xl0 6kg

ad, anced PHYSICS

(rrYrl ct-::.nt rpc\, l t0nt

Fnn.. . . p l

MECHANICS

Linear momentum
So far we have rest ric ted o urselves to res ultan t fo rce s ac ting o n object s
of con st ant m as s. In the re a] wo rld th is is ofte n not the ca se - the rocke t,
for exa mple, reduces in m ass as its fuel is consumed and expelled .
Newton's second law can be us ed to a na lyse th ese sit ua tio ns , but it need s
to be reca st in term s o f a new qu antity: linear momentum .
Im agine s tepp ing in front o f so meone to blo c k them. If the y are
wa lking, thi s in volves less of a n im pac t tha n if they are runnin g, a nd a
skin ny child will be easie r to stop th an a n adult ru gby pla yer running a t
th e same speed . In gene ral the re will be a great er impact if th e 'a m ou n t
o f moti on ' is grea te r 'Amoun t of motion ' depends on both mass an d
veloc ity and is call ed linear mo m entu m - a sp rinting a dult has much
m ore momen tum than a toddling child and a cricket ball has m ore
momentum th an a table ten n is ball mo vin g a t the sa me s pe ed .

A dra m atic ch ange o f m o m en tu m .

Definition: linear momentum

linear momentum (kg m s-' )

= mass (kg ! x v elo city (m S- I )

p = mv

Like velocity, momentum is a vector quantity.

Worked example 2
What is the linear momentum of a tennis ball (mass 0.058 kg) served at 35 m s- 17
p

= mv = 0.058

kg x 35 m

S- I

= 2.0 kg m

S- 1

(2 sig. figs )

The first law of m ot ion could be recast as: 'The linear m omentum of an object is
constant unless it is acted upon by a resultant fo rce' . The second law of motion
describes what happens when there is a resultant for ce - the linear momentum changes.
The larger the resultant force, the greater the rate at which momentum changes.

PRACTICE

1 A 900 kg car travelling at 25 m S-I brakes hard

and comes to re st in 5 s. What is the average
braking forc e? (Ignore drag.)
2 Use the seco nd law of moti on to explain whv
(ignoring frictional forces) the free-fall
acceleration of all objects dropped close to the
Earth's surface is the same.
3 Draw free -body diagrams for each of the
following and describe their m otion in each case:

rope which passers over a (reasonably smooth)

tree branch. Calculate the initial acceleration of
th e two children ". assuming that friction on the
branch can be neglected. In practice, of course,
the friction is likely to be significant. What
difference will it make to the initial acceleration?
("Draw a free-body diagram for each c hild and
apply the second law of motion to each of thern.)

a a bouncing ball (i) at the top of its bounce and

(ii) at the instant when it is momentarily at
rest during a collision with the ground;
b a parachutist at the moment her parachute
just opens;
c a rain drop falling at its terminal velocitv:
d the 1'\'100n;
e a ping-pong ball released under water (1) as it
is released and (ii) a short time later before it
reaches th e surface of the water.
4 A child is toboganning . If the total frictional
force on the sledge is 100 N and the m ass of the
child and sledge is 45 kg, calculate the initial
acceleration down a 30 0 slope.
S The diagram shows a heavier child (50 kg) lifting
a lighter child (40 kg) by hanging on one end of a

:::I('i '~.3f'lt'Arl

ft

PHYSICS

6 Estimate your linear m omentum when you are

running as fast as you ca n.
7 What velocity would a ball of mass 500 g need to
equal the lin ear momentum of a 750 kg car
travelling at 20 m S-I?

87
_

NEWTON'S SECOND LAW OF MOTION

O BJECT IVE S
re su lt ant force equal s rat e o f
ch an ge of linea r momentum

The second law of motion

Newton's second law of motion
The res ultant fo rce F exe rt ed o n a body is directl y pr oport ional to th e rate o f change
of linear mom entum p of that body.

res ulta n t fo rce (N)

oc

cc

ra te of c ha nge of linear m omentu m (kg m

fin al linear m omen tum (kg m

S- I ) -

S-2)

ini tial linear mom en tum (kg m

S- I )

time fo r which fo rce acts (s)

In order to attack its p rey effectivel y,
this ch eetah must be ab le to chan ge its
momentum rapidl y.

The un its o f force are defi ned to m ake th e consta nt of proportiona lity
unity so we can write
F

= I12V

nu.l

(1 )

or

S tric tly speaking, F in the eq ua tio n above is th e ave rage re sulta n t force
during tim e t. Th e ins tantaneou s value of th e fo rce is given bv
F

= d~

(re me m ber th a t 'cit

'd' m eans 'ra te of ch a nge')

(2)

NB Mom entu m, for ce , and veloc ity are a ll vectors , so the m omentu m
c hanges a bove are pa rallel to the result a nt app lied forces .
Worked example 1
What is the av erag e resultant fo rce neede d to accelerate the spa ce sh uttl e
(m ass 2.0 x 106 kg) from rest to 400 m S- 1 in 22 s7
6

F = mv - mu = 2.0 '< 10 kg x 400 m

S- 1

3.2

10' N

25 s

(Th is co u ld be solved equally quickl y usin g Newton's second law in th e form F = ma.)

We ca n rearra nge equa tion (l) to give

F

= 112(1/ -

= m (1/ -

u)

u)

= ma

(3)

F = ma

Th is is a specia l case of th e general eq ua tio n (1) a nd applies if th e m ass

is const ant.

Impulse and momentum change

Rearra nging equa tion (l) gives us
FI

= mv

(4)

I11U

The qua nt ity on th e left-hand side is ca lled th e impulse, th e product

of force and time , a nd is measured in N s. The quan tity on th e righ t-ha nd
side is the cha nge of mo me n tum p rodu ced by thi s impul se. A word
equ ation for thi s is impulse (N s) = cha ng e of m omen tum (kg m S- 2), o r
F!'1t = !'1p

Bend your knees or bre ak you r legs!

which is a n a lterna tive versio n of equatio n (4) and ca n be us ed even if

th e mass is not co nsta nt.
A large forc e ac ting for a sho rt time ca uses the sa me change of
m om entum as a sm all for ce actin g for a lon ger time. You use this every
time you ju mp off so m ething and bend yo ur kn ees on lan d ing. If you
were to land rig id ly, yo ur momentum wo uld fa ll to zero in a very short
tim e. Th e la rge rate of ch a nge of 1110 me n tu 111 thi s invo lves would exert
la rge fo rces o n yo ur bod y a nd probabl y ca use injuries . Bendin g yo ur
kn ees a llow s the same ch a nge o f m omentu m to oc cur over a longer time
and so red uces the force o n yo ur bo dy. A similar pr in cipl e applies in the
use of a ir bags an d cru m ple zon es to m ak e cars sa fer.

t- = -

-- = -

--'--

25 s

.j.L X IV ' I~

MECHANICS

Maths box

Worked example 2
A gymnast of mass 62 kg bounces vertically on a trampolin e so that she approaches
and lea ves the trampoline with a speed of 8.0 m s- ' . Calculate (i) her change of
m ome ntum an d (ii) the average resultant force exerted on her whilst in contact with
the trampoline (contact time of 0.8 s).

Counti ng squares is equivalent to

integrating .

(i ) Take up wards as positive :

8p

.so = mv - mu = 62 kg x 8.0 m
(ii)

F = .'.p

S- 1 -

= 990 kg m S- 1 = 1200 kg m

-"t

(- 62 kg x 8.0 m S- 1)
S- 1

= 990 kg

m S - 1 (2 sig . figs )

(2 sig . figs )

0.8 s

(The t otal for ce exert ed on the gymnast by th e trampoline is larger than the resultant
force calculated ab ove because of the gymnast's weight.)

