BAYERO UNIVERSITY, KANO

COLLEGE OF NATURAL AND PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES

(FACULTY OF PHYSICAL SCIENCES)
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS

LECTURE NOTES ON

PHY1210 (Mechanics)

BY
Yusuf A. Musa

Copyright © Yusuf A. Musa, 2021 – All rights reserved.

For more notes, questions and answers visit: www.aymusa.com Email: [email protected]

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Course Outline
➢ Physical Quantities and Unit System
➢ Dimensional Analysis
➢ Vectors and Scalar Quantities
➢ Kinematics
➢ Force, Momentum and Impulse
➢ Collision Theory
➢ Circular Motion
➢ Work, Energy and Power
➢ Rotational Dynamics
➢ Universal Gravitation and
➢ Simple Machines

Grading of the Course

➢ C.A 30
➢ Examination 70

Pass Mark for the Course: 40

Recommended Textbooks/Resources
➢ Schaum’s outline of College Physics, 11th edition
➢ Nelkon and Parker, Advanced Level Physics, 7th edition
➢ Halliday, Resnick and walker, Fundamentals of Physics, 9th edition
➢ www.aymusa.com

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1.0 PHYSICAL QUANTITIES AND UNITS SYSTEM
1.1 Definition of Mechanics
Mechanics can be defined as a branch of physics that deals with the study of the behaviour of objects in
motion or at rest. Mechanics can be broadly classified in three sub-branches namely: statics, dynamics and
kinematics. Statics deals with the study of objects at rest which may be under the influence of forces.
Dynamics on the other hand, deals with the study of objects in motion and the forces causing such motion.
Kinematics is the branch of mechanics that studies the behaviour of objects in motion without considering
the force acting on them.
1.2 Physical Quantities
Most observations in physics which are quantitative and descriptive are usually imprecise. A physical quantity
is any quantity that can be measured and consists of a magnitude and unit. Examples of physical quantities
are: mass, time, temperature, pressure, distance, density etc. All physical quantities are classified into two
types namely: fundamental quantities and derived quantities. Fundamental quantities are those physical
quantities from which other physical quantities can be expressed. Physical quantities that can be expressed
in terms of the fundamental quantities are called derived quantities. The fundamental physical quantities in
physics are: length, time, mass, temperature, electric current, amount of substance and luminous intensity.
Table 1.0 below shows some derived quantities with their corresponding fundamental quantities.

Table 1.0: derived quantities with their corresponding fundamental quantities

S/N Derived Quantity Fundamental Quantities
1 Area Length
2 Velocity Length, Time
3 Density Length, Mass
4 Pressure Length, Time, Mass
5 Work done Length, Time, Mass
6 Frequency Time
7 Specific heat capacity Length, Time, Mass, Temperature

1.3 Units and Measurement

Units of measure are vital parts of any physical quantities in physics. Just as a person is known by his/her
name, the same way physical quantities are known by their units of measurement. The unit of measurement
is defined as the standard used for the measurement of that physical quantity. The standard unit is always
universal accepted and it does not change with time. There are large number of physical quantities, and each
of them should have the units of measurement. However, it is not necessary to define separate unit for each
and every physical quantity. So, there is need to have a unit system of measurement. The units of
measurement defined for the fundamental quantities are called as the fundamental or basic units of
measurement. There are four categories of these units of measurement namely: CGS (centimetre, gram,
second) system. MKS (metre, kilogram, second) system, FPS (foot, pound, second) and SI system of units of
measurement. The SI system or the international system of units has now replaced all the systems of
measurement. Table 2.0 shows the fundamental quantities with their corresponding unit system.

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 Table 2.0: derived quantities with their corresponding fundamental quantities
S/N Fundamental Quantity CGS unit MKS unit SI unit
1 Time second (s) second (s) seconds (s)
2 Length centimetre (cm) metre (m) metre (m)
3 Mass gram (g) kilogram (kg) kilogram (kg)
4 Temperature --------- --------- Kelvin (0K)
5 Electric Current --------- --------- Ampere (A)
6 Luminous Intensity --------- --------- Candela (Cd)
7 Amount of Substance --------- --------- mole (mol)
---------- Not defined
In addition to the SI units of the seven fundamental quantities, two supplementary units are also defined as
shown in table 3.0 below.

Table 3.0: supplementary quantity with their corresponding SI units

S/N Supplementary Quantity Name of Unit Symbol of Unit
1 Pane angle radian rad
2 Solid angle steradian sr

Sometimes some SI derived units have special names with the SI base unit equivalents as shown in table 4.0.
Table 4.0: Some special units with their corresponding SI base units
S/N Name Symbol SI Base Unit
Equivalent
1 Newton N Kgms-2
2 Joule J Kgm2s-2
3 Pascal Pa Kgm-1s-2
4 Watt W Kgm2s-3
5 Coulomb C As
6 Volt V Kgm2s-3A-1
7 Farad F Kg-1m-2s4A2
8 Ohm Ω Kgm2s-3A-2
9 Tesla T Kgs-2A-1
10 Henry H Kgm2s-2A-2
11 Hertz Hz s-1

1.4 Definitions of SI Base Units

Metre: One metre is defined as the length of the path travelled in aa vacuum during a time interval of
1/299,793,458 of a second.
Second: One second is the duration of 9162631770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition
between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium -133 atoms.
Kilogram: One kilogram is the mass equal to the mass of standard platinum-iridium alloy cylinder (90%
platinum and 110% iridium) kept at the international Bureau of weights and measurements in Paris, France.
The cylinder is about 4cm in height and 4cm in diameter.

