CAMBRIDGE fone : ae)munte > IB Diploma Standard and Higher LevelPhysics for the IB Diploma Fifth edition K. A. Tsokos Boeengse UNIVERSITY PRESS‘caounanoce UNIvERSTY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, Sio Paulo, Delhi Cambridge University Press ‘The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CH2 8RU. UK wwweambridge.org Information on this tile: www.cambridge.org:9780521708203 First, second and third editions © KA. Tsokos 1998, 1999, 2001 Fourth edition © Cambridge University Press 2005, Fifth edition © Cambridge University Press 2005, 2008 ‘This publication is in copyright, Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, zno reproduction of aay part may take place without che written permissioa of Cambridge University Press, First published by K. A. Tsokos 1998 Second edition 1999 ‘Third edition 2001 Fourth edition published by Cambridge University Press 2005 Fifth edition 2008 4th printing 2008 Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge ‘A catalogue recor for tts publication ts available from the British Library ISBN 978-0521-708203 paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence oF sceuracy of URLS for external or third-party Internet websites refersed to it this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, ‘or will remain, aceurate or appropriate. Information regarding prices, travel timetables and other factual information given in this work are correct at the time of first printing but Cambridge University Press does not guarantee the accuracy of such information thereafter ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ‘We are grateful to the following for permission to reproduce photographs: 7, 526(), 644 Science Photo Library: 89 Harold Eégerton|Science Pot library: 25. Bettmann/CORRIS: 256 Reuters: 276 Sheila Tery/Science Photo Livrary: 15 Richard Megna'Science Photo Library: 400 (Francis Simon) 40: (Segre Collection), 526), 725 Physice Today Coliecion) American Institute of Physcs/Science Photo Library: 46A() Robert Gendler/Science Photo Library 464) John Walsh\Science Photo Library: 482, 535¢ Anglo-Australian Observatory/Darid Malin Images: 595a, NOAO|Science Photo Library: 73 Stanford Linear Accelerator Center/Science Photo Libraty, 7373 CERN PHIOTO/ Frederic Ptchal'SyginajCORBIS, 7379 David Pavker/Science Phote Library: 1 Goronwy Tudor Jones/Universty of BirmingnamyScience Photo Library: 742 CERN(Science Phot Library: 747 Klaus ‘GuldbrandenyScence Photo LibraryContents Preface Anote to the reader Part 1 Core and AHL ‘Topic 1: Physics and physical measurement oe 12 13 14 15 Topic 2: 2a ‘The realm of physics ~ Core Orders of magnitude and units Fundamental interactions Uncertainties and errors ~ Core Errors of measurement Significant digits Line of best fit Mathematical and graphical techniques ~ Core Multiplicative changes Straight-line graphs Getting a linear graph Interpreting graphs Sine curves, Making assumptions Vectors and scalars ~ Core Vectors Multiplication of a vector by a scalar Addition of vectors ‘Subtraction of vectors ‘Components of a vector Graphical analysis and uncertainties ~ Core Logarithmic functions Propagation of errors fechanics Kinematic concepts - Core Displacement and velocity Frames of reference Graphs for uniform motion Be ” ee unn vy u 12 4 “4 15 16 v7 18 18 a a 22 22 24 25 31 31 33 38 38 38 42 22 23 24 25 26 27 ‘Motion with constant acceleration ~ Core Acceleration ‘Measuring speed and acceleration More on graphs The concept of force - Core Forces and their direction Hooke’s law ‘Newton's first law ~ Core Newton's first law Equilibrium Newton's second and third laws ~ Core Newton's second law ‘The inclined plane ‘Newton's third law Linear momentum ~ Core ‘The concept of momentum Impulse The law of conservation of momentum. Proof of momentum conservation ‘Two-dimensional collisions Work, energy and power ~ Core Work done by a force Gravitational potential energy ‘The work-kinetic energy relation Conservation of energy Frictional forces Power Kinetic energy and momentum ‘The problem of least time Circular motion - Core Circular motion and centripetal acceleration Centripetal forces Angular momentum 48 36 64 67 69 70 76 82 83 87 87 89 a1 93, 95 102 104 107 108 0 n2 19 n9 122 123i Contents mm 29 2.10 241 Topic 34 32 33 34 ‘The law of gravitation - Core Newton's law of gravitation Gravitational field strength Projectile motion - AHL Parabolic motion Launch at an arbitrary angle Effect of air resistance forces Motion in a gravitational field - AHL Gravitational potential energy Escape velocity Orbital motion Equipotential surfaces ‘The binary star system : Thermal properties of matter ‘Thermal concepts ~ Core ‘Temperature Heat as energy ‘The atomic model of matter ‘Thermal properties - Core Specific heat capacity Change of state Measuring specific heats Evaporation The Kinetic theory of gases Ideal gases ~ AHL Pressure ‘The Boyle-Mariotte law ‘The volume-temperature law ‘The pressure-temperature law ‘The equation of state ‘Thermodynamics - AHL Internal energy Work done on or by a gas The first law of thermodynamics ‘The second law of thermodynamics More on the second law Topic 4: Oscillations and waves 4a Simple harmonic motion ~ Core Oscillations Kinematics of simple harmonic motion Energy in simple harmonic motion Damping Forced oscillations and resonance 127 127 129 132 132 134 138 142, 143 145 146 49, isl 158 158 159) 160 163 163 165 167 168 169 174 174 175 176 17 178 183 183 185 187 188 192 195 195 195 196 204 207 208 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 ‘Travelling-wave characteristics ~ Core What is a wave? Transverse and longitudinal waves Wave pulses Travelling waves Wavefronts Wave phenomena I: reflection and refraction - Core ‘The principle of superposition Reflection and refraction of waves Huygens’ principle Wave phenomena II: diffraction and interference - Core Diffraction Interference ‘The Doppler effect - AHL | SL Option A ‘The Doppler effect Standing waves - AHL | SL Option A. Standing waves on strings and tubes Resonance and the speed of sound Diffraction - AHL | SL. Option A Diffraction Single-slit diffraction Resolution ~ AHL / SL Option A ‘The Rayleigh criterion Polarization ~ AHL / SL Option A ‘What is polarization? Malus’s law Polarizers and analysers Polarization by reflection Optical activity Practical applications of polarization Topic 5: Electricity and magnetism 5a 52 Electric charge ~ Core Properties of electric charge Coulomb's law for the electric force Electric field and electric potential ~ Core Flectric field Electric potential ‘The electronvolt 216 216 27 218 218 224 228 228 238 238 240 244 251 251 255 259 259 261 267 267 271 2 272 273 274 275 276 280 280 285 289 289 292 295Contents v 53° Electric field and electric potential - AHL, Electric fields Electric potential and energy Equipotential surfaces ‘The connection between electric potential and electric field Similarities between electricity and gravitation Electric current and electric resistance ~ Core Flectrie current Electric resistance Electric power 54 53. Electric circuits ~ Core Emf* Simple electric circuits Ammeters and voltmeters Sensors based on the potential divider 5.6 Magnetic fields - Core Magnetic field ‘The magnetic force on a current The magnetic force on a moving charge Orsted’s discovery “The force between two current carrying wires 5.7 Electromagnetic induction - AHL A wire moving in a magnetic field Faraday’s law Lenz's law Faraday’s disc 5.8 Alternating current ~ AHL ‘The AC generator Power in AC circuits ‘The transformer ‘Transformers and power transmission ‘Topic 6: Atomic and nuclear physics 61 The atom and its nucleus ~ Core ‘The discovery of the nuclear atom. Consequences of the Rutherford (Geiger-Marsden) experiment 305 306 310 310 312 314 318, 318, 320 325 327 336 336 338 339 341 343 350 350 351 354 356 360 360 361 363 365 367 367 367 368 62 63 64 65 66 Topic 7: E ‘The Rutherford model of the atom ‘The Bohr model Nuclear structure ‘The forces within the nudeus Radioactivity ~ Core ‘The nature of alpha, beta and gamma radiations Radioactive decay equations ‘The law of radioactive decay Nuclear reactions ~ Core ‘The unified mass unit ‘The mass defect and binding energy Nuclear reactions Nuclear fission Nuclear fusion Interactions of matter with energy ~ AHL | SL Option B ‘The photoelectric effect De Broglie’s wavelength ‘Quantum theory and the uncertainty principle - AHL / SL Option B Atomic spectra ‘The ‘electron in a bex’ model ‘The Schrddinger theory ‘The Heisenberg uncertainty principle ‘Nuclear physics ~ AHL / SL Option B Scattering experiments and distance of closest approach The mass spectrometer Reta decay and the neutrino Nuclear energy levels, ‘The radioactive decay law ergy, power and climate change 7A Energy degradation and power generation ~ Core Degradation of energy Electricity production Energy sources Fossil fuels Nuclear power Solar power Hydroelectric power Wind power Wave power 369 369 370 37 373 373 376 377 380 380 381 384 385 385 389 389 394 308 398 399 400 402 407 15 ais 415 417 417 418 420 423 425 427 428w Contents. — 72 The greenhouse effect and global warming ~ Core 434 The blackbody law 434 Solar radiation 436 ‘The greenhouse effect 438 Global warming 44a Sea level 447 Effects of global warming on climate 448 ‘Topic 8: Digital technology 8.1 Analogue and digital signals ~ AHL | SL Option C/SLand HL Option F454 Binary numbers 434 Analogue and digital signals 455 Compact disks 438 Other storage devices 430 Advantages of digital storage 461 8.2. Digital imaging with charge-coupled devices ~ AHL j SL Option C 463 Capacitance 463 ‘The charge-coupled device 464 CCD imaging characteristics 466 Medical uses of CCDs 467 Part II Options 471 ‘The content of Options A-D (except Option Ai) is identical to that in the appropriate chapter in the Core and AHL material, to which the reader is* referred (details are given in the text}. SL Option A - Sight and wave phenomena AL The eye and sight ~ SL an ‘The structure of the human eye an Depth of vision 473 Accommodation 474 Scotopic and photopic vision 474 Colour 475 Colour blindness 476 Colour addition 476 Colour subtraction 477 Perception of colour and light 478 A2_ The Doppler effect ~ SL 480 A3_ Standing waves ~ SL 480 A4_ Diffraction - SL 480 AS Resolution - SL AG Polarization - SI. SL Option B ~ Quantum physics B1 Quantum physics ~ SL. B2 Nuclear physics ~ SL. SL Option C - Digital technology C1 Analogue and digital signals ~ SL. C2 Data capture and imaging using CCDs ~ SL G3 Flectronics ~ SL C4 The mobile phone system - SL SL Option D - Relativity and particle physics Di Introduction to relativity ~ SL D2 Concepts and postulates of special relativity - SL D3_ Relativistic kinematics ~ SL D4. Particles and interactions ~ SL DS Quarks ~SL SL and HL Option E - Astrophysics F1_ Introduction to the universe - SL. and HL ‘The solar system Beyond the solar system ‘The motion of the stars 2. Stellar radiation ~ SL and HL ‘The energy source of stars Luminosity Blackbody radiation Stellar spectra ‘The Hertysprung-Russell diagram ‘Types of stars E3 Stellar objects ~ SL and HL ‘The parallax method Absolute and apparent magnitudes Spectroscopic parallax ‘The Cepheids 481 481 482 483 483 485 485 487 487 489 491 494 495 496 498 499 500 506 506 507 510 silES E6 SLand HI Op! FL BB Cosmology ~ SI. and HL Olbers’ paradox ‘The expanding universe ‘The Big Bang: the creation of space and time ‘The development of the universe Stellar evolution ~ Extension HL Nucleosynthesis Evolutionary paths and stellar processes Pulsars and quasars Galaxies - Extension HI. ‘Types of galaxy Galactic motion Hubble's law ‘The evolution of the universe Radio communication - SL and HL Modulation Amplitude modulation (AM) Frequency modulation (FM) Comparing AM and FM ‘The AM radio receiver Analogue and digital signals - SL and HL, Binary numbers Analogue and digital signals Bit rate of a digital signal ‘The transmission and reception of digital signals ‘Time division multiplexing ‘The advantages of digital communication Optic fibre transmission ~ SL and HL ‘Total internal reflection Optical fibres Dispersion Attenuation Detection Noise Regeneration yn. F ~ Communications Bid 514 516 517 517 521 521 525 529 533 533 536 937 939 550 550 554 554 554 554 537 538 558 562 562 564 565 567 569 570 571 Contents vi F4 Ghannels of communication ~ SL and HL Copper wires Wire pairs Coaxial cables Optic fibres Radio waves Microwave transmission through free space Satellite communications F5 Electronics ~ Extension HL ‘The operational amplifier (op-amp) ‘The non-inverting amplifier Reshaping digital pulses ~ the Schmitt trigger F6 The mobile phone system ~ Extension HL SLand HL Option G ~ Electromagnetic waves G1_Light~SL and HL The speed of light Electromagnetic waves Properties of EM waves ‘The laser G2 Optical instruments ~ SL and HI. Lenses Optical instruments Lens aberrations C3. Interference and diffraction ~ Extension HL ‘Two-source interference Young's twoslit experiment Intensity in twoslit interference Multiplesit diffraction ‘The diffraction grating G4 Xrays~ Extension HL ‘The production of X-rays X-ray diffraction G5. Thin-film interference ~ Exten: HL Parallel films ‘Thin air wedges Measuring small distances 574 974 575 975 575 3576 977 578 384 584 588 590 598 598 599 601 603 607 607 617 620 624 624 626 628 629 631 634 635 640 o41 642vill Contents HI Option H ~ Special and general relativity HI H3 4 HS ‘The principle of special relativity - HL Frames of reference ‘The speed of light ‘The principle of special relativity The effects of special relativity ~ HL Time dilation Length contraction Addition of velocities Consequences of and evidence for special relativity ~ HL Relativistic energy Evidence for special relativity ‘The Michelson-Morley experiment ‘The constancy of the speed of light Relativistic mechanics ~ HL. Momentum and energy (momenergy) A point about units A free electron cannot absorb (or emit) a photon General relativity ~ HL ‘The principle of equivalence ‘The tests of general relativity ‘The structure of the theory Black holes ‘Time dilation in general relativity HL Option I - Biomedical physics 1 RQ The functioning of the ear - HL ‘The ear Intensity of sound Hearing defects Medical imaging - HL Properties of radiation Xray imaging Other imaging techniques Ultrasound Diagnostic uses of radioactive sources 15 647 648 652 652 657 659 663 663 666 667 669 on 671 673 674 677 677 630 632 683 685 690 690 693 697 700 700 702 705 707 709 B Radiation in medicine ~ HL Biological effects of radiation and dosimetry Radiation therapy HL Option J - Particle physics ) # Particles and interactions ~ HI. Particles and antiparticles ‘The elementary particles Quantum numbers Antiparticles Spin ‘The Heisenberg uncertainty principle for time and energy Virtual particles Interactions and exchange particles Feynman diagrams ‘The range of an interaction Detectors and accelerators ~ HL ‘The need for high energies Resolution Accelerators Synchrotron radiation Available energy Detectors Quarks and leptons ~ HL Hadrons ~ baryons and mesons Baryon number Strangeness ‘The spin of hadrons Colour Gluons Confinement ‘The interaction between nucleons Quarks, leptons and the standard model lepton number ‘The Higgs particle Experimental evidence for the standard model - HL Gell-Mann’s prediction of the omega minus ‘The direct evidence for quarks Asymptotic freedom “The discovery of the Z° and neutral currents m2 716 718 718 79 720 720 7A 722 73 73 7s 728 731 731 732 733 738 738 740 746 748 748 7™9 749 750 751 752 752 753 753 758 758 738 761 761J5 Cosmology and strings ~ HL ‘The Boltzmann equation Matter and antimatter Strings Physics and the theory of imowledge (TOK) - SL and HL. Appendices 1 Physical constants 2. Masses of elements and selected isotopes 764 765 766 770 778 Astronomical data 4 Some important mathematical results 5. Nobel prize winners in physics Answers to questions Glossary of selected terms Index Contents ix 780 781 782 788 819 832Preface Physics is a fundamental science, and those who study it will gain an understanding of the basic laws that govern everything from the very small subatomic to the very large cosmic scale. ‘The study of physics provides us‘with an unparalleled power of analysis that is useful in the study of the other sciences, engineering and ‘mathematics, as well as in daily life ‘This fifth edition of Physics for the IB Diploma follows the previous edition, but contains material for the new syllabus that will be examined for the first time in May 2009. It covers the entire International Baccalaureate (1B) syllabus, including all options at both standard level (SL) and higher level (HL). It includes a chapter on the role of physics in the theory of knowledge (TOK), along with many discussion questions for TOK. Each chapter opens with a list of objectives, which include the important formulae that will be covered in that chapter. The questions at the end of each chapter have been increased, and there are answers at the end of the book for all those involving calculation (and for some others t00).. Part I of the book covers the cote material and the additional higher level (AHI) material. The title and running heads of each chapter clearly indicate whether the chapter is part of the core or AHL Part If covers the optional subjects. There are now four options that are available to SL students only (Option A, Sight and wave phenomena; Option B, Quantum physics; Option C, Digital technology: and Option D, Relativity and particle physics). The material for these is the same as the corresponding AHL material, and so these four SL options are neither repeated nor presented separately (except for one chapter, Option Al, ‘The eye and sight, which is not part of the AHL core}. ‘Three options (Option E, Astrophysics; Option F, Communications; and Option G, Electromagnetic ‘waves) are available to both Stand HL students. Finally, there are three options (Option H, Special and general relativity; Option I, Biomedical physics: and Option J, Particle physics) that are available to HL students only. The division of this book into chapters and sections usually follows quite closely the syllabus published by the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO). This does not mean, however, that this particular order should be followed in teaching. Within reason, the sections are fairly independent of each other, and so alternative teaching sequences may be used. It must also be stressed that this book is not an official guide to the IB syllabus, nor is this book connected with the IBO in any way. The book contains many example questions and answers that are meant to make the student more comfortable with solving problems. Some are more involved than others. There are also questions at the end of each chapter, which the student should attempt to answer to test his or her understanding. Even though the IB does not require calculus for physics, Ihave used calculus, on occasion, in the text and in the questions for the benefit of those students taking both physics and mathematics at higher level. They can apply what they are learning in mathematics in a concrete and well-defined context. However, calculus is not essential for following the book. It is assumed that a student starting a physics course at this level knows the basics of trigonometry and is comfortable with simple algebraic manipulations.xi Preface: — In many questions and examples I have not resisted the temptation to use 10 m s*as the mumerical value of the acceleration due to gravity. I have also followed the conventions of symbols used by the IBO in their Physics Data Booklet, with one major exception. The Data Booklet uses the symbol s for displacement. Almost universally, the symbol s is reserved for distance, and so s stands for distance in this book, not displacement. Also, Ihave chosen to call initial velocities, speeds, etc. by vo rather than the IBO's u. Iwish to thank my wife, Ellie Tragakes, for her great help and support, am indebted to fellow teacher Wim Reimert for his careful reading of the book and his extensive comments that have improved the book ~I thank him sincerely. 1 would like to thank Geoff Amor, who has edited the new material for the fifth edition, implemented my changes, and made many suggestions for its improvement. KA Tsokos Athens May 2007 A note to the reader ‘The main text of each chapter contains a number of different features, which are clearly identified by the use of headings or by other typographical means, as outlined below. Learning outcomes/objectives ‘These are provided as bullet lists at the beginning of each chapter, and indicate what you will have learned or be able to do when you have finished studying the chapter. Important results, laws, definitions and significant formulae Particularly important material, such as important results, laws, definitions and significant formulae, appear in a shaded box. Example questions ‘These occur in nearly all of the chapters. They are indicated by the heading ‘Example question(s) and all have a full answer. Itis a g00d idea to attempt to solve these problems before reading the answers. There are over 500 such example questions in this book. Material for higher level students. ‘This material is highlighted in a shaded box that is labelled ‘HL only’. Material that is outside the 1B syllabus Some material is included that is outside the 1B syllabus and will not be examined in the IB exams. It is included here for two reasons. The first is that I believe that it clarifies syllabus material and in some cases it does so in essential ways. The second is that it gives the interested student a more rounded view of the subject that is not bounded by the rigid syllabus content. Such material is highlighted ina shaded box that is labelled ‘Supplementary material’. There is also a small amount of other similar material with different labels. Questions Each chapter ends with a set of numbered questions. Answers to all those that involve calculation are given at the end of the book. Answers are also provided for some other questions where it is useful for students to be able to check their answers.Core and AHLaa The realm of physics Physics & an experimental science in which measurements made must be expressed in ‘units In the International System of units used throughout this book, the Si system, there are seven fundamental units, which are defined inthis chapter, All quantities are expressed in terms of these units directly 0° a5 a combination of therm. | Objectives By the end of this chapter you should be able to: + appreciate the onder of magnitude of various quantities; [+ perforin simple order-ofsmagnitude calculations mentally: + state the fundamental units of the SI system. Orders of magnitude and units How many molecules are there in the sun? This may sound like a very difficult question with which to start a physics textbook, but very basic physics can give us the answer. Before we try to ‘work out the answer, guess what you think the answer is by giving a power of 10. The number of molecules in the sun is 10 to the power ..? ‘To answer the question we must first have an idea of the mass of the sun. You may know this, or you can eaeily look it up (to save you doing this for this example, we can tell you that it is about 10” kg), Next, you will need to know what the chemical composition of the sun is. It is made up of 75% hydrogen and 25% helium, ut as we are only making a rough estimate, we ‘may assume thatit is made out of hydrogen entirely, The molar mass of hydrogen is 2 g mol" and so the sun contains 10°/2 mol = 5 x 10” mol, The number of molecules in one mole of any substance is given by the Avogadro constant, which is about 6 X 10”, so the sun has around 5 x 10% x 6 x 10" = 3 x 10 molecules. How close was your guess? ‘The point of this exercise is that, first, we need units to express the magnitude of physical quantities. We must have a consistent set of units we all agree upon. One such setis the International System (Si system}, which has seven basic or fundamental units. The units of all other physical quantities are combinations Of these seven, These units are presented later in this section. The second point is that we have been able to answer a fairly complicated sounding question without too much detailed knowledge ~ a few simplifying assumptions and general knowledge have been enough. The third point you may already have experienced. How close was your guess for the number of molecules in the sun? By how much did your exponent differ from 56? Many of you will have guessed a number around 10° and that is way off, The number 10% is 2 huge number ~ you cannot find anything real to associate with such a number. The mass of the universe is about 10 kg and so repeating the calculation above we find that the number of hydrogen molecules in the entire universe (assuming it is all hydrogen) is about 10” ~ a big number to be sure but nowhere near 10™, Part of learning physics is4.4 The roalm of physics 3 a to appreciate the magnitude of things - whether they are masses, times, distances, forces or just pure numbers such as the number of hydrogen molecules in the universe. Hopefully, you will be able to do that after finishing this course. The Si system ‘The seven basic SI units are: 1. The metre (m). This is the unit of distance. It is the distance travelled by light in a vacuum in a time of 1/299 792 458 seconds. 2 The kellogram (kg). This is the unit of mass. It is the mass of a certain quantity of a platinum iridium alloy kept at the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures in France 3. The second (5). This is the unit of time. A second is the duration of 9 192 631 770 full oscillations of the electromagnetic radiation emitted in a ‘transition between the two hyperfine energy levels in the ground state of a caesium-133 atom. 4. The ampere (A). This is the unit of electric current. It is defined as that current which, when flowing in two parallel conductors 1m apart, produces a force of 2 x 10-7 Non a length of 1 m of the conductors. 5. The kelvin (K), This is the unit of temperature. It is yylg of the thermodynamic temperature of the triple point of water, 6 The mole (mol). One mole of a substance contains as many molecules as there are atoms in 12 g of carbon-12, This special number of molecules is called Avogadro's number and is approximately 6.02 x 10°. 