If force F acts for a short time 8t, the

m omentum cha nge s by 8p:
=

Fb t

The total momentum ch ange ep

during t ime t will be the sum o f all
sm all chang es

~p = f op= f For
o

If 8t ...., 0, the summatio n become s an

integr~tion

Force-time graphs
The term im pu lse is usually used whe n a force acts fo r a sh ort time (in
collision s, for exa m ple) , but th e equation works for constant forces
acting for a lon ger period too. If the force changes with time then total
impu lse is equa l to th e area u nder the force- time graph . The force-time
gra p h is for a short 'bu rn ' o f a so lid fu el ro c ket.
E ach vertical strip represents an impul se Fot (fo rce times short time
interval ) and r esults in a small change of momentum op . The area under
the whole gra ph is th erefore the to tal impulse durin g th e 'bu m ' a nd is
equa l to the ch ange o f mo mentum Sp o f the rocket. Thi s can be
eva lu a ted by counting squa res . The velocity change o f the rocket is then
6v = Sp/m (igno ring the small change in ro cket mass du e to burnt fuel).
Conservation of linear momentum
When two things inter ac t the forc e exerted on one is a lways equ al and
op po si te to th e fo rce exer ted o n the o ther (Ne wton's third Jaw) . The
interaction time is th e same for both so they rece ive equ al and oppos ite
im pulses.
The sketch gr a p h show s ho w forces act in g o n two ca rs depend on time
during a head-on co llisio n . Th e area between each graph line and the
time axis is the total impulse received by that vehicle du ring the
collisi on. Since the forces a re equal in magnitude but opposite in
direction at a ll times , the t wo impulses have the sa me ma gnitude but
op po site directions . This means that the change in m omentum of the
vehicle s is als o equal in m agnitude and opposite in directio n. There is no
ch ange in the total lin ear momentum of the sys te m o f two bodies.
This is a n example of a co nse rva tio n law - th e two cars ha ve
inte racted but the total linear momentum is the sa me before and after
the collision. All interactions conserve linear momentum and all for ces
a r ise through interactions, so the tot al lin ear momentum o f the uni verse
is con stan t. For practi cal p u rposes we ap ply the law in a mo re restricted
way to closed systems.
Law of conservation of linear momentum
The linear momentum of an y closed sy stem is conserved. Linear momentum is
a vector quantity and each component is conserved independently.

!!. p= J For
o

th is is equal to th e area
under the gr aph between
a and t.

forte
.,--

I t+-

-are. under graphis

mcrnanurm chanQ,1l
in time l

- - .rea 01s ,p equals

momentumchange

O(

In time 81

forcelN
farce of car B
on car A

~=--------"---- ti m e / s

lhts area

I S impulse

glven !OB

force of car A
on car B

A closed system
A closed system is not acte d o n by
an y external resul tant for ces . Another
way of looking at this is to say that it
includ es both end s of all interaction s.
For example , a falling st one incr eases
mom ent um beca use it is acted o n by
a re sultant for ce from the Earth . A
cl osed sy stem for a falli ng body must
include the Earth . The in crea sing
downward momentum of the stone is
then bal anced by an equal upward
mo mentum imparted to the Earth . The
huge m ass of the Earth me ans that
wh en th e m omentum o f a humansized object is tran sferred to it there is
no noti ceabl e cha ng e in it s motion .
Thi s is on e of the reas ons th at
N ewto n's first law and the
co nse rv atio n of linear momentu m
took so long to be discover ed.

PRACTICE

1 A 65 kg woman can sprint to 9 m S- 1 in .5 s. Her

25 kg daughter can accelerate to 3 m s' in 3
seconds. a Calculate the cha nge in momentum in
each case. b Compare the rates of momentum .
What are appropriate units [or rate of change of
linear momentum ? c Show that the units you used
in b are equivalent to newtons, the unit of force.

anGlt

2 Give two reasons why an airbag can reduce a

driver's injuries in a car crash.
3 A 72 kg m an st eps forward s out of a rowing boat
with a horizontal veloc ity of 1.0 m S- l relative to a
quay. The mass of the boat is 200 kg. How fa st
do es it move away &-0111 the quay?

89

PHYSICS

The sketch gr a p h show s ho w forces actin g o n two ca rs depend on time

A clrrsad svstam

NEWTON'S THIRD LAW OF MOTION

O

B J

act ion and

ECT I VE
r ~tion

exp lai ned

fo rces on ly aris e in pa ir s

book

Everything pushes back

Clap yo ur han ds. You r lef t ha nd fee ls a for ce from yo ur right a nd yo ur
rig h t han d fee ls a force from yo ur left . These for ces are equal in
m agnitu de bu t a ct in opposite di rections along the same line of action.
Newton's thi rd la w is dec ep tively sim ple - it st a tes th at every tim e a for ce
is applied by one o bjec t o n ano ther th e ot her ob ject p us hes back with an
equa l a nd opposite fo rce. Th e th ir d la w is oft en quo ted as 'ev crv action
has a n eq ua l a nd opposi te reac tio n', b ut in thi s form it is often
misapp lied. Test this yourself with a simple example. A boo k rests on a
tabl e: wr ite do wn th e acti on and rea ctio n pairs be fore re ad ing on .
If yo u th ou ght that th e we igh t of th e book a nd th e co n tac t force fro m
the ta ble are o ne such pa ir, you have m a de a very co mmon erro r. Before
you check the correc t pa irs in the diagram an d no te on the left, thi nk
ab out thi s more complicated example.
Im agine yOU a re standing all a flat hor izontal sur face, per haps in an
elevator. Your weigh t is Wa nd the co ntac t force fro m th e floor is N.
It is true that W = N if the eleva tor is not accelerati ng, bu t wha t if it is
accelera ting?

Co
Free-b od y diagrams showing p airs of
fo rces ac ting when a book rests on a
ta b le.
Key:

lb

= co ntact force, table on book

Wb = weight of bo ok

eEr = co ntact

force, Earth on tab le

WI = we ig ht of table

eN= co n tact force, boo k on tab le

C = co ntac t force, table on Earth
N B (Wb + W,) act ing on Earth is actually
th e weig h t of Earth in the gravitat ion al
fi el d o f th e ta ble and book.

Let's say it accele ra tes upwards a nd so do you . No w th ere m ust be a

r esulta n t upward force 0 11 vou to produce this acc eleratio n . Bu t only
N and W act on you, so N must now be greater than vv. If Nand Ware
not equal, th ey can no t be an ac tion-rea ction pa ir.
This sho uld co nvince you th at th e book's weigh t a nd the co n tac t force
from th e tabl e in th e first exa m ple also ca nnot be an actio n- rea ctio n pair
in the sense of Newto n's th ird law.
Th er e is anot her reason wh y th ese two forces ca n not be an
a ction- rea ction pair. They both act on the same bo dy. If a ction-reaction
pai rs a ct on the same bod y a nd are a lways equa l, th en res ultan t force s
would be im possibl e, and no th ing wo uld ever cha nge its mo mentum!
So wha t does Newt on 's thi rd law o f m oti on really say)
Newton's third law of motion
For ces nev er arise sing ly bu t alw avs in pairs as the resul t of ,interactions.
Whe n A interact s with B th e force A exerts o n B is alwa y s eq ual to th e forc e B
ex erts on A b ut in the o pposite direc tio n alo ng th e same line of action.
Because the se pairs of forces arise fr o m an int eracti o n they ar e alw ays of the sam e
typ e: for exa m ple, both gra v it ati on al o r both ele ctr oma gn eti c.
Act ion-reaction pairs always act on di ff erent bo d ies, never o n the same bod y.

The book, the table , and the world

Th e book's weig ht arises because of
a g rav itat io nal attraction t o the Earth .
There is an eq ua l grav it at iona l force
on the Eart h attra cting it t o th e bo ok.
Th e force f rom th e table on the bo ok
arises thro ug h the disto rt ion of t he
bod ie s in contact, and is equa l an d
opp osite to the cont act force from th e
book acting o n the surface . Th e or ig in
of t hese co ntact fo rces can be fo un d
in the el asti city of th e mat er ials. Th e
book is effe ctive ly 'squashed ' between
t he co ntact force fr om t he ta b le and
its own w ei ght. Th e repul sive forces
between its pa rtic les, as they are
pushed closer toget her, res ult in a
for ce on th e surface of th e table.

eEr = co ntact

force, Earth on tab le

Types of interaction
It is be lieved that a ll for ces arise fr om four underlying in teractions:
elect rom agnetism, gravitat ion, and the strong a nd weak n uclear forces .
Th e last two are ext re mel y sh ort -ra nge an d have no dire ctly observab le
effec ts in every da y life. The fir st two accoun t for a Jl the forc es we
experience. What we 'feel' as co nt act when we touc h so methi ng is
transmi tted thro ugh the electrom agnetic fie ld; electron orbits in atom s
on the surfaces of our hand and on the ob ject touched are d istorted.
In principle th is is no different fr om th e apparent ac tion -at- a-distance
whe n magnets or charges exert forces on one a no th er. Th e only rea l
difference is that th e dis tance in volve d is so small that it looks to us as if
we 're ally to uch ' things. In th e end, every force we feel is tr ansmitted
through a field , so our sim pl e conc ept of contac t has to be mo dified.