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Ampere It is the current which when flows through two infinitely long straight conductors of negligible cross-
section placed at a distance of 1 m in vacuum produces a force of 2 × 10−7 N/m between them.
Kelvin: One kelvin is defined as 1 / 273.16 part of the thermodynamic temperature of triple point of water.
Mole It is the amount of substance of a system which contains as many elementary particles (atoms,
molecules, ions etc.) as there are atoms in 12 g of carbon-12.
1
Candela It is luminous intensity in a perpendicular direction of a surface of (
600000
) 𝑚2 of a black body at the

temperature of freezing platinum under a pressure of 1.013 × 105 N/m2.

1.5 SI Unit Prefix
Magnitudes of physical quantities range from very large to very small. For example, mass of the sun is 10 30
kg and mass of the electron is 10-31 kg. Hence, prefix is used to describe these magnitudes of measurement.
SI units prefix represents multiples or sub-multiples of the SI base units. Table 5.0 shows some of the most
commonly used SI unit prefix.
Table 5.0: SI units Prefix

S/N Name of Unit Symbol of Prefix Value

1 kilo K 103
2 mega M 106
3 giga G 109
4 tera T 1012
5 peta P 1015
6 deca da 101
7 deci d 10-1
8 centi cm 10-2
9 milli m 10-3
10 micro 𝜇 10-6
11 nano 𝑛 10-9
12 pico p 10-12

Units conversions for some units are shown in table 6.0.

Table 6.0: Units Conversions

Units Conversion
1 day = 24 hours 1 mile = 1.609344 km 1 cm3 = 10-6 m2
1 hour = 60 minutes 1 pound = 0.453592 kg 1 mm3 = 10-9 m2
1 minute = 60 seconds 1 tonne = 1000 kg 1 litre = 0.001 m3
1 year = 365 days 1 mg = 10-6 kg 1 dm3 = 0.001 m3
1 feet = 0.3048 m 1 kg = 1000 g 1 oil barrel = 158.987 litres
1 yard = 0.9144 m 1 hectare = 10000 m2 1 calorie = 4.184 Joules
1 inch = 0.0254 m 1 cm2 = 10-4 m2 1 dyne = 10-5 Newton
1 kilometre = 1000 m 1 mm2 = 10-6 m2 1 horse power = 735.5 Watts

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EXAMPLE 1
Convert the following to m/s: (a) 21 cm/hr (b) 30 miles/day (c) 35 km/min

EXAMPLE 2
Convert the following to m3/s: (a) 5 L/min (b) 7 cm3/week (c) 12 cL/day

EXAMPLE 3
The speed of sound is measured to be 342 m/s on a certain day. What is this measurement in kilometres per
hour?

EXAMPLE 4
The density of aluminium is 2.7 g/cm3. What is the density in kilograms per cubic meter?

EXAMPLE 5
Mount Everest, at 29028 ft, is the tallest mountain on Earth. What is its height in kilometres?

EXAMPLE 6
A nurse gives a patient a painkiller at 8:32am. At 2.12pm the patient complains that the pain has return and
the nurse administers another painkiller to the patient. How long did the original painkiller last?
2.0 DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS
It is well understood that it does not make sense to add together a distance of, say 2 km and a time of 15
seconds. The same applies to subtraction. Distance/length and time are different from one another in a
fundamental way but it is possible to divide length by time to get a velocity. It is also possible to multiply
quantities, for example length multiplied by length gives area. Dimensional analysis is a means of simplifying
a physical quantity in terms of the fundamental quantities. The dimension of a physical quantity is defined
as the power to which the fundamental quantities are raised to express that quantity.
Dimensional analysis allows us to:
i. convert from one unit system to another
ii. establish the relation among various physical quantities
iii. check the correctness of equations and
iv. non-dimensionalizing of ordinary differential equations.

We use the symbol [ ] to indicate the ‘dimension of’ a physical quantity:

[time] = 𝑇, [length] = 𝐿, [mass] = 𝑀 and [temperature] = 𝜃

The dimensions of other quantities can be written in terms of 𝑀, 𝐿 , 𝑇 and 𝜃 using the definition of the
particular quantity. The dimension of any angle has dimension of 1 (dimensionless) . For any transcendental
functions such as sine, cosine, tangent, exponential etc., the dimension is 1 (dimensionless). The dimensions
of physical quantities 𝐴, 𝐵, 𝐶, … . . 𝑍 obey the following rules of algebra:

𝐴 [𝐴]
[𝐴𝐵𝐶 ⋯ 𝑍] = [𝐴][𝐵][𝐶] ⋯ [𝑍], [𝐴𝑛 ] = [𝐴]𝑛 , [ ] = , and [𝑛] = 1 (1)
𝐵 [𝐵]
Where 𝑛 is any real number.
The principle of dimensional homogeneity holds the view that all additive terms in a physical equation must
have the same dimensions. Dimensional homogeneity is a useful tool for checking formulae. If 𝐴, 𝐵, 𝐶, … . . 𝑍
represent some physical quantities such that

𝐴 = 𝐵 ± 𝐶 ± 𝐷 ± 𝐸 ± ⋯± 𝑍 (2)

By the principle of dimensional homogeneity,

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 [𝐴] = [𝐵] = [𝐶] = [𝐷] = [𝐸] = ⋯ = [𝑍] (3)