7 ‘The candela (cé). This isa unit of luminous inten- sity. Iti the intensity of a source of frequency 540 x 10" Hz emitting ghy W per steradian. The details of these definitions should not be memorized. In this book we will use all of the basic units except the last one. Some of these definitions probably do not make sense right now ~ but eventually they will. Physical quantities other than those above have units that are combinations of the seven fundamental units. They have derived units. For example, speed has units of distance over time, metres per second (i.e. m/s or. preferably, m s~). Acceleration has units of metres per second squared (i.e. mjs*, which we write as m s~). In other words, we treat the symbols for units as algebraic quantities. Similarly, the unit of force is the newton (N). It equals the combination kg m s~?. Energy, a very important quantity in physics, has the joule (J) as its unit. The joule is the combination N m and so equals (kg m s~? m), orkg m’ s The quantity power has units of energy per unit of time and so is measured in Js", This combination is called a watt. Thus, 1W=(1Nms")~(1kgms?ms") kg ms, Occasionally, small or large quantities can be expressed in terms of units that are related to the basic ones by powers of 10. Thus, a nanometre (symbol nm) is 10°? m, a microgram (ug) is 10°* g = 10-* kg, a gigaelectron volt (GeV) equals 10° eV, etc. The most common prefixes are given in Table 1.1 dec 1 ee “Rarely used Table 1.1 Common prefixes. When we write an equation in physics, we have to make sure that the units of the quantity on the left-hand side of the equation are the same as the units on the right-hand side. If the units do not match, the equation cannot be right. For example, the period T (a quantity with units of time) of a pendulum is related to the length of the pendulum I (a quantity with units of4 Core ~ Physics and physical measurement length) and the acceleration due to gravity g (units of acceleration) through U T =2n/- 9 ‘The units on the righthand side must reduce to units of time. Indeed, the right-hand side units are as required (note that 27 is a dimensionless constant}. The fact that the units on both sides of an equation must match actually offers a powerful method for guessing equations. For example, the velocity of a wave on a string is related to the length | and mass m of the string, and the tension force F the string is subjected to. How exactly does the velocity depend on these three variables? One guess is to write chm where ¢ is a numerical constant (a pure number ‘without units) and x, y and 2 are numbers to be determined. There could be some confusion here because m stands for mass but we also use the symbol m for the metre, To avoid this we will use the notation [Mj to stand for the unit of mass, {L] for the unit of length, [7] for the unit of time. ete. Then, looking at the units of the last equation we have that w v7 ir! = (LI?) ee ire epe try ‘The two equations match if the exponents of [L [M| and [T] match - that is, if x+z2=0 xt ‘These equations imply that and z y Nis 1 2 In other words, the original formula becomes F pace ef m Obviously this method cannot give the value of the dimensionless constant c. To do that we have to learn some physics! ‘Tables 1.2-1.4 give approximate values for some interesting sizes, masses and time intervals. Expressing a quantity as a plain power of 10 gives what is called the ‘order of magnitude’ of that quantity. Thus, the mass of the universe Distance to edge of observable universe 10 Distance wo the Andromeda galaxy 1 Diameter of the Milky Way galaxy 10 Distance toneareststar Diameter of solar sytem 10 Distance wo saa 10" Radius of the earth 0 Size ofa cell 10 Size ofa hydrogen atom 10 Size of a nucleus 10° Size oF a proton 10 Plande length 0 Table 1.2 Some interesting sizes. The universe 10* ‘The Milky Way galaxy 10" ‘The sun 10" ‘The earth 10% Boeing 747 (empty) 10" An apple Araindvop A bacterium Smallest virus A hydrogen atom An electron Table 13 Some interesting masses.1.4 The realm of physics 5 Age of the universe 10” ‘Age of the earth 10" ‘Time of travel by light to nearby sar 10 One year 10° One day 0 Period ofa heartbeat Period of red light 10 Time of passage of light across amucleus 10 Planck time 0 Table 1.4 Some interesting time intervals, has an order of magnitude of 10 kg and the ‘mass of the Milky Way galaxy has an order of magnitude of 10" kg. The ratio of the two masses is then simply 10", Fundamental interactions ‘There are four basic or fundamental interactions in physics. However, in 1972, the electromagnetic and weak interactions were unified into one ~ the electroweak interaction. In this sense, then, we may speak of just three fundamental interactions (see Figure 1.1). Gravitational Gravitational Electromagnetic =—§ — > > Blectroweak ‘Weak (muctearforcey __} Colour (or strong nuctear force) Colour Figure 1.1 The fundamental interactions of physics. Since 1972, the electromagnetic and ‘weak interactions have been shown to be part of a generalized interaction called the electroweak interaction. Example questions Let us close this chapter with a few problems similar to the one we started with. These problems are sometimes known as Fermi problems, after the great physicist Enrico Fermi, who was a master in this kind of estimation. (Q) somereresresestsesssnerEEEEneerrseist How many grains of sand are required to fill the earth? (This is a classic problem that goes back to Aristotle.) Answer The radius of the earth is about 6400 km, which we may approximate to 10 000 km. The volume of the earth is thus approximately 8 x (10 > 108)? m! = B x 10" m*, We are assuming a cubical earth of side equal to twice the radius. This is a simplifying assumption. The true volume is $28? = 1.1 x 10°" m*, which agrees with our estimate (we are only interested in the power of 10 not the number in front). The diameter of a grain of sand varies of course but we wi Then the number of grains of sand requited to fill the earth is take 1 mm as a fair estimate. 8x10" m’ aie 8x10” = 10" Qe esessce reece Estimate the speed with which human hair grows. Answer 1 cut my hair every 2 months and the barber cuts a length of about 2 cm. The speed is thus 2x10 ‘ 10 2x30 x 24x 60x. ~3KI%I6 x 10° 10" _ 10 6x40 240 410% ms? Q) SES Ifall the people on earth were to hold hands in a straight line, how long would the line bet How many times would it wrap around the earth? Answer ‘Assume that each person has his or her hands stretched out to a distance of 1.5 m and that the population of earth is 6 x 10° people. Then the length would be 6 x 10” x 1.5 m=9 x 10? m. The circumference of the earth is 22R ~ 6x 6 10" m4 x 10” m and so the line would * - 200 times around the equator. wrap 26 Core ~ Physics and physical measurement ee (OQ) sssepneasp0p7vesrrEsrEEnEEEEEEIEESRERESSESE How many revolutions do the wheels of a car make before it is junked? Answer We assume that the car runs 250 000 km before itis junked and that the wheels have 2 radius of 30 cm. Then the number of revolutions is 25x10 25 Oe = 108 = 10" arx0s © 2x1!” (Q5 exeeseereeersereserernsrsrecrtoeeeststs What depth of car tyre wears off with each turn? (This is another classic problem) Answer ‘We assume that a depth of 5 mm wears off every 60.000 km. (These numbers are ‘standard for people who own cars.) Then, for a wheel of radius 30 cm the number of revolutions is (see previous problem) 8212 = 58107 = 3107 and so the wear per revolution is +> mmitev 10°? movrev. Have a look through these questions and answer any that you can. However, don’t worry about any you can't answer; leave them for now and ‘come back to them when you reach the end of the course. 1. How long does light take to travel across a proton? 2 How many hydrogen atoms does it take to make up the mass of the earth? 3. What is the age of the universe expressed in units of the Planck time? 4 What is the radius of the earth (6380 km) expressed in units of the Planck length? How many heartbeats are there in the lifetime of a person (75 years)? 6 What is the mass of our galaxy in terms of a solar mass? 7 What is the diameter of our galaxy in terms of the estronomical unit, i.e. the distance between the earth and the sun? 8 The molar mass of water is 18.g mol-!. How many molecules of water are there in a glass of water (of volume 0.3L 9 Assuming that the mass of a person is made up entirely of water, how many molecules are there in a human body (of mass 60 kg)? 10 Assuming the entire universe to be made up of hydrogen gas, how many molecules of hydrogen are there? 11 Give an order-of-magnitude estimate of the density of a proton. 12 How long does light from the sun take to arrive on earth? 13 How many apples do you need to make up the mass of an average elephant? 14 How many bricks are used to build an average two-storey family house? 15 (a) How many metres are there in 5.356 nm? (b) How many in 1.2 fme (¢) How many in 3.4 mm2 16 (a) How many joules of energy are there in 4.834 ME. (b) How many in 2.23 pl? (c)_ How many in 364 Git 17 (a) How many seconds are there in 4.76 ns? (b) How many in 24.0 ms? (c) How many in 8.5 as? 18 What is the velocity of an electron that covers a distance of 15.68 mm in 87.50 ns? 19 An electron volt (eV) is a unit of energy equal to 1.6 x 10°" }. An electron has a kinetic energy of 2.5 eV. (a) How many joules is that? (b) What is the energy in eV of an electron that has an energy of 8.6 x 10-"* J? 20 What is the volume in cubic metres of a cube of side 2.8 cm? 21 What is the side in mettes of a cube that has a volume of 588 cubic millimetres? 22 One inch is 2.54 cm and one foot has 12 inches. The acceleration due to gravity is about 9.8 m 5-2, What is it in feet per square second? 23 One fluid ounce is a volume of about 2.96 x 10° m*, What is the side, in inches, of41.4 The realm of physics 7 a cube whose volume is 125 fluid ounces? (One inch is 2.54 cm.) 24 A horsepower (hp) is a unit of power equal to about 746 W. What is the power in hp of a 224 kW car engine? 25 Give an orderot-magnitude estimate for the mass of (a) an apple; (b) this physics book; (©) a soccer ball. 26 Give an order-of-magnitude estimate for the time taken by light to travel across the diameter of the Milky Way galaxy. 27 A white dwarf star has a mass about that of the sun and a radius about that of the earth. Givean order-of-magnitude estimate of the density of a white dwarf. 28. A sports car accelerates from rest to 100 km per hour in 4.0 s. What fraction of the acceleration due to gravity is the car's acceleration? 29 Give an order-oF-magnitude estimate for the number of electrons in your body. 30 Give an orderof-magnitude estimate for the gravitational force of attraction between two people 1 m apart. 31 Give an order.of.magnitude estimate for the ratio of the eleciric force between two elections 1 m apart to the gravitational fore between the electrons. 32 The frequency / of oscillation (a quantity with Units of inverse seconds) of a mass m attached 10 a spring of spring constant k (a quantity with units of force per length) is elated tom and k. By writing f= ck” and maiching units on both sides show that = ¢/, where cis a dimensionless constant. 33 Without using a calculator estimate the value of the following expressions and then compare with the exact value using a calculator: 243 @ Ss (b) 2.80 x 1.90; 312 x 480 os 8.99 x 10" x7 x10 ” (x 107)" 66x 10"" x 6 x 10 axle 7x10" ©A Uncertainties and errors This chapter introduces the basic methods of dealing with experimental erior and ‘uncertainty in measured physical quantities. Physics is an experimental science and ‘often the experimenter will perform an experiment to test the prediction of a given theory. No measurement will ever be completely accurate, however, and so the result of the experiment will be presented with an experimental error. thus, in comparing the results of an experiment with the prediction of the theory being tested, the experimenter will have to decide if the disagreement between theory and experiment {s due to failure of the theory or whether the disagreement falls within the bounds of experimental ertor and so can be tolerated. Objectives By the end of this chapter you should be able to: + state the various types of errors that may arise in the measurement of a physical quantity; + state the difference between accuracy and precision; + draw a line of best fits + appreciate the importance of significant digits. Errors of measurement f | repeated measurements, whereas errors that | are systematic cannot. ‘There are two main types of error of measurement or observation. They can be grouped into random and systematic even though in many cases it is not possible to sharply distinguish between the two. We may say that random errors are almost always the fault of the observer whereas systematic errors are due to both the observer and the instrument being used. In practice, all errors are a combination of ‘We may also consider a third class of errors called reading errors. This is a familiar type of error that has to do with the fact that it is often difficult to read the instrument being used with absolute precision. This type of reading error is inherent in the instrument being used and cannot be improved upon by repeated ‘measurements. Ifa length is measured using a the two. | ‘Ayandom error is characterized by the fact that | itis revealed by repeated measurements (the measurements fluctuate about some value - they are sometimes larger and sometimes smaller) whereas a systematic error is not. Random errors can be reduced by averaging over ruler whose smallest division is a millimetre and the end of the object to be measured falls in between two divisions on the ruler, it is easy to determine that the length is, say, between 145 cm and 146 cm, but there is some guesswork involved in stating that the length is 14.54 cm. It is standard practice to assume that the reading error is half the smallest division,1.2 Uncertainties and errors 9 ee: interval on the instrument. For the ruler, this interval is 1 mm, and half of this is 0.5 mm or 0.05 em. We may state the position of the right end of the object we are measuring as (14,54 4.0.05) em. In practice, though, to ‘measure the length means also finding the position of the left end of the object, and there is a similar uncertainty in that measurement. Suppose that the left end is recorded at (1,00 + 0.05) em. The length is then the difference of the measurements for the positions of the right and left ends of the object, and this is 13.54 cm. As we will see later, the subtraction of the two measurements implies that the uncertainties will add, so that we end up with a length measurement that is uncertain’by + 0.1 cm, In that case it does not make sense to quote the answer for the length to more than one decimal place, and we may quote the length as (15.5 + 0.1) em. For digital instruments we may take the reading error to be the smallest division that the instrument can read. So a stopwatch that reads time to two decimal places, e.g. 25.38 5, will have a reading error of £0.01s, and a weighing scale that records a mass as 1845 g will have a reading error of +0.1g. The typical reading errors for some common instruments are listed in Table 2.1. Ruler Vernier calipers Micrometer Volumetric (measuring) eylinder Flectronic weighing scale Stopwatch ‘Table 2.1 Reading errors for some common instruments. Random errors if measurement is repeated many times, it can be expected that the measurement will be too large as often as it will be too small. So, if'an average of these measurements is taken, the error will tend to cancel. The experimental result of the measurement of a given quantity x will thus be the average of the individual ‘measurements, i.e. Aiba tee XN N where N is the total number of measurements. We then define the deviation of each individual ‘measurement from the average by AX) =x; — If the absolute magnitudes of all these deviations are smaller than the reading error, then we can quote the experimental result as ¥ reading error However, if the deviations from the mean are larger in magnitude than the reading error, the experimental error in the quantity x will have to include random errors as well. To estimate the random error we calculate the quantity [an + (ax + V WoT which is called the unbiased estimate of the standard deviation of the N measurements ¥;. [With graphic calculators this can be done quite easily and quickly) The result of the experiment is then expressed as ke + (Ary)? e To illustrate these points consider the measurement of a length using a ruler. The reading error according to one observer is 40.1 cm. The experimenter produces a table of results and, after computing the average of the measurements, the deviation and its square are also inserted in the table - see Table 2.2. 009 0.0081 005 0.0025 023 0.0529 ~022 0484 003) ‘0.0009 3 00169 Table 22 A table of results.JO.core— Pyar and ptt memmermt ‘The average is 14.79 cm and the standard deviation of these measurements is 0.1611 cm. ‘The random error is larger than the reading error ‘and so it must be included in the result. ‘The result of the measurement is thus expressed as 14.8 £ 0.2 cm. This is much more realistic than simply quoting the average and the reading error, 14.79 £ 0.1 cm. Note that it does not make sense to quote the average to more than one decimal point as the error makes even the first decimal point uncertain. Note also that once a large number of measurements are accumulated. further measurements do not appreciably change the estimate of the error. Thus, it is of little use to take, say, 50 measurements of the length of the object in the example above Note also, finally, that even the calculation of a standard deviation is not all that necessary. The largest deviation from the mean in Table 2.2 is 0.23 cm, which we may round to 0.2 cm and accept that as a rough estimate of the error. Systematic errors ‘The most common source of a systematic error is an incorrectly calibrated instrament. For example, consider a digital force sensor. When. the sensor is to be used for the first time, it ‘must be calibrated. This means that we must apply a force whose value we are confident we know, say 5.0 N, and then adjust the sensor so that it too reads 5.0 N. If we apply the 5.0 N force and then adjust the instrument to read 4.9 N, the instrument will be incorrectly calibrated. It will also be incorrectly calibrated if the sensor is, adjusted to read 5.0 N when the ‘known’ force that we apply is not really 5.0 N. If we use this sensor to verify Newton’s second law, we would ow Figure 2.1 The types of systematic error that arise from incorrectly calibrated instruments and instruments that have a zero error. expect to get a straightline graph through the origin if we plot the net force on the body versus its acceleration, Since all measurements of the force will be off by the same amount, the straight line will not pass through the origin. “The systematic error in the force would then be the vertical intercept (see Figure 2.1). A systematic error will also arise if we use an instrument that has a zero error. For example, if an ammeter shows a current of 0.1 A even before it is connected to a circuit, it has a zero error. It must bbe adjusted to read zero. If the adjustment is not done, every measurement of current made with, this ammeter will be larger than the true value of the current by 0.1 A. Thus, if this ammeter is used to investigate the voltage-current characteristic of an ohmic resistor, we will not get the expected straight line through the origin but a straight line that misses the origin, The systematic error in the current would then be the horizontal intercept (see Figure 2.1b). Systematic errors are not always easy to estimate but sometimes the direction of the error is. Thus, suppose that an experimenter assumes that no friction is present in an experiment on an air track, where the velocity of an object sliding on it is measured after having travelled a certain distance. A small amount of friction will slow down the object and so the velocity measurements will be consistently lower than their true values. It is difficult though to estimate by how much. A systematic error will also arise if the experimenter makes the same error for all the measurements she takes. For example, consider measuring a length with a ruler. The ruler is aligned with the object to be measured and the experimenter must then position her eye directly above the ruler. If however, the experimenter consistently stands to the side, > as shown in Figure 2.2, the wa measured value will always be larger than the true length. If she stands on the other side, the expected1.2 Uncertainties and errors. 11 Figure 22 An example of a systematic error that is due to the observer. measured value will always be smaller than the true length, A similar systematic error would occur in measuring the volume of a liquid inside a graduated tube if the tube is not exactly vertical. The measured values would always be larger than the true value. Accuracy and precision In everyday language, the words ‘accuracy’ and ‘precision’ are usually taken to mean the same thing, but this is not the case in physics. ‘accurate but precise but not accurate Figure 23 The meaning of accurate and precise measurements, Four different sets of six measurements each are shown. Measurements of a physical quantity can be accurate but not precise, or precise but not accurate. Consider, for example, measurements of voltage taken with a high-quality digital voltmeter that suffers from a systematic error. The voltmeter allows us to record the voltage to many significant figures and repeated measurements of the same voltage give essentially the same reading. These measurements are very precise but they are not accurate, since the systematic error in the readings means that they are not representative of the true voltage. Similarly, readings can be accurate in that their average gives the correct reading. but if individual readings differ wildly from each other, they are not precise, Significant digits Let us multiply the numbers 24 and 328. The answer is 7872. However, if these numbers are the result of a measurement, then at the very least we would expect that the last digit of each is uncertain, In other words, the first number could be anything from 23 to 25 and the other from 327 to 329. The product could thus range from 7251 to 8225. Thus, it makes no sense to retain so many digits in our answer for the product of 7872. The first number has been given to two significant digits, the second to three, ‘Thus, the answer for the product must be given tono more than two significant digits ~ that is, as 7900 or 79 10°. Keeping only two significant digits in the answer for the product ensures that the process of multiplication does not introduce, incorrectly, additional significant figures, ‘The rules for significant figures are as follows. ‘The leftmost non-zero digit is significant and is in fact the most significant digit in the number. Ifthe number has no decimal point, the rightmost non-zero digit is significant and is in fact the least significant. If the number does have 2 decimal point, the least significant digit is the rightmost digit (which may be zero). The number of significant digits of a number is the number of digits from the most to the least significant. Thus, 0.345 has 3 as the most significant digit and 5 as the least. The number thus has three significant digits. In the number 0.000 0006 the most and least significant digit is 6 and so we have one significant digit. The number 5460 has three significant digits (no decimal point hence the last zero does not count), 54 has two and 300 000 has one. Similarly, 3.450 has four significant digits, 54.0 has three and 0,000 500 has three.12 Core ~ Physics and physical measurement ee > ini multiplication or division or talving a “number to a power or taking a root] the " Fesult must have as many significant — “digits as those of the number with 1 least significant digits entering the Line of best fit If we have reason to suspect that the data points we have plotted fall on a straight line, we must draw the best straight line through | the points. This means using a ruler and choosing that line which goes through as many data point’ as possible in such a way that the distances between the line and the points on one side of it are, on average, the same as the distances between the line and points on the other side of ‘Thus, suppose that in an experiment to verify Hooke’s law, data for the tension and extension of a spring are collected and plotted as shown in Figure 24. The experimenter has included vertical uncertainty bars representing an uncertainty of 4.10 N in the values of the tension (the length of the vertical bar is thus 20 N). Uncertainties in the extension could also be shown by placing horizontal bars at the positions of the data points, but we will not do this here. 7™N of or 0203 oa oso” *™ Figure 2.4 Data points plotted together with uncertainties in the values for the tension. ‘The experimenter then draws the line of best fit through the data points and obtains a straight line in the graph shown in Figure 2.5. The line of best fit will ideally pass through the error bars of all the data points. Note that we never join potnts by straight-line segments. The slope of this ine is 200 N m~ and this represents the spring constant. be of or 02 03 04 05 06 Figure 25 The line of best fit through the data points In many experiments it will be necessary to obtain the slope (gradient) of the graph. Here the slope of this line is 200 N m-* and represents the spring constant. To find the slope one must use the line of best fit and not data points (see Figure 2.6). We must take two points on the line of best fit, which must be chosen to be as far apart as possible and then apply the formula slope = 4Y ar tine of best Figure 2.6 Finding the slope of a straight line uses the line of best fit and two widely separated points on the line of best fit.1.2 Uncertainties and errors 13 1 Astudent measured a given quantity many times and got the results shown in Figure 2.7. The tue value of the quantity is indicated by the dotted line. Should she continue accumulating more data in the hope of getting, a result that agrees with the true value? ware ‘ata obtained; Figure 2.7 For question 1. 2. In the data of question 1, is the source of error systematic or random? 3 In an experiment to measure current and voltage across a device, the following data was collected: (V, 1) = (0.1, 26), (0.2, 48), (0.3,65),(0.4, 90)}. The current was measured ia mA and the voltage in mv. The uncertainty in the current was +4 mA. Plot the current versus the voltage and draw the line of best fit through the points. Does the line pass through the origin? 4 Ina similar experiment, the following data \was collected for current and voltage: (V, 1) = ((0.1, 27), (0.2, 44), 0.3, 60), (0-4, 78)) with an uncertainty of 44 mA in the current. Plot the current versus the voltage and draw the line of best fit. Can it be claimed that the line passes through the origin? 