Frictional forces
Fri ctional for ces always op p ose th e rel ati ve mot ion of two objects.
Surfa ce frict io n arises when one object sli des over ano ther, and is ca used

a ction- rea ction pair. They both act on the same bo dy. If a ction-reaction

.,

.,

.. ,_ _ __

_ _

1. _

...

c _ .__

MECHANICS

bv th e micros copi c ro ug hness o f the t wo surface s and by the formation

of te mp orary b onds between t hem a t points wh ere the s tress is large.
Fl uid fri cti on ari es wh en a liqui d or gas flow s through a tube or when
a solid bodv moves through th e liqu id. It is caused by co hesive forces in
th e liquid a nd by the sheer effort o f p us hing t he:' liquid o u t of th e way
in order to move through it. (F rict io n a nd its effec ts o n m ot ion a re
di scu ss ed in 3.25.)

Wo r ked exa m Ple . I

..

Th e d iagram sh ows a train pullin g tw o carna g es. It IS m o ving along a hori zo nt al tra ck
with an acceleration a. Th e en gine has m ass M and each carriage ha s m ass m. The
combined drag and frictional force on each carria ge and o n the eng ine is t. W h at is
the thrust of the eng ine and the tens ion in each coupling? Id enti fy any
action-rea cti on pairs.
(i) To calc u late th e required thrust F from th e en gine, tr eat the whol e tra in as a singl e
object an d draw a fre e-b ody d iag ra m for it. Now write down the seco n d law of
m otion for the train:
resultant force

Frict ion oppo ses relative m otion

b et w een tw o su rfaces in con tact, This
thermogram of a woo d saw
dem onstrat es an effect o f fr ictio n: heat.

total m ass :acce leratio n

F-3f = (M + 2m !a

so

F= (M +2m )a +3f

(ii) Now do th e sa me for just th e fin al ca rriage :

T2

f = ma

so

T2 = ma + f

(iii) Now for the o ther carriage:

T, - ( T2 +

n = ma

so

T,

2(ma + fI

If thi s is repeated for the engi n e alone it will giv e th e same v alue for resultant force
as in (i ).
(iv ) The thrust F is applied to the engine as a frictional force fr om the ra ils, It is a
react ion to the en gin e's w h eels pushing ba ck on th e tra ck . Where each co up ling
co n ne cts to a carri a ge it ex erts a fo rc e on th e car ria g e (th e tension in th e coupling! ,
equal but opposite to the force exerted o n the coupling by the carria g e.

A ph oto graph and fr ee-b od y dia gra m o f

an engine pulling two trucks of eq ual
ma ss,

PRACTICE

1 Id entify two ac tion- reac tion pairs For a person

sitting o n the g ro u nd.
2 A heli copt er is hovering so me di stance a bove th e
gro u nd . Dra w a Free-bod y di agram showi ng the
main FOITes ac ting on th e heli copter and ident ify
th e reacti on forces to eac h o f the se.
3 a Wh y is a jet e ng ine usel ess in s pace?
b Explain how it is possibl e for a rocket to
accelera te in s pa ce and identilv a n important
ac tio n- reac tio n pair esse n tia l for rocket
propul sion.
4

se Newton's third law to exp lain wh y yo ur foot

slips ba ckwards w he n vo u s ta rt to run o n a n icy
surface.

S A be aker o f water is plac ed o n a top -p an balance

and th e bal an ce read s 500 g. A 10 9 mass is
dropped int o the water a nd s in ks to th e bottom
of the beak er. Th e balance now read s 510 g. If

'"V~n " I

PHYSICS

th e rna s had Boat ed inst ead of sin king wo u ld

th e bal ance reading have been 500 g or 5 10 g?
Expl ain .
6 A bird cage we ighi ng 50 N co n ta ins a bird o f
we igh t .3 N. Th e cage is sus pe nded fr om a
ne ton-met er. Wh at is the reading o n th e
ne wton-meter if:
a th e bird is as lee p on its perch?
b th e bird is Hying across th e ca ge (a ssu m
no air flow in o r ou t of the cage a s a re sult
o f thing) ?
c th e bird has a se izu re and fall s Ir orn its perch
(what is th e readin g while it is falling )?
7 Expl ain ca refu lly ho w a ro w ing boat is propelled
forwa rds. Identi fy important for ces o n th e ro wer,
th e boat , and th e water. a nd indicat e whi ch of
these form ac tio n-reac tion pa irs.

91

INTERACTIONS AND COLLISIONS

O

BJ

E CT I V

E S

applying Newton's laws to elastic

and inelastic interactions

----------'

When two things interact thev exert equal and opposite forces on one
another. When a force acts for a period of time it changes the
momentum of the object on which it acts. When a force moves an object
parallel to itself it does work on that object. To analyse an interaction
you must consider momentum and energy transfers.
~

Worked example
A few years ago British Nuclear Fuels Limited (BNFl) collided a high-speed diesel
locomotive with a nuclear fuel container to demonstrate the strength and safety of
these containers. The two bodies locked together after the collision and travelled
some way down the track. The mass of the locomotive was M and the mass of the
container was m. Calculate the velocity of the two just after they locked together.
The direction of motion of the locomotive is taken as positive.
Before collision:

p = Mu

After collision:

p = (M + m)v

Momentum is conserved: Mu = (M + m)v

Mu

v:;:--!M+ m)
If M = 25 000 kg, m = 8 000 kg and u = 25 m

v = 25 000 kg , 25 m

S- l

= 19 m

S 1

s",

then

(2 sig. figs)

33 000 kg

Kinetic energy and momentum

Momentum is conserved in all interactions, but what about kinetic energy?
The kinetic energies before and after the collision described above are:
Before collision: KE] =

Collisions and explosions

It is often useful to analyse an
interaction from the position of the
system's centre of mass. In a collision
in which the two bodies stick together
(perfectly inelastic) the centre of mass
of the system must be that of the final
composite body. From this point of
view the linear momentum before and
after the collision is zero and the
kinetic energy before the collision is
enti rely converted to other forms
(since the final composite body is at
rest in this reference frame). Reverse
the time order of an inelastic collision
and it becomes a simple explosion. If
the exploding object is at rest then the
total linear momentum of all the
fragments must be zero. The kinetic
energy of the fragments has come
from the chemical or nuclear energy
of the explosives.

(a] inelastic collision

(KE~ internal energy)

,-

/ .... 1
I

~\

'.

:
1

1-'

'. - I

(b) explosion
(internalenergy ~ KEl

Collisions and explosions

1L.....7
,

After collision: KE 2

~MU2

= ~

(M +

I11)V

Substitute

Mu

v = -,-----

(M + m)

to get
2 2

KE? = (M + m)!'ij2u =

2(M

111)2

M u

2(M

m)

KE

(M + m)

.Kinetic energy has been lost:

M)
KE] = (111) KE]
111)
(M + m)

KE1-KE? = 1(M +

Elastic and inelastic collisions.

Kinetic

Total

Momentum

energy

energy

Elastic
collision

conserved

conserved

conserved

Inelastic
collision

not conserved

conserved

conserved

A collision in which kinetic energy is not conserved is called inelastic.

All large-scale collisions are inelastic to some extent so kinetic energy is
not so useful as momentum (which is always conserved) in calculating
the outcome of interactions. Total energy is always conserved in any
closed system, so what must be happening is that some of the initial
kinetic "energy is converted to other forms in the collision. The equation
above shows that this will amount to exactly 50% of the incident kinetic
energy if the two masses are equal and stick together on impact.

