Physics and Mathematics Tricks, Techniques And Notes

[PHY] Work Done Equals the Change in Kinetic Energy:

d2 x
F x =m 2 .
dt
dx
Multiply both sides of the equation by :
dt

dx dx d 2 x
Fx =m
dt dt d t 2

dx m d dx 2
Fx =
dt 2 dt dt ( )
.

m dx 2
Let us call T, the quantity
2 dt ( )
, then

F x dx=dT

dW =dT .
[PHY] Conservation of Momentum in One Dimension:
Let two particles of masses m and M be moving with initial velocities v 0 and V 0 along the x-axis. When
the particles collide, they exert equal and opposite forces on each other, that is

du dU
m =−M ,
dt dt
where u and U represent the particles’ velocities. This implies that

mdu=−MdU

Now integrate from t 0 to t , u ( t 0 )=v 0 ,U ( t 0 )=V 0 ; u ( t )=v , U ( t )=V :

m ∫ du=−M ∫ dU
m ( v−v 0 )=−M ( V −V 0 )

mv−m v 0=−MV + M V 0

mv+ MV =mv 0 + M V 0 .

[Math] Elementary Functions

 (i) Rational Functions
(ii) Algebraical functions
(iii) The exponential function e x
(iv) The logarithmic function log x
(v) Finite combinations of the preceding four classes of functions.

Rational Functions:

a 0 x m +a1 x m−1+ a2 x m −2 +…+ am

f ( x )= .
b 0 x n +b 1 x n−1+ b2 x n−2 +…+ bn

Here m , n are positive integers and the a ’s and b ’s are real or imaginary constants.

Explicit Algebraical Functions:

Function defined by means of any finite combination of the four elementary operations and any finite
number of operations of root extraction. Thus

√ x+ √ x +√ x ,
1
√ 1+ x− (1−x )3
1
3
√ 1+ x + ( 1− x )
are algebraical functions.

Elementary Transcendental Functions:

Elementary functions which are not rational or algebraical are called elementary transcendental
functions or elementary transcendents. Thus trigonometrical or hyperbolic functions, direct and inverse,
and e x and log x are transcendental functions. Note however, that trigonometric and hyperbolic
functions are expressible in terms of e x or log x :

1 ix −ix
sin x= ( e −e ) , ⁡
2i
1
sinh x= ( e x −e−x ) ,
2
1 1+ix
tan−1 x=
2i
log (
1−ix
. )
[PHY] Completely Inelastic Collision:
For a completely inelastic collision
v=V ,
that is after the collision both masses m and M proceed at the same velocity.

[PHY] Center of Mass

The center of mass, call it x COM , of two particles of masses m and M is given as
mx+ MX
x COM = .
m+ M
Then the velocity of this center of mass must be given as:
d mu+ MU
xCOM = .
dt m+ M
From the law of conservation of momentum we derived earlier, we know that the sum
mu+ MU before and after the collision remains same. Therefore, we must conclude that the
velocity of center of mass is unaffected by collision.
The center of mass of a system of n particles strung out along the jth-coordinate axis (where j =
1, 2, 3 for a three dimensional coordinate system) is
j 1
x COM = Σ mi x ij ,
M
where i=1,2,3 … n and M is the total mass of n particles. If the system is distributed in three
dimensions, its center of mass must be described by the three coordinates:

P= ( M1 Σ m x , M1 Σ m x , M1 Σ m x ).
i
1
i i
2
i i
3
i

In vector notation we can write, defining r i=x 1i i+ x 2i j+ x 3i k :

1 1 1
r COM = Σ mi x 1i i+ Σ m i x2i j+ Σ mi x 3i k
M M M
1
¿ ( Σ mi x 1i i+ Σ m i x 2i j+ Σ mi x 3i k )
M
1
¿ ¿
M
1
¿ m 1 ( x11 i+ x 21 j+ x 31 k ) +m 2 ( x 12 i+ x22 j+ x 32 k ) +m 3 ( x 13 i+ x 23 j+ x33 k ) +…+m n ( x 1n i+ x 2n j+ x 3n k )
[ ]
M
 1
r COM = Σ mi r i .
M
Differentiating the above equation with respect to time t we have
d 1 d
r COM = Σ mi r i
dt M dt
1
vCOM = Σ mi v i
M
M v COM =Σ mi v i .