3 Inyet another experiment, the following data ‘was collected for current and voltage: (V, I) = {(0.1, 29), (0.2, 46), (0.3, 62), (0.4, 60)}, with uncertainty of 24 mA in the current, Plot the ‘current versus the voltage and draw the line of best fit, Can it be claimed that the line passes through the origin? The experimenter is con- vinced that the straight line fiting the data should go through the origin. What can allow for this? 6 The velocity of an object after a distance x is given by v? = 2ax where a is the constant acceleration. Figure 2.8 shows the results of an experiment in which velocity and distance travelled were measured. Draw a smooth curve through the points. Estimate the acceleration, and the velocity of the object after a distance of 2.0 m. 05} oor 0a 0s os Figure 2.8 For question 6,Cie Mathematical and graphical techniques This chapier is an introduction to the basic techniques of graphical analysis in physics, in particular how to graph variables in order to obtain straight-line graphs. Objectives By the end of this chapter you should be able to: + find the change in a variable given the changes in other variables related wit; ‘+ transform the variables of an equation so that a linear relationship and graph are obtained; extract relevant information from a graph; + understand the need for assumptions in simplifying various situations, Multiplicative changes Given an equation that relates one variable, say ¥, to one or more other variables. itis essential that we learn how the value of y changes when ‘one (or more) of the other variables change multiplicatively. Consider as a simple first. example the equation yor ‘where cis a constant. How does the value of y change if'x is tripled? Obviously, the value ofy is also tripled since y and are directly proportional to each other. More formally, let us call y’ the new value of y; then y/ = cx) = 3(cx) = 3y. That is, the value of y is tripled as expected. The answer in this case is simple since the direct proportionality of the variables is clear. When the variables are not so simply related, the answer can still be easily found. ‘Suppose that we are given the variation with tension T of frequency f ae LY (the other variables in this equation are constants). How’ does the frequency change if the tension is tripled? Again we call the new value of the frequency f’ and then fF 1 fr ay a (a7) =V5i that is, the value of the frequency is increased by a factor of root 3. Equivalently we could have v43 Mathematical and graphical tochniques 15 since all the common variables cancel out. Similarly, the average kinetic energy of the molecules of a gas depends on absolute temperature through Jone? = $k If the temperature is doubled what happens to the speed c? Taking ratios 3kQT) kT The speed increases by V2. The pressure, volume, temperature and number of molecules of an ideal gas are related by pV = NAT where k is a constant. If the pressure of a gas is doubled while the temperature is halved and the number of molecules is left unchanged, what will be the new volume of the gas? In this case the ratio method gives ep NK(5) 4 Straight-line graphs ‘The easiest graph to deal with is that of the straight line: y = mx +c. In this form, the constant m represents the slope (also known as the gradient) of the straight line and c the FIN 2 a s 10 15 Figure 3.1 The straightline graph of tension. versus extension. wim 20 intercept on the y (vertical) axis. Figures 3.1-3.3 show three examples of straight-line graphs. Figure 3.1 represents a force F (plotted on the vertical axis and measured in newtons, N) as a function of distance x (measured in metres, m). We can read off the intercept on the F axis as 1.2 N. The gradient can be measured to be 0.4. m”'. Note that the units for the gradient must be given. Thus, the equation of this line is F =0A(Nm™)x +1.2N.Itis usually convenient not to mention units in the ‘equation of the Tine so that we can write the simpler F = 0.4x +12, but it is then crucial to note that x must be expressed in metres so that, F ends up being expressed in newtons. Figure 3.2 shows distance x on the vertical axis, (measured in metres) plotted as a function of time t (measured in seconds). The intercept on the vertical axis is —1.6 m and the gradient is 06 ms". Thus, the equation of this line is x =0.6{m 5) t — 1.6m, or simply x = 0.6 1.6. alte 4 ip ils Figure 3.2 Graph of distance versus time.16 Core ~ Physics and physical measurement SSeS ‘The third example (Figure 3.3) is a graph of velocity v (measured in metres per second) versus time t (measured in seconds). The intercept on the vertical axis is 2m s~! and the gradient is 0.2 ms. Thus ¥ = —0.2(m 631 + 2(ms~), or just v = -0.2t | an | Figure 3.3 Graph of velocity versus time. As we will see in our study of motion in mechanics, the area under a velocity-time graph, represents the displacement change of the moving object. Suppose that initially che object is at a displacement of 20 m from the origin. To find the acement of the object 5s after the start we need to find the area that is bounded by the graph and the time axis from ¢ = 0s tot = 5s. This shape is a trapezoid and its area is (1) x5 = 7.5 m. Note that the units of the area in this graph are units of distance, since we multiply a velocity (m s~) by time (s). (If the vertical axis represented a force measured in newtons and the horizontal axis distance measured in metres, the area in that case would have units of N x m, ie. joules.) This means that the displacement at! = 5 sis 20m 47.5 m= 27.5 m. The displacement at = 10 s is found by calculating the area bounded by the graph and the time axis from f = 0 to t = 10 s. This area has the shape of a triangle and so the area is (25%) = 10 m. Ihe displacement at f = 10 s is thus 20m + 10m = 30 m, After! = 10 5, the graph goes below the time axis. This means that areas will now be counted as negative. Thus, to find the displacement at f = 15 s we proceed as follows: first find the area from t = 0 to 10m. Then find the area from! = 10s tot It is —7.5 m. The area from f = 0 tot = 15 sis thus 10 m—7.5 m= 2,5 m. The displacement at t= 15 sis thus 20m42.5 m= 22.5 m. 10s, which is Getting a linear graph In an experiment it is more than likely that when a ‘measured quantity y is plotted against another measured quantity x on which it depends, 2 straight-line graph will not result, Thus, suppose that the expected theoretical relationship between the variables is y = ax? +b, as in Figure 3.4. ‘ t 100 = 10] to| » 20 fg sn gy °o 2 + © 8 0 Figure 3.4 Graph of the parabola y = ax? +b. Then if we call the variable x” =, the expected relationship becomes y = aw” +b, which is the equation of a standard straight line with gradient and intercept b. Hence. we must plot y versus w (ie.x*) to get a straight line (see Figure 35) : veo | «| | 20] f#——1, 0 ey a Figure 3.5 By graphing against the variable x? we get a straight line.1.3 Mathematical and graphical techniques 17 ° 2 + 6 8 10" * Figure 3.6 Graph of the hyperbola xy =c Similarly if the expected relationship is xy = ¢ (Figure 3.6), we call ! = w in which case the expected relationship is y w, which, again is a straight line going through the origin with gradient c. Thus we must plot y versus + to get a straight line (Figure 3.7), ° 2 + 6 5 iw Figure 3.7 We get a straight line by plotting against the variable + Ify and x are related by y = ae* +b, a straight line is obtained by plotting y versus e*. The sradient is then @ and the intercept b.Irthe relationship is y 222) 60 that a graph of ! versus x? is a we rewrite it as straight line. Finally, a relationship such as y? = 00 yields a straight line when y’ is plotted against x°, Interpreting graphs Given a graph, we should be able to extract information from it and use that information to give a description of what is going on. In Figure 3.8 the velocity is decreasing uniformly from an initial value of 20 m s~!. The velocity becomes zero at 2's and then becomes negative. ‘The graph could represent the motion of an object thrown vertically up with an initial velocity of 20 m s~". The time of 2s then represents the time when the object reaches its highest point. vim et Figure 38 The velocity is decreasing uniformly and becomes zero at 2 8. The object then changes its direction of motion. In Figure 3.9, displacement is graphed against time for a given motion. The object is at displacement zero at time zero and becomes a maximum at 2 s. The object returns to its initial o T 2 3 oe Figure 3.9 The displacement reaches a maximum at 2 and becomes zero at 4s.18 Core ~ Physics and physical messurement e 2 4 6 ® 10 Figure 3.10 The velocity is becoming constant and so the acceleration becomes zero, In Figure 3.10, the velocity appears to be approaching a constant value of about 20 ms“. ‘The acceleration of the object thus approaches zero. Sine curves When describing waves, as well as in many other parts of physics, we deal with quantities that depend on other variables through a sine function, y =C sin(ax + b), with C,a and b being constants. For example. the disturbance ofa harmonic wave at a distance x at a specific instant of time can be shown to be y=asin[2n2] where the constants A and A are known as the amplitude and wavelength of the wave. The amplitude is thus the largest possible disturbance (ie. y value) and for the graph in Figure 3.11 this can be read as 1.5 m. The ‘wavelength of the wave is extracted from the graph by measuring the distance between two consecutive peaks. In Figure 3.11 we thus find a wavelength of 2 m. Similarly, the disturbance of a harmonic wave looked at as a function of time is given by y= Aan[ond] where A is again the amplitude (in Figure 3.12 it has a value of 0.4 m) and T is the period of vim im % ib aise | Figure 3.11 Graph of a harmonic wave as a | function of position. The wavelength of the | wave can be determined from this graph. 2 oak Figure 3.12 Graph of a harmonic wave as a function of time. The period of the wave can be determined from this graph. the wave. The period is found by taking the time separation of two consecutive peaks; in Figure 3.12, 7 = 0.55. 9 assumptions ‘When we solve a physics problem, we always make assumptions that simplify the problem. Sometimes we are careful to list our assumptions and sometimes not. For example, in most of the chapters on mechanics we will be solving problems involving "bodies’ in motion acted upon by forces. The ‘bodies’ can be anything from human beings to leaves, bricks, cars or planets However, we will always be treating them as13 Mathematical and grephical techniques 19 EEE EEE point particles, because this simplifies the problem. We will mostly ignore frictional forces unless told otherwise, because again this simplifies the problem. But we must always be aware that our solution has been derived under various assumptions and so the real solution might differ if the effects of the factors we neglected are taken into account. We also. usually, assume that strings (and springs) have no mass ~ the famous physics strings. This, makes life easier and the assumption is good provided the other bodies in the problem really have masses much larger than that of the string. When studying thermal physics we usually don't take into account the fact that thermal energy is always lost to the surroundings no matter how careful we have been to prevent that. IF you were asked to calculate the number of atoms in your body, you would have to make a simplifying assumption otherwise the problem is hopelessly difficult ~ pretending that all your mass is made of out of water is such a simplifying assumption. You must then justify why it is a good simplifying assumption. In dealing with gases we assume that the gas is ideal. This is a good assumption for the air in a football but nota very good one for the material of a star that is about to become.a white dwarf! In the chapters on electricity you will lean about Coulomb's law, which allows us to find the force between two spherical charges. We cannot use this law to find the force between two plane sheets of charge though. Using Coulomb’s law will only be an estimate of the force, not a precise calculation of it. Under certain conditions (which we must identify) this estimate may be a very good approximation to the real answer. In other cases it might not be. In electric circuits we usually assume that connecting wires and ammeters have no resistance. If a device used in the circuit has a resistance of a few tens of ohms. this assumption is good. But if the device has a very low resistance, comparable to that of the connecting wires and the ammeter, the assumption is not good. Similarly, voltmeters are assumed to have an infinite resistance. This means, in practice, a resistance much larger than the rest of the resistors in the circuit. If the largest resistor in the circuit is 100 ohms and the voltmeter has a resistance of 100 000 ohms the assumption is good. But if you are dealing with 100 000 ohm resistors the assumption of an infinite voltmeter resistance breaks down. So, part of learning physics involves identifying assumptions in a problem and being able to explain whether the assumptions are justified or not. 1 The pressure of an ideal gas is 4 atm. Ifthe only change is to increase the temperature by 2 facior of 4, what will the new pressure of the gas be? (Use pV = kT.) 2 The kinetic enesgy of a mess m is given by tin’. Ifthe speed v is doubled, by what factor does the energy change? 3 The kinetic energy (Ex = mv?) of a body doubles. By what factor did the speed increase? 4 Acconstant force F brings a body of mass m and initial speed y to rest over a distance If the initial speed doubles, over what distance will the same force stop the same body? (Use att) 5 The electric force between two charges @ and Qa distance r apart is given by F = k22, where kis a constant. (a) I both charges double, by what factor does the force between them increase? (b) If both charges double but the force between them slays the same, by what factor did their separation change? 6 The frequency of a standing wave on a string of fixed length 1. kept under tension T is given by £= 42, where cis a constant, By what factor should the tension be changed so that the frequency triples? 7 The period of a pendulum of length is given 2n/L, where g is a constant. I the20 Core ~ Physics end physical meesurement period doubles, by what factor did the length fa) If a set of data for a and bis collected, change? how should it be plotied in order to give a 8 The frequency of oscillation of a mass m straight line? i er: (b) How can the focal fength of the lens be attached to a spring is given by f = ee ae measured from the graph: 13 The pressure of a fixed quantity of gas at constant volume is related to temperature in where k isa constant. Ifthe frequency increases by a factor of 4, by what factor did the mass change? 9) The power radiated by a body kept at a vealain by: temperature T is given by P = AT‘, where kis Lan a constant. If the temperature is doubled, by T what factor does the power increase? (a) What form does a graph of pressure versus 10 The period of a planet around the sun is given temperature take? by 7? = kR*, where k is a constant and R is | {b) If the temperature is expressed in degrees the mean distance of the planet from the sun, Celsius (T(K) = T(°C) + 273) what does a Aplanet orbits the sun at a distance from the graph of pressure versus temperature give? sun that is twice the distance of earth from the 14 The period of a planet around the sun is sun. What is the period of this planet. (The related to the mean distance of the planet earth's period is one year.) from the sun through Kepler's third law 11 When a strong wind creates waves on a pond, = constant x R* a piece of cork floating in the water oscillates so that its distance from the bottom of the {fa student plots the period T on the vertical pond is given by the graph in Figure 3.13. axis, what must be plotted on the horizontal axis in order that the resulting graph is a deptvin straight line? 15 The kinetic energy of a mass m moving in a | straight line with speed v is given by | E, = Jom’, where the speed is related to | acceleration a (assumed constant) and | distance travelled d through v’ = 2ad. What would a graph of E, versus d give? 16 In the photoelectric effect, light of frequency £ falling on a metallic surface causes the emission of electrons of kinetic energy F. | Einstein’s formula relates these through “ALP Lad } \ otf “AWAY Figure 3.13 For question 1 Ev=hf-@ (a) What is the depth of the pond? where ¢ and h are constants. ¢ depends on {b) What is the frequency of the wave the surface used whereas h is a universal travelling on the pond? constant. A graph of Ey versus f gives a (©) What is the amplitude of the wave? straight line. 12. The image of an object a distance a from a (a) How can @ be measured from the graph?) lens is formed at a distance b trom the lens, (b] How can h be measured? where a and b are related through the (c) Ina second experiment with a different equation ! += + and fis the (constant) surface, a second staight line is obtained. focal length of the lens. What do the two lines have in common’a : Vectors and scalars Quantities in physics are either scalars (i. they just have magnitude) or vectors (Le. they have magnitude and direction) The tools for dealing with vectors are presented in this chapter. Objectives By the end of this chapter you should be able to: + describe the difference between vector and scalar quantities and give examples of each; rule; + add and subtract vectors by a graphical technique, such as the parallelogram + find the components of a vector along a given set of axes; | + reconstruct the magnitude and direction of a vector from its given components; solve problems with vectors, Vectors Some quantities in physics, such as time, distance, mass, speed, temperature, etc., just need one number to specify them. These are called scalar quantities. For example, it is sufficient to say that the mass of a body is 10 ke or that the temperature today is 18°C. On the other hand, many quantities are filly specified only if, in addition to a number, a direction is given. Examples are velocity, acceleration, force, ete. These are called vector quantities. For example, when describing the velocity of an object, it is necessary to specify both the magnitude of velocity (speed) and the direction in.which the object is moving, Table 4.1 lists some examples of vectors and scalars. A vector is represented by a straight line with an arrow at one end, as shown in Figure 4.1a. ‘The direction of the arrow represents the direction of the vector and the length of the line represents the magnitude of the vector. To. Displacement Distance Velocity Speed ‘Acceleration! Mass Force ‘Time ‘Weight Density Electric field Hlecirie potential Magnetic field Dneray Gravitational field ‘Gravitational potential Torque ‘Temperature ‘Area ‘Volume ‘Momentum Blectric charge ‘Angular veloc! ‘Work Table 4.1 Examples of vectors and scalars. say that two vectors are the same means that both magnitude and direction are the same. Two vectors with the same direction are not necessarily along the same line. As long as they are parallel to each other and have the same22 Core ~ Physics and physical measurement © » —_, Figure 4.1 (a) Representation of vectors by arrows. (b) These three vectors are equal to each other. magnitude, they are the same. Thus, the vectors in Figure 4.1b are all equal to each other. This ability to shift a vector around parallel to itself (called parallel transport) is very important in what follows. Vectors are represented symbolically either with | an arrow On top of the symbol for the vector or in bold type. Thus, both d and a represent a ‘vector, and its magnitude is denoted by |a|, Jal or just a. ‘Two vectors that have the same magnitude but are opposite to each other in direction are the negatives of one another (see Figure 4.2). a a < Figure 4.2 Iwo opposite vectors that are equal in| magnitude. Multiplication of a vector by a scalar Avector can be multiplied by a scalar (ie. 2 number) in a simple way. If the vector 4 is multiplied by the number k, then the resulting vector kd has the same direction asd ifk > 0 and opposite tod if k < 0. The magnitude of the vector kG is simply k |d). Thus, if the vector has a magnitude of 10 units, multiplying d by the number ~0.5 results in a vector of magnitude 5 units in the opposite direction to G. (See Figure 43) yt we Figure 43 Multiplication of vectors by a scalar. Addition of vectors Figure 4.4 shows vectors @ and 5. We want to find the vector that equals d +B. Adding two or more vectors together gives the vector sum, ‘which is the combined effect of the vectors acting on a body. Thus, if two forces act on a mass, their vector sum is the one force whose effect on the mass is the same as the effects of the two forces together. For this reason, the sum of a number of vectors is called the net vector or the resultant vector. There are two equivalent graphical methods for adding two vectors. The first is the parallelogram method (see Figure 4.4): 4. Shift parallel to itself so that its beginning point coincides with the beginning point of @. 2 Complete the parallelogram whose two sides are d and b. 3. Draw the diagonal of the parallelogram which starts at the beginning of and 5. This diagonal is @ +b. ‘The second method is the head-to-tail method (see Figure 4.5) 1 Shift § parallel to itself so that its beginning point touches the end point of é. 2 Join the beginning point of @ to the end point of B. This is vector @ +B. ‘You might ask if we would have obtained a different answer if, instead, we had shifted @ to Figure 44 Adding two vectors involves shifting one of them parallel to itself so as to form a parallelogram with the two vectors as the two sides, The diagonal represents the sum.14 Vectors and scalars 23 Figure 45 One of the vectors is shifted parallel to itself until its beginning point coincides with the end of the other vector. The sum is then the arrow that joins the only beginning point to the only end point. the end of b and then joined the beginning of 5 to the end of G. Check that you get the same answer if you do this. This is a way of seeing thatd +b=b +4. Example questions (Q |, SERrErEraeresNTWWTTSESETESSSUCSSEEEEETTESTE Add together two vectors: the first has a magnitude of 100 units and is directed east, the ‘other has a magnitude of 50 units directed at 45° to the first Answer See Figure 4.6. First we make a scale represer 10 units of the vector magnitude with 1.cm on paper. Measuring the diagonal we find a length of 13.85 cm, implying a sum of 138.5 units, Using a protractor we find that @ = 14.2°, Figure 46 (Not to scale). Q) EET A velocity vector of magnitude 1.2ms°" is horizontal. A second velocity vector of magnitude 2ms- must be added to the firs so that the sum is vertical in direction. What is the direction of the second vector and what is the magnitude of the sum? Answer See Figure 4.7. Again we need a scale. Representing 1 ms~' by 2 cm, we see that the ms" corresponds to 2.4.cm and 2ms~! to 4 cm, First draw the horizontal vector; mark the vertical direction and using a compass (or & ruler) mark a distance of 4 em from A. It intersects the vertical line at B. AB must be one of the sides of the parallelogram we are looking for. Thus, measure a distance of 2.4 cm horizontally from 6 to Cand join © to C. This is the direction in which the second velocity vector must be pointing. Measuring the diagonal (i.e. the vector representing the sum) we find 3.85 cm, which represents |.93ms~. Using a provactor we find that the 2ms"* velocity vector makes an angle of about 25° with the vertical Figure 47 (Not to scale} (Q) esneesesensnsssecrnEeTeTerereseTeSeERSaeal Apperson walks 5 km east, followed by 3 km north and then another 4 km east. Where does he end up? Answer The walk consists of three steps and we may represent each one by a vector (see Figure 4.8). The first step is a vector of magnitude 5 km directed east. The second is a vector of magnitude 3 km directed north and the last step is represented by a vector of 4 km directed east. The person will end up at a place that is given by the vector sum of these three vectors, that is OA + AB + BC, which equals the vector OC. By measurement or by simple geometry, the distance from O to C is 9.5 km and the angle to the horizontal is 18.4".24 Core ~ Physics and physical measurement as Subtraction of vectors We are given two vectors @ and b. We want to find G —b. Since G —f is the same as @ +(—b). all we have to do is find the vector ~J and add that tod (see Figure 4.9) Figure 4.9 Subtraction of vectors. We have the important result that: ‘This is very useful because in physics we are often interested in finding the change in a vector. For example, consider a body whose velocity changes from #; tos. The vector representing the change in the velocity is the vector A?’ = 7, —i,, which is the vector joining the tip of 7; to the tip of 72 (see Figure 4.10). change in velocity Figure 4.10 The vector representing the change in velocity, Fs — F. Example question (4 apsesecesreetesseessnreerrecrereenerereess ‘A body moves in a circle of radius 3 m with a constant speed of 6.0 ms~!. The velocity vector is at all times tangent to the circle, The body starts at A and proceeds to B and then C. Find the change in the velocity vector between A and 8 and between B and C. (See Figure 4.11.) o> A B =. c 7 We, a Figure 4.11 Answer From Ato B we have to find the difierence Vi — fa. The vectors are shown in Figure 4.12. Figure 4.12, The vector jis ~ va is directed south-west and its ‘magnitude is (by the Pythagorean theorem) (atg=VOre vm = 849m"! ‘The vector Yc ~ % has the same magnitude as % ~ % but is directed north-west.14 Vectors and scalars 25, Components of a vector ‘Suppose that we use perpendicular axes x and y and draw vectors on this x-y plane. We take the origin of the axes as the starting point of the vector. (Other vectors whose beginning points are not at the origin can be shifted parallel to themselves until they, too, begin at the origin) Given a vector we define its components along, the axes as follows. From the tip of the vector draw lines parallel to the axes and mark the point on each axis where the lines intersect the axes (Figure 4.13). component -ecomponeat Figure 4.13 The components of a vector. ‘The x and y components of @ are called a, and ay. They are given by a, =0.cos6 ay =asind where a is the magnitude of the vector G and @ is the angle between the vector and the positive x-axis. Some care must be taken in ing the correct angle that goes in these formulae. The angle is properly measured from the positive x-axis to the vector, in the counterclockwise direction ee Figure 4.14). po Figure 4.14 The angle of a vector is measured from the positive x-axis to the vector, in the counter- clockwise direction. Example question QS seeseseeseeneverescisinnssensicereEEESEEED Find the components of the vectors in Figure 4.15. ‘The magnitude of 3 is 10 units and that of Bis 20 units. Figure 4.15, Answer The relevant angle for d is 180° + 45 that for bis 330°. Thus 225° and a, = 10.00 225 1.07 10.0sin 225 7.07 b, = 20.008 330° =173 20.0sin 330° 10.0 As we see, the components of a vector can be negative as well as positive. It is somewhat less precise, but in practice more convenient, not to have to deal with negative components. Consider the vector shown in Figure 4.16. Figure 4.16 Any angle can be used to find the magnitude of the components. Its x component is clearly negative, F, = 10 cos 120° = ~5N. We could state, however, that the x component of the vector is 5 N in the negative x direction. This is equivalent to stating that F, =—5.N. Ithas the advantage that by using trigonometry, we can26 Core - Physics and physical measurement find the numerical value of the component by choosing the most convenient angle in the problem (here the angle of 60°). We do not have to deal with the awkward ‘the counter- clockwise angle from the positive x-axis’ (here the angle of 120°). In any case treating the ‘components as positive or negative is a question of convenience and up to you, provided you are clear about what are you are doing. Example question (Qo gee genree reese ReTE PSR RTTPREEETESTERET Find the components of the vector W along the axes shown in Figure 4.17. Figure 4.17, Answer See Figure 4.18. Notice that the angle between the vector Wand the y-axis is 0 Ft igure 4.18, Then by simple trigonometry W, = Wsin 9 (VW, is opposite the angle @ so the sine is used) W, = Weos 0 (W, is adjacent to the angle 0 30 the cosine is used) An additional notation for vectors is to give the x and y components as an ordered pair so that, for example, d = (2, 1) denotes a vector with x component equal to 2 and y component equal to 1. Reconstructing the vector from its components Knowing the components of a vector allows us to reconstruct it (ie, to find the magnitude and direction of the vector). Suppose that we are given that the x and y components of a vector are F, and F,. We need to find the magnitude of the vector F and the angle (@) it makes with the araxis (see Figure 4.19), The magnitude is found by using the Pythagorean theorem and the angle by using the definition of tangent. Fa fhe+he tan arctan Figure 4.19 Given the components of a vector we can find its magnitude and direction. ‘As an example, consider the vector whose components are F, = 4. and F, = 3.0. Then the magnitude is simply Fn iP 1 a (PTS a VE 5.0 and the direction is found from arctan 3 = 36.87 © 37° Here is another example. We need to find the magnitude and direction of the vector with components F; = —2.0 and F, = ~4.0. From. Figure 4.20, it follows that the vector lies in the third quadrant. ‘The magnitude is Fes VRP +h? = V(-2P + (4? =V0=447 245,Figure 4.20 The vecior is in the third quadrant. We expect the angle it makes with the positive x axis to be between 180 and 270 degrees ‘The direction is found from arctan 2 ‘The calculator gives 6 = tan=' 2 = 63°. Here we must be careful. Our vector is in the third quadrant, so the angle it makes with the positive acaxis must be between 180° and 270°. We now realize that there is another angle whose tangent is 2. Itis the angle 180° + 63° = 243° and this is what we want. Thus, in finding the direction, first make a diagram to see what quadrant your ‘vector lies in so that you know what angles to expect. Never blindly take what the calculator gives. Of course if you denote the angle as in Figure 4.20, you still give a complete description of the vector and that is fine. ‘Asa final example consider the vector with F, =5.0and F, = —4.0. It lies in the fourth quadrant, Its magnitude is F = JS +(C4¥ = 64 and its direction is 6 = arctan = —39°. The calculator gives the angle from the x-axis to the vector in the lockwise direction, We are expecting an angle between 270 and 360 degrees. The angle is 360° — 39° = 321°, Adding vectors by components Adding vectors whose components are given is straightforward. If = (a, ay) and b = (by, by), then ¢ =4 + D implies that ¢ has components C= +b, Gy =a, +hy For example, if a = (1,1) and b = (3,2) then 6+6 =(1—3,1+42) =(~2,3); thatis, the x ‘component of the sum is the sum of the x 14 Vectors and scalars 27 ‘components of the individual vectors and so on. Similarly if Example questions (Q7 seseerercrenermocreeremessssesseeesist = (1,1), B=(1, -1). Find the magnitude of a and 6 and the magnitude of a + 6. Answer a=v2 b= 2 ath 2,0) so the magnitude is 2 (QU rrerenernenensasssssSsCSSSEEUCESEEEEELEESEL (2, ~2). Find the vector ¢ such that ,3),6 a+b +é=0. Answer e=-G+b -G.1) =(3,-). If the components are not given, then we have tofind them. Figure 4.21 shows two vectors F, and F2 of magnitude 10 and 14, respectively. Vector F) makes an angle of 60° with the x-axis and vector F an angle of 50°. We want to find the magnitude and direction of the vector Fy + F:; y Figure 4.21 Finding the sum of two vectors using ‘components. (Not to scale) Fy =F coso0 | | | The components of the vectors are 028 Core ~ Physics and physical measurement eS Fy =F sin6o° = 8.660 Fay = F203 30" = 12.124 Fry = Frsin30° =70 Hence the components of the vector F = Fy + Fa Fy = Fac + Fax 17.124 Fiy + Pry 15.660 ‘The vector F = F; +F; thus has magnitude F = fret? i714 + 15.668 W223 ‘The direction of F =F, +Fy is given by Example question (Qu SOEeRSSeHETEEEEEEEEaneeeseesterrs Find the sum of the vectors shown in Figure 4.22. F, has magnitude 8.0 units and F, magnitude 12 units. Their directions are as indicated. Figure 4.22 (Not to scale), Answer Fi, = —Fy cosa? -5.945 Fiy= fi sinaa? =5.353 Fa, = Fy cos 28" 10.595 5.634 The sum F =F, + F; then has components Fy = Fy Fay = 10.987 ‘Thus, the magnitude of the sum is (A650 + 10.987" 1.9 S12 and its direction is 1 Abody is acted upon by the two forces shown in Figure 4.23. In each case draw the one force whose effect on the body is the same as the two together, Figure 4.23 For question 1 2 Vector A has a magnitude of | 2.0 units and makes an angle of 30° with the positive x-axis, Vector B has a magnitude of 8,00 units and makes an angle of 80° with the positive x-axis. Using a graphical method, find the magnitude and direction of the vectors (a) A+B ib} A- 6 () A22814 Vectors and scalars 29 ee 3 Repeat the previous problem, this time using ‘components, 4 Aperson walks 5.0 kin due east, then 3.0 km due north and finally stops after walking an additional 2.0 km due north-east. How far and in what direction relative to her starting point is she? 5 Find the magnitude and direction of the vectors with components: (@ A,=-4.0em, A, = -4.0em (b) A, = 124km, OA (@) A= 8.0N, 6 The components of vectors A and B are as follows: (A, = 2.00, Ay = 3.00), (8, = 2.00, 8, = 5.00). Find the magnitude and direction of the vectors: 7 Vectors A and B have components (Ap= 3.00, A, = 4.00), (B, = 1.00, B= 5.00). Find the magnitude and direction of the vector € such that A-byE=0. 