EXAMPLE 7
Find the dimension for each of the following physical quantities:
(a) volume (b) density (c) velocity (d) acceleration (e) force (f) momentum (g) work done (h) kinetic
energy (i) power (j) angular velocity (k) pressure (l) specific het capacity (m) coefficient off thermal
expansion

EXAMPLE 8
Use the principle of dimensional homogeneity to check whether the following formulae are dimensionally
correct where 𝑢 and 𝑣 are velocities, 𝑔 is an acceleration, 𝑥 is a distance, 𝑡 is a time and 𝜃 is the angle.
1 𝑣 𝑣2
(a) 𝑣 = 2𝑎𝑡 (b) 𝑥 = 𝑢𝑡 + 2 𝑎𝑡 2 (c) 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 = 𝑥 (d) 𝑡 = √2𝑎𝑥
EXAMPLE 9
The period of oscillation T of a simple pendulum depends on its mass m, length of the string l and the value
of the acceleration due to gravity g. Show that
𝑙
𝑇 = 𝑘√
𝑔
Where 𝑘 is a real constant number.

EXAMPLE 10
Poiseuille found that the volume of a liquid flowing through a horizontal cylindrical tube per second 𝑄
𝑃
depends upon the pressure gradient 𝑙 , radius 𝑟 of the tube and dynamic viscosity 𝜂. The SI unit of viscosity
is kgm-1s-1. 𝑙 is the length of the tube. Use dimensional analysis to show that
𝑘𝑝𝑟 4
𝑄=
𝜂𝑙
Where 𝑘 is a real constant number.
EXAMPLE 11
Determine the dimensions of the constants 𝐴 and 𝐵 so that the following expressions are dimensionally
correct where 𝑥 is a distance, 𝑡 is a time and 𝑣 is velocity.
1 𝐴
(a) 𝑥 = 𝐴𝑠𝑖𝑛(2𝜋𝐵𝑡) (b) 𝑣 = 2 𝐵𝑒 −𝐴𝑡 (c) 𝑣 = √ 𝑥 − 𝐵𝑡 2
EXAMPLE 12
Consider the model for the angle of a nonlinear simple pendulum
𝑑2𝜃 𝑔
2
= − 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃
𝑑𝑡 𝑙
𝑡
By using the transformation 𝛼 = 𝑙 in the above equation, show that the transformed equation obtained
√𝑔

is dimensionless. What is the significance of the transformation?

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3.0 VECTORS AND SCALAR QUANTITIES
A scalar quantity is any quantity which has only magnitude but no direction. Scalars may or may not have
units associated with them. Examples: mass, volume, energy, money etc. A vector quantity on the other
hand, is any quantity which has both magnitude and direction. The magnitude of a vector is a scalar.
Examples: displacement, velocity, acceleration, electric field, magnetic field etc.
3.1 Vector Notation
Vectors are denoted as a letter with an arrow over the top or a bold letter such as 𝐴⃗ or A. The magnitude of
a vector A is represented by |𝑨| or 𝐴 while its direction by 𝑨 ̂ . Thus,
𝐴⃗ = 𝐴𝐴̂ (4)

3.2 Vector Diagrammatic Representation

Diagrammatically, vectors are represented by an arrow pointing in the direction of the vector. The length of
the vector represents the magnitude of the vector. Vectors always have tail and head as shown in figure 1.0
below

Head

Tail

Figure 1.0: Diagrammatic representation of a vector

The length of the arrow does not necessarily represent a length but rather the magnitude of the vector
quantity under consideration. In 2– dimensional cartesian coordinates, a vector 𝑨 can be broken down into
its three components x and y i.e.

𝐴⃗ = 𝐴𝑥 𝑖̂ + 𝐴𝑦 𝑗̂ (5)

𝐴⃗
𝑉𝑦
𝜃
𝑉𝑥
Figure 2.0: Diagrammatic representation of a vector in 2 - dimension

𝐴𝑥 = 𝐴𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 and 𝐴𝑦 = 𝐴𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃

Where:
𝐴𝑥 is the component of the vector A along the x – direction (horizontal)
𝐴𝑦 is the component of the vector A along the y – direction (vertical)
𝑖̂ represents direction along the x – axis
𝑗̂ represents direction along the y – axis
The magnitude of the vector represented by |𝑨| or 𝐴 is thus given by

|𝑨| = √𝐴2𝑥 + 𝐴2𝑦 (6)

𝑖̂ and 𝑗̂ are called units vector and has magnitude of 1. The angle between 𝑖̂ and 𝑗̂ is 900.

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3.3 Vector Addition/Subtraction
Diagrammatically, two or more vectors can be added graphically to give a resultant vector by arranging the
vectors in a head to tail fashion. The resultant vector is drawn from the tail of the first to the head of the last
vector. Subtracting two or more vectors graphically can also be done by flipping one or more vectors then
proceed to add the vectors. Algebraically, given two vectors

𝐴⃗ = 𝐴𝑥 𝑖̂ + 𝐴𝑦 𝑗̂ ⃗⃗ = 𝐵𝑥 𝑖̂ + 𝐵𝑦 𝑗̂,
and 𝐵

The two vectors can be added/subtracted as follows:

