Edexcel GCSE Physics
Topic 2: Motion and Forces
Notes
(Content in bold is for Higher Tier only)
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Vectors & Scalars
A Vector has magnitude and direction
A Scalar has just magnitude
- Generally, scalar cannot be negative, but vectors can be, as a certain direction is positive
Examples
- Speed is scalar - Distance is scalar - Time is scalar
- Velocity is a vector - Displacement is vector - Acceleration is a vector
- Force is vector - Momentum is a vector
- Mass is scalar - Energy is scalar
Imagine a ball is thrown off a cliff, the displacement is 0 at height of cliff, above the cliff the ball has
positive displacement, and below the clifftop the ball has negative displacement.
- In long answer questions, you may be able to decide where the “0” point of a vector may lie,
for example you could set zero to be bottom of cliff, so the ball will never have negative
displacement
- Speed is only velocity when given a direction, so thrown 10𝑚𝑠 −1 is its speed but thrown
10𝑚𝑠 −1 at 30’ above the horizontal is the velocity
Graphs
Displacement Time Graphs
- Gradient is velocity
- Sharper gradient means faster speed
o Negative gradient is returning back to starting
point
- Horizontal line means stationary
- 0 Distance means that it is back to starting point
- Area under line = nothing
- Curved Line means the velocity is changing (acceleration)
Velocity Time Graphs
- Gradient is acceleration
- Sharper gradient means greater acceleration
o Negative gradient is deceleration
- Horizontal line, constant speed
- 0 velocity means that it is stationary
- Area under line = distance travelled
- Curved Line means that the acceleration is changing
Average Speed
- This is for when the speed changes during the motion
- Use overall distances and timings to work out average
speed
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Methods to Determine Speeds
- For constant speeds
o Measure distance travelled
o Use stopwatch for time taken
distance
o Use speed = time
- For average speed
o Work out total distance travelled
o Find the time taken for the whole journey
distance
o Use speed = time
- Using light gates
o Set up two, one at start and one at end
o Measure distance between them
o As soon as the object passes through the first, it will measure the time taken to
reach the second
distance
o Then use speed = time
▪ This is more accurate as removes reaction time and human error with a
stopwatch
Recall typical speeds:
- Wind - 5 − 7𝑚𝑠 −1
- Sound - 340𝑚𝑠 −1
- Walking - 5km/h = ~ 1.4𝑚𝑠 −1
- Running - ~6 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟 = ~3𝑚𝑠 −1
- Cycling - 15km/h = ~4𝑚𝑠 −1
- Bus - 14km/h
- Train - 125miles/h
- Plane - 900km/h
Acceleration due to gravity: 𝑔 = 10𝑚𝑠 −2
Newton’s First Law
An object has a constant velocity unless acted on by a resultant force
- If a resultant force acts on the object, it will accelerate
o Acceleration is change in velocity over time
o So the velocity will change
o So the direction or speed of the object will change (or both)
- If the resultant force is zero
o No acceleration
o So moving at constant velocity (so same speed and same direction)
o Or the object is at rest (no speed)
Newton’s Second Law
Force = mass × acceleration
F = ma
where force is in Newtons, N, mass is in kg and acceleration in ms-2.
Weight
- Measured using a force meter, or weighing scales, and is used to work out mass of unknown
object
- The greater the gravitational field strength, the greater the weight
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Circular Motion
Object moving in a circle, with constant speed
- The speed is constant, but direction always changing
- So the velocity is always changing
- So it is accelerating
Force
- For motion in a circle, there must be a force which supplies this acceleration
- This is called centripetal force, and is directed towards the centre of the circle
Inertial Mass
- This is a measure of how difficult it is to change the velocity of an object (including from
rest)
𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞
- It is measured by 𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬 = 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
Newton’s Third Law
Every action force has an equal and opposite reaction force
- A book on a table
o The weight of the book on the table = The reaction force on the book by the table
- Rocket taking off
o The force of the gases being ejected from the rocket is equal to the force that lifts
the rocket from the surface
- Collisions
o Two marbles colliding
o The force exerted by one marble on the other is the same as the force from the
other
Momentum
- Momentum is always conserved in a collision (where there are no external forces like
friction, air resistance, electrostatic attraction etc.)
𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐦 = 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬 × 𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲
𝒑 = 𝒎𝒗
- Where p is the momentum in kgms , m is the mass in kg and v is the velocity in ms -1.
-1
- In collisions:
𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 = 𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐦 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫
- So two marbles colliding, each will have momentum before and after the collision
o Remember momentum is a vector
For Newton’s Second Law
𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐦 (𝒎𝒗 − 𝒎𝒖)
𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞 = =
𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝒕
Human Reaction Time
- There is a delay between a human observing an event, and acting
- Ruler Drop Experiment
o Someone else holds a ruler just above your open hand
o They drop it at a random time
o Record the distance from the bottom of the ruler to the point where it was caught
o Average this, and 1cm is 50ms, 2cm 60ms, and so on
- Average human reaction is 0.25 seconds (250milliseconds)
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Vehicle Stopping Distances
- After seeing a hazard
o Before you react, during reaction time you travel X metres
▪ Thinking Distance
o Then you react, causing the car to slow down and stop over Y metres
▪ Braking Distance
Thinking Distance Braking Distance
- Speed - Speed
- Affected by reaction time - Poor road conditions (icy, wet)
- Concentration - Bald tires (low friction)
- Tiredness - Worn brake pads
- Distractions - Mass (more passengers)
- Influence of drugs/alcohol
Typical Stopping Distances (Physics only)
www.brake.org.uk
Speed and Braking Distance
- Greater the speed, the greater distance travelled during the same time (reaction time)
Dangers of Large Decelerations
- When in a crash, there is a large deceleration over a very short time as you stop moving
from a high speed.
- As force = mass × acceleration, this large deceleration means a great force is exerted on
the car, and the passengers
- This force is can cause injury
In terms of Momentum
- Before the crash, you have a large momentum (due to high velocity)
- After the crash, you have no momentum (as you are not moving)
∆ momentum
- So force = time
so a great force is felt
To estimate the forces felt on a road
- Use known values of mass and acceleration to calculate force
- Average mass of a car ~1500kg
Work Done to Stop (Physics only)
- The work done to stop a vehicle is equal to the initial KE of the vehicle
o As all the kinetic energy the car had has to be transferred to friction for it to stop
1
- Braking distance ∝ (initial velocity)2 as work done = 𝐾𝐸 = 𝐹𝑑 = 2 𝑚𝑢2
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Mathematical skills
- Convert units
- Interpret distance/time and velocity/time graphs
o Including gradients and area underneath (for v/t graphs)
- Calculate distance, speed and time for:
o Uniform speed
o Uniform acceleration
o Non-uniform motion (and work out average speed)
- Estimate stopping distances for a car at a range of speeds
- Calculate force, mass and gravitational field strength using formulae
- Calculate force, mass, velocity and acceleration using formulae
- Estimate the speed, accelerations and forces involved in large accelerations for everyday
road transport
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