Mechanics and Wave Motion

(Paper-I)

For B.Sc. (I)

Prepared By:
Dr. Manoj Kumar Paras
Assistant Professor (Physics)
Government Degree College, Bhojpur
Moradabad
 Newtonian Mechanics and Conservation Laws
In Newtonian mechanics, Space, Time and Mass are regarded absolute i.e. Invariant
Newton’s Laws of Motion:
First Law: A body continues in its state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line in the same direction
unless some external force is applied to it. This law is also called law of inertia.
Second Law: The rate of change of linear momentum (p=mv) of a body is proportional to the force (F)
applied and it takes place in a direction of the force, i.e.
dp dv
F  (1)  p  mv  F  km  F  kma where, k is a constant
dt dt
Define force in such a way that k=1, we have F = m a (2)
Third Law: To every action, there is equal and opposite reaction. Action and reaction act on different
bodies.

Equations of Motion:
When a constant force is applied to a body then the equations of motion are a set of three equations that
can be utilized to predict unknown information about an object's motion if other information is known.

v u a t (1)
1
s  u t  a t2 (2) where, u, v, a and s are initial velocity, final velocity, acceleration
2 and distance covered by body in time t respectively.
v2  u 2  2 a s (3)
Frame of references: A system of coordinate axis, relative to which the motion of
an object is described , is called a frame of reference.
Two types of frame of references:
1. Inertial frame of reference: Those frames of references,
in which Newton’s first and second laws hold true are
called inertial frames.
or, Inertial frames of references are either at rest or move with
constant velocity i.e. Inertial frames as the frames with
respect to which an unaccelerated body is unaccelerated.

2. Non Inertial frame of references: Those frames of references in which Newton’s first
and second laws are not valid i.e. Non inertial frames of references appear accelerated or
decelerated with respect to an inertial frames of references.
Concept of Fictitious Force: Consider a non inertial frame of reference S’ moving with an
acceleration a0 relative to an inertial frame of reference S. Then any particle of mass m which is at rest
in S appears to move with an acceleration –a0 with respect to frame S’ . Thus a force –ma0 will appear
to be acting on the particle in frame S’ . Such force which does not really act, but appears only due to
the acceleration of the frame of reference is called fictitious force or pseudo force. The fictitious force
is F=-ma0.
If this mass m has an acceleration ai in the inertial frame S, then the force observed in frame S’ is
given by
F=mai + (-ma0)
Conservative Force: A force acting on a particle is said to be conservative if the work done
by the force in moving a particle from one point to another is independent of the path.
or, A force acting on a particle is said to be conservative if the kinetic energy of the particle
remains unchanged for a complete round trip.

In the figure, the work done by the conservative force from point 1 to
point 2 along path C1 is equal to the work done from point 2 to point 1
along path C2.
Thus, the work done by a conservative force around
closed path is zero.

The conservative force F is written as negative gradient of potential energy as given by

  
F  V where, i j k Here, i, j, k are unit vectors along
dx y z x, y and z directions respectively

NOTE: Curl of a conservative force is always zero i.e.   F  0

Principal of conservation of linear momentum: If the resultant force acting on the particle
is zero, the linear momentum of the particle remains unaltered.
According to Newton’s second law of motion
dp dp
F  If F=0 then 0  p  mv  constant
dt dt

Centre of Mass: It is defined as the representative point which may describe the translatory motion
of a body. Let the body consists of n particles of masses m1, m2, m3 … mn , whose position vectors
from any arbitrary origin are r1, r2, r3, …rn respectively. The position of centre of mass rcm is defined
as n

m1 r1  m2 r2  m3 r3  ...  mn rn  mi ri
rcm  rcm  n
i 1
m1  m2  m3  ...  mn
m
i 1
i

If there are large number of particles continuously distributed in space, then the coordinates of centre
of mass are given by   
xcm 
M  x dV y cm 
M  y dV z cm 
M  z dV
where, ρ is the density of the whole body and dV is the infinitesimal volume element
n n

dr  miv i  pi where, vi , and pi are the velocity and

Velocity of centre of mass: v cm  cm  i 1
n
 i 1 momentum of ith particle and M is the
m
dt M total mass of the body
i
i 1

n n

dv cm  mi a i  Fi where, ai , and Fi are the acceleration and

Acceleration of centre of mass: a cm   i 1
n
 i 1
Force corresponding to the ith particle and
m
dt M
i 1
i M is the total mass of the body
Variable mass system (Rocket): Consider M0 is the initial mass of
the rocket and M is its mass after time t when its velocity relative to laboratory frame v
is v. Let α bet the rate at which mass of gasses leave the rocket with exhaust velocity
of gases u (downward) relative to rocket.
As Mass of rocket-fuel system decreases due to burning of fuel therefore
dM
  (1) u
dt