𝐴⃗ + 𝐵⃗⃗ = 𝐴𝑥 𝑖̂ + 𝐴𝑦 𝑗̂ + 𝐵𝑥 𝑖̂ + 𝐵𝑦 𝑗̂ = (𝐴𝑥 + 𝐵𝑥 )𝑖̂ + (𝐴𝑦 + 𝐵𝑦 )𝑗̂

𝐴⃗ − 𝐵
⃗⃗ = 𝐴𝑥 𝑖̂ + 𝐴𝑦 𝑗̂ − (𝐵𝑥 𝑖̂ + 𝐵𝑦 𝑗̂) = (𝐴𝑥 − 𝐵𝑥 )𝑖̂ + (𝐴𝑦 − 𝐵𝑦 )𝑗̂

If 𝝀 is any scalar number, multiplying a vector A by n does not change its magnitude but only its direction.
Thus,

𝐴⃗ = 𝜆(𝐴𝑥 𝑖̂ + 𝐴𝑦 𝑗̂) = (𝜆𝐴𝑥 )𝑖̂ + (𝜆𝐴𝑦 )𝑗̂

3.4 Vector Dot/Scalar Multiplication

The result of a dot product of two vectors is a scalar. The vector dot or scalar product of two vectors 𝐴⃗ and
⃗⃗ is denoted by 𝐴⃗ ∙ 𝐵
𝐵 ⃗⃗ and is given by

𝐴⃗ ∙ 𝐵
⃗⃗ = 𝐴𝐵𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃
Where 𝜃 is the angle between the two vectors.
From the above definition it can be seen that:

𝑖̂ ∙ 𝑖̂ = |𝑖̂||𝑖̂|𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 = 1 × 1 × cos (0) = 1

𝑗̂ ∙ 𝑗̂ = |𝑗̂||𝑗̂|𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 = 1 × 1 × cos (0) = 1

𝑖̂ ∙ 𝑗̂ = |𝑖̂||𝑗̂|𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 = 1 × 1 × cos (90) = 0

𝑗̂ ∙ 𝑖̂ = |𝑗̂||𝑖̂|𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 = 1 × 1 × cos (90) = 0

Thus,
𝐴⃗ ∙ 𝐵
⃗⃗ = (𝐴𝑥 𝑖̂ + 𝐴𝑦 𝑗̂) ∙ (𝐵𝑥 𝑖̂ + 𝐵𝑦 𝑗̂) = 𝐴𝑥 𝐵𝑥 𝑖̂ ∙ 𝑖̂ + 𝐴𝑥 𝐵𝑦 𝑖̂ ∙ 𝑗̂ + 𝐴𝑦 𝐵𝑥 𝑗̂ ∙ 𝑖̂ + 𝐴𝑦 𝐵𝑦 𝑗̂ ∙ 𝑗̂ = 𝐴𝑥 𝐵𝑥 + 𝐴𝑦 𝐵𝑦

∴ 𝐴⃗ ∙ 𝐵
⃗⃗ = 𝐴𝑥 𝐵𝑥 + 𝐴𝑦 𝐵𝑦
3.5 Vector Cross Product/Multiplication
The result of a cross product of two vectors is a vector. The vector cross product of two vectors 𝐴⃗ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐵
⃗⃗ is
denoted by 𝐴⃗ × 𝐵 ⃗⃗ and is defined as

𝐴⃗ × 𝐵
⃗⃗ = 𝑛̂ 𝐴𝐵𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃

And its magnitude is given by

|𝐴⃗ × 𝐵
⃗⃗ | = 𝐴𝐵𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃

Where 𝜃 is the angle between the two vectors.

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From the above definition it can be seen that:
𝑖̂ × 𝑖̂ = 𝑗̂ × 𝑗̂ = 𝑘̂ × 𝑘̂ = 𝑛̂ × 1 × 1 × 𝑠𝑖𝑛0 = 0

𝑖̂ × 𝑗̂ = 𝑘̂ × 1 × 1 × 𝑠𝑖𝑛90 = 𝑘̂

𝑗̂ × 𝑘̂ = 𝑖̂ × 1 × 1 × 𝑠𝑖𝑛90 = 𝑖̂

𝑘̂ × 𝑖̂ = 𝑗̂ × 1 × 1 × 𝑠𝑖𝑛90 = 𝑗̂

𝑗̂ × 𝑖̂ = 𝑘̂ × 1 × 1 × sin(−90) = −𝑘̂

𝑘̂ × 𝑗̂ = 𝑖̂ × 1 × 1 × sin(−90) = −𝑖̂

𝑖̂ × 𝑘̂ = 𝑗̂ × 1 × 1 × sin(−90) = −𝑗̂
Thus in 2 - dimension,

𝐴⃗ × 𝐵
⃗⃗ = (𝐴𝑥 𝑖̂ + 𝐴𝑦 𝑗̂) × (𝐵𝑥 𝑖̂ + 𝐵𝑦 𝑗̂) = 𝐴𝑥 𝐵𝑥 𝑖̂ × 𝑖̂ + 𝐴𝑥 𝐵𝑦 𝑖̂ × 𝑗̂ + 𝐴𝑦 𝐵𝑥 𝑗̂ × 𝑖̂ + 𝐴𝑦 𝐵𝑦 𝑗̂ × 𝑗̂
= 𝐴𝑥 𝐵𝑦 𝑖̂ × 𝑗̂ + 𝐴𝑦 𝐵𝑥 𝑗̂ × 𝑖̂
= 𝐴𝑥 𝐵𝑦 𝑘̂ − 𝐴𝑦 𝐵𝑥 𝑘̂