8 The displacement vector of a moving object, has components (1, = 2,ry = 2) initially, After ‘a certain time the displacement vector has ‘components (r, = 4,r5 = 8). What vector represents the change in the displacement vector? 9 Figure 4.24 shows the velocity vector of a particle moving in a circle with speed 10 m s-! at two separate points. The velocity vector is tangential to the circle. Find the vector representing the change in the velocity vector. final initial Figure 4.24 For question 9- 10 In acertain collision, the momentum vector of a particle changes direction but not magnitude. Let p be the momentum vector of a particle suffering an elastic collision and changing direction by 30°. Find, in terms of. (=Ifl), the magnitude of the vector representing the change in the momentum vector. 11 Points P and Q have coordinates P = (Xi, yi), Q= by) (@) Find the components of the vector from P oQ (b) What are the components of the vector from Q to P? (©) What is the magnitude of the vector from the origin to P? 12 The velocity vector of an object moving on a Circular path has a direction that is tangent to the path (sce Figure 4.25). Ifthe speed. (magnitude of velocity) is constant at 4.0 ms" find the change in the velocity vector as the object moves (a) from A to B and (b) irom B to C. (c) What is the change in the velocity vector from A to C? How is this related to your answers to (a) and (b)? Figure 4.25 For question 12. 13 A molecule with a velocity of 352 m s-! collides with a wall as shown in Figure 4.26 ‘and bounces back with the same speed. (a) What is the change in the molecule’s velocity? (b) What is the change in the speed? o— Figure 4.26 For question 980 Gore ~ Physics an physical measurement 14 Find the components of the vectors shown along the axes indicated by a + in Figure 4.27. Take the magnitude of each vector to be 10.0 u o o Figure 4.27 For question 14. 15 Vector A has a magnitude of 6.09 units and is directed at 60° to the positive x-axis. Vector 8 has a magnitude of 6.00 units and is directed at 120° to the positive x-axis. Find the ‘magnitude and direction of vector Csuch that A+ B+ € = 0, Place the three vectors so that one begins where the previous ends. What do you observe? 16 Plot the following pairs of vectors on a set of. x-and y-axes. The angles given are measured counter-clockwise from the positive x-axis. Then, using the algebraic component method, find their sum in magnitucle and direction: (al 12.0 N at 20° and 14.0 N at 50° (b) 15.0 N at 15° and 18.0 N at 105; (€) 20.0N at 40" and 15.0 Nat 310" Ge. 50").CHAPTER| Graphical analysis and uncertainties ‘this chapter introduces the basic methods of éealing with logarithmic and exponential functions in physics. It also introduces the basic methods for calculating the uncertainty in a quantity, which is @ function of other measured quantities. the uncertainty in measured quantities will produce an uncertainty in 3 number obtained using the measured quantit Objectives By the end of this chapter you should be able to: + deal with logarithmic functions, semilogarithmic and logarithmic plots; + find the error in a calculated quantity in terms of the errors of the dependent quantities; + find the error in the slope and intercept of a straight-line graph. Logarithmic functions represent growth problems. ‘Table 5.4 Experimental data Let us concentrate on the radioactive decay problem. Consider the data in Table 5.1, which ‘was collected in an experiment. ‘The graph of activity versus time is an ‘exponential decay curve as expected. This is shown in Figure 9,1, Semi-logarithmic plots : e so ‘The exponential function y =e" plays a ene ae significant role in many areas of physics. The | bia activity (number of decays per unit time) asa i fd function of time for a radioactive element fers: “4 behaves as A = Aje*, where 2 is known as 5 35 the decay constant. The current through a € a diode varies with applied voltage as 7 2i 1 =[oe!"/", where T is the temperature in fe i> mea eT kelvin and k is a constant. When the | exponential is negative, we speak ofadecay | — = problem, whereas positive exponentials | a 30. |82 Core ~ Physics and physical measurement a actvityBg 10 Figure 5.1 he exponential decay curve, ‘The halflife can be determined from this graph by finding the time at which the activity is 60 decays per minute (ie. half its original value), From the graph, this is found to be about 2.8 minutes. It is more convenient, however, to plot a different graph so that a straight line is obtained. Such a graph can be made by using a calculator to compute the natural logarithm of each activity value and plotting the logarithm against time, as in Figure 5.2. Finding the slope of this straight line as usual, wwe obtain: slope a8 ~-0.25min" ‘Thus, the decay constant is 0.25 min”. Using the known relationship between the decay oH PSS, vain o 5 0 is Figure 5.2 The exponential decay curve becomes linear if we plot the logarithm of activity versus time. constant and the halflife Mya =In2 it follows that the halflife is ‘The vertical intercept is about 4.8 and equals In Ao, Hence, the initial activity is found = 1208q Logarithmic plots Consider now a variable that depends on another through a power. Ify =x", then Iny = Ink +Inx, which means that a graph of Iny versus Inx gives a straight line with slope n and vertical intercept equal to Ink. ‘Thus, consider the following data for the maximum current I that can flow ina wire of diameter D (see Table 5.2 and Figure 53) This is a curve of unknown equation. ‘Suspecting a power relationship between the0 0 1 22 2 35 3 46 4 357 5 a7, 6 73 7 8a 8 3.86 o ey %0 1029 ‘Table 5.2 ‘The maximum current that can flow in a particular wire. eA 0 2 4 6 8 10 Figure 5.3 A plot of diameter versus current gives a curve of unknown equation. diameter D and the current J, we take natural logarithms of both variables and plot In D versus In I (Figure 5.4). (Note that the zero on the vertical axis has been suppressed.) We find the slope in the usual way: 2-1 18-0. ‘Thus, D = ki". The constant k can also be determined by finding the intercept of the line with the vertical axis. The intercept is 0.8 and so Ink = 0.80 > k=e* ~ 2.2. Finally, D =2.21°7, where the current is in amps and the diameter in mm. slope 0.67 41.5 Graphical analysis and uncertainties 33 Figure 5.4.A plot of In D versus In I gives a straight, Tine. Propagation of errors ‘Suppose that in an experiment quantities a,b,c, etc,, are measured, each with an error ‘Aa, Ab, Ac, ete. That isa =ay + Aa, b= by + Ab, ¢ =Co+ Ac, etc. where the subscript zero indicates the mean value of the quantity. Thus, if'a mass is measured to be 45 kg £0.1 kg, mg =4.5 kg, and Am = 0.1 kg. ‘Thus, in the measurement of mass, the absolute error is 0.1 kg and the fractional or relative error is 0.1/4.5 = 0.02 or 2%. If we wish to calculate a quantity Q in terms of a,b, ¢, ete., an error in Q will arise as a result of the individual errors in a,b and c. Thatis, the errors in.a,b and ¢ propagate to Q. How do we find the error in Q given the errors in a,b,c, ete? ‘There are two cases to consider and we will give the results without proof. Addition and subtraction ‘The first case involves the operations of addition andjor subtraction. For example, we34 Core ~ Physies and physical measuroment a might have Q =a +b or Q=a—bor Q=a4b~c. Then, in all cases the absolute uncertainty in Q is the sum of the absolute uncertainties in a,b and c Q=a+b => AQ=Aa+Ab Q=a-b = AQ=AatAd Q=atb-c = AQ=Aa+Ab+Ac Example question (QU eenssusteanesstereeresrerrnnceseSUSEESEEE The side a of a square is measured to be 12.4 em + 0.1 cm. Find the error in a calculation of the perimeter 5 of the square, Answer Here we have addition and so the error in Sis AS=Aaldatdataa 4aa ose Thus $= 49.6em £04 cm Considerable errors result if the small difference of two large numbers is taken. If Q=a~b, anda =5387+0.4 and b =5373 £04, then Q = 1440.8. The fractional error in this case is 0.57 or 57%. The error in the quantities 2 and bis small compared with the mean values of a and b but huge compared with the difference Multiplication, division, powers and roots Suppose now that the quantity to be calculated involves a multiplication such as in Q = ab, a division as in Q= ¢ or Q=*, ora power Q=a", ora root Q = Ya. In all these cases the fractional uncertainty in Q is the sum of the {fractional uncertainties ofa,b and c. aQ_ Aa, ab Qe am * by AQ A, ab Qo a © by AQ _ Aa, Ab, dc = OS a A ee Qo ay 2 by Go Q=a" = Q=Ya => Example questions 0? Pe The sides of a rectangle are measured to be a=25 cm +0.1 cmand b= 5.0 m+ 0.1 em id the area A of the rectangle. Answer The fractional uncertainty in a is ga _ 01 5 =006 01 4% That in bis or 2% Thus, the fractional uncertainty in the area is. 0.04 + 0.02 = 0.06 or 6% Since A =15x50 12.5 cm and 0.06 a 3 AA= 005 «12.5 =0.75 cm? Hence A= 12.5 cm’ £0.8 cm? Q3 Soreness ‘Amass is measured to be m= 4.4 0.2 kg and speed 18 + 2m s”, Find the kinetic energy of the Answer The kinetic energy is E, and from dim? (ie. Ew = 713 1) AE _ Am — + gay Fao mM1.5 Graphical analysis and uncertainties 35 Oe it follows that AE, = 191 |; that is E = 713 £191 J or just Ex = 700 + 200 J. (4 maseessecaraceraeeresssccnIESIEEEEOGSSSESE The length of a simple pendulum is increased by 4%. What is the fractional increase in the pendulum's period? Answer The period is related to the length through T= 2x fh, Thus a 44 and since Ak = 4% 2%. x 4% we have 42 (Q3 secumzensesereapEEErTscteESEEIEESRSSeSEZEEEh A body radiates according to the black-body law P =cT*, where Tis the temperature and cis a constant. If the temperature of the body is increased by 3%, how does the radiated power change? Answer AP _jAT 4x 3% = 12%. Other functions ‘Suppose, finally, that the calculated quantity Q depends on a variable a through a sine. Q = sina. Ifa is measured to be 58° + 2° what is the error in Q? Using calculus (and being very carefull to change from degrees to radians before we differentiate) we can show that. approximately, AQ =cosa Aa = C0858" x 2" x EG = 0.0185 = 0.02 Itis easier in practice, however, to find the largest and smallest values of Q through Quay = sin(58° +2") so we can deduce that the error is half of the difference AQ = $(0.8660 — 0.8290) = 0.0175 = 0.02 The mean value of Q is Qrneap = sin 58° = 0.8480 0.85, and so Q =0.85 + 0.02 ‘This method can be applied to any other functional form relating Q to a. Uncertainties in the slope and intercept Having decided the line of best fit for a given set of data that are expected to fall on a straight line, it is usually necessary to calculate the slope and intercept of that straight line. However, since the data points are the result of measurements in an experiment, they are subject to experimental uncertainties. Thus, let us return to the example of Chapter 1.2. In an experiment to verify Hooke's law, data for the tension and extension ofa spring are collected and plotted as shown in Figure 55.'The experimenter has included vertical uncertainty bars representing an uncertainty of £10 N in the values of the tension in Figure 5.5 (the length of the vertical bar is thus 20 N).. 129 - oof ie Figure 5.5 Data points plotted togethier with ‘uncertainties in the values for the tension. ‘The experimenter then draws the line of best fit through the data points and obtains a straight ine, as shown in Figure 5.6. The slope of this Jine is 200 Nm”? and this represents the spring constant. What is the uncertainty in the slope and intercept?96 Core ~ Physics and physical measurement Figure 5.6 The line of best fit through the data points. A simple way to estimate these uncertainties is by drawing two extreme straight lines as in Figure 5.7 and finding the slope of each. Both straight lines are made to pass through a point that is halfway in the range of the x values: in this case the point with x = 0.5 m, The first line is then drawn so as to have the largest slope and still fit the data (this means it will pass at the extremes of the vertical error bars). The second line is made to have the least slope and still fit the data, The two slopes are then measured. os mee r sf of HE 2st ai of zero. The line with the largest slope has an intercept of —11 N and the line of least slope has an intercept of +5 N. The average of the absolute values of these errors is (11 + 5)/2=8 and so the intercept is calculated to be 0:8 N. ire 1 Acitcle and a square have the same perimeter. Which shape has the largest area? 2A sphere and a cube have the same surface area, Which shape has the largest volume? 3. What is the approximate value of 1 ~ cos x when x is small? 4 The natural logarithm of the voltage across a capacitor of capacitance C= 5 uF asa function of time is shown in Figure 5.8. The voltage is given by the equation V= \ye-"”*", where R is the resistance of the circuit. Find (a) the initial voltage; (b) the time for the voltage to be reduced to hall its initial value; (c) the resistance of the ci i i: # Ht o Rah Ms ICR et Figure 5.7 The uncertainty in the slope can be estimated by drawing two extreme additional graphs through the centre point, Measurement of the two slopes gives 235 N m=! and 177 N m~; that is, errors of +35 N m-* and ~23.N m™!. Taking the average of these two errors gives 29 N m-', so we may state that the spring constant is 200+ 30 Nm”. The same procedure allows an estimate of the vertical intercept. The line of best fit gives an intercept Figure 5.8 For question 4, 5. Figure 5.9 shows how the velocity of a steel ball depends on time as it falls through a viscous medium. Find the equation that gives the velocity as a function of time. © Table 5.3 shows the mass M of several stars and their corresponding luminosity £ (power emitted). By plotting the luminosity versus the mass on logarithmic paper, find the15 Graphical analysis and uncertainties. 37 ee fe st ° 2 4 6 & 0 DP Figure 5.9 For question 5. relationship between these quant assuming a power law of the kind 1 = kM", giving the numerical value of the parameter a. 3 2 5 238 2 4700 20 26300 ‘Table 5.3 For question 6. 7 Table 5.4 shows the data collected in an experiment. Assuming the suspected relationship between the variables is y= oe, plot the data in ‘order to get a straight line and then find the value of the constant c, x 10 20 30 40 50 60 y 20 3 912 640 118 1764 Table54 For question 7, 8 The variable y depends on x through y= ke How should these two variables be plotted in order to get a straight-line graph? 9 Two forces are measured to be 120 £5 N and 60 + 3 N. Find the sum and difference of the two forces, giving the uncertainty in each case. 10 The quantity @ depends on the measured values 2 and 6 in the following ways: @ Q= a/b, a= 2041, b= 1041; (6) Qa 2a 43h, a= 2042, (©) Qua~2b,a—5041,b~ 24405; @) Q=a#,a=100403 (©) Q=a'/¥, = 10045, b= 2042. In each case find the value of Q and its uncertainty. 11. The centripetal force is given by F =. f the mass is measured to be 2.8 0.1 kg, the velocity 14 2 ms and the radius 8.0: 0.2 m, find the force on the mass, including the uncertainty 12 The mass of a rectangular block is measured to be 2.2 kg with an uncertainty of 0.2 kg. The sides are measured as 60-4 3 mm, 5O-£ 1 mm and 40 2 mm. Find the density of the cube in kilograms per cubic mete, giving the uncerainty in the result, 13 The radius r of a circle is measured to be 24m £0.1 cm (@) What is the error in the area of the circlet (b) What is the error in the circumference? 14 The radius of a sphere is measured to be 22.7 cm £0.2.em. (2) What is the error in the surface area of the spheret (b) What isthe error in the volume? 15 The sides of a rectangle are measured as 4.4 0.2 cm and 6.5 0.3 cm, Find the area and perimeter of the rectangle. 16 The period of a simple pendulum depends on length through 1 = 2/5. Ifthe length is increased by a factor of 2, by what factor does the period change? 17 In the previous question, ifthe length of the pendulum is increased by 2%, what is the fractional increase in the period? 18 Ifthe length of a pendulum is measured with 2 fractional uncertainty of 0.5% and the period with a fractional uncertainty of 0.6%, ‘what is the fractional uncertainty in the measured value of the acceleration due to gravity? = 15:43,Kinematic concepts ‘Motion is a fundamental part of physics and this chapter introduces the basic quantities Used in the description of motion. Even the simplest of motions, such as a leaf falling fiom a tree, cin be a fay complicated thing to analyse. To lear how to do that requires that we sharpen our definitions of everyday concepts such as speed, distance and time. As we will see, once we master motion in a stright line, more complicated types of motion such as citcular and parabolic motion will follow easily. Objectives |_ By the end of this chapter you should be able to: + describe the difference between distance and displacement; * state the definitions of velocity, average velocity, speed and average speed: + solve problems of motion in a straight line with constant velocity, x = xy + ts * appreciate that different observers belonging to different frames of | reference can give differing but equally valid descriptions of motion; + use graphs in describing motion: + understand that the slope of a displacement-time graph is the velocity | and that the area under a velocity-time graph is the change in | displacement, concept of displacement. The displacement of a Displacement and velocity Consider the motion of a point particle that is constrained to move ina straight line, such as the one in Pigure 1.1. Our first task is to choose point on this line from which to measure distances. This point can be chosen arbitrarily and we denote it by 0. When we say that the distance of a point P from 0 is 3 m, we mean that the point in question could be3 m to the left or right of 0. To distinguish the two points we introduce the Pe ° P Figure 1.1 To measure distance we need an origin to measure distances from. point from will be a quantity whose ‘numerical value will be the distance and its sign will tell us if the point is to the right or left of ©. Thus a displacement of ~4 m means the point is ata distance of 4 m to the left of O, whereas a displacement of 5m means a distance of 5 m to the right of O. Displacement is a yector; for the case of motion in a straight line, the displacement vector is very simple. It can be determined just by giving its magnitude and its sign. We will use the convention that positive displacements correspond to the right of O, negative to the left. (This is entirely arbitrary and we may choose any side of the origin as the positive displacement; this takes care of cases where it is not obvious what24 Kinematic concepts 39 ‘right’ means.) We will use the symbol x for Gisplacement in a straight line (we reserve the symbol ’ for displacements in more than one dimension) and s for distance (from the Latin spatium). Displacement, being a vector, is represented graphically by an arrow that begins at O and ends at the point of interest. (See Figure 1.2) a B_s=4m__O. s=5m x= =m Figure 1.2 Displacement can be pésitive (point A) or negative (point B) We will use the capital letter $ to stand for the total distance travelled, and Ax for the change in displacement. The change in displacement is defined by ‘Ay = final displacement ~ initial displacement If the motion consists of many parts, then the change in displacement is the sum of the displacements in each part of the motion. Thus, if an object starts at the origin, say, and changes its displacement first by 12 m, then by ~4 m and then by3 m, the change in displacement is 12-4 +3 = 11 m. The finial displacement is thus 11 +0 = 11m. Example questions Q1 sasantacseasasencerentoresreornesmmeeressis. ‘A mass initially at © moves 10 m to the right and then 2 m to the lot. What is the final cisplacement of the mass? Answer Ax=+10m displacement is 0 m+ 8m= 8m. 0? SET tially at ©, first moves 5 m.to the right and then 12m to the left. What is the total distance covered by the mass and what is its change in displacement? 2m = 8m, Hence the final Amass Answer The total distance is 5m + 12m = 17m. The change in displacement is +5 m — 12 m= =7 m, The mass now finds itself at a distance of 7 mo the left of the siarting point. (3 screneesenserenesesnnccscnenneESSaeessentts ‘An object has a displacement of —5 m. It moves a distance to the right equal 10 15 m and then a distance of 10 m to the left. What is the total distance travelled and final displacement of the ‘object? What is the change in displacement of the object? Answer The distance travelled is 15 m + 10 m= 25 m. ‘The object now finds itself at a distance of 0m from O and thus its displacement is zero. The original displacement was x = —3 m and thus the change in displacement is Ax = 0 m 5m) = 45 m. speed If an object covers a total distance S in a total time T, the average speed of the object is defined by s v= Suppose that you drive your car for a given amount of time, say 50 minutes. The odometer of the car shows that in those 50 minutes a distance of 30 km was covered. The average speed for this motion is, =. 30km km 50 min min 1000m at = 0.60" = 10ms Using the concept of the average speed is only a crude way of describing motion. In the example above, the car could, at various times, have gone faster or slower than the average speed of 10 m s~!. Cars are equipped with an instrument called a speedometer. which shows the speed of the car at a particular instant in time. We call the speedometer reading the40 Core ~ Mechs instantaneous speed or just speed. Speed is defined by measuring the distance the car (or whatever it is that is moving} covers in a very short interval of time (see Figure 1.3). If this distance is 5s and the time interval $f then the instantaneous speed is, 35 a ese . u 5 Figure 1.3 Speed at a given time fis defined in terms of the small distance 8s travelled in a small interval of time ot rightafter 1. Note that, by definition, speed is always a positive number. A word on notation If Q is any physical quantity, we will use AQ to denote the change in Q: AQ = Qfnai ~ Qinwiat ‘The symbol A will thus represent a finite change in a quantity. The symbol Q represents an infinitesimal change in Q. Thus, 5Q plays. roughly the same role as the calculus quantity dQ, So the definition of instantaneous speed $ is to be understood as the calculus quantity that is, the derivative of distance with respect to time. Equivalently, we may understand it as bs As ls 3t 7 a0 At If a quantity Q depends on, say, time in a linear way, then the graph showing the variation of Q with t will be a straight line. In that case (and only in that case) 6Q_ AQ a At and each of these quantities represent the (constant) gradient of the graph | In order to avoid a proliferation of deltas. we will mostly use the capital delta; when infinitesimal quantities are involved, we will simply state it explicitly. Example question (4 ges ananananeear nese ceSeereTSESyPESee Acar of length 4.2 m travelling in a straight line takes 0.56 s to go past a mark on the road. What is the speed of the car? Answer 48, we find v= 7.5 m s~'. This is taken as the speed of the car the instant the middle point of the car goes past the mark on the road. From v= Velocity Average speed and instantaneous speed are positive quantities that do not take into account the direction in which the object moves. To do that we introduce the concept of velocity. The average velocity for a motion is defined as the change in displacement of the object divided by the total time taken. (Recall that the change in displacement, x, means final minus initial displacement.) oe at Similarly, the instantaneous velocity at some time f, or just velocity. is defined by the ratio of the change in displacement, dx, divided by the time taken, at. vane a (See Figure 1.4.) o br Figure 14 The definition of velocity at timet involves the small displacement change 5x in the small time interval st right after21 Kinematic concepts 41 rr ‘We are using the same symbol for speed and velocity. It will always be clear which of the two wwe are talking about, Unlike speed, which is always a positive number, velocity can be positive or negative. Positive velocity means the object is increasing its displacement ~ that is, it moves toward the ‘right’ by our convention. Negative velocity signifies motion in which the displacement is decreasing - that is, toward the ‘left’, Thus, it is important to realize that the quantity 8x can be positive or negative. (It is worthwhile to note that the magnitude of velocity is speed but the magnitude of average velocity is not related to average speed.) Example questions (QS WeSSRORMEEISYSOBOOSSSEDEEEEEEIETIESEAEIT EP: ‘Acar stats out from O in a straight line and moves a distance of 20 km towards the right, and then returns to its starting position 1 h later. What is the average speed and the average velocity for this trip? Answer The total distance covered is 40 km. Thus, the average speed is 40 kmh". The change in displacement for this trip is 0 m because final — initial om-om =0m displacement So the average velocity is zero. (Qh SEEErveresseaseassEssIEseneaseeOMESESZETES ‘A.car moves in exactly the same way as in example question 1, but this time it starts out not at © buta point 100 km to the right of O. What is the average speed and the average velocity for this Answer The distance travelled is still 40 km and hence the average speed is the same, 40 km h~!, The change in displacement is given by isplacement = final — initial }00 km — 100 km km Hence the average velocity is zer0 as before. This ‘example shows that the starting point is irrelevant. We have the freedom to choose the origin so that it is always at the point where the motion starts. Q7 eeeeeeeeessrecrcereeeeeRaeSEELEEEESEESS! ‘Acar 4.0 m long is moving to the left. It is ‘observed that it takes 0.10 s for the car to pass a given point on the road, What is the