Before collision:

~1

MEC HANICS

An elastic collision
A perfectly elastic collision conserves kinetic energy as well as linear
momentum .
Rutherford estimated the size of a nucleus by analysing the mechanics of
a head-on colli sion between an alph a particle and a gold nucleus . If we
assume this is an elastic collision (which will be the case if th e collision
does not 'excite' the nucleus to a higher internal energy state), we can use
conservation of both linear momentum and kinetic energy to work out the
motion of the alpha particle and the nucleus after th e collision. (Below, the
alpha particle mass is 111 and the gold nucleus mass is M . Right is positive.)
Conservation of linear momentum : /1Ul = I11V, + A1v2
Conservation of kinetic energy:
1111U2 = 1111V l2 + t Mv /

(1)
(2)

With two simultaneous equations we can solve for the two final
velocities. From (2)

before

after

m
v,

A head-on collision between an alpha

particle and a gold nucleus.

I1lU2 = m v l 2 + MV 22

so
(3)

From (1)

m iu -

Vj)

= M V2

(4 )

Square (4 ) and use (3) to substitute for V2 2:

m 2(u - VI? = M 2v / = MI1l (u 2 - v, 2) = Mmtu + vl)(U -

VI)

Simplifying this gives

m(1I - VI) = M(u + VI)
I1lU - mV I = I\1U + M VI
(M + I1l)VI = -(M - m)u
-(M - l1l)u
V, =
(M + 111)

(5)

The minus sign here indicates that the alpha particle velocity is to the
left (it rebounds) . Expression (5) can be substituted back into (1) to find
the velocity of recoil of the gold nucleus . This gives
V2 =

211lu
(M + m )

Since M = 49111, VI

= -0.96u and

(6)
V2 = 0.04ll.

PRACTICE

1 In an experiment using a linear air track a 0.5 kg

rider travelling to the right at 2 m S-I collides
with a stationary rider of mass 1kg . Find the
velocities of the two riders after the collision if:
a it is perfectly elastic:
b it is totally inelastic.
2 A 1600 kg van moving at 20 m sol crashes into the
back of a small car of mass 700 kg travelling in
the same direction at 15 m st.
a What is the velocity of the two vehicles
immediately after the collision if they lock
together?
b How much kinetic energy is transferred to
other forms in the collision?
3 A small space vehicle in deep space has mass
1000 kg and length 5 m. The lone astronaut
exercises inside the capsule by pushing off from
one end, drifting to the other, and stopping herself.
She returns in a similar way and repeats the

exercise 50 times. Her mass is 60 kg and her drift

speed (relative to her original speed) is 4 m s' . To
start herself she pushes against the end of the
capsule for 0.6 s. To stop she pushes for 0.4 s.
a What force and impulse does she apply to the
spacecraft each time s he starts to move?
b How does the impulse in a affect the motion
of the astronaut and the spacecraft?
c How does the system conserve momentum?
d Are the collisions elastic or inelastic (assume
she stops briefly before changing direction)?
e Describe the motion of the spacecraft during
these daily exercises.

f Describe the motion of the centre of mass of

the system (astronaut plus spacecraft) during
the exercises.
g Calculate the average rate at which kinetic
energy is converted to other forms. Will this have
any effect on the temperature of the spacecraft?

ad va n c e d PHYSICS

The minus sign here indicates that the alpha particle velocity is to the

93

FRICTION
OBJ E CTIVE
surfac e f rictio n
the coe ff icient o f fr ict ion
mod elli ng fluid fri ct ion

It's a drag, but we can't do without it

Vie re lv on the grou n d pushing forw ards on our foo t to preven t it
slip ping back w hen we wa lk. We us e th e friction be twee n a roa d surface
and th e tyre s on our car to pro vide a force to turn u s aro u nd a co rner. If
fri cti on is unexpectedly redu ced becau se o f a w ' I roa d or ice , we mav
skid a nd cra sh . If table tops were fri cti on -fr ee it wo u ld be a lmos t
'
impossib le for a nyt hing to remain o n lop of o ne . If fluid fr icti on
di sappeared , div ers wo uld break th eir neck s in sw im m ing po ols a nd
parachut es wo uld be usel e s.

Fri cti on al for ces prevent or o ppose relativ e m oti on. Th e s tud y of
fri cti on al forces is ca lled tribology .
.

Evolution p erfect ed g liding lo ng before

w e d id: the fly ing sq u irrel.

Static friction acts bet ween s urfaces

ma ke th em slide past o ne a no the r.

{II

rest w hen a force is applied to

Kinetic (or dynamic) friction ac ts between surfaces as the." slide over

one a no the r.
Fluid friction opposes th e mot ion of solids th rough liquids or gases :
or liq ui ds throug h pipes,
Friction between surfaces
Micros copically all surfaces are rough. Wh n placed in co nta ct the re will
be regio ns where the irregularities interlock, and points wh er e high
pressure rnav result in temporary bonds. Anv attempt to slide th e
surfac es o ver one ano ther will require a certain amount of work to be
do ne, lifting a nd deforming the surface, This will require a force and the
work do ne, as th e su rfaces move, will increase their thermal energy.

Friction w eldin g.

~ "mpo,,"
bonding
occurs where
points of contact
cause very
high pressure

_Q_

Friction between surfaces.

max. static
fri ction
,, \

-.

AI though the frictional force between real surfaces will varv from on e
pl ace to the next as the local surface changes, it is possibl e to describe
sliding fri ction bv a fairly simple rule. This rule links the normal for ce
between the two surfaces (that is, how hard they are pr essed togeth er ) to
the friction al force acting on them when they just be gin to slip pa st on e
a nother (the limiting lrcrion):
lim iting friction)
( betw een surfaces

('normal contact force)

between surfaces
F DCNorF=,uN
u is ca lled the coefficient of friction and is rou gh ly co nstant for a
pa rt icular pai r of surfac es.
DC

Worked example
W h at is the minimum h orizontal for ce requ ired to slide a 300 N pa ck ing case acr oss a
fl oor if the coe ffici ent of frict ion bet w een the case and the fl oor is 0,37
To sli de the case the applied for ce must just equal the limiting fr iction :
applied for ce (A)

The g rap h shows how su rface f ri ctio n

chang es as you apply progressively
g reater fo rces. The bump is caused by
sm all im pu rities be tw een the su rfaces
that temporaril y bind them to gether.
It is important to rem embe r that the
frictional fo rce o n ly has its limiting
value w he n th e surfaces are ju st abo ut
to slip o r ar e slipping .

Friction and internal energy

Fri cti onal forces ofte n result in energ y
loss es an d ine ff iciency. It is w ron g to
say t hat t he was te ene rgy has 'gon e t o
fr icti on ' sin ce f ric tion is a fo rce , no t a
form of en er gy. It is much be tte r t o
say it is tran sferr ed to intern al ener gy
by work done ag ain st fri cti on al for ces.

F =.I i N = 0.3 x 300 N

= 90 N

Think of slid ing a heavy case ac ro ss th e floor. If vo u pu sh it gen tly it

doesn't move , Pu sh it a bit ha rder and it s till doesn't move. In both cases
th e sta tic fric tio na l force ha s balanced yo u r appli ed force. Pu sh hard er
s till a nd it ju st begin s to slide at a steady rat e. Your force is now eq ua l to
th e limiting fri cti onal force ,
As lon g as th e case slides slowly th e rule above is r eason abl y goo d ,
and the kine tic fri cti on is eq ua l to th e limiting st at ic fri cti on. At hi gh er
r ela tive speeds , th e na ture of the surface s is changed by the hea t tha t is
genera ted . a nd the coefficie n t of friction changes,
Fluid friction
Flui ds are ofte n used as lubri cants because th ey flow more easily th an
solids slide . H owever, th er e are internal forces between molecules in
liqui ds an d ga ses a nd th ese re sult in viscosity, a resistance to flow.

pl ace to the next as the local surface changes, it is possibl e- fo-ae~<;crtbec:,rc:

_ 1: .J :

L~ :_ +- : ~ _

L., ~

C~~ l ...... ~~~l,..... ........1 ......

rrl-..:.............