∴ 𝐴⃗ × 𝐵
⃗⃗ = 𝐴𝑥 𝐵𝑦 − 𝐴𝑦 𝐵𝑥
Example 13
Given the vectors as shown below

⃗⃗
𝐵
𝐴⃗ 𝐶⃗

Show diagrammatically for each of the expressions: (a) 𝐴⃗ + 𝐵

⃗⃗ (b) 𝐴⃗ − 𝐵
⃗⃗ (c) 𝐴⃗ − 𝐶⃗ + 𝐵
⃗⃗ (d) 𝐴⃗ − 𝐵
⃗⃗ − 𝐶⃗

Example 14
If 𝐴⃗ = 3𝑖̂ − 4𝑗̂ and 𝐵
⃗⃗ = −𝑖̂ + 2𝑗̂, find : (a) |𝐴⃗ | (b) 𝐴̂ (c) 𝐴⃗ + 2𝐵
⃗⃗ (d) 𝐴⃗ ∙ 𝐵
⃗⃗ (e) 𝐴⃗ × 𝐵
⃗⃗

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EXCERCISES 1
Q1. A car is traveling at a speed of 33 m/s. (a) What is its speed in kilometres per hour? (b) Is it exceeding
the 90 km/ h speed limit?

Q2. Find the dimension for each of the following physical quantities:
(a) electric potential (b) permittivity of free space (c) magnetic field (d) electric charge (e) angular
momentum (f) gravitational constant (g) surface tension (h) moment of inertia (i) angular velocity (j) modulus
of elasticity (k) coefficient of viscosity (l) Boltzmann constant (m) electric dipole moment

Q3. The frequency 𝑓 of a stretched string depends upon the tension 𝐹 (dimensions of force), length 𝑙 of the
string and the mass per unit length 𝑚 of string. Derive the formula for frequency using dimensional analysis.
Q4. The centripetal force 𝐹 acting on a particle moving uniformly in a circle may depend upon mass 𝑚,
velocity 𝑣 and radius 𝑟 of the circle. Derive the formula for 𝐹 using the method of dimensions.

Q5.The air bubble formed by explosion inside water performs oscillations with time period 𝑇 which depends
on pressure p, density 𝜌 and on energy due to explosion 𝐸. Establish relation between 𝑇, 𝑝, 𝐸 and 𝜌 using
dimensional analysis.

Q6. The velocity 𝑣 of particle depends upon the time 𝑡 according to the equation
𝑐
𝑣 = √𝑎𝑡 + 𝑏𝑡 +
𝑑+𝑡
Determine the dimension of 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐 and 𝑑.
Q7. The Van der Waals equation of state of a real gas of volume 𝑉, pressure 𝑃 and temperature 𝑇 is give by

𝑛 2 𝑉
(𝑃 + ( ) ) ( − 𝑏) = 𝑅𝑇
𝑉 𝑛
Where 𝑛 is the number of moles of the gas and 𝑎 and 𝑏 are constants. Determine the dimensions of 𝑎 and 𝑏
in the above equation.

Q8. The frictional force 𝐹 acting on a small spherical bob in a fluid depends on its radius 𝑟, the viscosity 𝜂 of
the fluid and its speed 𝑣. Show by dimensional analysis that

𝐹 = 𝑘𝜂𝑣𝑟
Where 𝑘 is a constant number.
Q9. Taking the x-axis is horizontal and points to the right, resolved the vectors given in the following figure
to their scalar components and express them in vector component form.

(a) 𝐴⃗ (b)
500

250
𝐶⃗

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4.0 KINEMATICS
Kinematics is a branch of mechanics that deals with the study of the motion of a body in terms in terms of
space and time while ignoring the forces that caused the motion. Kinematics basically means studying how
things are moving, not why they're moving. It includes concepts such as distance or displacement, speed or
velocity, and acceleration, and it looks at how those values vary over time. Kinematics can be studied in one
dimension, like a car moving along a straight road; in two dimensions, like a stone thrown into air ; and even
in three dimensions. Things just get a little more complicated as you add dimensions.

4.1 KINEMATICS IN ONE DIMENSION

In this section we are going to consider when the motion of the body is always longa a straight path either
along the x-direction, y-direction or z-direction.

4.1.1 Position, Distance and Displacement

Position(x): the position of a body is the location of the body with respect to a chosen reference point or
frame that can be consider to be the origin of the coordinates system (cartesian, cylindrical or spherical).

Distance (x): Distance is the length of path followed by a body measures from the reference point or frame
of reference. Distance is a scalar quantity with SI unit of metre (m).

Displacement (∆𝒙): Displacement is the change in position of a body in a specified direction. The shortest
distance between any two point is the displacement. Displacement is a vector quantity with SI unit of metre
(m).

∆𝑥 = 𝑥𝑓 − 𝑥0

Where 𝑥𝑓 is the final position of the body and 𝑥0 is its initial position.

4.1.2 Speed, Velocity and Acceleration

Speed (v): average speed is the total distance covered by a body divided by the total time taken. Speed is a
scalar is scalar quantity with SI unit of m/s.
total distance travelled
speed =
total time taken
Velocity (v): Average velocity is the change of displacement of a body divided by the change in time interval
during the motion. Velocity is a scalar is a vector quantity with SI unit of m/s.

displacement 𝑥𝑓 − 𝑥0
velocity = =
change of time 𝑡𝑓 − 𝑡0

Where 𝑡𝑓 and 𝑡0 are the final time and initial time of the motion of the body respectively.