The right hand side of the above equation is the total momentum of the system of n particles.
Since the total momentum before and after the collision remains the same, so does the velocity
of the center of mass. Considering the second last equation, note that the center of mass is a
point that moves as though it had mass M and momentum equal to the total momentum of the
system:

' Particle ' s Momentum

Particle s Velocity= .
Particle ' s Mass
d
If an external force F i acts on the i-th particle, it has the acceleration v or differentiating the
dt i
last equation with respect to time we have:
d d
M v COM =Σ mi v i
dt dt
M aCOM =Σ m i ai

Σ m i ai
a COM =
M
Total Force on the System
Particle ' s Acceleration= .
Particle ' s Mass
The center of mass of a system of n particles moves as though it had mass M and were acted on
by the total external force on the system.
If the n particles were in a free fall, then the second last equations tells us:
Σ mi g
a COM =
M
Σ mi
a COM =g
M
a COM =g .
Problem: Consider a proton fixed at the center of a square of sides d at each of whose corners
is an electron. When the electrons are allowed to move along the diagonals of the square under
the action the electrical force of the proton, how does the center of mass of the system move?
Initially the 4-electron system is at rest, so its center of mass, relative to a coordinate system
whose origin is at the center of the square is:

r COM =
1
4m [(
d 2 d 2
m √ i+ √ j +m
2 2 2 2
−d √ 2 d √ 2
2 2 ) (
i+
2 2
d 2
2 2
d 2
j +m √ i− √ j +m
2 2
−d √ 2 d √2
2 2) (
i−
2 2
j ) ( )]
1
r COM = ( 0 )=0 . ⁡
4m
So the center of mass is where the proton is. The total force along any diagonal sums to zero, so
the total force must be zero. This means that the center of mass stays where it is. Will the
forces of repulsion among the electrons affect the motion of the center of mass? The net force
on each electron will be away from the proton and the same as on any other electron, due to
the other three electrons. Hence, the 4-electron system will move in an “expanding” square
with distance between each electron and the proton remaining the same as between other
electrons and the proton, though changing, and the forces due to the proton along each
diagonal will still sum to zero. So no, the internal forces will not affect the motion of the center
of mass, as expected.

[PHY] Impulse
Let there be a constant force F on a particle for time Δt , then

Δp
F=
Δt
Δ p=F Δ t .
The quantity on the right side is a measure of how much force there is on the particle and for how much
time. A small force for a large amount of time changes as much momentum as a large force for a small
amount of time. If the force varies with time, then we can consider an infinitesimal time dt over which
the force remains essentially constant and

d p=F ( t ) dt ,

then if Δt=t f −t i, the total change in momentum is

Δ p=∫ F ( t ) dt ,
which is the integral of F (t) with respect to time from some initial time t i to a final time t f . This quantity
is called impulse and denoted by J .

Now the formula for the average value of a function f over the interval from a to b is:
 1
¿ f >¿ ∫ f ( t ) dt .
b−a
This means that if we know the average force ¿ F> ¿ over the interval from t i to t f , we can find ∫ F ( t ) dt
by multiplying t f −t i =Δ t by ¿ F> ¿ or

J=¿ F > Δ t .

[PHY] Center of Mass in Vector Notation:

As
1
r COM =
M
( Σmi x1i i+ Σ mi x 2i j+ Σ mi x3i k ) .
Denote i , j, and k by i j where j=1,2,3. Then
1 3
r COM = Σ j=1 Σ ni=1 m i xij i j
M
From commutativity of summation it follows that
1
r COM = Σ Σ m xji
M i j i i j
1
¿ Σi m i Σ j x ij i j .
M

Now Σ j x ij i j=r i so
1 n
r COM = Σ mr.
M i=1 i i
[PHY] Series of Collisions
Let there be a machine that fires projectiles at a fixed target. If we start our stopwatch just before the
first collision occurs and takes time Δt to end and if the next projectile immediately follows in colliding
and if n projectiles collide the target, then we will consider the bombardment during the time interval
T =n Δt . The impulse imparted to the wall by the projectiles during this bombardment must be
J=−n Δ p ,
where Δ p is the total change in momentum of any identical particle in the system. The minus indicates
that the impulse imparted to the wall is opposite to that imparted to a projectile, which is Δ p . Now the
average force on the wall during the bombardment is