speed and velocity of the car at this instant of time? Answer We can safely take 0.10 s as a small enough interval of time, We are told that in this interval of time the distance travelled is 4.0 m and so the speed is 40 ms”. The velocity is simply —40 m 5"!, since the car is moving to the left. Motion with uniform velocity (or just uniform ‘motion) means motion in which the velocity is constant. This implies that the displacement changes by equal amounts in equal intervals of time (no matter how small or large}. Let us take the interval of time from f = 0 to time |. The initial displacement of a body moving with a constant velocity 5 m s~' is 10 m. When does the body reach the point with displacement 10 mé What distance does the body cover in this time?42 Core ~ Mechanics Answer From x=xotu > W=-10+5¢ sta4s So the distance travelled is 20 m. (Q9 weesreverceensnseatesensSPesIEOXEESSSETEES Bicyclist A starts with initial displacement zero and moves with velocity 3m s~'. At the same time, bicyclist B starts from a point with displacement 200 m and moves with velocity —2 ms"!. When does A meet B and where are they when this happens? Answer The formula giving the displacement of A is x= 043e and that for B is 100 + (—2)t 200 28 When they meet they have the same displacement, so Their common displacement is then 120 m. 10 ‘Object A starts from the origin with velocity 3 ms”! and object B starts from the same place with velocity 5 ms”, 6 seconds later. When will B catch up with A? Answer ‘We take object A to stat its mation when the clock shows zero. The displacement of A is then given by mast and that of B by my = 50-6) ‘The formula for B is understood as follows. When the clock shows that ¢ seconds have gone by, object B has only been moving for (t ~ 6) seconds. When B catches up with A, they will have the same displacement and so 31= 5(t—6) = 2r=30 ata15s “The displacement then is 45 m. Frames of reference ‘We are used to measuring velocities with respect to observers who are ‘at rest’. Thus, velocities of cars, aeroplanes, clouds and falling leaves are all measured by observers who are at rest on the surface of the earth. However, other observers are also entitled to observe and record a given motion and they may reach different results from the observer fixed on the surface of the earth. These other observers, who may themselves be moving with respect to the fixed observer on earth, are just as entitled to claim that they are ‘at rest’. There is in fact no absolute meaning to the statement ‘being at rest’ ~ a fact that is the starting point of Einstein’s theory of special relativity. No experiment can be performed the result of which will be to let observers know that they are moving with constant velocity and that they are not at rest. Consider two observers: observer ‘Ais fixed on the earth; observer B moves past A in a box without windows. B cannot, by performing experiments within his box (he cannot look outside) determine that he is moving. let alone determine his velocity with respect to A. ‘An observer who uses measuring tapes and Stopwatches (0 observe and record motion is called a frame of reference. Consider the following three frames of reference: the first consists oF observer A on the ground: the second consists of observer B, who is a passenger ina train sitting in her seat; the third consists of observer C, a passenger on the train who walks in the direction of the motion of the train at 2 ms”, as measured by the passenger sitting in her seat, ‘The train moves in a straight line with constant2.1 Kinematic concepts 43 velocity of 10 ms“, as measured by the observer on the ground. The three observers describe their situation as follows: A says he is at rest, that B moves forward at 10 ms“ and that C moves forward at 12m s~’. This is because in 1s the train moves forward a distance of 10 m but. in this same second, C has walked an additional distance of 2 m making him 12 m away from A. Thus A measures a velocity of 12m s~ for C. Observer B says that she is at rest. As far as Bis concerned, A is moving backwards (the station is being left behind) with a velocity of —10 ms“ and Cis moving forward at a velocity of 2ms Observer C claims he is at rest. As far as he is concerned, A is moving backwards at ~12m s"* and Bat ~2ms". Example question (QU) srppprensronssrgsrasacc Easiest ISSELZEIT ‘A-cart moves in a straight line with constant speed. A toy cannon on the cart is pointed vertically up and fires a ball. ignoring air resistance, where will the ball land? Answer The ball will land back into the cannon. For an observer moving along with the canrion, this is obvious. This observer considers herself to be at rest; so the ball will move vertically up and then fall vertically down into the cannon. As far as an observer on the ground is concerned, the cart moves forward with a certain velocity but so does the ball. The horizontal component of velocity of the cannon js the same as that of the ball, which ‘means that the ball is at all times vertically over the cannon. This introduces the concept of relative velocity. Let two observers P and Q have velocities p and F7q as measured by the sume frame of reference. Then the relative velocity of P with respect to Q, denoted by Fpq, is simply fra = 7p — Vo. (Note that we are subtracting vectors here.) This definition makes use of the fact that by subtracting the vector velocity 7a it is as if we make Q be at rest, so that we can refer to the velocity of P. In the example of the cannon above, the relative velocity in the horizontal direction between the cannon and the ball is zero. This is why it falls back into the cannon. Example questions 02 ‘Acar (A) moves to the left with speed 40 km fr (with respect to the road). Another car (B) moves to the right with speed 60 km h”” (also with respect to the road), Find the relative velocity of B with respect to A. Answer The relative velocity of 8 with respect to Ais given by the difference 60 km h-? = (=40 km hb?) = 100 km he. Note that we must put in the negative sign for the velocity of A. QU5 eetsteerereeEESTTEETS Rain comes vertically down and the water has a velocity vector given in Figure 1.5a (as measured, by an observer fixed on the surface of the earth) A git! nuns towards the right with a velocity vector as shown. (Again as measured by the observer fixed on the earth.) Find the velocity of the rain relative to the running girl f ae Figure 15. satis We are asked to find the difference in the vector velocities of rain minus girl and this vector is given by Figure 1.5b. The rain thus hits the girl from the front. 1 This is the same as example question 9, which we did in the last section. We will do it again using, the concept of relative velocity. Bicyclist A starts rnitial displacement zero and moves with44 Core ~ Mechanics velocity 3 ms~'. At the same time, bicyclist B starts from a point with displacement 200 m and moves with velocity —2 m s~'. When does A meet B and where are they when this happens? Answer The velocity of B relative to A is Yan = vo — Vs 3-2 —5 ms When B meets A, the displacement of B becomes Zero, since A thinks of herself sitting at the origin. Thus 0 = 200-5: t= 40s Graphs for uniform motion In uniform motion, if we make a graph of velocity versus time we must get a horizontal straight line. Figure 1.6 shows the v~1 graph for motion with constant velocity v. Figure 1.6 Uniform velocity means that the velocity-time graph is a horizontal straight line. If we wanted to find the displacement from t= 0 to timet, the answer would be given by the formula x = xo +t. The same answer can, however, also be obtained directly from the graph: yt is simply the area under the graph, as shown in Figure 17. | ‘This means that the area under the graph gives the change in displacement. This area added to the initial displacement of the mass gives the final displacement at time t. velocity time Figure 1.7 The area under the curve ina velocity-time graph gives the displacement change. A graph of displacement versus time for uniform motion also gives a straight line (Figure 1.8), dsplacemen! placement time sf @ Figure 1.8 The displacement-time graph for uniform motion is a straight line: (a) motion to the right, (b) motion to the left. time ‘This is the graph of the equation x = x0 +71. Comparing this with the standard equation ofa straight line, y = mx +c, we see that the slope of this graph gives the velocity. We can also deduce this from the definition of velocity, 2 But 4 is also the definition of the slope of the straight-line x-t graph, hence the slope is the velocity. In Figure 1.8a the slope is positive, which means, therefore, that the velocity is positive, and the mass is moving to the right. In Figure 1.8b the mass is moving at constant velocity to the left. ‘The time when the graph intersects the time axis is the time the moving object goes past point , the point from which distances and displacements are measured. ‘The corresponding velocity-time graph for negative velocity is shown in Figure 1.9.24 Kinematic concepts 45, velocity Figure 1.9 The velocity-time graph for uniform ‘motion towards the left. The area ‘under’ the curve is below the time axis and is counted as negative. This is consistent with the fact that negative velocity takes the moving object towards the left and thus towards negative displacements. Consider now the graph of displacement versus time in Figure 1.10, We may extract the following information from it. The initial displacement is —10 m. The object moves with a positive velocity of 2 m s~ for the first 10s of the motion and with a negative velocity of 2ms"'in the next 5 s. The abject is at the origin at 5 sand 15s, The change in displacement is +10 m and the total distance travelled is 30 m. The average speed is thus 2 ms"! and the average velocity is 0.67 m s™ Make sure you can verify these statements. Example question (QU5, seaemnemnnnraeesearenerereToresSSSSSiss: ‘A mass star's out from O with velocity 10 ms“ and continues moving at this velocity for 5 s. The velocity is then abruptly reversed to —5 ms™" and the object moves at this velocity for 10 s. For this, motion fine: (a) the change in displacement; (b) the total distance travelled; (c) the average speed; (d) the average velocity Answer The problem is best solved through the velocity-time graph, which is shown in Figure 1.11. om 1 o ps Figure 111, The initial displacement is zero. Thus, after 5 s the displacement is 10 x 5 m = 50 m (area under firs part of the curve). In the next 10 s the displacement changes by —5 x 10 = -50 m. The change in displacement is thus 0 m. The object moved toward the right, stopped and returned to its starting position, The distance travelled was 50 m in moving to the ight and 50m coming back giving a total of 100 m. The average velocity is zero, since the change in displacement is zero The average speed is 100 mvV/15 5 = 6.7 ms”. 1 Aplane flies 3000.0 km in 5.00 h. What is its average speed in metres per second? 2 Acar must be driven a distance of 120.0 km in 2.5 h, During the first 1.5 h the average speed was 70 km h~!. What must the average speed for the remainder of the journey be? 3. A peison walks a distance of 3.0 km due south and then a distance of 2.0 km due east. I the walk lasts for 3.0 h find46 Core ~ Mechanics a) the average speed for the motion; (b) the average velocity 4 Find the displacement-time graph for an ‘object moving in a straight line whose velocity-time graph is given in Figure 1.12. The displacement is zero initially. You do not have to put any numbers on the axes. Figure 1.12 For question 4, ‘An object moving in a straight line according to the velocity-time graph shown in Figure 1.13 has an initial displacement of 8.00 m. (2) What is the displacement after 8.00 5? (b) What isthe displacement after 12.0 5? (©) What is the average speed and average velocity for this motion? vim sf 0 i t { | : : t ft | | I Figure 1.13 For question 5, 6 Two cyclists, A and B, have displacements km and 70 km, respectively. At t= 0 they begin to cycle towards each other with velocities 15 kmh’ and 20 kmh”, respectively. At the same time, a fly that was sitting on A starts flying towards B with a velocity of 30 km h-'. As soon as the fly reaches B it immediately turns around and flies towards A, and so on until A and B meet. (a) What will the displacement of the two cyclists and the fly be when all three meet? (b) What will be the distance travelled by the flye : 7 Apatticle of dust is bombarded by air molecules and follows a zigzag path at constant speed y. (a). Assuming each step has a length ¢, find the distance travelled by the dust particle in time 1, (b) What is the length of the displacement ‘vector alter 1V steps where NV is large? ‘Assume that each step is taken in a random direction on the plane. (This problem assumes you are familiar with the scalar product of two vectors.) 8 Two cars are moving on the same straight-line road. Car A moves to the right at velocity 80 km h~! and car B moves at 50 km h the left. Both velocities are measured by an observer at rest on the road. (a) Find the relative velocity of car B with respect to car A. (b) Find the relative velocity of car A with respect to car B. 9 Acyclist A moves with speed 3.0 m 5" to the leit (with respect to the road). A second cyclist, B, moves on the same straight-line path as A with a relative velocity of 1.0 ms~’ with respect, WoA fa) What is the velocity of B with respect to the road? {b) A third cyclist has a telative velocity respect 10 A of ~2.0 ms". What is the velocity of C with respect to the toad? 10 Two objects A and B move at a constant speed of 4 mss" along a circular path. What is the relative velocity of B (magnitude and direction) with respect to A when the objects are in the positions shown in Figure 1.142 to a Figure 1.14 For question 10,2.1 Kinematic concepts 47 eee 11 Find the velocity of the two objects whose 12. An object moving in a straight line has a displacement-time graphs are shown in isplacement-time graph as shown in Figure 115 Figure 116 (a) Find the average speed for the trip. atm 4 (b) Find the average velocity for the trip. P| 5 : 4 { 7 : . Tak as fa) a > a te oh i a | | igure 246 Fr question 2 A | | Oo i > 2 6 U 10 H a » a Figure 115 For question 11.Motion with constant acceleration To complete our description of motion we need the concept of acceleration. This concept ‘and its use are introduced here. | Objectives By the end of this chapter you should be able to: + recognize situations of accelerated motion and to define azceleration 2 o= oF + describe a motion given a graph for that motion; + understand that the slope ofa displacerent—time graph isthe velocity; + understand that the slope ofa velocity-time graph is the acceleration and the area under velocty-time graph is the change in displacement; + understand that the area under an acceleration-—time graph isthe change in | veto; | + analyse motion from ticker tape, stroboscopic pictures and photagate data; | + solve problems of kinematics for motion in a straight line with constant | acceleration using | v avo tat X=Xet vot + Sat? 3") (it must be emphasized that these formulae only apply in the case of | motion in a straight line with constant acceleration.) i | is the definition of the instantaneous | Acceleration acceleration. We will mostly be interested in ‘To treat situations in which velocity is not constant we need to define acceleration a. If the | velocity changes by Av in a very short interval situations where the acceleration is constant, in ‘which case the instantaneous acceleration and the average acceleration are the same thing. of time At then Such a motion is called uniformly accelerated sj ‘motion. In this case the intervals Av and At do Quen not have to be infinitesimally small. Then.22 Motion with constant acceleration 49 ee where t is the total time taken for the trip. v the final velocity and vo the initial velocity. if'we puta = 0 in this formula, we find that ¥ = yo at all times. The velocity does not change since there is no acceleration. Example question 0) ssscesncmercennenererereSerseeTeSESeSSSIES ‘An object starting with an initial velocity of 2.0 ms“! undergoes constant acceleration. After 5.0 s its velocity is found to be 12.0 m s~'. What is the acceleration? Answer From v= vo + at we find Qtaxs In solving problems it is sometimes confusing. to decide whether the acceleration is positive or negative. The only criterion is whether the acceleration increases or decreases the wlocity (and not speed). In the top part of Figure 2.1 the velocity is increasing and so the acceleration positive. (Ihe direction of positive velocities is taken to be toward the right) In the bottom part the velocity is decreasing and thus the acceleration is negative. t=05 5 te2s Qms! — 4mst Gms a a 108 tots . 2 Past ‘@* .kmst @-4mst Figure 2.1 In the top part the acceleration is positive. In the bottom part the acceleration is negative. Similacly, in the top part of Figure 2.2 the velocity is increasing (~15 ms“ is larger than ~20m s“) and so the acceleration is positive. In the bottom part the velocity is decreasing (~8 ms“ is less than —5m s“'jand so the acceleration is negative. In the second case note that the speed (ie. the magnitude of velocity) is increasing even though the acceleration is negative. -loms!-1Sms# 20m! tas lms Smst fads tm18 108 Figure 22 In the top diagram the acceleration is, positive. In the bottom it is negative. Acceleration due to gravity We encounter a very special acceleration when an object is dropped or thrown. This is an acceleration that acts on all objects and has the same magnitucle for all bodies independently of their mass. This assumes conditions of free fall ~ that is, only gravity is acting on the body. Air resistance, friction and other forces are assumed absent. Under these conditions (as will be discussed in detail in later chapters) all objects experience the same acceleration. On earth the magnitude of this acceleration is about 9.8 m s-*, a number we will often approximate 10 10 m s~ for convenience. We always use the symbol g for the magnitude of the acceleration due to gravity. Consider a body falling freely under gravity. We take, as is customary, the upward direction to be the direction of positive velocities. On the way up the velocity is decreasing, hence we state that the acceleration due to gravity is negative. On the way down the50 Core - Mechanics 2m velocity is still decreasing (~12.0 m s~ is less than ~2m s+) and so the acceleration due to gravity is negative on the way down as well as on the way up (see Figure 2.3). (On the way down the speed is increasing,] direction of positive velecit way up ‘way down nde Panel : I slater Pree Pico 120s Figure 2.3 Motion in a vertical straight line under gravity. If the upward direction is the positive direction for velocity, then the acceleration due to gravity is negative for both the way up as well as the way down, If we had decided, instead, to take the downward Girection as the direction of positive velocities, then the acceleration due to gravity would have been positive for both the way up and the way down. Can you verify yourself that this is the case? Example question (2 cenaaesnacssesersecereecerEEETeD ‘An object initially at x= 12 m has initial velocity ‘of 8 m sand experiences a constant acceleration of 2 ms-*, Find the velocity at te1s,25,35,45,55,6sand 105, Answer Applying the equation v results shown in Table 2.1. Vo + at we get the ‘Time}s fg ipa: is ahetay Welocityms 6-4-2 0 4 2 Table 2.1. This means that the body stops instantaneously at t= 4 sand then continues moving. We do not need to know the initial position of the body to solve this problem. Note also that the acceleration is positive and hence the velocity must be increasing. This is indeed the case as shown in Table 2.1 (e.g, ~4 ms” is larger than However, the speed decreases from t= 0 5 to sand increases from t éms), 5 onwards. In motion with constant positive acceleration the graph showing the variation of velocity with time is one of the three in Figure 2.4. ‘This represents a mass moving towards the right with increasing velocity. This is the graph. of the equation y = 79 -+at. The first graph of Figure 2.5 represents a mass that starts moving to the right (velocity is Figure 2.4 Graphs showing the variation of velocity with time when the acceleration * wt "| Constant and positive. In the graphs above, the only difference is that the initial velocity v» is positive, zero and negative. respectively. Figure 25 Graphs showing the variation of velocity with time when the acceleration is constant and negative. In the graphs above, the only difference is that the initial velocity v9 is positive, zero and negative, respectively.22 Motion with constant acceleration 51 ee positive) but is decelerating {negative acceleration). Ata specific time the mass stops instantaneously and begins moving again towards the left (negative velocity). In the case of uniform motion (no acceleration) the area under a velocity-time graph gave the change in displacement. We would like to know fa similar result holds in the case of accelerated motion as well. ‘To do this we will make use of what we learned in uniform motion together with a little trick. Consider the velocity-time graph of an accelerated motion in Figure 2.6. The trick consists of approximating this motion with another motion in four steps. We will assume that during each of the steps the velocity is constant, The velocity then changes abruptly to 4@ new constant value in the next step. The approximation is shown in the figure. Clearly, this is a very crude approximation of the actual motion. Figure 2.6 The velocity is assumed to increase abruptly and then remain constant for @ period of time. We can improve the approximation tremendously by taking more and thinner steps, as shown in Figure 2.7. Figure 2.7 The approximation is made better by considering more steps. Clearly, the approximation can be made as accurate as we like by choosing more and more {and thus thinner and thinner) steps. ‘The point of the approximation is that during each step the velocity is constant. In each step, the displacement increases by the area under the step, as we showed in the case of uniform ‘motion. To find the total change in displacement for the entire trip we must thus add up the areas under all steps, But this gives the area under the original straight line! So we have managed to show that: Using this result we can now find a formula for the displacement after time f. We are given a velocity-time graph with constant acceleration {astraightline graph in a v-t diagram).52 Core - Mechanics a We want to find the area under the line from t= 0 toa time of fs. Since the area we have is the shape of a trapezoid, the area is the sum of two parallel bases times height divided by two _ (vty awo=(“8)t This actually gives a useful formula for displacement for motion with constant acceleration. If xo is the initial displacement nS) | ‘This is useful when we know the initial and final velocities but not the acceleration. | However, we do know thaty = v9 +at and so the area (i.e. the change in displacement after time t) is ‘Thus, the displacement after time t is this area added to the initial displacement, that is Xo+vot + pal? (We see that when the acceleration is zero, this formula becomes identical to the one we _ derived carlier for constant velocity, namely X = 29 +Vol.) Note that this formula says that when t = 0,x =xo as it should. In the previous section an analysis of velocity time graphs for motion in a straight line allowed us to derive the basic formulae for such motion: x =xo+vol + fal” or v+¥o ree ( 2 ) All of these involve time. In some cases, it is usefull to have a formula that involves velocity and displacement without any reference to time. This can be done by solving the first | y=1o+at equation for time v=vo a and using this value of time in the second equation: vj + 2a(x - x0) If the initial displacement is zero, then this reduces to the simpler vB +20x Example questions Q3 ceeeeeeeereceerasersrcrenapescsessrereensusst ‘A mass has an initial velocity of 10.0 ms™*. It moves with acceleration 2.00 m s~?, When will it have zero velocity? Answer We start with, ve wy bat v=0 and so ° wat Putting in the numbers we get 0= 10 + (-2.00)¢ $0 1 = 5.005. (Q4 aesqussrsrsssatesrEssTErERTEEEEENEEIEIEE Ea! ‘What is the displacement after 10.0 s of a mass whose initial velocity is 2.00 m s~! and moves with acceleration a = 4.00 m s*t Answer We assume that the initial displacement is zero so that x9 = 0. xemtwtts <0 R=OF2K WHE x4 x 10 20m22 Motion with constant acceleration 53 jo nee 5 SSSR EEESETTOESOETETETSEESEEESS ‘A.car has an initial velocity of yo = 5.0 ms When its displacement increases by 20.0 m, its velocity becomes 7.0 m 5~'. What is the acceleration? Answer Again take x = 0 so that V = G+ 2ax So 7? = 5? +2ax 20 therefore a= 0.60 ms? (Qo seeseustesssecerErEInerseessseisseeSIEEEDEES A body has initial velocity vy = 4.0ms~! and a velocity of v= 12ms~ after 6.0 s, What displacement did the body cover in the 6.0 5? Answer ‘We may use ete (4): weet (Ze 2 = 48m This is faster than using y= vo + at in order to find the acceleration as 12=446a a= 1333 ms? and then X= wt+ Sat * 645% 1.333 x 36 that start at different times. (Q7 empemcrrcrereresesrsesessesssststaeREIrTErrs ‘Two balls start out moving to the right with constant velocities of 5 ms~! and 4 ms~!. The slow ball starts first and the other 4 s later, How far from the starting position are they when they meet? Answer See Figure 2.9. slow ball saris © — faba ee rigure 29. Let the two balls meet fs after the frst ball starts moving, The displacement of the slow ball is 4t- mand that travelled by the fast ball 5(—4) m. The factor t ~ 4 is there since after t's the fast ball has actually been moving for only 1—4 5s, These two displacements are equal when the two balls meet and thus 4¢ = 51 ~ 20, oF 1 = 20 s. The common displacement is thus 80 m. 0) eee ereeSreseSSAAEEEREEEEEET SPEEA ‘A mass is thrown upwards with an initial velocity of 30 ms“. A second mass is dropped from directly above, a height of 60 m from the first mass, 0.5 s later. When do the masses meet and how high is the point where they meet? Answer See Figure 2.10. We choose the upward direction to be positive for velocities and displacements. ‘The masses experience an acceleration of 10 ms™, the acceleration due to gravity. Since the motion is along a vertical straight line, we use the symbol y for displacement rather than x. 60mt @ mass? - i54 Core ~ Mechanics The first mass moves to a displacement given by yy =30t — 5¢°, The second moves to a displacement of y= 60 ~ 5(t ~ 0.5)2. The displacements are the same when the masses meet. Thus 301 — 51° = 60 1=235s —5it- 0.5)" ‘The common displa Graphs of acceleration versus time Ina graph of acceleration versus time the area under the graph gives the change in velocity. In Figure 2.11 the area from time zero to 4 s is 12m sand thus the velocity after 4 sis 12 ms” plus whatever initial velocity the object had. als 0 Os 19 15 29 25 30 35 40 Figure 2.11 The area under an acceleration-time graph is the change in velocity. Graphs of displacement versus time In motion with constant acceleration, a graph of displacement versus time is a parabola. Consider a ball that is dropped from rest from a height of 20 m. The graph of displacement versus time is shown in Figure 2.12. vf +h o os 1 Is 2 Figure 2.12 Graph of displacement versus time. ‘The object hits the floor at 2s... Example question 09 seerrercreESET ‘An object with initial velocity 20 m s~* and initial displacement of -75 m experiences an acceleration of ~2 m s *. Draw the displacement time graph for st 208. motion for the Answer The displacement is given by x= —75 + 200-7 and this is the function we must graph. The result is shown in Figure 2.13. sien Figure 2.13. ‘5 s the object reaches the origin and overshoots it It returns to the or (t= 15 9). The furthest it gets from the origi ‘on the right side is 25 m. The velocity at 5 s is 10 ms™! and at 15s itis -10 ms~'. At 10s the velocity is zero. 10 5 later In general. if the velocity is not constant, the graph of displacement with time will be a curve. Drawing the tangent at a point on the curve and finding the slope of the tangent gives the velocity at that point. Measuring speed and acceleration ‘The speed of an object is determined experimentally by measuring the distance travelled by the object in an interval of time. Dividing the distance by the time taken gives the average speed. To get as close an approximation to the instantaneous speed as possible, we must make the time interval as small as possible. We can measure speed22 Motion with constant acceleration 55 electronically by attaching a piece of cardboard | between those two dots is of known length to the object so that a single s 1 . 