4.1.3 Instantaneous Speed, Velocity and Acceleration

Instantaneous Velocity: Instantaneous velocity is the velocity of a body at any given instant of time.
Mathematically,
∆𝑥 𝑑𝑥
Instataneous velocity = lim =
∆𝑡→0 ∆𝑡 𝑑𝑡
Instantaneous Speed: instantaneous speed of a body is the speed of a body at any given instant of time as it
is given as the magnitude of the instantaneous velocity at the same instant of time.
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Instantaneous Acceleration: Instantaneous acceleration is the acceleration of a body at any instant of time.

Mathematically,
∆𝑣 𝑑𝑣
Instataneous acceleration = lim =
∆𝑡→0 ∆𝑡 𝑑𝑡
For motion with constant/uniform acceleration, the rate with which velocity changes with time is constant.
Thus,
𝑣𝑓 + 𝑣0 𝑣 + 𝑢
Averaage velocity = =
2 2
If on the other hand the body moves with constant/uniform velocity, then its acceleration will be zero. For
motion with constant/uniform acceleration, average and instantaneous acceleration are equal.

4.1.4 Equations of Uniformly Accelerated Motion

A very common and simple type of one-dimensional motion is that in which the acceleration is constant
(uniform). In this type of motion, we are going to consider an object which moves from an initial position 𝑥0 ,
at time 𝑡0 = 0, to a position 𝑥𝑓 , at time 𝑡𝑓 = 𝑡 with initial velocity 𝑢 and final velocity 𝑣 with constant
acceleration a.
Thus,
𝑣−𝑢
𝑎=
𝑡
𝑣 = 𝑢 + 𝑎𝑡 (7)

We know that
𝑣+𝑢 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑥𝑓 − 𝑥0 𝑥𝑓 − 𝑥0
𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 = = = =
2 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡−0 𝑡
𝑣 + 𝑢 𝑥𝑓 − 𝑥0
=
2 𝑡
2(𝑥𝑓 − 𝑥0 )
𝑣+𝑢 = (8)
𝑡
Putting equation (7) into equation (8), we get

2(𝑥𝑓 − 𝑥0 )
𝑢 + 𝑎𝑡 + 𝑢 =
𝑡
2(𝑥𝑓 − 𝑥0 )
2𝑢 + 𝑎𝑡 =
𝑡
2𝑢𝑡 + 𝑎𝑡 2 = 2(𝑥𝑓 − 𝑥0 )
1
𝑢𝑡 + 𝑎𝑡 2 = 𝑥𝑓 − 𝑥0
2
1
𝑥𝑓 − 𝑥0 = 𝑢𝑡 + 𝑎𝑡 2 (9)
2
From equation (7),
𝑣−𝑢 (10)
𝑡=
𝑎

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Putting equation (10) into equation (9), we get
𝑣−𝑢 1 𝑣−𝑢 2 𝑣−𝑢 1 𝑣−𝑢 𝑣−𝑢
𝑥𝑓 − 𝑥0 = 𝑢 [ ] + 𝑎 [𝑡 ] = 𝑢( )+ 𝑎( )( )
𝑎 2 𝑎 𝑎 2 𝑎 𝑎
𝑣−𝑢 1 𝑣−𝑢 𝑣−𝑢 𝑣 𝑢 𝑣−𝑢 𝑣 𝑢 𝑣−𝑢 𝑣+𝑢
𝑥𝑓 − 𝑥0 = ( ) [𝑢 + 𝑎 ( )] = ( ) [𝑢 + − ] = ( )( + ) = ( )( )
𝑎 2 𝑎 𝑎 2 2 𝑎 2 2 𝑎 2
1 1 2
𝑥𝑓 − 𝑥0 = (𝑣 − 𝑢)(𝑣 + 𝑢) = (𝑣 − 𝑢2 )
2𝑎 2𝑎
2𝑎(𝑥𝑓 − 𝑥0 ) = 𝑣 2 − 𝑢2

𝑣 2 = 𝑢2 + 2𝑎(𝑥𝑓 − 𝑥0 ) (11)

Therefore, the equations for uniformly accelerate motion are:

𝑣 = 𝑢 + 𝑎𝑡
1
𝑥𝑓 − 𝑥0 = 𝑢𝑡 + 𝑎𝑡 2 and
2
𝑣 2 = 𝑢2 + 2𝑎(𝑥𝑓 − 𝑥0 )

If a body travels along a straight line with uniform acceleration, the distance travelled in the n th time will
be given by
𝑥𝑛 = distance travvelled for the first 𝒏 seconds − distance travelled for last (𝒏 − 𝟏) seconds
1 1 1 1
𝑥𝑛 = 𝑢𝑛 + 𝑎𝑛2 − [𝑢(𝑛 − 1) + 𝑎(𝑛 − 1)2 ] = 𝑢𝑛 + 𝑎𝑛2 − 𝑢𝑛 + 𝑢 − 𝑎(𝑛2 − 2𝑛 + 1)
2 2 2 2
1 1 1 1
= 𝑎𝑛2 + 𝑢 − 𝑎𝑛2 + 𝑛𝑎 − 𝑎 = 𝑢 + 𝑎(𝑛 − )
2 2 2 2
1
𝑥𝑛 = 𝑢 + 𝑎 (𝑛 − ) (12)
2
4.1.5 Free Fall Motion (Vertical Downward Motion)
When an object falls towards the ground, the force that causes the objects to fall is called gravity. The
acceleration caused by gravity is typically written as 𝒈 and is called acceleration due to gravity. Any object,
be it a ball or an elephant, experiences the same acceleration 𝑔 when it is dropped or thrown downward.
The acceleration due to gravity 𝑔 does not dpends on the nature of the material and it normally has the value
of 9.81𝑚𝑠 −2 and acts vertically downward. As a body moves vertically downward its velocity/speed
increases which resulted in making the body to bounced off when it strikes the surface.