The momentum of rocket after time t = M v

 dp 
The rate of change of momentum of rocket    Mv   M
d
 dt  rocket dt
dv
dt
v
dM
dt
(2)

And, the rate of change of momentum of gasses is At any time t,

v=velocity of rocket in laboratory frame (earth)
 dp 
  v  u    v  u 
dM u= velocity of gases relative to rocket
  (3)
 dt  gases dt v-u= velocity of gases in laboratory frame

Now, the rate of change of the system (rocket + gases) is given by

 dp   dp   dp  dv dM
      M u (4)
 dt  rocket  gases  dt  rocket  dt  gasest dt dt

 dp  dv dM
    Resultant external force F acting on the system  FM u (5)
 dt  rocket  gases dt dt

Case 1: When gravitational force is taken into account

F  Mg (6)
dM
From equation (5) and 6, we get dv  u   g dt (7)
M where, C is a constant of integration and can
On integrating both sides we get v  u log e M   gt  C (8) be found by initial conditions
If initially, v=0 and M=M0 then we have
C  u log e M 0 (9)
M0
Now, from equation (8) and (9) v  u log e  gt (10)
M

Thus the effect of gravitational force decreases the speed of the rocket

Case 2. When rocket is out of gravitational field (g=0)

M0
v  u log e (11)
M

Remark: If at any instant rocket has some initial velocity v0, then after any time t its velocity will
be
M
v  v0  u log e  gt (12)
M0

The above equation can be written as

 t 
v  v0  u log e 1    gt (13)
 M 0 
Need of Multistage Rocket: As we know the minimum velocity required for any body to escape
the gravitational field of earth is 11.2 km/s which is called “Escape Velocity” of earth. Hence any rocket
must have a velocity >11.2 km/s to escape the earth’s gravitational field. Single stage rockets can not
have this much velocity due to some limitations. Hence multistage rocket is required so that it can
escape the earth’s gravitational field.

From equation (11), for achieving a large final velocity v, it is necessary to have a large value of u
and large value of M0 /M.
The value of u depends upon the temperature and pressure developed inside the combustion chamber.
The maximum value of u can be
3RT where, M is the average molecular
u  v rms   2 km/s
M weight of the exhaust gases and
Also, in a single stage rocket the maximum value of T=3000℃ (maximum temperature
M0/M can reach around 10. that can raise)

So the maximum velocity of a single stage rocket can be which is low as compared to Escape
M0 Velocity of earth. Hence more stages
v I  u log e  2 log e 10  4.6 km/s (14) are required
M
For two stage rocket, the value of vI of first stage will become u for second stage so the final velocity vII
of two stage rocket becomes
M0
' Also low value
v II  v I  u log e  4.6  4.6  9.2 km/s (15)
M' This value is greater than Escape
Similarly, for three stage rocket, the final velocity vIII becomes Velocity of Earth. Hence at least
'
M0 three stages are required.
v II  9.2  u log e  9.2  4.6  13.8 km/s (16)
M'
 Rotational Dynamics: Moment of Inertia
Rigid Body: It is made up of a number of particles such that the relative distances of the constituent
particles remain unaffected under the action of a force.
Two types of motion: (i) Translational (ii) Rotational

Moment of Inertia: The moment of inertia of a body for system of particles about an axis is given by
n
I  m1 r1  m2 r2  m3 r3  ...   mi ri
2 2 2 2

i 1

where, m1, m2, m3, ... mn are masses of particles and r1, r2, r3, ...rn their perpendicular distances from the
axis of rotation respectively.