,1 ...... l ; ...... L...... t-hc:. ..... 1""'I.Y"rn." l

{:I""\ r r o

MECHA NICS

Defin ition : viscosity

In laminar or streamli ne flow through a pipe, adjac ent layers of a liqu id mo ve paral le l
to one ano ther. The mo lecu les in the layer next t o the surfac e st ick to it so the ve locity
of th is lay er is zero. Press ure in the fluid pr ovides a shear force (m ov ing adjacent
laye rs relati ve to each other) that makes lay ers further fro m the surface mo ve faster.
Higher viscosity m ean s that t he v elocity gradi ent is low er ; low viscos ity allo w s t he
v el ocity to incr ease rapidl y aw ay f rom th e su rfa ce .
.
.
vi scosi tv

shear st ress
di
gra lent

= ve Ioc itv
'

Fl A .

=u~
VjU y

(units ar e N s rrr )

whe re F is the shear for ce appl ied to lay ers of area A sepa rated bv
v el oci ty di ff er ence of () v.

y to

pro d uce a

For obj ects moving slow ly through a liqui d (so tha t the liquid do es no t
get turbu len t) the frictiona l resis ta nce is p roportion al to th e velo ci ty o f
re la tive motion . Stokes's la w is a good descri pt ion for a sphere fallin g
slowly through a liqu id (fo r exam ple, ball bea rings through glycerol):
to tal frictiona l dra g, F = 6Tr.11n '
where IJ is the viscosity of the flu id (a meas ure of its resi st a nc e to shea r),
,. is th e ra d ius of the sphere, a nd l ' is its velocity.
Whe n a plane flies or a to rp edo is fired through wa ter, there is a gre at
de al of turbu lenc e, a nd the fri ct iona l force is calcula ted as if th e m ovi ng
obj ect is ma king a co llisio n with th e fluid . Th e analysis lead s to a
frictio nal force proportion al to the velocity (1') squared, the cross-sectional
area (A) of the proj ecti le, and the den sity (p) of the flu id (see right ).

Maths box: colliding

with a fluid
Volu me of f lu id enco unte red in
t seco nd s = A vt
Mass of flu id in t his vo lume = p A v t
M om entu m 'i m part ed to fluid

p A v 2t

(Th is assumes f lu id is accel er ate d to

v in a to tally in elastic collis ion wit h
th e pr ojectil e.)
Rat e of cha nge of fl uid m om entum =
fo rce o n flui d fr om p roject ile = p A v 2
Fricti o na l dr ag on project ile " - /JAv 2

PRACTICE

1 A large trunk rest s o n a wood en floo r. Th e

co efficient of fricti on between th e trunk a nd th e

floor is 0.35 , a nd th e trunk ha s m ass 50 kg.

a Wh at is th e minimu m hori zont al force that
will jus t m ak e th e trunk slide?

b Does it m ak e a ny d ifferen ce to th e re q uire d

fo rce if it is applied a t 45 to th e hori zontal ?
c Wh at is th e fr ictio na l fo rce between th e trunk
a nd th e floor if a ho rizontal forc e of 100 N is
a pplied to th e trunk?

2 A sim ple way to measure the coefficien t o f

friction between two su rfaces is to tilt one su rfac e
un til a block of th e o ther mat erial ju st begin s to
slip down th e slope . Th e coefficient of fri cti on is
th en the tan gent of the a ng le bet ween th e sloping
surface and the horizontal. Pr ove thi s.
3 Use S tokes's law to det ermine ap propria te uni ts
for viscosity.
4 In a famous experiment to measu re the charge on
tin y o il drop s, Millikan wo rk ed out th e radius of
the oil d rops by mea suring th eir terminal velo cit y
as they fell through th e a ir and appl vin g St oke s's
Jaw, A particular d rop fell 3.0 rnm in 75 s.
a Wh at is th e terminal velocity o f th is drop ?
b Write down a n equat ion for th e weight of th e
d ro p in terms of its radius r, th e gravita tiona l
field stre ng th g , a nd o il den sity p . (Assu me it is
spherica l.)

c Wh at ca n yo u say a bo u t th e weigh t of the

dr op a nd th e fluid fric tion when th e drop fa lls
at co nsta nt veloc ity?

d Use yo ur a ns wer to c. your fo r mu la for

wei gh t, a nd S to kes's la w to deri ve an
exp ressio n fur the ra d ius of the d ro p .
e Calculate th e radius if th e visco sit y of a ir is
1.7 N s 111- 2 a nd th e d ensi tv of th e oil is
800 kg m' .
5 An a ir-ri fle pellet of diameter 4 m rn is fire d a t

100 m s-t.
a How far does it move in 1 S I (Ig nore its
d ecel erati on .)
b Wha t volume of a ir d oe s it co llide with in 1s ?
c Wha t mass of ai r does it co llide with in 1s?
d Assu me a ll thi s a ir is acce lera ted to th e speed
of th e air pellet and ca lcu la te th e energy
transferre d to the a ir pe r se cond,
e If th e p elle t m ak es a tot ally inel astic colli sion
with th e ai r it transfers as m uch ene rgy to
heat a s it d oes to kin eti c energy. Estimat e th e
ave rage frictiona l force fro m th e a ir on th e
pellet. (Densit y of a ir = 1.2 kg m-3 . )
6 A sled ge slides to a halt o n smoo th hori zontal
snow. Sk et ch a graph of veloc ity ag a inst time
and expla in its sha pe , Wha t happen s to th e
kin eti c ene rgy of th e sledge?

a . a n, d PHYSICS

a Wh at is th e minimum hori zont al force that

95

d Use vour a ns wer to c. vour formula for

NEWTON IN ACTION -

O B JEC T I V E S

The exa m ples belo w sh ow how Newton's laws and m omen tum
conservation can be a pp lied to r eal situa tions.

appli cat ion of Ne wton 's laws

o f moti on
applic ati on o f c o ns ervat io n
of momentum

for uniform
horizontal
flight

-L
-----

CloCkWise t orque on
body from main rotor

."
,I

force from tail

rotor provides
anti clcckwi se torqu e

Helicopter m ot ion .

The helicopter
Lift a nd thrust a re provided by th e mai n ro tor. Th e ro tor blades collide
with the a ir and force it d ownwa rd s. Th is force on th e a ir ha s a reac tion
fo rce o n th e blades which pu shes the m up . If th e blades a re tilt ed th e ai r
is push ed do wnwa rd s an d backwa rd s. This p us hes th e heli cop ter
upwards an d forwards. In term s of mo men tum , the roto r increases th e
mom en tu m of th e a ir. The forc e on the a ir is equ al to the ra te of change
of m omen tum of th e accele ra ted m ass of air.
Rotat io nal st ab ility is also im porta nt. Th e roto r sh a ft exerts a torque
on th e blades to keep th em turning. There is a n eq ual a nd oppos ite
torqu e exerted o n the helicop ter. This would ca u se th e helicop ter to
ro tate. However, a sma ll additiona l tail rotor is use d to bal an ce th e
turning effect of this torque , as sh own in the di a gra m .
Alpha decay
Alpha decay occurs in so me uns ta ble heavy nu clei . Radium-226 is o ne
exa mple. This em its a n a lpha part icle (h eliu m -4 nu cleu s) an d decays to
rado n-222 . The en ergy rel eased in the de cav (t hat is the to tal kinetic
energy of th e two particles) is about 4.2 MeV. Linea r mo me ntum mu st be
conserv ed in the de cay, so the m omentum of the al pha pa rti cle m ust be
equal and op posite to th e m omentum o f th e ra don n ucl eu s. Since the
rado n nucleu s is 55.5 times the mass of th e alpha pa rticle it m ove s off
wi th a veloc ity 1155. 5 as la rge. Thi s res ults in th e a lp ha pa rti cle ge tting
almost all th e energy.
If th e a lpha pa rticle ha s ma ss 111 an d sp eed 11, a nd the rad on nu cleus
ha s mass M and speed v then :
Mv

= 111ll

v = 111U

a nd

Mv

u=In

so

KEN= -21 mu? = 12 m (MV)2

= In
M
In
u

Alpha de cay.

2 = M x KE ' I
1Mv
2
m
n uc

In th is cas e

= 222 = 55.5
m
4
So the kinetic en ergie s are in th e ra tio 55.5 :1. The alpha pa rticl e gets
98% of the e nergy.
M

The jet engine

Ev ol ut io n b eat us to je t prop ulsio n: the

na utilu s.