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 m 𝑢=0

Body of mass, 𝑚 at rest

𝑔 = 9.81𝑚𝑠−2
𝑣 ℎ

Ground surface
Figure 3.0: Diagrammatic representation of a body falling from rest vertically downward.

For a vertically free fall motion, the equations of motion are

𝑣 = 𝑔𝑡
1 2
ℎ= 𝑔𝑡 and 𝑣 2 = 2𝑔ℎ
2
4.1.6 Vertical Upward Motion
When an object is thrown vertically upward, gravity acts in opposite direction and brings it back to the ground
surface so that at its maximum height, its final velocity is zero as shown in the figure below. The velocity of
the ball tends to decrease more slowly and slowly until it comes momentarily to a stop, and it then falls back
faster and faster till it hits the plane of projection. For a vertical upward motion, the acceleration due to
gravity has the value of −9.81𝑚𝑠 −2.

𝑣=0

𝑔 = − 9.81𝑚𝑠−2 ℎ
𝑢

Body of mass, 𝑚 at rest

m

Ground surface
Figure 4.0: Diagrammatic representation of a body thrown vertically upward.

For a vertically upward motion, the equations of motion are

𝑢 = 𝑔𝑡
1
ℎ = 𝑢𝑡 − 𝑔𝑡 2 and 𝑢2 = 2𝑔ℎ
2

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4.1. 7 Relative Motion
Motion does not happen in isolation. For example, if you are travelling in a train and the train is moving at a
speed of 100 km/hr, then your speed according to another passenger sitting on that train is zero. According
to him, you are not moving. But if someone observes you from outside the train, standing on the ground,
according to him, you are moving with 100 km/hr as you are on the train and the train is moving with 100
km/hr. Relative motion is a motion where more than one body is in motion and we are in some way
examining the motion of one moving body relative to another moving body. The concept of reference frames
was first introduced to discuss relative motion in one or more dimensions. When we say an object has a
certain velocity, then this velocity is with respect to some frame that is known as the reference frame. In
everyday life, when we measure the velocity of an object, the reference frame is taken to be the ground or
the earth.

The relative velocity of an object 𝑨 with respect to object 𝑩 (denoted by 𝑉𝐴𝐵 )is the rate of change of position
of the object A with respect to object B. If 𝑉𝐴 and 𝑉𝐵 be the velocities of objects A and B with respect to the
ground, then

The relative velocity of A with respect to B is 𝑉𝐴𝐵 = 𝑉𝐴 − 𝑉𝐵

The relative velocity of B with respect to A is 𝑉𝐵𝐴 = 𝑉𝐵 − 𝑉𝐴

EXAMPLE 15
A car travels up a hill at a constant speed of 37 km/h and returns down the hill at a constant speed of 66
km/h. Calculate the average speed of the car for the whole trip.

EXAMPLE 16
A goat and a dog are in a road race to defend the honour of their breed. The goat moves the entire 1000
meters at a speed of 0.2 m/s. The dog runs the first 200 meters at 2 m/s, stops to take a nap for 45 minutes,
and awakens to finish the last 800 meters with an average speed of 3 m/s. Who wins the race and by how
much time?

EXAMPLE 17
An airplane accelerates down a runway at 3.20 m/s2 for 32.8s until is finally lifts off the ground. Determine
the distance travelled before take-off.

EXAMPLE 18
A bike accelerates uniformly from rest to a speed of 7.10 m/s over a distance of 35.4 m. Determine the
acceleration of the bike.

EXAMPLE 19
An airplane lands with an initial velocity of 70.0 m/s and then decelerates at 1.50 m/s 2 for 40.0 s. What is its
final velocity?

EXAMPLE 20
You are driving along the street at the speed limit (80km/h) and 50 metres before reaching a traffic light, you
notice it becoming yellow. You accelerate to make the traffic light within the 3 seconds it takes for it to turn
red. What is your speed as you cross the intersection? Assume that the acceleration is constant and there is
no air resistance.

EXAMPLE 21
A tarin covers 60 miles between 2:00pm to 5:00pm. How fast the train is going after 3:00pm.?

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EXAMPLE 22
A body moving with uniform acceleration covers 6m in the 3rd second and 16m in the 5th second. Calculate
the initial velocity, acceleration and distance moved in the 6th second.

EXAMPLE 23
An object starting from rest moves with uniform acceleration of 4 m/s 2. Find its displacement (i) 5seconds
later (ii) in the 5th second (iii) in the 8th second.