0.75 photogate will record the time taken for that 00m known length to go through the photogate, as A sa 4 =0375 ms~ in Figure 2.14. The ratio of the cardboard length to time taken is the speed of the object when it is halfway through the photogate. ‘The distance between dots 2 and 3 is 1.25 em and so the average speed between those dots is v= 13 cms! photogate 1780 0.625 ms“! timer Between dots 3 and 4 the distance is 1.5 cm and a so are 2.14 Measuring speed with a photogate. 15) 1/50 ‘Speed can also be measured with a tickertape, 0.750ms" an instrument that makes marks on a paper tape at regular intervals of time (usually 50 marks per second). If one end of the tape is attached to the moving object and the other end goes through the marker, then to find the speed at a particular point we would measure the distance between two consecutive marks (distance travelled by the object] and divide by the time taken (1/50 5), In Figure 2.15 the ‘We may thus take the average speed between Osandt = 1/50 tobe 0.375 ms", between t = 1/50 s and t = 2/50 sto be 0.625 ms 1 and between f = 2/50 s and 3/50 s to be 0.750 m s~!, Thus the average acceleration in the first 1/50 s is 12.5 ms and in the next 1/50 s it is 6.25 m s~?, The acceleration is thus not constant for this, dotted lines are supposed to be 0.5 cm apart. eo ‘Then the top tape represents uniform motion ‘The third tape shows decelerated motion. with speed Related to the tickertape method is that of a ie 2S cine stroboscopic picture (see Figure 2.16). Here the 1/50 moving body is photographed in rapid 25cms"' succession with a constant, known interval of 0.25 ms ime between pictures. The images are then developed on the same photograph, giving a multiple exposure picture of the motion, Measuring the distances covered in the known time interval allows a measurement of speed. [SS Figure 2.15 Measuring speed with a tickertape, In the second tape the moving object is accelerating. The distance between the first two dots is about 0.75 cm so the average speed | Figure 2.16 Measuring speed with a stroboscope.56 Core - Mechanics Once measurement of speed is possible, acceleration can also be determined. ‘fo measure the acceleration at a specific time, ¢, ‘one must first measure the velocity a short interval of time before t, say ¢ ~T'/2 and again a short time after i. 1 +T/2 (see Figure 2.17). If the values of velocity found are respectively u and y, then time 672 velocity, w veleciy Figure 2.17 Measuring acceleration requires mowing the velocity at two separate points in time. More on graphs In kinematics the most useful graph is that of velocity versus time (7-1). The slope of such a graph gives the acceleration and the area under ‘the graph gives the change in displacement. let's examine this in detail. Consider the following problem, which is hard to solve with equations but is quite easy using a v—t graph. ‘Two masses, A and B, are to follow the paths shown in Figure 2.18. The paths are the same Tength, but one involves a hill and the other a valley. a a ae Figure 2.18 Which mass gets to the end first? They both travel the same distance. Which mass will get to the end first? (Remember, the distance travelled is the same) ‘We know that the first mass will slow down as it climbs the hill and then speed up on the way down until it reaches its original speed on the level part. The second mass will first speed up on the way down the hill and slow down to its original speed when it reaches the level part. Let us make the yt graph for each mass. The graphs for A and B must look like Figure 2.19. Feetocity Figure 2.19, It is then obvious that since the areas under the ‘two curves must be the same (same displacement) the graph for B must stop earlier: that is, B gets to the end first. The same conclusion is reached ‘more quickly if' we notice that the average speed in case B is higher and so the time taken is less since the distance is the same. Consider the following question. The graph of velocity versus time for two objects is given in Figure 2.20. Both have the same initial and final velocity. Which object has the largest average velocity? ‘ ods 10 Is 20 as 30 as ap Figure 2.20 Graph showing the variation of velocity with time for two motions that have the same initial and final velocity. Average velocity is the ratio of total displacement divided by time taken. Clearly, object A has a larger displacement (larger area22 Motion with constant acceleration 57 under curve), Thus, it has a larger average velocity. The point is that you cannot say that average velocity is half of the sum of initial and final velocities. (Why? Under what circumstances can you say it?) Consider finally the graph in Figure 2.21, which shows the variation of the displacement of an object with time, We would like to obtain the graph showing the variation of the velocity with time. Figure 2.21 Graph showing the va displacement with time. Our starting point is that velocity is the slope of the displacemen-time graph. We see that initially the slope is negative, it becomes less negative and at{ = 2: itis zero. From then on the slope becomes increasingly positive. This leads to the velocity-time graph in Figure 2.22. Figure 2.22 Graph showing the variation of velocity with time for the motion in Figure 2.21 ‘The slope of the velocity-time graph is acceleration and from the graph we see that the slope is initially zero but then becomes more and more positive. Hence, the acceleration-time graph must be something like Figure-2.23. ¢ 2 3 4 Figure 2.29 Graph showing the variation of acceleration with time for the motion in Figure 2.21. tk Cy {In the graphs in this section, the point where the axes cross is the origin unless otherwise indicated. 1 The initial velocity of a car moving ona siraight road is 2.0 m s"" and becomes 8.0 ms" afer travelling for 2.0 s under constant acceleration. What is the acceleration? 2 Aplane starting from rest takes 15.0 s t0 take off after speeding over a distance of 450.0 m on the runway with constant acceleration. With what velocity does it take off? 3 The acceleration of a car is assumed consiant at 1.5 m2, How long will it take the car to accelerate from 5.0 m5-" 10 11 ms"? 4 Acar accelerates from rest to 28 ms! in 9.0 s. What distance does it travel? 5 A body has an initial velocity of 12m s~’ and is brought to rest over a distance of 45 m. What is the acceleration of the body? 6 A body at the origin has an initial velocity of =6.0.ms"! and moves with an acceleration of 2.0m 5, When will its displacement become 16 m? 7 Abody has an initial velocity of 3.0 m s~ and after travelling 24 m the velocity becomes 13 ms. How long did this take? 8 What deceleration does a passenger of a car experience if his car, which is moving at 100.0 km h~, hits a wall and is brought to rest in 0.100 st Express the answer in m 37,88 Core ~ Mechanics 9 Acar is travelling at 40.0 ms, The driver sees an emergency ahead and 0.50 s later slams on the brakes. The acceleration of the car is —4 ms (a) What distance will the car travel before it stops? (b) If the driver was able to apply the brakes instantaneously without a reaction time, over what distance would the car stop! (0) Calculate the difference in your answers to {a) and (b). {d) Assume now that the car was travelling at 30.0 m 5” instead. Without performing any calculations, would the answer to (c) now be less than, equal to of larger than before? Explain your answer. 10 A ball is thrown upwards with a speed of 24.0 m= (a). When is the velocity of the ball 12.0 ms" (b) When is the velocity of the ball 120m 5-2 (©) What is the displacement of the ball at those times? (4) What is the velocity of the ball 1.50s after launch? (e). What is the maximum height reached by the ball? (Take the acceleration due to gravity to be 10.0ms ; 1A stone is thrown vertically upwards with an itial speed of 10.0 ms” irom a cliff that is 50.0 m high. {a) When does it reach the bottom of the cliff? (b) What speed does it have just before hitting the ground? (©) What is the total distance travelled by the stone? (Take the acceleration due to gravity to be 10.0ms~) 12 A rock is thrown vertically down from the roof of a 25.0 mhigh building with a speed of 5.0ms (a). When does the rock hit the ground? (b) With what speed does it hit the ground? (Take the acceleration due to gravity to be 10.0 ms™.) 13. A window is 1.50 m high. A stone falling from above passes the top of the window with a speed of 3.00 m s~!, When will it pass the bottom of the window? (Take the acceleration due to gravity to be 10.0 ms~*) 14 Aball is dropped from rest from a height of 20.0 m, One second later a second ball is, thrown vertically downwards, If the two balls arrive on the ground at the same time, what must have been the initial velocity of the second ball? 15 Aball is dropped trom rest from the top of a 40.0 m building, A second ball is thrown downward 1.0 s later. (@) If they hit the ground at the same time, find the speed with which the second ball was thrown, (b) What js the ratio of the speed of the thrown ball to the speed of the other as they hit the ground? (Take the acceleration due to gravity to be 10.0ms™) 16 Two balls are dropped from rest from the same height. One of the balls is dropped 1.00 s after the other. What distance separates the two balls 2.00 s afier the second ball is dropped? 17 An object moves in a straight line with an acceleration that varies with time as shown in Figure 22.4. Initially the velocity of the object is 2.00 ms (a) Find the maximum velocity reached in the first 6.00 5 of this motion. (b) Draw a graph of the velocity versus time. alu 2 ° 2 4 6 i Figure 224 For question 17.22 Motion with constant acceleration 59 0 ———E—E—————————EE 18 Figure 2.25 shows the variation of velocity with time of an object. Find the acceleration at 2.0. 21 Figure 2.28 shows the variation of the displacement of a moving object with time. Draw the graph showing the variation of the velocity of the object with time. Figure 2.25 For question 18 19 Figure 2.26 shows the variation of the displacement of a moving object with time. Draw the graph showing the variation of the velocity of the object with time. ts, o 05 1 18 2 25 3 Figure 2.26 For question 19. 20 Figure 2.27 shows the variation of the displacement of a moving object with time. Draw the graph showing the variation of the velocity of the object with time, Figure 2.27 For question 20. es o 1 Figure 2.28 For question 21 22 Figure 2.29 shows the variation of the displacement of a moving object with time. Draw the graph showing the variation of the velocity of the object with time. ts ° 05 1 15 2 Figure 2.29 For question 22. 23 Figure 2.30 shows the variation of the displacement of a moving object with time. Draw the graph showing the variation of the velocity of the object with time. ts o 12 3 4 3 6 Figure 2.30 For question 23.60 Core ~ Mechanics a 24 Figure 2.31 shows the variation of the velocity ‘of a moving object with time. Draw the graph. showing the variation of the displacement of the object with time. fo a 05 v 1s 2 Figure 2.31 For question 24, 25 Figure 2.32 shows the variation of the velocity ‘of a moving object with time. Draw the graph. showing the variation of the displacement of the object with time. Figure 2.32 For question 25. 26 Figure 2.33 shows the variation of the velocity ‘of a moving object with time. Draw the graph. showing the variation of the displacement of the object with time (assuming a zero initial displacement). > ts 0 1 2 3 4 Figure 2.33 For question 26, 27 Figure 2.34 shows the variation of the velocity of a moving object with time. Draw the graph showing the variation of the displacement of the object with time (assuming a zero initial displacement). vim st 0 5 0 aw Figure 2.34 For question 27. 28 Figure 2.35 shows the variation of the velocity of a moving object with time. Draw the graph showing the variation of the acceleration of the object with time. Figure 2.95 For question 28. 29 Figure 2.36 shows the variation of the velocity of a moving object with time, Draw the graph showing the variation of the acceleration of the object with time. 0 0s 1 15 2 Figure 2.36 For question 29.22 Motion with constant acceleration 64 a 30 31 32 33 Your brand new convertible Ferrari is parked 15 m from its garage when it begins to ra You do not have time to get the keys so you begin to push the car towards the garage. If the maximum acceleration you can give the car is 2.0 m s™ by pushing and 3.0 m s~* by pulling back on the car, find the least time it takes to put the car in the garage. (Assume that the car, as well as the garage, are point objects.) Figure 2.37 shows the displacement versus time of an object moving in a straight line. Four points on this graph have been selected. (@) Is the velocity between A and B positive, zero or negative? (b) What can you say about the velocity between B and C2 (©) Isthe acceleration between A and 6 positive, zero or negative? (@) Is the acceleration between C and D ive, zero or negative? Figure 2.87 For question 31. A biker stars climbing a mountain at 08:00 in the moming and reaches the top at 12:00 (noon). He spends the night on the mountain and the next day at 08:00 starts on the way down following exactly the same path. He reaches the bottom of the mountain at 12:00. Prove that there must bea time between 08:00 and 12:00 when the hiker was at the same spot along the route on the way up and on the way down, Make velocity-time sketches (no numbers are necessary on the axes) for the following motions. (@) Aball is dropped from a certain height and bounces off a hard floor. The speed just before each impact-with the floor is 34 Acart with a sail on it Figure 2:38 For question 34 the same as the speed just after impact. ‘Assume that the time of contact with the floor is negligibly small. (b) A cart slides with negligible friction along a horizontal air track. When the cart hits the ends of the air track it reverses direction with the same speed it had right before impact. Assume the time of contact of the cart and the ends of the air track is negligibly small. (©) A person jumps from a hovering helicopter. After a few seconds she opens a parachute. Eventually she will reach a terminal speed and will then land. given an initial velocity and moves toward the right where, from some distance away, a fan blows air at the sail (see Figure 2.38), The fan is powerful enough to stop the cart before the cart reaches the position of the fan. Make a graph of the velocity of the cart as a function of time that best represents the ‘motion just described. List any assumptions you made in drawing your graph. 35. A stone is thrown vertically up from the edge of a cliff 35.0 m from the ground. The initial velocity of the stone is 8.00 m s~'. (See Figure 2.39.) 350m Figure 2.39 For question 35,62 Core - Mechanics ) How high will the stone get? (>) When will it hit the ground? (c) What velocity will it have just before hitting the ground? (d) What distance will the stone have covered? (e) What is the average speed and average velocity for this motion? (0 Make a graph to show the variation of velocity with time. (g) Make a graph to show the variation of displacement with time, {Take the acceleration due to gravity to be 10.0ms*) 36 A ball is thrown upward from the edge of a cliff with velocity 20.0 ms“. It reaches the bottom of the clif 6.0 s later. (a) How high is the elif (b) With what speed does the ball hit the ground? 37 Arrocket accelerates vertically upwards from rest with a constant acceleration of 4.00 m s~?. The fuel lasts for 5.00 s. (@) What is the maximum height achieved by this rocket? 38 (b) When does the rocket reach the ground again? {c) Sketch a graph to show the variation of the velocity of the rocket with time from the time of launch to the time it falls to the ground. {Take the acceleration due to gravity to be 10.0 ms) hot air balloon is rising vertically at constant speed 5.0 m s~!. A sandbag is released and it hits the ground 12.0 s later (a) With what speed does the sandbag hit the ground? (b) How high was the balloon when the sandbag was released? (c) What is the relative velocity of the sandbag with respect to the balloon 6.0 s after it was dropped? (Assume that the balloon's velocity increased 105.5 ms” after releasing the sandbag, Take the acceleration due to gravity to be 10.0 m 2)ata 2 The concept of force wo basic ingredients of mechanics are the concepts of mass and force. A force can defo, stretch, rotate or compress a body and is intimately connected to the acceleration it can produce on a body (the relation between acceleration and force will be the detailed subject of a later chapter). Mas is @ measure of the amount of material in 8 body, measured In kilograms; in classical mechanics the mass of an object is a constant. There are different kinds of forces in nature; the most commen force of everyday ife isthe force of gravitation ~ the force with which the earth pulls us towards the centre of the earth, We give this force a special name: te weight of « body. We don't fall to the centre of the eaith because the ground on which we stand exerts another force on us, upwards - a force due to the contact between ourselves and the ground. The origin of this force is electromagnetic. This is also the force that keeps us alive (atoms exist and bind into molecules because of ths fore), and prevents the chair on which you ate siting from collapsing, and so on, These are the only forces that aflect our daly ves. it tuins out that the electromagnetic force is just one very special aspect of 2 more general fore, called the electroweak force. the other aspect of this force (the weak nuclear force) is responsible for decay processes inside atomic nuclei. Finally, the colour foice, oF strong nuclear force, Keeps the quarks bound inside protons end neutions. Physicists hope that the electroweak force and the nuclear force will one day be shown to be different aspects of one more general force (the ‘unitied force’) but this has not yet been accomplished. An even more speculative expectation is that the gravitational foice, too, will be shown to be part of an even more unified force, whose different ‘aspects we see as the three different forces today. But none of these attempts for a complete unification has been achieved yel. Apart from the gravitational, electroweak and colour force, no other forces, or interactions, are known at the present time. Objectives By the end of this chapter you should be able to: ‘+ state the difference between mass and weight + define gravitational field strength and give its units (N kg or ms“), + draw vectors representing forces acting on a given body; + identify situations in which frictional forces develop and draw those frictional forces: + use Hooke’s law correctly. T64 Core - Mechanics a Forces and their direction A force is a vector quantity. Its direction is very important and it is crucial to be able to identify the direction of a given force. What follows is a list of the forces we will be dealing with in this and later chapters, as well as a discussion of their properties and direction. The unit of force is the newton; this will be properly defined when we discuss the second law of mechanics, Weight This force is the result of the gravitational attraction between the mass in question and the mass of the earth. (If the body finds itself ona different planet then its weight is defined as the gravitational attraction between its mass and that planet's mass.) The weight of a body is the gravitational force experienced by that body. which on earth is given by the formula W=mg where + mis the mass of the body measured in kilograms + gis the gravitational field strength of the ‘earth, which is a property of the gravitational field of the earth (sce Chapter 2.10). Its units ate newton per kilogram, N kg™!. The gravitational field strength is also known as “the acceleration due to gravity’. The units ofg are thus also ms™, If mis in kg and g in N kg~! or ms then W is in newtons, N. On the surface of the earth, g = 9.81 Nkg™ - a number that we will often approximate by the more convenient 10 N kg *. ‘This force is always directed vertically downward, as shown in Figure 3.1. eath Figure 3.1 The weight of an object is always directed vertically downward. ‘The mass of an object is the same everywhere in the universe, but its weight depends on the location of the body. For example, a mass of 70 kg has a weight of 687 N on the surface of the earth (g = 9.81 N kg”) and a weight of 635.N at a height of 250 km from the earth's surface (where g = 9.07 N kg”). However, on the surface of Ventis, where the gravitational field strength is only 8.9 N kg", the weight is 623 N. Tension Astring that is taut is said to be under tension, ‘The force that arises in any body when itis stretched is called tension, This force is the result of electromagnetic interactions between, the molecules of the material making up the string. A tension force in a string is created when two forces are applied in opposite directions at the ends of the string (see Figure 3.2) ees Figure 3.2 A tension force in a string. ‘To say that there is tension in a string means that an arbitrary point on the string is acted upon by two forces (the tension T) as shown in Figure 3.3. Ifthe string hangs from a ceiling and a mass m is tied at the other end, tension develops in the string. At the point of support at the ceiling, the tension force pulls down on the ceiting and at the point where the mass is tied the tension acts upwards on the mass. Figure 3.3 The tension is directed along the string.2.8 The concept of force 65 In most cases we will idealize the string by assuming it is massless. This does not mean that the string really is massless, but rather that its mass is so small compared with any other masses in the problem that we can neglect it. In that case, the tension T is the same at all points on the string. The direction of the tension force is along the string, Further examples of tension forces in a string are given in Figure 3.4. A string or rope that is not taut has zero tension in it. string over palley string i slack. T= 0 w Figure 3.4 More examples of tension forces. Normal reaction (contact) forces Ifa body touches another body, there is a force of reaciion or contact jorce between the two bodies. This force is perpendicular to the body exerting the force. Like tension, the origin of this force is also electromagnetic. In Figure 3.5 we show the reaction force on several bodies. Drag forces Drag forces are forces that oppose the motion of a body through a fluid (a gas or a liquid). ‘Typical examples are the air resistance force experienced by a car (see Figure 3.6) or plane, or the resistance force experienced by a steel marble dropped into a jar of honey. Drag forces Figure 3.5 Examples of reaction forces, &. are directed opposite to the velocity of the body and in general depend on the speed of the body. ‘The higher the speed, the higher the drag force. ‘motion Figure 3.6 The drag force on a moving car. Upthrust Any object placed in a fluid experiences an upward force called upthrust (see Figure 3.7).If the upthrust force equals the weight of the body, the body will float in the fluid. 1f the vpthrust weight Figure 3.7 Upthrust.66 Core ~ Mechanics: — = upthrust is less than the weight, the body will sink, Upthrust is caused by the pressure that the fluid exerts on the body. Frictional forces Frictional forces oppose the motion of a body. They are also electromagnetic in origin. (See Figure 3.8) tendency oe motion down | theplave Figure 3.8 Examples of frictional forces, f. In (a) and (b) the motion to the right is opposed by a frictional force to the left. In (c) the body does not move but has a tendency to move down the plane. A frictional force directed up the plane ‘opposes this tendency. Friction arises whenever one body slides over another. In this case we speak of sliding or - Kinetic friction, Friction also arises whenever there is just a tendency for motion, not necessarily motion itself, such as when a block rests on an inclined plane or ifa block on a level road is pulled by a small force that does not | result in motion. In this case, we speak of static friction. Suppose that the plane on which the block rests is slowly elevated (Figure 3.8c). The block will tend to move to the left. This motion will be opposed by a frictional force. As the plane is elevated even more, the frictional force needed to keep the block at rest increases. However, the static frictional force cannot exceed a certain. | ‘maximum value. If the maximum value of the frictional force is reached and the plane is then elevated a bit more, the frictional force will not be able to keep the body in equilibrium and the block will slide down, As soon as the body begins to slide, the frictional force opposing the motion becomes the kinetic friction force. The kinetic friction force is always less than the maximum. value of the static friction force, ‘This is a well- known phenomenon of everyday life. It takes a lot of force to get a heavy piece of furniture to start moving (you must exceed the maximum value of the static friction force), but once you get it moving, pushing it along becomes easier (you are now opposed by the smaller kinetic friction force). Example question (QU Seerpteaeereery erertstr rE A brick of weight 50 N rests on a horizontal surface. The maximum frictional force that can develop between the brick and the surface is 30 N. When the brick slides on the surface, the frictional force is 10 N. A horizontal force F is applied to the brick, its magnitude increasing slowly from zero. Find the frictional force on the brick for various values of F- Answer The maximum frictional force is 30 N. This means that as long as Fis less than 30 N, the frictional force equals F and the brick stays where it is. It F becomes slightly mote than 30 N, the frictional force cannot match it and thus the brick will move. But as soon as the brick moves, the frictional force will drop to the kinetic value 10 N, for all values of F > 30 N. We can summarize these results as shown in Table 3.1. FON UN 2N 29N NUON 40N NBN 3N29N NWN TON Table 3.1. Frictional forces between the road and the tyres are what allow a car to take @ turn. Although, generally, frictional forces oppose the motion of a body, in some cases frictional forces are responsible for motion. A typical example is the wheels of a car. The engine forces the wheels to turn. The wheels exert a force on the ground2.3 The concept of forco 67 i and so the ground exerts an equal and opposite force on the wheels, making them move forward. This will become clearer when we look at Newton's third law in a later chapter. Free-body diagrams A free body diagram is a diagram showing the magnitude and direction of all the forces acting on a chosen body. The body is shown on its own, free of its surroundings and of any other bodies it may be in contact with. In Figure 3.9 we show three situations in which forces are acting; below each is the corresponding free body diagram for the shaded bodies. 