Air en tering the fro n t of th e engi ne is com pressed , co mbusted wi th fu el ,

a nd hot gases are ex pe lled at ve ry hi gh sp eed fro m th e rea r of the jet
en gine. The ne t effect is to increa se the m omentum o f the ai r a nd bu rn t
fu el beh ind the pl ane. T he force o n th e expe lled gases is eq ua l to the ir
ra te of change of m o men tu m, a nd equal a nd op posi te to the force on
the pla ne.
You mi gh t expec t thi s to ca use th e pla ne to increase its momen tum in
th e forwa rd d ire ction. This is not ne cessarily th e ca se. The pla ne is m oving
throu gh the a ir a nd its thru st may be ba la nce d by d rag. If this is so, we do
not ha ve to give u p on mo men tu m con servation. Th e incre ased ba ckwa rd
mo me ntu m of th e expelled gases exac tly bal an ces th e in crease in forward
momentu m of th e a ir th at is pu shed ou t of the way by th e plane.

Rockets
A ro cke t carries bo th fuel an d oxid izer on board . These are burnt ins ide
the rocket a nd allowed to esc ape a t h igh velocity beh ind it. Th e force on
a d va n c ed PHYSICS

nc.

ha s mass M a nd speed v then :

M EC HA N IC S

combustion chamber

the gases is equal to their rate of change of momentum and equal and
opposite to the force on th e rocket. This p ropels the rocket. It is strange to
think that in deep sp ac e, the centre of mass of a rocket and its fuel doe sn't
mov e as the rocket and ejected gas es separate in oppo site directions. This
is because no extemal force acts on the rocket and its fuel.

Changing mass
Some problems involve a cha nge in ma ss of the material in moti on. For
exa mple, continu ally loading a moving conveyor belt with soil or coal, a
wa ter jet striki ng a wall, o r a bod y fallin g throu gh a fluid (and
accelera ting the fluid as it goes). In these cases we can adapt the
equ ation for Newton 's seco nd law :

Rocket propulsion.

F = dp = d( mv)

dt

dt

now bec omes

F

v dm
dt

since v is now constant and only m ch anges .

Worked example

A jet of water issues from a stationary hose pipe of cross-sect ional area 2 crn -, at
velocity 20 m S - 1. The density of water is 1000 kg m- 3 . Calcu ate the average force
exerted on a person struck by the jet.
First we mu st make an assumption about the collision - is it elastic or inelastic? It is
certainly inelastic, but to what extent? Experience tells us there will be a bit of
splashing but nothing like a compl ete rebound , so we use the approximation that it is
total ly inelastic sin ce this is closer to the actual effe ct. This assumption is im po rt ant.
If the water did bounce back elasti cally it would exert exactly double th e force it
exerts in a perfectly inelastic collisi on because its change of m omentum is doubled .
Water velocity is v, pipe exi t h ole has area A. In a short ti me <It a 'tube' o f water of
l engt h v,lt is ejected. In the same time a v olum e vM t hits the pers on and stops. Th e
change of mass of moving water is -p vM t in time or. Hence the for ce on the water
jet is given by

A w ater cann on used for cr ow d cont ro l.

What kind of collision do es th e water
jet make w ith a person? How does the
nature of the collision affe ct the for ce
exerted on the p erson?

dm

F= v -= - pAv 2
dt
The reaction to this force acts on the person and has rnaqnitude p Av 2 .
Using the values above,
the force on the person = 1000 kg m- 3 x 2.0 x 10-' rn? x (20 m

S-1 )2 =

80 N

PRACTICE

1 Tilting a helicopter's main rotor forward to fly

forw a rds could cause the helicopter to lose
altitude. Wh y? How could thi s be avoided?
2 Air pressure is the average force exerted on a
surface by m olecules as they collide with it.
Atmospheric pressure is about 105 N rrr-, and
nitrogen mol ecules (mass 5 x 10- 20 kg) have an
average velocitv at room temperature of about
600m s- l .
a What is the average linear momentum of a
nitrogen molecule?
b What is the ch ange of momentum o f a
nitrogen molecule that makes an elastic
collision with a solid surface normal to its
path ?

c How many collisions per se cond like the one

in b are needed to accoun t for atmospheric
pressure?

3 In nuclear reactors it is necessary to slow down

fast neutrons (mass 111 ) so they have a greater
chance of splitting uranium nuclei and causing a
chain reaction. They are slowed down when they
collide with nuclei of a 'm odera to r', Carbon
(nuclear ma ss 12 lIZ) and deuterium (nuclear
mass 2m) can both be used as a moderator.
a Assume the collisio ns are perfectly elastic and
calculate the fraction of the neutron's kinetic
energy that is transferred to the moderating
nucleus in each case .
b The energy of a fast neutron ha s to be reduced
by a factor of about 104 . HO\v many collisions
does this tak e in ea ch case?

97
-

change of mass of moving water is -p vM t in time

or.

Hence the for ce on the water

nature of the cotusion affe ct the for ce

exerted on the p erson?

NEWTON IN ACTION -

O BJ E C T I VE S
Newton's laws in two dimensions
-:con serv at ion of momentum in twodimensions

Collisions in two dimensions

The examples given so far have all involved motion along a line.
However, many collisions and interactions occur in more than one
dimension: a hockey player deflecting a ball into goal ; an alpha particle
scattered through some angle in Rutherford's experiment (see chapter 8);
a pool player cutting the black ball into the top pocket.
Linea r momentum is a vector qu antity, and so the vector sum of all
momenta after a collision or interaction must equal the original
momentum vector. To solve problems in more than one dimension, it is
best to resolve all momenta along a carefully chosen set of axes and then
conserve each component of momentum independently.
The example below left shows an incident alpha particle (mass m)
colliding with a helium nucleus (mass M ) in a cloud chamber. In the
analysis we hav e not assumed the masses of the alpha particle and the
helium nucleus a re equal, so the results would be true for any similar
scattering event.
Resolving parallel and perpendicular to the incident alpha particle
(along y and x as shown):
Resolving along y:
Resolving along x:

mVJ cos e + MV2 cos 1>

0 = M V2 sin 1> - mVl sin e

(1)
(2)

mu =

Assuming an elastic collision we also have:

~mu2 = ~mvl2 + ~Mv/

An alpha particle (entering from bottom

right) collides with a stationary helium
nucleus in a cloud chamber.

(3)

These three equations can be used to solve for up to three unknown

quantities. For example, if we know the masses of the colliding particles
and the initial velocity and scattering angle of the incoming particle we
can calculate the final velocities of both particles, and the direction in
which the second particle moves off. In particle physics, collisions like
this can be used to compare the masses of different particles. In this case
the fact that the angle between the tracks of the scattered particles is 90
tells us that thei r masses are equal (the proof of this requires some
algebraic dexterity) , and is evidence to support the idea that alpha
particles are helium nuclei.

The pressure of light

In 1905 Einstein showed that energy has mass acco rd ing to the equation:
E

u
a

An alpha particfe colliding with a

helium nucfeus.

= me?

This means that electromagnetic radiation transfers mass as well as energy.

It also implies that radiation will carry momentum, and so exerts a
for ce on a surface when it is reflected or absorbed, and an atom will
recoil when it em its radiation. If a burst of radiation has total energy E it
will have a mass:
111

E
c

= -2

Since it travels at the speed of light it will have a linear momentum p :

E
p = Inc =c

This means that light reflecting from a mirror will exert a force on the
mirror equ al and opposite to the rate of change of linear momentum of
the light itself. The force exerted per square metre of reflector is called
radiation pressure, and for normal incidence on a perfect reflector is
given by:
If the Galileo spacecraft had not used
gravity assists it would have needed to
carry six times as much fuel to
complete its mission to Jup iter and the
Jovian moons!

fIUl;If;:U::; Ifl d

t;ruuu ct innuser.

p=

where I is the intensity of radiation (power per unit area) falling on the
reflector, and c is the speed of light.

_ad,'E oce dJ"H YS ICS

which the second particle moves off. In particle physics, collisions like

MECHANICS

Thi s ra ther s urprisi ng res ul t ca n also be deri ved from classical

elec tromagnetism , a nd experi me nts to me asu re ra d ia tion pre ssu re on a
surface had be en ca rried ou t succ ess fu lly even before Einstein's th eory
was publish ed .