Angular momentum of a rigid body: The angular momentum (J) of a rigid body about the axis of
rotation is equal to the product of moment of inertia (I) about that axis and angular velocity (ω).
J I ω

Torque (τ): About a fixed axis, it is defined as the product of moment of inertia and angular
acceleration (α).
 I 
Kinetic energy of Rotation: Suppose we have a rigid body consists of n number of particles of
masses m1, m2, m3, ... mn and situated at positions r1, r2, r3, ...rn from the axis of rotation. As the body
rotates, all the particles will have same angular speeds (ω) but different linear speeds.
1 1
The kinetic energy of a particle of mass m1 and linear speed v1 is E1  m1 v1  m1 (r1 ) 2  v1  r1
2

2 2
1 1
The kinetic energy of a particle of mass m2 and linear speed v2 is E 2  m2 v 2  m2 (r2 ) 2
2

2 2

Hence, the total kinetic energy of the body is E  E1  E2  E3  ...En

1 1 1 1
E m1 r1  2  m2 r2  2  m3 r3  2  ...E mn rn  2
2 2 2 2

2 2 2 2
1
 
E   2 m1 r1 2  m2 r2 2  m3 r3 2 ...mn rn 2
2
1
 E  I 2
2

Total kinetic energy of a rolling body: If in addition to the rotational motion of the body of mass
M, the body also moves along a certain path with a certain linear velocity v then the total kinetic energy
of the body is given by
1 1
ETotal  I  2  M v2
2 2
Moment of inertia of a thin uniform rod of mass M and length L
(i) About an axis passing through its centre and perpendicular to its length:

Consider, an element of length dl at a distance l from the centre. The

mass of this element is dm=M.dl
Its moment of inertia about the axis is dm.l2
The moment of inertia of the whole rod is given by
l L / 2 l L / 2
M L2
I cm   l M dl  M  l dl 
2 2

l  L / 2 l  L / 2
12

(ii) About an axis passing through its one end and perpendicular to its length:

Use parallel axis theorem

2
L
I  I cm  M  
2
ML2 ML2 ML2
I  
12 4 3
Moment of inertia (I) of some bodies about some axis of rotation:
Body rolling down an inclined plane (without slipping)
Consider a body shown in the fig. having mass M and radius R rolling freely (without slipping) down a
plane inclined at an angle θ to the horizontal. In this case, the body has both rotational as well as
translational motion. Let the body starts rolling from rest
A
(point A) and when it reaches at point B its angular and linear
velocities are ω and v respectively.
Apply conservation of energy at points A and B (total energy
at point A (EA) must be equal to total energy at B (EB))
B
E A  M g L sin  (Only Potential Energy) (1)

EB 
1 1
M v2  I  2 Only Kinetic Energy (Translational  Rotational)
2 2
2
1 1 2 v v
EB  M v  M k
2
 I  M k 2 and  (2)
2 2 R2 R
1 1 2 v
2
g sin 
From (1) and (2) M g L sin   M v  M k
2
 v2  2 L (3)
2 2 R2 k2
1 2
 v2  u 2  2 a L  v 2  2 a L (body starts from rest i.e. u  0) (4) R

Comparing equations (3) and (4), we get

g sin  Inference: From equation (5), greater the value of k as
a (5)
k2 compared to R smaller will be the acceleration and hence
1 2
R greater the time taken by the body to reach at point B.
 Numerical Problems
Example 1. Determine whether the Force F given below is conservative or not. Also compute the scalar
potential (U) which generates it.
F  3x 2 y 2 i  2x 3 y  cos z  j - y sin z k

Ans: F is conservative; U  2 x 3 y  y cos z 

Example 2. If centre of masses of three particles of masses 1, 2 and 3 gm be at a point (1,1,2) then
where should a fourth particle of mass 5 gm be placed so that the combined centre of mass may be at
(0,0,0).
 i  j  2k 
6
Ans: The position of fourth particle is given by
5

Example 3. Two masses of 6 and 2 units are at positions 6 i – 7 j and 2 i + 10 j -8 k respectively.

Deduce the position of their center of mass.
Ans: 5 i – 2.75 j – 2 k
Example 4. A plane circular disc, a ring and a sphere of same radius are allowed to roll down an
inclined plane. Explain which will reach the bottom last.

Example 5. Four spheres each of radius r and masses m are placed with their centres on four
corners of a square of side l. Calculate the moment of inertia of the arrangement about any diagonal
of the square.
Ans.
m
5

8r2  5l2 