1 2+ CO tr 8 r Figure 3.9 Free-body diagrams for the bodies in dark grey. In any mechanics problem, itis important to be able to draw correctly the free-body diagrams for all the bodies of interest. It is also important that the length of the arrow representing a given force is proportional to the magnitude of the force. Hooke’s law If we try to extend a spring, a force pulls the spring back to its original length: if we try to ‘compress a spring, again a force tries to pull the spring back to its original length (see Figure 3.10). ‘The force in the spring, the tension, has a simple relationship to the amount by which the spring is extended or compressed. If this amount is x, then the tension T is proportional tox (see Figure 3.11). This statement is known as Hooke’s law. This means satura length Leasion due t compression tension dueto Figure 3.10 The tension in a spring is proportional and opposite to the extension. that the more we want to extend or compress the spring, the bigger the force required to pull or push it with, In equation form it says that J = kx, where k is the constant of proportionality known as the spring constant. It varies from spring to spring. Its units are those of force over extension: N m=. Figure 3.11 The tension in the spring is linearly Proportional to the extension. ‘The extension or compression of the spring must not be too large, otherwise Hooke’s law isn’t applicable. The range of extensions (or compressions) for which Hooke’s law is satisfied is known as the elastic limit; beyond the elastic limit the relationship between tension and extension is more complicated, Cre 1 Amass swings at the end of a string like a pendulum. Draw the forces on the mass at: (a) its lowest position; (b) its highest position. 2 Amass rests on a rough table and is connected by a siting that goes over a pulley68 Core - Mechanics aa Figure 3.12 For question 2, to a second hanging mass, as shown in Figure 3.12. Draw the forces on each mass. 3 Amass is tied to a string and rotates in a vertical circle, as shown in Figure 3.13. Draw the forces on the mass when the string is horizontal. __4 Figure 3.13 For question 3 4 Abead rolls on the suriace of a sphere, having started from the top, as shown in Figure 3.14. Draw the forces on the bead: (a) at the top; (b) at the point where itis about to leave the surface of the sphere. Figure 3.14 For question 4. 5 Amass hangs at the end of a vertical spring which is attached to the ceiling. Draw the forces on: (a) the hanging mass; (b) the ceiling 6 Look at Figure 3.15, In which case is the tension in the string largest? 500 S00N — Figure 3.15 For question 6. 7 A force of 125 N is required to extend a spring by 2.8 cm. What force is required to stretch the same spring by 3.2 cm? 8 Amass hangs attached to three strings, as shown in Figure 3.16. Draw the forces on: {a) the hanging mass; {b) the point where the strings join. Figure 3.16 For question 8. 9 A spring is compressed by a certain distance and a mass is attached to its right end, as shown in Figure 3.17. The mass rests on a rough table. ‘What are the forces acting on the mass? Hi Figure 3.17 For question 9. 10 A block rests on an elevator floor as shown, as shown in Figure 3.18. The elevator is held in place by a cable attached to the ceiling. Draw the forces on: (a) the block: (0) the elevator, Figure 3.18 For question 10.CHAPTER aU! Newton’s first law ‘Medranics rests on Newton's thie laws. The fist law is discussed in this chapter. The fitst aw leads to a study of systems in equilibrium, which is a state in which the net force ‘on the sysiem is zero. | Objectives | By the end of this chapter you should be able to: relate situations in which the acceleration is zero to equilibrium situations in which the net force is zer0; + find the net force on a body using the methods of vector addition: + solve problems of equilibrium. Newton’s first law In ancient times, Aristotle had maintained that a force is what is required in order to keep a body in motion. The higher the speed, the larger the force needed. Aristotle's idea of force is not unreasonable and is in fact in accordance with experience from everyday life: it does require a force to push a piete of furniture from one corner of a room to another. What Aristotle failed to appreciate is that everyday life is plagued by friction. An object in motion comes to reat because of friction and-thus a force is required ifit is to keep moving. This force is needed in order to cancel the force of friction that opposes the motion. In an idealized world with no friction, a body that is set into motion does not require a force to keep it moving. Galileo, 2000 years after Aristotle, was the first to realize that the state of no motion and the state of motion with constant speed in a straight line are indistinguishable from each other: Since no force is present in the case of no motion, no forces are required in the case of motion in a straight line with constant speed either. Force is related, as you will see, to changes in velocity (Le. accelerations). Newton's first law (generalizing statements of Galileo) states the following: Abody that moves with acceleration (ic. changing speed or changing direction of tnotion) must have a force acting on it. An ice hockey puck slides on ice with practically no friction and will thus move with constant speed ina straight line. A spacecraft leaving the solar system with its engines off has no force acting on it and will continue to move ina straight ine at constant speed (until it encounters another body that will attract or hit it). Using the first law, it is easy to see if'a force is acting ona body. For example, the earth rotates around the sun and thus we know at once that a force must be acting on the earth.70 Core ~ Mechanics =e Newton's first law is also called the law of ‘inertia, Inertia is the reluctance of a body to change its state of motion. Inertia keeps the body in the same state of motion when no forces act on the body. When a car accelerates forward, the passengers are thrown back into their seats. Ifa car brakes abruptly, the passengers are thrown forward. This implies that a mass tends to stay in the state of motion it was in before the force acted on it. The reaction of a body to a change in its state of motion (acceleration) is inertia. Awell-known example of inertia is that of a magician who very suddenly pulls the tablecloth off a table leaving all the plates, glasses, etc., behind on the table. The ine! of these objects makes them ‘want to stay on the table where they are. Similarly, if you pull very suddenly on a roll of kitchen paper you will tear off a sheet. But if you pull gently you ‘will only succeed in making the paper roll rotate. Inertial frames of reference Assystem on which no forces act is called an inertial frame of reference. Inertial reference frames played a crucial role in the history of physics: observers belonging to different inertial frames will come up with the same laws of physics. For example, an observer at rest on the surface of the earth is an (approximate) inertial reference frame. (We say approximate, since the earth rotates about its axis as well as around the sun ~ but these motions produce small accelerations and over a short interval of time we can ignore them,) A passenger on a train that moves with constant velocity relative to an observer on the earth is also an inertial reference frame. The two observers will ‘cover the same laws of physics by performing experiments in their respective frames. There is no experiment that the observer on the train can perform whose result will be to determine that the train is moving. Nor will he ever discover laws of physics that are different from the ones discovered by the observer on the ground. Equilibrium When the net force on a body is zero, the body is said to be in equilibrium. If a body is displaced slightly from its equilibrium position, the net force on the body may or may not be zero. If itis still zero, the position of ‘equilibrium is called a neutral equilibrium position. An example is a mass resting on a horizontal table, as in Figure 4.1. displaced posifon of neural equilibrium Ded tim cquilibsium Figure 4.1 In a position of neutral equilibrium the net force on a body is zero. A displacement results in another equilibrium position, On the other hand, if after displacing the body from its equilibrium position the net force is no longer zero, then we distinguish two kinds of equilibrium in the original position. If the net force in the displaced position tends to move the body back towards the initial equilibrium position, then we speak of stable equilibrium. If, on the other hand, the force on the body tends to make it move even further from the initial position, we speak of unstable equilibrium (see Figure 4.2). Figure 42 In unstable equilibrium the net force ‘on the body is zero, but a small displacement results in motion away from the equilibrium position, In stable equilibrium, the motion is back towards the equilibrium position.24 Newton's first law 71 Note that an equilibrium position can be both stable and unstable at the same time. For example, a mass on a surface that resembles a saddle is in equilibrium if placed at the centre of the saddle. The equilibrium, is stable or unstable depending on the direction in which the mass is then displaced. Equilibrium of a point particle means that the net force on the point is zero. To find the net force we must use the methods of vector addition, and here we will exclusively use the component method. We choose a set of axes whose origin is the point body in question and find the components of all the forces on the body. As promised in Chapter 1. we will use only positive components. Then the sum of the + components to the ‘right” must equal the sum of the x components to the ‘left’, and the sum of the y components ‘up’ must equal the sum of the y components ‘down’. Let us look at a simple example. A block of weight 10.0 N rests on a horizontal table. What is the normal reaction on the block from the table? Figure 4.3 shows the forces on the block, which is assumed to be a point object. The dotted lines represent the axes along which we will take components. ‘There are no forces with horizontal components. In the vertical direction the component of R is simply R in the ‘up’ direction. The 10.0 N force has a component of 10.0 N in the ‘down’ direction. Equating the up with the down components we find R=100N. Re, fieebody f dagan + 100% Figure 43 The forces acting ona block resting on a table. Let us look at a slightly less trivial example. A 20.0 N weight hangs from strings as shown in Figure 4.4. We want to find the tension in each string, 200N, Figure 4.4 Freebody diagrams for joining point and hanging mass. We call the tensions in the three strings T, 8 and S. The point where the strings meet is in equilibrium and so the net force from these three tensions is zero. Getting components along the horizontal and vertical directions we have: ‘down’ Re = Rcos30° BOOR ‘eft Ry = Rsin30° =0.500K ‘up’ Sx =Scos 45° 0.7075 ‘right Sy =Ssin45° = 0.7075 ‘up’ We thus have 0.866R = 0.7075 0.7075 +0.500R = T Equilibrium of the hanging mass demands, however, that T = 20.0 N. Thus we can find R=146NandS=17.9N.72 Core - Mechanics Example questions Qi ‘Amass m = 10.0 kg hangs from two strings which are attached to the ceiling as shown in Figure 4.5. What is the tension in each string? mg Figure 45. Answer ‘The three forces acting on m are as shown, with T and 5 being the tensions in the two strings. Taking components about horizontal and vertical axes through m we find (here we will make use of only positive components) T, = cos 30° = 0.87 Tto the left, T, = Tsin 30° = 0.50 up, Sy = $ cos 50° = 0.645 to the right, S, = S sin 50° = 0.77S up. The weight mg is already along one of the axes: it has a component mg = 100 N down. Equilibrium thus ‘demands (net force has zero x and y components) 0.87 T = 0.645 0.50T + 0.775 = 100 from which we find T ~ 65.3 N and $= 87.9 N. (QU sssancsatacseaseeseresrsersramEEEEEEEEES Ablock of weight 50.0 N rests on a rough horizontal table and is attached by strings to a hanging mass of weight 12.0 N, as shown in Figure 4.6. Find the force of friction between the block and the table ifthe block on the table is in equilibrium. Answer ‘The diagram shows the forces acting on the block and the mass as well as the tensions at the point ‘where the three strings join. Since that point is in ‘equilibrium, the net force on it is zero. Taking components of the forces R, S and 12.0 N along, horizontal and vertical axes we find: Rilefy SOON, s 50.0N r ON Figure 4.6. $c0s30° 0.866 5 ‘right’ Sin 30° = 0.5005 ‘up’ Equilibrium then demands that R= 0.8665 0.5005 = T =12.0 since T = 12.0 N by the equilibrium of the hanging, mass. We can thus find $= 24.0 N and so R = 20.8 N. Demanding now equilibrium for the block on the table, we see that the frictional force must equal R, ie, 20.8 N. (QS exramexsnssensesecresraSserseeenSSSSESESST Amass of 125 g is attached to a spring of spring constant k = 58 Nm" that is hanging vertically (a) Find the extension of the spring (b) lf the mass and the spring are placed on the ‘moon, will there be any change in the extension of the spring? Answer fa) The forces on the hanging mass are its weight and the tension of the spring. Since we have equilibrium, the two forces are equal in magnitude, Therefore24 Newton's first law 73 0.125 x 10 58 22am (b) The extension will be less, since the acceleration of gravity is less. 1. What is the net force on each of the bodies shown in the diagrams in Figure 4.72 The only forces acting are the ones shown. Indicate direction by ‘tight’, ‘left, ‘up’ and ‘down’. 43N ® nN ® * IRN ee 48N an an. + 10N 5 * 10N © N@ 266 © © a al] Figure 4.7 For question 1. Tox 6N 2 Find the magnitude and ditection of the net force in Figure 4.8. Figure 48 For question 2, 3 In Figure 4.9, what must F and @ be such that the three forces give a net force of zero? 2N = 20 ISN Figure 49 For question 3, 4 Why is it impossible for a mass to hang attached to two horizontal strings as shown in Figure 4.10% [4 Figure 4.10 For question 4 5 Aimass is hanging from a string that i attached to the ceiling. A second piece of string (identical to the first) hangs from the lower end of the mass. (See Figure 4.11.) Figure 4.11 For question 5. Which sting will break (a) the bottom string is slowly pulled with ever increasing force; (0) the bottom string is very abruptly pulled downt74 Core ~ Mechanics pe 6 10 A force of 10.0N is acting along the negative xeaxis and a force of 5.00 N at an angle of 20° with the positive x-axis. Find the net force, A force has components 2.45 N and 4.23 N along two perpendicular axes. What is the magnitude of the force? A weight of mass 12.5 kg hangs from very light, smooth pulleys as shown in Figure 4.12. What force must be applied to the rope so that the mass stays at rest? Figure 4.12 For question 8. ‘Amass of 2.00 kg rests on a rough horizontal table. The maximum frictional force between the mass and the table is 12 N. The block is attached to a hanging mass by a string that goes over a smooth pulley, What is the largest ‘mass that can hang in this way without forcing, the block to slide? ee Figure 4.13.) Figure 4.13 For question 9. ‘Amass of 5.00 kg hangs attached to three strings as shown in Figure 4.14. Find the tension in each string, (Hint: Consider the equilibrium of the point where the strings join) f Figure 4.14 For question 10. 11 Arod of mass 5.00 kg is frst pulled and then pushed at constant velocity by a force at 45° to the horizontal as shown in Figure 4.15. ‘Assuming that in both cases the frictional force is horizontal and equal to 0.4 times the normal reaction force on the rod, find the force F in each case. What does this imply? Mg Figure 4.15 For question 11. 12 A455 N crate is being pulled at constant velocity by a force directed at 30° to the horizontal as shown in Figure 4.16. The frictional force on the crate is 1163 N. What is the magnitude of the pulling force? Figure 4.16 For question 12, 13 (a) A.2598 kg aeroplane is moving, horizontally in a straight tine at constant velocity. What is the upward force on the aeroplane?24 Newton's first law 75 ee (b) The plane is now diving (again at constant velocity) making an angle of 10° to the horizontal, Find the lft force on the plane assuming that it is normal to the velocity of the plane. 14 Amass Mis connected with a string to a smaller mass m. The mass Mis resting on an inclined plane and the string goes over a pulley at the top of the plane so that the ‘mass mis hanging vertically, as shown in Figure 4.17. What must the angle of the plane be in order to have equilibrium? Figure 4.17 For question 14. 15. A mass mis attached to two identical springs of spring constant k. The other end of each spring is attached to the ceiling so that each makes an angie # with the vertical, as shown in Figure 4.18. If the mass is in equilibrium, what is the extension of each spring? Figure 4.18 For question 15.a Newton’s second and third laws These laws are the comerstone of what {6 called dassical physics. they imply that, once the forces that act on a system are spectied and the motion of the system is known at some point in time, then the motion of the system can be predicted at all future times. This previcoLilly is chateLterbtic Uf Uasical»yste> a> yppused tv quar tui ores, wliee the uncertainty principle introduces a probabilistic interpretation onthe future evolution of the system. Lately this sharp definition of predictability has been eroded somewhat even for classical systems: chaotic behaviour can imply a loss of predictability in some cases. PHILOSOPHIE NATURALIS This Js the front page from Newton’s book called Principia (Principles) in which he outlined his theories of the laws that governed the motion of objects. | Objectives By the end of this chapter you should be able to: + recognize situations of equilibrium, ic. situations where the net force and hence the acceleration are zero: + draw the forces on the body of interest and apply Newton's second law on that body, F = ma; + recognize that the net force on a body is in the same direction as the ‘acceleration of that body: + identify pairs of forces that come from Newton's third law.| | 25 Newton's second and third laws 77. a: Newton’s second law This fundamental law asserts that: Figure 5.1 shows the net force on a freely falling body. which happens to be its weight. W = mg. By Newton's second law, the net force equals the mass times the acceleration, and so mg =ma sa=g that is, the acceleration of the freely falling body is exactly g. Experiments going back to Galileo show us that indeed all bodies fall in a vacuum with the same acceleration (the acceleration due to gravity) irrespective of their density, their mass, their shape and the material from which they are made. Figure 5:1 A mass falling to the ground acted upon by gravity. Itis important to realize that the second law speaks of the net force on the body. Thus, ifa number of individual forces act on a body, we must first find the net force by vector addition, A simple everyday example of the second law is that when you jump from some height you bend your knees on landing. This is because by bending your knees you stretch out the time it takes to reduce your speed to zero, and thus your acceleration (deceleration) is least. This, means that the force from the ground on to you is least. Example questions (QU eeeescseecazscremereroneractrsrrceesesia®, ‘Aman of mass m= 70 kg stands on the floor of an elevator. Find the force of reaction he ‘experiences from the elevator floor when: (a) the elevator is standing sill; (b) the elevator moves up at constant speed 3ms (©) the elevator moves up with acceleration ams (d) the elevator moves down with acceleration ame Answer Two forces act on the man: his weight mg vertically down and the reaction force & from the floor vertically up. (a) There is no acceleration and so by Newton's second law the net force on the man must be zero, Hence R= mg (b) There is no acceleration and so again (c) There is acceleration upwards. Hence R—mg=ma so. R= mg+ma 700 N+ 200 N 180 N78 Core - Mechanics ——— (d) We again have acceleration, but this time in the downward direction, Hence img — R= ma 0 R= mg—ma = 700 N~ 280 N =420N Note: In (c) the acceleration is up, so we find the net force in the upward direction. tn (@) the acceleration is down, so we find the net force in the downward direction, Newton's law in all cases involves accelerations and forces in the same direction. : (Q0 rerenessnsveneremerenreerrraetneeneezen ‘Aman of mass 70 kg is moving upward in an elevator at a constant speed of 3 ms-!. The elevator comes to rest ina time of 2 s. What is the reaction force on the man from the elevator floor during the period of deceleration? Answer ‘The acceleration experienced by the man is -1.5ms"4,S0 R—mg=ma => R=mg+ma 700 + (=105) = 595 N 1, instead, the man was moving downward and then decelerated to rest, we would have mg—R= ma = R=mg—ma 700 — (105) = 805 N Both cases are easily experienced in daily life. ‘When the elevator goes up and then stops we feel ‘lighter’ during the deceleration period. When ‘going down and about to stop, wve feel ‘heavier’ during the deceleration period. The feeling of ‘lightness’ or ‘heaviness! has to do with what reaction force we feel from the floor. Q3 seemereecrrrmemnrsnanenssennrrecreEnnss: A hot air balloon of mass 150 kg is tied to the ground with a rope (of negligible mass). When the rope is cut, the balloon rises with an acceleration of 2 m s~*. What was the tension in the rope? Answer The forces on the balloon originally are its weight, the upthrust and the tension (see Figure 5.2). Figure 52. Initially we have equilibrium and so U= W+T. Aer the rope is cut the net force is U ~ W and so U-W= ma = 1502 =300N From the first equation T=U~W=300N The next examples show how Newton's second law is applied when mote than one mass is present. 4 eee Two blocks of mass 4.0 and 6.0 kg are joined by a string and rest on a frictionless horizontal table (see Figure 5.3). Ifa force of 100 N is applied horizontally on one of the blocks, find the acceleration of each block. Answer Method 1: The net force on the 6.0 kg mass is 100 ~ T and on the 4.0 kg mass just T. Thus,25 Newton's second and third laws 79 ee applying Newton’s second law separately on each mass 100 — T= 6a T=4a Solving for a (by adding the two equations side by side) gives a = 10 m s~ and the tension is thus T= 4.0% 10 40N Note: The free-body diagram makes it clear that the 100 N force acts only on the body to the right, Itis a common mistake to say that the body to the left is also acted upon by the 100 N Method 2: We may consider the two bodies as one of mass 10 kg. This is denoted by the dotted line in Figure 5.4. The net force on the body is 100 N. Note that the tensions are irrelevant now since they cancel out. (They did not in Method 1 as they acted on different bodies. Now they act on the same body. They are now internal forces and these are irrelevant) 100N Figure 5.4. Applying Newton's second law on the single body we have 100 = 10a =>a=10ms But to find the tension we must break up the combined body into the original two bodies. Newton’s second law on the 4.0 kg body gives T =4a=40N (the tension on this block is the net force on the block). If we used the other block, we would see that the net force on it is 100 ~ Tand so. 100 -T =6x10 = 60 giving T = 40 N as before. (Q3 smemenesnss rere FOSDSRAMSERSTEEEOOEEEETS (Atwood's machine) Two masses of m= 4.0 ky and M = 6.0 kg are joined together by a string that passes over a pulley. The masses are held stationary and suddenly released. What is the acceleration of each mass? Answer Intuition tells us that the larger mass will start moving downward and the small mass will go up. So if we say that the larger mass's acceleration is a, then the other mass’s acceleration will also be 2 in magnitude but, of course, in the opposite direction. The two accelerations are the same because the string cannot be extended Method 1: The forces on each mass are weight ng and tension T on mand weight Mg and tension T on M (see Figure 5.5). Me My Figure 55. Newton’s second law applied to each mass states T-mg=ma a Mg—T = Ma e) Note these equations carefully. Each says that the net force on the mass in question is equal to that mass times that mass's acceleration, In the first ‘equation we find the net force in the upward icection, because that is the direction of acceleration. In the second we find the net force downward, since that is the direction of acceleration in that case. We want to find the80 Core - Mechanics acceleration, so we simply add up these two equations side by side to find Mg— mg = (m+ Mya hence (Note that if M455 m, the acceleration tends to g (why?) This shows clearly that if the two masses are equal then there is no acceleration. This is a convenient method for measuring g: Atwood!s machine effectively ‘slows down’ g s0 the falling mass has a much smaller acceleration from which g.can then be determined. Putting in the numbers for our example we find 2 = 2.0 ms. Having found the acceleration we may, if we wish, also find the tension in the string, T.. Putting the value for a in formula (1) we find (lf M4 my the tension tends to 2mg (why?) ‘Method 2: We treat the two masses as one body and apply Newton's second law on this body (but this is trickier than in the previous example) ~ see Figure 5.6. Figure 5.6. In this case the net force is Mg ~ mg and, since force acts on a body of mass M +m, the acceleration is found as before from F acceleration. Note that the tension T does not appear in this case, being now an internal force. massx (Qo ee seennneres cs $2¢0¢ ET REEEEEEPEEEEEEESENT In Figure 5.7, a block of mass M is connected fo a smaller mass m through a string that goes over a pulley. Ignoring friction, find the acceleration of each mass and the tension in the string Figure 5.7. Answer Method 1: The forces are shown in Figure 5.7. Thus mg—T =ma T=Ma from which (adding the two equations side by side) er me ® (Wf. M > mthe acceleration tends to zero (why2).) If M = 8.0 kg and m= 2.0 kg, this gives a= 20ms?, Hence Mime mM =16N Method inthe reating the two bodies as one results mn shown in Figure 5.8. Figure 58. The net force on the mass M+ m is mg. Hence mg = (M4 ma ie mem ‘The tension can then be found as before.25 Newton's second and third laws 81 Q Consider finally 100 blocks each of mass m 1.0 kg that are placed next to each other in a straight line, as shown in Figure 5.9. ‘Aforce F = 100 N is applied to the block at the left. What force does the 60th block exert on the 61st (see Figure 5.10% feebedy diagram Py for the last 40 blocks Figure 5.10. Ee Answer To answer the question, we treat the 100 blocks as cone body, in which case the net force on the system is 100 N. Since the mass is 100 kg, the acceleration of each block is 1 ms Let T be the required force. Itis the net force on the body inside the dotted line of mass 40 kg, Since this force accelerates a mass of 40 kg by ims, T=ma=40 N. Terminal velocity When a body moves through a fluid (a gas or liquid), it experiences an opposing force that depends on the speed of the body. If the speed is small, the opposing force is proportional to the speed, whereas for larger speeds the force becomes proportional to the square of the speed. Consider, for example, a body falling through air, ‘The forces on the body are its weight, mg, and the opposing force, which we assume is proportional to the speed, F = ky. Initially the speed is small, so the body falls with an acceleration that is essentially that due to gravity. As the speed increases, so does the opposing force and hence, after a while, it will become equal to the weight. In that case the acceleration becomes zero and the body continues to fall with a constant velocity, called terminal velocity. Figure 5.11 shows a body falling from rest and acquiring a terminal velocity of $0 m s“' after about 25 s."The acceleration of the body is initially that due to gravity but becomes zero after about 25 s. ng + increasing vetecity im 5-1 us o 3 10 15 20 25 90 Figure 5.11 The opposing force grows as the speed increases and eventually becomes equal to the weight, From that point on, the acceleration fs zero and the body has achieved its terminal velocity.2 Core ~ Mechanics The inclined plane ‘The motion of a body along a straight line that is kept at an angle to the horizontal (inclined plane) is an important application of Newton’s laws. The following is an example. A mass of m = 2.0 kgis held on a frictionless inclined plane of 30°. What is the acceleration of the mass if itis released? ‘There are two forces acting on the mass (see Figure 5.12). Figure 5.12 A mass on an inclined plane, ‘magnitude mg. and the reaction from the plane. which is perpendicular to the plane, of magnitude R.We can find the components of these two forces along two mutually perpendicular axes, one being along the plane (see Figure 5.13). The force R is already along