Sailing
Ho w is it possible fo r a ny componen t of a sailing boat 's veloc ity to be
direct ed int o the w ind if it is using th e wind to provid e a moti ve forc e?
To a nswer thi s we need to d raw a free- bo dy dia gram showi ng all th e
forc es whic h act on the boat. In particul ar the re will be a for ce o n th e
ke el whic h oppos es si dew ays d ri ft. Th e res ulta nt o f th e force on the keel
a nd th e for ce of th e wind on th e sai l is in the forward direction .
wind direction

force of wind
on sail

Arthur Compton ( 1892- 19 62) carried out

an experiment to scatter X-rays from
elec tro ns in 1923. He explain ed h is
results by treating th e photon and
elec tro n lik e bill iard balls co lliding, an d
applied the laws of co nservatio n of
en erg y and mo m en tum . This w as the
first hard ev id ence for wave-particle
duality of light.

R = K+ S and pushes boat

forwards (drag not shown)

The forces acting on a sailing boat.

PRACTICE

1 A water droplet of ma ss 0.04 g breaks into three

smaller drops that mo ve apart sym metri ca llv Two
of the drops ha ve ma ss 0.01 g: the third is 0.02 g.
Find the ratio of th e velocities of the three drops.
2 a What is the a verage force du e to radiation
pressure on a 1 m ? plane mirror held up
normal to the light from a lOOW light bulb?
The distance from the bulb to the centre of the
mirror is 5 m (ignore the effects of curvature
and assume 100W is the power rad iated).
b How would your answer to a be affe cted if,
inst ead of a perfect refle ct or. a perfect
absorber of the same size wa s held up norm al
to th e incident light?
3 It ha s been sugges ted that radiati on pressure
could be used to propel spacecraft of th e future .
They would us e hu ge low-mass reflective sail s.
(Th e Earth orbits at a distance of 1.5 x 1011 m
from the Sun, and the normal intensity of
radiati on a t this distance is 1400Wm~~ .)
a How large a sa il would be needed to produce
a force o f 0.1 N a t the same distance from the
Sun as the Earth's orbit ?
b Wh at velocity co uld a 50 kg unmanned craft
reach in one yea r under the influence of thi s
resultant force ?

5 Space missions to th e outer planets use th e

gravity of closer planets to provide a slingshot
effect. This is ca lled 'gravity assist'. Voyager, for
exa m ple. wa s acce ler a ted as it pa ssed behind
Jupiter.
a How is it possible for a spacecra ft to be
accelerated by passing in and out of Jupiter's
gravitational field?
b Wh ere does th e craft's increa sed linear
momentum and kinetic energy come from?
6 A sa iling boat sa ils north-east on a day wh en a
steady wind blow s from th e north . Find th e
direction of the fo rce on the sa il if it is 1.2 times
th e magnitude o f the normal forc e of wat er on
the keel. Iznore other forces.
7 Electromagnetic wa ves transmit energy and
momentum. The momentum of a photon is
related to its en ergy by p = E/c, where c is the
speed of light. Show that light reflecting
normally from a mirror exerts a pressure P = 2//c
o n th e mirror , wh ere / is the intensit y o f light
hitting the mirror (W rrr"), How would th e
radiati on pressure on a matt bla ck surface di ffer
from thi s?

4 Saloon cars are desi gned with a rigid pa ssenger

compartment and a re asonably collapsible
engine compartment. How does thi s help to
redu ce th e risk of serio us injuries in an accident?

"a .an

, PHYSICS
J: 1l1U

LJlC" lclllU Vi lII\:" VCIU'-..IlH;::) Ui lnt: LJUee

99
u r ops.

exa rrrpie, 'was ac cererareo as rr-passec neruno

TlInite.r

ROTATION
OBJECT IVES
ang ular d isplacement and velo city

--

period and freq uency of rotation

Rot ation al m otion is found everyw he re in the u niverse, from spiral

ga la xies to a to ms , fro m spin d ryers to tu rbine blad es, and fro m spin
bowling to pi rouettin g ice skaters .
Definitions
Period of rota t ion ( Ti: the time (s) to complete one revolutio n about some axis .
Frequency ( f ): the number of rev olutions per second (Hz). (1 Hz = 1 S- 1. )
Angular d isp laceme nt (e) : the angle (in radians ) turned through in some time.
Angular ve locity (0) : the rate of chang e of angular d isplacement (rad S- 1) .
These te rms are all related to one anothe r.
f=

tu =

time for 1 revo lut ion

f = ]..
T

dll
tangu
l ar ve Ioc itv,
'
lik
dt (.Inst
an aneous
I e
~fj

Way =

so

M;:

dt

= ds .In I'mear mec han:

anics)

change in angul ar d isplacement (rad)

time taken (5)

If the last equation is applied to a sing le rotati o n,

we

/';(1 =

21t and /';t = T:

~
T = 21t f

These are part icularly useful re lations, especially for un ifo rm circula r motion whe re
instantaneous and average angular velocities are equal.

- -- -- - Worked ex ample 1
The Earth rotates once in about 24 h. Calcul ate its rot at ion freq ue ncy, and its snqular
velocity.

f=.!.=

1
=1 .2 x10-5Hz
24 x 3600 s

A sequence of solar discimeqes taken

every four days in A ug ust 7999 . The
fi nal image is a composite of 25
separate images take n th at m onth .
Sun spots reveal th e rotation of the Sun .
More detailed analysis shows that th e
equator (period of about 27 da ys)
rev olves faster tha n the poles (period of
ab out 34 days). This is poss ible becau se
the Sun is not a rigid body.

w = 21t =
21t
-7 .3 x1 0-s rad s- 1
T
24 x 3600 s

Angular velocity and tangential velocity

Wh en so m eth ing m oves in a circle , its in st antan eou s lin ear velocity is
a lwa ys pa rallel to a tangent to the circle; this is ca lled its tangential
velocity. It ha s no radial ve locity. If it moved alon g a spiral path it
wo uld have both a tan gential a nd a radial veloc ity a t all times.
Angular velocity is related to ta ngentia l velo city. This rela tio n is
derived be lo w for an object moving in uniform circular motion with
co ns ta nt an gular veloc ity w : in a sh ort time r5t th e o bject will increase its
a ng ular d ispl acement by
r5()

= wr5t

If th e o bjec t mo ves through a n an gle

r5s = rr5()

r5(),

it mo ves a distan ce

'along the circumference'. This m eans that the obj ect h as a speed

r5s
r5t

v =-

rr5()

= - = rw

r5t

If r5t is made very sho rt , thi s gives th e in st a ntaneou s tangential velocity :

11

= rtu

Angular acceleration

If the motion is pure ly circ ular, the

angu lar acceler ation is ve ry simply
related to tan gen tial accele rat io n:
.
a = -d (VI
- = -1 dv
- = -a (sin
ce.
r IS co nstant )

dt r

r dt

What is the tangential velocity of a point on the equator of Mercury which has
a rotation pe riod of 59 days and an equatorial rad ius of 2500 km?
6m

=
v

no

= 21tr = 21tx 2.5 x 10

T
59 x 24 x 360 0 s

= 3.1 m S- 1

_ -,

f=.!.=
T

"A ..,

.,a,nn

= 1.2 x 10-5 Hz
0

OUV C I r-e:

MECHANI CS

Torque and angular acceleration

Re sultant forces cause lin ea r ac celera tions; resultant m omen ts or torques
cau se an gul ar accelera tions.
Angular ac celera tion = rate of change of angular velocity

a = -d w
dt

(ra d

Maths box: calculating

moments of inertia
Mathematicall y, th e m o m ent of inertia
is defined as:
;=N

S-2)

I =

tangenti al accelerati on = ~
ra d ius
r

(see previ ous page)

Resistance to twist
The moment of inertia of a n object is its 'reluc ta nce ' to ch ange its sta te
of ro ta tio nal motion . It is the rot atio nal equivalent of ma ss in linea r
mechan ics. Unlike mass it dep ends on both the body' and th e ax is a bo ut
whi ch it is rotated, so th e sa me thing has a n infinite number of mom ents
of inerti a .
It is easy to 'feel' this 're luctan ce' to rotate. St and with you r feet
together a nd yo ur arms by yo ur side a nd twist back a nd forth a bo u t yo ur
vertical ax is. No w s tretch ou t your arms and do the same thing, try ing to
keep yo u r arm s movin g ri gidl y w ith yo ur bod y. The tot al ma ss in moti on
is the same as before but now it takes more effort, or gr ea ter torque, to
rever se th e motion each time . (The effec t is dramatically in creas ed if yo u
hold a 1 kg m ass in each hand. ) With a rms ou ts tre tche d you r body has a
grea ter reluc ta nc e to cha ng e its ro ta tio na l m oti on ; it has a grea te r
m oment of in e rtia.
Thi s idea o f 'reluc ta nce to c ha nge rotation al m otion' ca n be develop ed
int o a physic al definition of m oment of in ertia. If a resultant torque T
pr oduces a n a ng ular acceleration a th en the m oment of inerti a I is the
rat io of torque a pp lied to a ngu la r accelerat ion pr oduced :
I

=r

rn.r?

