MECHANICS

Vectors And Scalars

Vector: A quantity with both magnitude and direction

Scalar: A quantity with only magnitude

Examples
Vectors Scalars

velocity Mass

displacement Time

Weight Distance

Acceleration Length

Ways of representing a vector

 A plus or minus next to the magnitude

o F = +5N
 An arrow next to the magnitude
o F = 5N ⟶
 A direction next to the magnitude
o F = 5N right
 An angle next to the magnitude (angles always starting from positive x
axis like unit circle)
o F = 5N 0°

Vector addition and subtraction graphically:

S= A+B

To add two vectors, draw the first vector with its tail at the origin and then
draw the second vector with its tail at the previous vectors head. FInally
draw a line form the origin to the head of the second vector. This line is the
new vector, as shown below.
S= A-B

To subtract a vector, do the same as with addition but flip the vector which
you are subtracting.

Forces
Forces are vectors as they have a magnitude and a direction

Types of forces

Force Description Properties Symbol

Force caused when an

Applied
object comes in contact Either a pull or a push Fa
Force
with another object

mass *acceleration due

Weight Force due to gravity. W
to gravity

Force opposing motion parallel to the contact

Friction Ff
and and surface

Equal To weight on a flat

Normal
Reaction force to weight surface and R
force
perpendicular to surface.

Pull force caused by a

Tension Always a pull T
rope being tight

Force caused by an
Spring elastic object,such as Fe
spring

Drag Friction in a medium Increases with speed. FD

Force caused by
Buyant FB
differences in density.

Free body diagrams

To draw a free body diagram draw a dot, and then draw vector arrows
coming out from the dot to represent the forces.

There are three things you must do:

  Tail of vector must touch the dot
 Arrows must be proportional to the forces. E.g if one force is 5N and
the other is 10N, then the 10N arrow must be twice the size of the 5N
one.
 Arrows must be labeled with magnitude of force (in newtons) and the
type of force

Motion
Quantities of motion

Displacement(s): Distance from starting point

Velocity(v): displacement / time

Acceleration(A): change in velocity/time

Relative velocity: an object's velocity relative to another object.

 E.g two objects move towards each other at 5m/s. The velocity of the
object on the left relative to the object on the the right is 10m/s.

Equations of motion

The equations for uniformly accelerated motion are also known as the
kinematic equations. They are listed here

S= ut + (½)at2 Displacement with acceleration

V= u+at Velocity equation

V2= U2 + 2as Timeless

s=(u+v)t/2 Displacement with velocity

S = displacement

U = initial velocity
V = final velocity

A = acceleration = V/t

T= time

Use suvat, make table fill it out with the known variables, and figure out
which equation uses all the known variables.

Friction
Friction at the atomic level

At an atomic level, an object's surface is never perfectly smooth and is

always made of small “peaks”. When objects come in contact, in reality
only these peaks are touching and where this occurs weak intermolecular
bonds form, connecting the objects. When an object is pushed the
intermolecular forces are broken between the atoms. Breaking these
bonds requires energy and this is what friction is.

Dynamic vs Static phase

When an object is not moving it is in the static phase and the

intermolecular bonds must be broken, for the object to move. However
after the initial bonds are broken an object can move fast enough that the
bonds don’t have time to reform. This is the dynamic phase and since not
all bonds have to be broken the friction force is lower.

Coefficient of friction

Friction force depends two variables the normal force and the coefficient of
friction.

The coefficient of friction is simply the ratio between the normal force and
the Friction force.
μ = friction coefficient (it has no units)

μ=Ff/R

There is a friction coefficient μs when it is static and a different

one μd When it is dynamic

Therefore, friction depends on how hard an object is pushing on a surface

and how slippery the materials are.

Dynamic vs Static friction

Friction Relation with applied
When? Equation Symbol
type force.

Object is in Always equal to the

Static Ff ≤ μs*R Fs
motion applied force

A constant force which

Object is
Dynamic does not change with Ff = μd*R Fd
still
applied force.

Why is friction force lower on an incline?

If an object is on a slope the weight force acts partly parallel to the surface
and partly perpendicular to the surface. Weight force can be split into these
two components FII and F⊥

As the normal force is equal to the force being exerted perpendicular to the
surface. R = F⊥ . Therefore the normal force is decreased on a slope. The
acceleration due to gravity is the parallel component FII and this is why an
object will slide due to gravity.

Therefore as friction depends on the normal force and this is lower on

slopes, things will have a lower friction force when on an incline
 Newton's Laws
Newton's first Law

An object will remain at rest, if there is no net force acting on it

If ΣF = 0, then v = const

ΣF = 0 is the condition for translational equilibrium

Inertia - matters tendency to not change its state of motion (or it’s state of
rest)

Newton's second Law

If the net forces is more than zero, the velocity will change.

The acceleration of an object is proportional to the net force acting on it,

and inversely proportional to its mass.

Net force = mass times accelleration

ΣF = M*A

Momentum version

ΣF = △p/△t

Newton's third Law

For every action force there is an equal and opposite reaction force.
FA = -FB

Energy
Law of conservation of energy: Energy cannot be made or destroyed; it
can only be turned from one form into another.

There are two types of energy: potential and kinetic.

Potential energy - stored energy

Elastic potential equation = ½ * spring constant(k) * x2

Gravitational potential = Mass*Gravity*Height =m*g*h or Weight*Height

= w*h

Kinetic Energy - energy of motion

Kinetic energy equation = ½ *m*v2

Efficiency

In theory thing should transfer 100% of their energy form one form to
another but in the real world some energy is lost to thing slike heat, sound
or light. The efficiency of an energy transformation is the percentage of
energy in the output compared to the input.

Work

In Physics, we define work(W) as:

 force (F) times the displacement (s) in the direction of the force
 W=F*s*cosθ
The unit for work is newton metres (Nm) orJules(j)

Note: Work is the same as energy.

Momentum
Momentum = mass * Velocity

P = m*V

Proving the newton's second law momentum equation

Firstly, mass is substituted for momentum over acceleration in newton’s

second law.

Then, velocity and acceleration are replaced with their distance & time
equivalents. This shows why acceleration mostly cancels out velocity,
leaving just time.

Conservation momentum

In a closed system, if the net force remains the same before and after so
will the momentum.

This can be easily proved as if you set net force to zero in the momentum
equation you know either delta momentum or delta time must be zero for
both sides to be equal. However as change in time cannot be zero, so
change in momentum must be zero.
0 = △p/△t

0 = 0/△t

Momentum before = Momentum after