J
¿ F> ¿
T
 nΔp Δp
¿− = .
n Δ t Δt
Or if we let the total time of collisions of n particles be just Δt , then

n −n
¿ F> ¿− Δ p= m Δv .
Δt Δt
Note that n / Δt is the rate of collision of projectiles, the time it takes for one projectile to collide. Let
nm= Δ m, then
Δm
¿ F> ¿− Δv ,
Δt
where Δ m/ Δ t is the rate at which the mass collides with the target. Thus average force is given in
terms of how fast a collision occurs.

Pedantics: The time T is actually n Δt +τ , where τ is the time it takes for the n projectiles to actually
arrive in the “field” of collision after the preceding collision has occurred. The average force depends
only on n Δt . If the machine is firing the projectiles at a rapid rate, then τ is small and n Δ t +τ is
approximately equal to n Δt . Is this really how one is supposed to look at this situation? Note that the
average force on the target during the time interval τ is 0 since ¿ F> ¿ J τ and J=0 for τ .

[Math] Linear Combination

A linear combination of n vectors A1 , A 2 , A3 , … , A n with scalars c 1 , c2 , … , c n is the expression on

the left hand side of
c 1 A 1+ c 2 A2 +c 3 A 3 +c 4 A 4 …+ c n An =M .

Each of these vectors is said to be linearly dependent if M = 0 and the c’s are not all zero. If the
only linear combination of the A’s possible is with all the c’s equal to zero (with M = 0), then
each of these vectors is said to be linearly dependent. So the A’s are all linearly independent if
c 1 A 1+ c 2 A2 +c 3 A 3 +c 4 A 4 …+ c n An =0 ,

only for c 1 , c2 , … , c n=0.

Theorem 1: Two linearly dependent vectors, say A and B, are collinear.

Since the vectors are linearly dependent, we can write
c 1 A +c 2 B=0.

The c’s are not both zero. So,

 −c2
A= B=n B .
c1

This says that the vectors are collinear. On the other hand, if the two vectors were linearly
independent then the c’s were both zero and so we could not write the above equation: two
linearly independent vectors are not collinear, but they are also not necessarily orthogonal.
Consider the vectors A and B such that
A=2i+ j,
and
B=i+2 j .
We can see that A and B are not orthogonal. Let’s write the following linear combination from them:
m A +n B=0.
We ask the question: are there values of m and n other than zero that will satisfy the above equation?
Let us calculate m and n:

m ( 2i+ j ) +n ( i+2 j )=0 ,⟹ ( 2 m+n ) i+ ( m+ 2 n ) j=0 ,⟹ 2 m+n=0 ; m+2 n=0.

Solving the system yields m and n = 0. Therefore, for A+B (See theorem 3), m and n must equal 1 only,
making m and n unique.

Theorem 2: Three linearly dependent vectors, say A, B, and C are coplanar.

Since the vectors are linearly dependent, we can write
c 1 A +c 2 B+c 3 C=0.

Here we suppose that at least c 3 is not zero. So we can write

−c1 −c 2
C= ( c3 ) (
=m A+
c3 )
=n B .

Since C is the sum of m times A and n times B, and since mA and nB are collinear with A and B
respectively, so they lie in the same plane as A and B, and therefore their C must also lie in the
same plane as A and B. The sum of two vectors lies in the same plane as the plane of the vectors
themselves.
Theorem 3: If two vectors, say A and B, are linearly independent, and if a third vector C is
coplanar with these vectors, then C has a unique expansion
C=m A +n B .
Suppose another expansion

C=m' A+ n' B .
Subtract the two equations:

( m−m' ) A + ( n−n' ) B=0.

Since A and B are linearly independent, the linear combination above is zero only when m=m'
and n=n '. Hence the expansion is unique.
Any four vectors in three dimensional space are linearly dependent.
Problem: Are only two perpendicular vectors linearly independent?