; =1

Fo r unifo rm circ ular moti on :

w he re the body is made up from N

small particles. m , is the mass of the
ith particle of N particl es in the bod y. r;
is the perpendicular distan ce of the ith
part icle from the rotation axis .
The moment of in ertia is the sum of
mass times the distance squared for all
particl es . This explains w hy moving
mass away from the axis (fo r example,
when a fig ure skater spreads her arms)
dramaticall y in crease s moment of
inertia .
The f inal expression for moment of
inertia will obviously dep end on the
total mass of the body, and w ill hav e
dimen sion s of M L2. For th is reas on
moments of inertia are often quoted in
the form :
/ =

mk ?

wh ere m is the total mass of the object

and k is called its radius of gyration.
Th e physi cal sign if ican ce of k is that it
is the distance from the axis that a
single point mass m would orbit with
t he same moment of inerti a.

the units o f moment o f inert ia a re kg m -.

The moment o f inertia dep ends on the distribution of m as s a bo u t the

axi s of ro ta tio n .
Moments of inertia.
Object

Axis of rotation

point mass

perpendicular distan ce r away

ro d

perpe nd icula r to rod , at one end

Moment of inertia II)

~ mr 2
2

rod

perp endicul ar to rod , through centre

so lid d isc/cyl inder

cent ral ax is of symmetry

~ m r?

ho op /cylindrical shell

cent ral axis of sym me try

mr?

so lid sph ere

diamet er

~ m r?

spherical she ll

diameter

~ mr ?

'; m r

Radius of gyration Ik)

r/13
r/213
r/li
r12/15
r12/13

PRACTICE

1 An ice skater completes 4 revolutions in 1.2 s.

What is her average angular velocity and her
rotation freq uency?

and then pulling it with a steady force of 4.0 N.

a What is the turning effect of th e applied force
about the centre of the shaft?

2 A pram has wh eels of diameter 30 cm . Calculate

their angular velocity and frequency of rotation
wh en the pram is pushed alo ng a t a steady 2 m S-I .

b What is the torque applied to the flywheel and

sh aft?
c What is the a ngu la r accel eration of the
flywheel and sha ft ?

3 A flywheel is connected to a shaft of diameter

20 mm. The moment of inertia of th e flywheel
and shaft is 1.5 kg m- . The flywheel is made to
spin bv wind ing a long string around the sh aft

.:1'-' 1'

rt(" ~("1

d What is the final angular velocity of the flywheel

if the string becomes det ached after 6 s?

PHYSICS

10 1
-.. .---

------ -- --.

w._ - - -

- -0

_. -

UNIFORM CIRCULAR MOTION

OBJECTIVES
G

ent ripetal force and accelerati on

Think of anythi ng th at moves in a circle; th e Earth around the Sun or

clo thes in a tumble d ri er. What makes the m follow a circu la r path ?
Newton's first law st a tes that th e na tura l st a te of moti on is in a
s tra igh t lin e a t co ns ta n t speed , so wha t tu rn s these objects fro m th ei r
stra ight-line pa ths?
The Ea rth is pulled towards th e Sun by gravi ta tiona l a ttr a ction. The
clo thes are preven ted from goi ng stra ig ht by the barrel of the dri er. In
bo th cases, the force w hich cha nges the direct ion of the moving objec t is
directed in towa rds th e cen tre of rotation . This is called a centripetal
(ce n tre-seeking) for ce.

If a centri petal for ce is re moved, the ob ject co ncern ed is free to

co n tin ue m ovin g in a stra igh t lin e. Fo r exa mple, if a stone is swu ng in a
circle o n the end of a string and the str ing break s, the stone flies o ff
a long a tan gent (it does not tra vel rad ia lly ou twa rds). A Gra nd Pri x car
hitting oil a t a hairpin goes off th e track in a stra ight line.
When the gymnast releases her grip on
the p arallel bars, her initial m otion is
tangential, not radial . Of course, grav ity
w ill cause her cent re o f mass to follo w
a p arabo lic tra j ect ory.

Centripetal force and acceleration

Re sultant forc es cause accelerat ion. It foll ows that obj ects mo ving in
ci rc u la r mo tio n are accelera ting in the directi on of th e ce n tripeta l force,
th at is , toward s the cen tre of ro tat ion . Th e m agn itude of th e acceler ation
a nd force ca n be calcu la ted from th e rat e of cha nge of the veloci ty vec to r.
Th e diagra m s show t 'NO po sitions during u ni fo rm ci rcul a r m o tion
separa ted by a short tim e. The ri gh t-hand d ia gram shows the velo cit y
cha nge th a t occurs in this time. If the tim e is mad e ex tr emely short the
veloc ity cha nge is perpend icul a r to the ta ngential m oti on, in o the r words
ra d ia lly in wa rd s or cen tr ipeta l.
Tangential speed is v , so vect o rs V I a nd V 2 have this sa me magn itude.

~ v(jt ~

A cen tr ipe ta l force ac ts a t righ t a ng les to veloc ity, so it has no

compo nent parallel to mo tion. It th erefore leaves th e ta ngen tia l veloci ty
an d kinetic e nergy u nch anged . It does no work on th e ob je ct; it merely
chang es th e d irectio n of its veloci ty vector.

\~

From th e space di a gr a m :

velocity chang es in u ni form ci rcula r

motion .

oe = vot

(definitio n of angle in radia n s)

r
From th e vecto r dia gra m :

o() = OV (sma ll-angle a pproxima tion )

Useful formulae

Centripetal acceler at io n: a =

mv'

Cent rip eta l fo rce: F = -

- - - - - - - --

~
r

rw'

= tn no?

--

v
Equating th ese gives:
QV
v2

6i - -;:

In the limi t of small times :

2
. n)
a =-dv ~ -v ( cen tn. peta I acce I erano
dt
r
Usi ng F ~ m a a nd v = rei produces th e useful for m u lae o n th e le ft .
Worked example 1

Helpful hint
Th e formula e for cen tr ipe tal for ce are
simpl y m at hematica l ex pressio ns for
th e ma gnitude of the resultant for ce
need ed to maintai n uniform cir cul ar
m ot io n. Cent ripetal for ce is not a for ce
in it s ow n right. and doe s not act as an
additi on al for ce on t hing s in ci rcu la r
moti o n. Gravity is th e centripet al f orce
on t he Moon. an d ten sion in th e string
is t he cen tr ipeta l f or ce o n a ston e

Wha t is the cen trip eta l accel eration o f a 40 kg chi ld silting 2 m from the cent re o f a
roun da bout which turns on ce in 5.0 s? What is th e re sultant hori zontal for ce acti ng o n
the chi ld ]

a = rw'

= r

,
211 )' 411'r 411' x 2.0 m
(T = P = (5.0 s) ' = 3.2 m s

F = ma = 40 kg >: 3.2 m s-' = 130 N

This for ce wo uld ar ise from fri cti on wh er e the chi ld sits an d fr om th e chil d hol ding
onto part o f the roundab out.

sw ung in a circle.

cha nge th a t occurs in this time. If the tim e is mad e ex tr emely short the