one of the axes so we don’t bother with that, But mg is not. | ‘The two forces are: its weight vertically down of | | Figure 5.13 We take components along axes that, lie along the plane and normally to the plane. ‘The magnitude of the component of mg along the plane is mg sind, where @ = 30° is the angle of the incline. This component lies down the plane. The other component is my cosé, in the direction perpendicular to the plane. In that direction there is no acceleration, hence the net force there is zero: that is, R —mg cos@ = 0. This tells us that R ~ mg cosd. In the direction, along the plane, there is a single unbalanced force, namely mg siné, and therefore by Newton's second law, this force will equal mass times acceleration in that same direction: that is ing sind =a where a is the unknown acceleration. Hence, we find a =gsine ‘This is an important result and we will make use of it many times. Note that the acceleration does not depend on the mass. For the numerical values of this problem we find a = 5.0 ms~®, You may wonder why we took as our axes the ‘ones along and perpendicular to the inclined plane. The answer is that we did not have to choose these axes. Any other set would have done. This choice, however, is the most convenient, because it exploits the fact that the acceleration will take place along the plane. so we choose that direction as one of our axes. If we had chosen another set of axes, saya horizontal and a vertical one, then we would find acceleration along both of these axes. Acceleration, of course, is a vector and if we combined these two accelerations, we would find the same acceleration (in magnitude and direction) as above. Try to work out the details. An accelerometer Consider a mass that is hanging from a string of length L, which is attached to the ceiling of a train. What will be the angle the string makes with the vertical if (a) the train moves forward with a constant speed of 3 ms”, or (b) moves forward with an acceleration of 4 m s~*? If the train moves with constant speed in the horizontal direction, the acceleration in this direction is zero. Hence the net force in the horizontal direction must also be zero. The only forces on the mass are its weight vertically down, and the tension T of the string along the string. So, to produce zero force in the horizontal25 Newton's second and third laws 83 direction the string must be vertical. In case (b) there is acceleration in the horizontal direction and hence there must also be a net force in this direction. The string will therefore make an angle @ with the vertical (see Figure 5:14), sceeleration| —t 7 , Figure 5.14 When the forces are not in the direction of acceleration, we must take components. In this case we take components of the forces on the mass along the horizontal and vertical | directions. In the horizontal direction we have | only the component of T, which is T sin8, and | in the vertical direction we have T cos@ upward | and my downward. Therefore Tsin@ =ma and T cose =mg Hence, a = g tan. Note that the mass does not enter into the expression for a. This is actually a ernde device that can be used to measure acceleration ~ an accelerometer. Newton's third law Newton's third law states that: Q @ Figure 5.15 The two bodies exert equal and opposite forces on each other. Make stire you understand that these equal and opposite forces act on different bodies, Thus, you cannot use this law to claim that it is impossible toever have a net force on a body because for every force on it there is also an equal and opposite force. Here are a few examples of this law: + You stand on rollerskates facing a wall. You push on the wall and you move away from it. Thi because you exerted a force on the wall and in ‘turn the wall exerted an equal and opposite force on you, making you accelerate away. + You are about to step off a boat onto the dock, ‘Your foot exerts a force on the dock, and in turn the dock exerts a force on you (your foot) in the opposite direction making you (and the boat) move away from the dock. (You probably fall in the water!) + Ahelicopter hovers in air. Its rotors exert a force downward on the air. Thus, the air exerts ‘the upward force on the helicopter that keeps it from falling, + Abbook of mass 2 kg is allowed to fall freely. The earth exerts a force on the book, namely the weight of the book of about 20 N. Thus, the ook exerts an equal and opposite force on the ‘earth ~a force upward equal to 20 N. Be careful with situations where two forces are equal andl opposite but have nothing to do with, the third law. For example, a block of mass 3 kg resting on a horizontal table has two forces acting on it. Its weight of 30 N and the reaction, from the table that is also 30 N. These two forces are equal and opposite, but they are acting on the same body and so have nothing to do with Newton's third law, (We have seen in the last bullet point above the force that pairs with the weight of the block. The one that pairs with the reaction force is a downward force on the table.) Newton's third law also applies to cases where the force between two bodies acts at a distance: that is, the two bodies are separated by a certain distance. For example, two electric charges will exert an electric force on each other and any two masses will attract each other with the gravitational force. These forces must be equal and opposite. (See Figure 5.16.)Figure 5.16 The two charges and the two masses are different but the forces are equal and opposite 1 (a Under what circumstances would a constant force result in an increasing acceleration on a body? (b) Under what circumstances would a constant force result in zero acceleration on a body? 2 Acar of mass 1354 kg finds itself on a muddy road. If the force from the engine pushing the car forward exceeds 575 N, the wheels slip (i.e. they rotate without rolling). What is the maximum acceleration that the car can move with on this road? 3 The net force on a mass of 1.00 kg initially at rest is 1.00 N and acts for 1.00 s, What will the velocity of the mass be at the end of the 1.00 interval of time? 4A mass of 2.00 kg is acted upon by two forces 0f 4.00 N and 10.0 N. What is the smallest and largest acceleration these two forces can produce on the mass? 5 Aman of mass m stands in an elevator. Find the reaction force from the elevator floor on the man when: (a) the elevator is standing still; (b) the elevator moves up at constant speed v; (c) the elevator accelerates down with acceleration a; (@) the elevator accelerates down with acceleration a = g (e) What happens when a > g? 6 Abird is in a glass cage that hangs from a spring scale. Compare the readings of the seale in the following cases. (a) The bird is siting in the cage. (b) The bird is hovering in the cage. (0) The bird is moving upward with acceleration. (@) The bitd is accelerating downward. (6) The bird is moving upward with constant velocity. 7 Get in an elevator and stretch out your arm holding your heavy physies book. Press the button to go up. What do you observe happening to your stretched arm? What happens as the elevator comes to a stop at the top floor? What happens when you press the bbutton to go down and what happens when the elevator again stops? Explain your observations Carefully using the second law of mechanics. 8 A block of mass 2.0 kg rests on top of another block of mass 10.0 kg that itself rests on a frictionless table (see Figure 5.17). The largest frictional force that can develop between the two blocks is 16 N. Calculate the largest force with which the bottom block can be pulled so that both blocks move together without sliding ‘on cach other. 20kg 100 ig Figure 5.17 For question 8, 9 Figure 5.18 shows a person in an elevator pulling on a rope that goes over a pulley and is attached to the top of the elevator. Identify all the forces shown and for each find the reaction force (according to Newton’s third law). On. what body does each reaction force act? Figure 5.18 For questions 9 and 10.25 Newton's second and third laws 85, a, 10 n 12 13 14 15 16 Take the mass of the elevator shown in Figure 5.18 to be 30.0 kg and that of the person to be 70.0 kg, Ifthe elevator accelerates upwards at 0.500 m s-, find the reaction force ‘on the person irom the elevator floor A small passenger car and a fully loaded truck collide head-on. Which vehicle experiences the greater force? What force does a man af mass 80.0 kg exert on the earth as he falls freely after jumping. from a table 1_m high from the surface of the earth? Three blocks rest on a horizontal frictionless surface, as shown in Figure 5.19. A force of 20.0 N is applied horizontally to the right on the block of mass 2.0 kg, Find the individual forces acting on each mass. Identify action-reaction pairs. 30ke 201g s0ke sl] td Figure 5.19 For question 13. A (massless) string hangs vertically from a support in the ceiling. A mass of 10.0 kg aitached to the other end of the string. What is the force the string exerts on the support? A block of mass 15.0 kg rests on a horizontal table. A force of 50.0 N is applied vertically downward on the block. Calculate the force that the block exerts on the table. A block of mass 10.0 kg rests on top of a bigger block of mass 20.0 kg, which in tum rests on a horizontal table (see Figure 5.20). Find the individual forces acting on each block. Identify action-reaction pairs accor to Newton’s third law. 101g 200 ks | Figure 5.20 For question 16. 17 Ma vertical downward force of 50.0 N acts on the top block in Figure 5.20, what are the forces on each block now. 18 A massless string has the same tension throughout its length. Can you explain why? 19 Look back at Figure 5.18. The person has a mass of 70.0 kg and the elevator a mass of 30.0 kg, If the force the person exerts on the elevator floor is 300.0 N, find the acceleration of the elevator (g = 10 ms). 20 (a) Calculate the tension in the string joining the two masses in Figure 5.21. (b) Ifthe position of the masses is interchanged, will the tension change? 30.0 ke 10.0 a Figure 5.21 For question 20. 21 One hundred equal masses m = 1.0 kg are joined by strings as shown in Figure 5.22. The first mass is acted upon by a force F = 100 N. What is the tension in the string joining the 60th mass to the 61st? ~-@-@-©-©-©— Figure 5.22 For question 21. 22 A mass of 3.0 kg is acted upon by three forces of 4.0 N, 6.0 N and 9.0 Nand is in equilibrium, Convince yourself that these forces can indeed be in equilibrium. If the 9.0 N force is suddenly removed, what will the acceleration of the mass be? 23 What is the tension in the string joining the ‘bvo masses in Figure 5.232 What is the acceleration of each mass? loons| 20Kg| + pomN Figure 5.23.86 Core - Mechanics ate joined by a siring and are pulled 25 The velocity-time graph in Figure 5.25 is a Up an inclined plane that makes an angle of student’s graph for the vertical motion of a 30° to the horizontal, as shown in Figure 5.24. person who jumps from a helicopter and a Calculate the tension in the string when: few seconds later opens a parachute. (2) the bodies move with constant speed; {@) Using the laws of mechanics carefully (b) the bodies move up the plane with an explain the shape of the curve. (When acceleration of 2.0 ms does the parachute open? When does the (€) What is the value of Fin each case? air resistance force reach its maximum value? Is the air resistance force constant?) (b) How would you improve on the studen’s graph? 40kg. 80kg Figure 5.24 For question 24, Figure 5.25 For question 25,CHAPTER Linear momentum This chapter introduces the concept of momentum and, by using Newton's second and third laws, the law of momentum conservation is desived, This law is the basis for analysing collisions. Objectives By the end of this chapter you should be able to: + state the definition of momentum (ji = mi) and appreciate that momentum is a vector quantity: + state the definition of average net force in terms of momentum, Fng = 2P5 + state the definition of impulse as the change in momentum and understand that the area under a force-time graph is the impulse of the force: + derive the law of conservation of momentum using Newton's second and third laws: + identify situations in which momentum ts conserved and solve related problems. Ifthe mass of the body is constant, this reduces" The concept of momentum to the familiar F,, = md. This is because in that Momentum is a yery important and useful concept in mechanics. Fa a 8B asia nig — mi; In terms of momentum, Newton's second law of ‘mechanics can be stated as The advantage of the formulation of Newton's second law in terms of momentum is that it can be used also in cases where the mass of the body is changing (such as, for example, in the motion of a rocket). AB Fret =r thatis, the (average) net force on a body equals the rate of change of the body's momentum.88 Core - Mechanics Example questions QU seersessenstsrrereverresvseeTIESCTEEFETEsrT 40.100 kg ball moving at 5 m s~ bounces off a vertical wall without a change in its speed (see Figure 6.1). If the collision with the wall lasted for 0.1 s, what force was exerted on the wall? = @ bal coming in BS bal bounces back Figure 6.1. Answer ‘The momentum af the ball changed from ~0.5 N s 10 0.5 Ns in 0.1 s (note the signs: momentum is a ide of the average force on vector). The magt the ball is thus ‘This is also the force exerted by the ball on the wall by Newton's third law. Q) seeeeenenerceererErErenenSEEETESEEEEEEEEEE ‘4.0.50 kg ball bounces vertically off a hard surface. A graph of velocity versus time is shown, in Figure 6.2. Find the magnitude of the momentum change of the ball during the bounce. The ball stayed in contact with floor for 0.15 s. What average force did the ball exert on the floor? mt reaction force 7 Tom Answer The initial momentum is 0.50 X 4 = 2.N s. The final is 0.50 % (—2) = ~1 Ns, The magnitude of the change is therefore 3 N s. The forces on the ball during contact are its weight and the reaction from the floor. Thus (Foe = R— mg _3.0Ns D155 =20N so R=2045 =29N (Q2 serswecennenmmessnsesseseeusS04ncCSErerErEr1 Bullets of mass 30 g are being fired from a gun with a speed of 300 m s~! at a rate of 20 per second. What force is being exerted on the gun? Answer Using the definition of force involving rate of change of momentum as above, we see that the momentum of one bullet changes irom zero before it is fired to mv alter it has been fired. If there are A. bullets being fired in time At, then the magnitude of the momentum change per second is Ap _ AN ‘at ar” 20 s~* x 0.030 kg x 300 ms“ 80.N 3 eer Mass falls at a rate of pu. kgs" onto a conveyor belt which moves at constant speed v (see Figure 6.3). ‘What force must be exerted on the belt to make it tum at constant speed? Figure 6.3.26 Linear momentum 8S Answer The horizontal momentum of the falling mass increases from zero when it frst hits the belt to my. The rate of increase of momentum is thus v and this is the force on the belt, F = wv. (3 TERE A helicopter rotor whose length is & = 5.0 m pushes air downwards with a speed v. Assuming that the density of airis constant at = 1.20 kgm: and the mass of the helicopter is 1200 kg, find v. You may assume that the rotor forces the air in a Circle of radius R panned by the rotor) to move with the downward speed v. Answer The momentum of the air under the rotor is mv, where mis the mass of air in a circle of radius 5.0 m. In time Ar the mass is enclosed in a cylinder of radius R and height vt. Thus, the momentum of this mass is pxR°v2At and its rate of change is p7rR°V?. This is the upward force on the helicopter, which must equal the helicopter’s Weight of 12 000 N. So pr? = Mg V one? Thus, v= 11 ms Impulse _ Newton's second law, in terms of momentum change, states that the average net force on a body (here we use magnitudes of forces and momenta) is given by 7 F net If At is infinitesimally small, this gives the instantaneous force on the body. If not, it gives the average force on the body, F . We may then write p=Fat Figure 6.4 shows a ball in contact with a tennis racket. The magnitude of the impulse delivered to the ball is Ap and equals the product of the magnitude of the average force on the ball times the interval of time for which the contact lasts. Figure 6.4. The momentum of the ball changes as a result of the collision with the tennis racket, This means there is a force on the ball while it is in contact with the racket. ‘The quantity Ap = F At is called the impulse of the force and has the following interpretation in terms of a graph that shows the variation of the force with time (see Figure 6.5) > Impulse is the area under the curve of a force-time graph and equals the total ‘momentum change of the mass. force/N 100 # —— sco «co 400 200 4S ° 2 4 6) 8) OO Figure 65 The area under the force-time graph gives the total momentum change of the body the force acts upon. In the graph of Figure 6.5 the area is about 2.5 N s (can you verify this?) and the force acts for about 6.0 ms. This means that during the 6.0 ms the momentum of the body changed by90 Core - Mechanics 2.5 Ns. The maximum force that acted on the body was 1000 N and the average force Consider, then, a body of mass m that moves with velocity v and is brought to rest by a non- constant force F. The change in the momentum, of the body is Ap = 0 ~mv = —mv. (We may ignore the sign if we are interested only in the magnitude of the momentum change) Let us examine two possibilities. In the first case, the force brings the body to rest over a longer period of time compared with the second. The graphs of force versus time might be as shown in Figure 6.6. The thick curve represents the force that brings the body to rest over a short time. This force is larger, on average, than the force that brings the body to rest over a longer time interval. The areas under the curves are the same since they both represent the change in the momentum of the body, which is mv in doth cases. fore Figure 66 The areas under the two curves are the same 50 the force acting for a shorter time must be larger on average. ‘These graphs can be thought of as idealizations of the forces experienced by a driver of a car that is brought suddenly to rest in a crash. (What are mote realistic graphs?) A driver not wearing a safety belt will quickly come to rest after hitting the steering wheel or the windscreen and will experience a large force. A driver wearing a safety belt in a car with an air- bag, however, will come to rest over a longer period of time since the belt and the airbag, start bringing him to rest earlier and allow him to move forward a bit while coming to rest. The force he experiences is thus correspondingly smaller. Example questions (Q0, sxemeerererrrreerrssmnenenetAEIEIEXEEEEES A ball of mass 0.250 kg moves on a frictionless horizontal floor and hits a vertical wall with speed 5.0 m s~', The ball rebounds with speed 4.0 m 5). Ifthe ball was in contact with the wall for 0.150 s, find the average force that acted on the ball Answer The magnitude of the change in the balls ‘momentum is (remember that momentum is a vector) Ap= PP = 0.250 x 4.0— (0.250 x 5.0) 0-(-1.25) 25Ns ap Poa 2.25Ns 0.1505 =15N Qa The force in example question 6 is assumed to vary with time as shown in Figure 6.7. Deduce the maximum force that acted on the ball ) A26 Linear momentum 91 ‘A second, harder, ball of identical mass to the first also bounces off the wall with the same initial and final speed, but since itis harder it stays in contact with the wall for only 0.125 s, What is the maximum force exerted by the wall on this ball? Answer The area under the curve is the total change in the ball's momentum, which we found to be Ap= 2.25 Ns. The area isa triangle and so $ % Fine X 0.150 => Fx = 30.N 25 ‘The area under the force-time graph in the case of the harder ball will be the same. Thus 4X Fina 0.125 = 2.25 = Fas = 36N (QU exsensneneosnesumeesseescnsesinseSnSEensZit7 ‘A force of 1000.0 N acts on a body of 40.0 kg, initially at rest for a time interval of 0.0500 s. ‘What is the velocity of the mass® Answer The impulse is Fat = 1000 x 0.05 Ns 50.0Ns and this equals the amount by which the body's ‘momentum increases. The velocity Is thus BO et ye Re Fpmet = 125ms (09 cemmmrmeremrarseassresaascesiiesseoteetss: A force F varies with time according to F 4+ 121 where F is in newtons and t in seconds. The force acts on a block of mass m = 2.00 kg, which is initially at rest on a frictionless horizontal surface. F makes an angle of 30° with the horizontal (see Figure 6.8). When will the force lif the body from the table? What will the velocity of the body be at that instant? Figure 68. Answer The block will leave the table when the normal reaction force R becomes zero. 4 F sin 30° me 40 N when R= 0. This happens when t ~ 3.0 5. The horizontal ‘component of Fis (4+ 120) cos 30° = 3.64 4 10.39r ‘The change in the body’s momentum in the horizontal direction is the area under the F, versus tgraph from t= 0 to t= 3.08, This area is 57.7 Ns. Thus, the horizontal component of velocity is 28.8 m s~'. The vertical component The law of conservation of momentum Given a system of two masses say m and mp with velocities 7, and 7, the total momentum of the system is defined as the vector sum of the individual momenta Prous = mi + Maia Example questions (QU) cereseaezeseeesecsesssesssteeccseserienees Two masses of 2.0 kg and 3.0 kg move to the right with speeds of 4.0 ms“! and 5.0 ms", respectively. What is the total momentum of the system? Answer = (2x 443% 5)Ns 23s (QU) Semermerasse rercrcreeeergccrrerreeEEaT ‘A mass of 2.0 kg moves to the right with a speed ‘of 10.0 m 5! and a mass of 4.0 kg moves to the left with a speed of 8.0 m s~!. What is the total momentum of the system?92 Core - Mechanics Answer p 2%10-4% 8)Ns =-12Ns ‘The minus sign means that the total momentum is to the left Consider now two bodies A and B of masses mg and mig on a horizontal frictionless table. The forces on each mass are the weight and the normal reaction force from the table, which equals the weight. Thus, the net force on each ‘mass is zero. If these masses have some initial velocity, then by Newton's first law they continue moving with that same velocity until a force acts on them. If the bodies move in such a way that they will collide at some point in time, then at the point of collision a force will be exerted on each body. As a result of this force, each mass will change its velocity and thus its momentum. If we consider the two bodies together as a system, then the net force on the system is zero. As we mentioned already, the weight of each mass is ‘cancelled by the reaction force and the only force that remains is the foree during the collision. However, from Newton's third law, the force that boily A experiences must be equal and opposite to that which B experiences, Thus, even though there is a net force acting on each mass for the duration of the collision, the net force on the _ystem of the two masses is zero, We see that at all times the net external force on the system is zero. (ee Figure 69} ‘no forces acton the system from outside Figure 6.9 The total momentum of an isolated system is conserved. A system in which no external forces act is. called an isolated system. Isolated systems have the property that the total momentum stays the same at all times, If the system consists of a number of bodies (in our example, two) then the total momentum is defined as the sum of the individual momenta of the bodies in the system. If, before the collision, the bodies A and B had velocity vectors 7 and 7g, then the total momentum of the system is Prous = maa + mee ‘We should remind ourselves that momentum is a vector and thus when we say that the total ‘momentum is the sum of the individual momenta we mean the vector sum. If, as a result of the collision, the two bodies now have velocity vectors iia and tig, then the total momentum is now Pra = malin + mst and equals the total momentum before the collision. The individual momenta have changed as a result of the collision but their vector sum is the same. This is the law of conservation of linear momentum. Example questions QU. EEmrererarrsrennessrereensoeesvEEEREEE. Let a mass of 3.0 kg be standing still and a second mass of 5.0 kg come along and hit it with velocity 4.0 m s~!, Suppose that the smaller mass moves off with a speed of 3.0 m s-'. What happens to the larger mass? (See Figure 6.10.) Answer ‘The system of the two masses is an isolated sysiem_ as we discussed above. Thus, momentum will be conserved. Before the collision the total momentum of the sysiem was (3.0 X 0 + 5.0 X 40) Ns= 20 Ns. This must also be the total momentum after the collision. But after the collision the total2 Linear momentum 93 a ‘efor collision O-"s 50ke 3.0ke after colision| Figure 6.10. momentum is (3.0 3.0 + 5.0 % u) N's where w is the unknown speed of the larger mass. Thus 20 = 9.0 + 5.0u and sou = 2.2ms" (QU) eee cEErEEErerersssressnnrsrEcresrtes “Two masses of 2.0 kg and 4.0 kg are held with a compressed spring between them. If the masses are released, the spring will push them away from each other. f the smaller mass moves off with a speed of 6.0 m s~!, what is the speed of the other asst (See Figure 6.11.) Ou ing, ake * Oc 0" Figure 6.11. ss Here our system consists of the two masses and: the spring. There are no external forces here, since gravity is cancelled by the upward reaction forces from the table where the masses rest. The only force is the elastic force of the spring with which it pushes the masses away. But this is not an external force so total ‘momentum will stay the same. The spring exerts equal and opposite forces on each mass. Before the masses start moving apart, the total momentum is zero, since nothing moves. After the masses move away, the total momentum is (2 x 6=4 Mag +My = Maly + Melly which states precisely that the total momentum before and after the collision is the same. Example questions (1 musaspsesesresepemrPErTerETEIEREEEREEEEES; (a) Aman of mass m stands on a cart of mass M that rests on a horizontal Irictionless surface. If the man begins to walk with velocity v with respect to the cart, how will the cart move? Sce Figure 6.13, (b) What happens when the man gets to the edge of the cart and stops walking? Answer {2) Let us look at things irom the point of view of an observer at rest on the ground. The initial ‘momentum of the man-cart system is zero. The cart will move to the left with speed u, so the man will move with velocity v— u with respect to the ground. Hence, by momentum O=mv—w- Mu mem =u (b) When the man stops, the cart will stop as well, so the total momentum of the man-cart system remains zero. 07 cece Rene ere cree eEEREETEEPEREESESEEEEEE ‘A cart of mass M moves with constant velocity v on a frictionless road (see Figure 6.14), Rain is falling vertically on to the road and begins to fill the cart at a steady rate of 4 kg per second. Find the velocity of the cart t seconds later. Figure 6.14. Answer ‘We look at things from the point of view of an observer on the ground. Afier a time of ts the mass of the cart is M ++ 4t. Momentum is conserved as there are no extemal forces. So if u is the velocity after time f, we must have Mv= (M+ utu M. sus v Mant Cn (QU pecsestassempassteecsnsninserescinscscszat ‘A cart of mass M is filled with water and moves: With velocity v on a frictionless road. Water26 Linear momentum 95 begins to leak from a small hole in the base of the cart and falls out at a rate of 1 kg per second. (See Figure 6.15.) What happens to the velocity of the cart? We look at things from the point’of view of an observer on the ground and take as our system the cart plus aif the water (including that which is falling out). The falling water still moves with the same velocity to the right as far as the ground observer is concerned, and since there are no external forces, momentum is conserved and there can be no change of velocity. We can also get the same answer if we take as ‘our system the cart and the water inside the cart. ‘As far as the ground observer is concemed, the ‘water leaves the cart with a horizontal velocity v to the right. Thus, there is a force on the cart directed to the leit of magnitude jev. Hence, the observer deduces that, since net force = rate of change of momentum, aM bY

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