EXAMPLE 24
A tennis ball is thrown vertically downward from a height of 30m to hit the top of a man’s head. If the
height of the man is 3.5m tall, what is the time taken for the ball to hit the top of the man’s head?. (Take
g=10m/s2)

EXAMPLE 25
A boy drops a ball from the roof of a house which takes 3 seconds to hit the ground. Calculate the velocity
before the ball crashes to the ground. (Take g=10m/s2)

EXAMPLE 26
Calculate the time taken for a body to reach a height of 45m vertically upward if it is projected with an initial
velocity of 30m/s. (Take g=10m/s2)

EXAMPLE 27
A body is thrown vertically upward with an initial velocity of 20m/s. Find the highest point that it will reach
and the time to reach this height. (Take g=10m/s2)

EXAMPLE 28
A ball was dropped from the top of a building of height 200m, a stone was projected vertically upward at an
initial velocity of 80m/s at the same time. Find the time and height of the two bodies when they are passing
each other. (Take g=10m/s2)

EXAMPLE 29
Two bodies A and B are travelling with the same speed 100 km/hr in opposite directions. Find the relative
velocity of body A with respect to body B and relative velocity of body B with respect to body A.

EXAMPLE 30
A truck is traveling south at a speed of 70 km/h toward an intersection. A car is traveling east toward the
intersection at a speed of 80 km/h. What is the velocity of the car relative to the truck?
EXAMPLE 31
A boat heads north in still water at 4.5 m/s directly across a river that is running east at 3.0 m/s. What is the
velocity of the boat with respect to the river?

EXAMPLE 32
A pilot must fly his plane due north to reach his destination. The plane can fly at 300 km/h in still air. A wind
is blowing out of the northeast at 90 km/h. (a) What is the speed of the plane relative to the ground? (b) In
what direction must the pilot head her plane to fly due north?

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4.2 KINEMATICS IN TWO DIMENSIONS (PROJECTILE MOTION)
In the previous section, we investigated one-dimensional motion in which the acceleration is constant. Let
us now turn now to a two-dimensional motion in which the acceleration remains constant in both magnitude
and direction. The most common type of a two - dimensional motion with constant acceleration is Projectile
motion. A projectile is any object thrown into air and allowed to move on its own under the influence of
gravity and air resistance. Examples of projectile are: a kicked football, a thrown javelin, a launched missile
etc. The motion of a projectile is called projectile motion. The path followed by a projectile is called its
trajectory. In analysing a projectile motion, we normally neglected the effect of air resistance. A projectile
motion is considered to be two independent motions: one in the horizontal direction acceleration with zero
acceleration and the other in the vertical direction with constant acceleration as shown in the diagram below.

y 𝑢 = initial velocity of projection

𝜃 = angle of projection

𝑢𝑥 = 𝑢𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃, 𝑢𝑦 = 𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃

𝑔𝑥 = 0, 𝑔𝑦 = −𝑔
A

𝑢 Trajectory

𝜃
B
O x
R
Figure 5.0: Diagrammatic representation of the motion of a projectile from ground level.

From the above diagram, the projectile at point O is projected at an angle of 𝜃 to the horizontal with initial
velocity 𝑢. The body reaches its maximum height at a point A and later strikes the ground surface at point B
with final velocity 𝑣. The horizontal distance covered by the projectile from the point of projection to the
point where it strikes thee ground surface is called the range of projection, 𝑅 and the total time taken to
achieve the range of projection is called the time of flight. H is the maximum height reached by the
projectile.
The equations of motion of the projectile in the x-direction are:
𝑣𝑥 = 𝑢𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 (13)
𝑥 = (𝑢𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃)𝑡 (14)

Similarly, the equations of motion of the projectile in the y-direction are:

𝑣𝑦 = 𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 − 𝑔𝑡 (15)
1
𝑦 = (𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃)𝑡 − 𝑔𝑡 2 (16)
2
𝑣𝑦2 = 𝑢2 sin2 𝜃 − 2𝑔𝑦 (17)

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4.2.1 Trajectory of Projectile
Motion
From equation (13), we get
𝑥
𝑡= (18)
𝑢𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃
Putting equation (18) into equation (16) we will get
𝑥 1 𝑥 2 𝑔
𝑦 = (𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃) − 𝑔( ) = 𝑥𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 − ( 2 2 ) 𝑥 2
𝑢𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 2 𝑢𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 2𝑢 cos 𝜃
𝑔 (19)
∴ 𝑦 = 𝑥𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 − ( 2 2 ) 𝑥 2
2𝑢 cos 𝜃
From equation (19), it can be seen that the trajectory of the projectile is a parabola.
4.2.2 Time to Reach Maximum Height (𝑡ℎ )
At the maximum height (point A in figure 5.0),
𝑣𝑦 = 0 and 𝑡 = 𝑡𝐻
From equation (15), we will have
0 = 𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 − 𝑔𝑡𝐻
𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃
∴ 𝑡𝐻 =
𝑔
4.2.3 Maximum Height Reached by Projectile (𝐻)
At the maximum height (point A in figure 5.0),
𝑣𝑦 = 0 and 𝑦 = 𝐻
From equation (17), we will have
0 = 𝑢2 sin2 𝜃 − 2𝑔𝐻
𝑢2 sin2 𝜃
∴𝐻=
2𝑔
Thus, greatest height will be obtained when 𝜃 = 900

4.2.4 Time of Flight of the Projectile (𝑇)

When the projectile strikes the ground (point B in figure 5.0),
𝑦 = 0 and 𝑡 = 𝑇
From equation (16), we will have
1
0 = (𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃)𝑇 − 𝑔𝑇 2
2
2𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃
∴𝑇= = 2𝑡𝐻
𝑔
4.2.5 Horizontal Range Covered by the Projectile (𝑅)
When the projectile strikes the ground (point B in figure 5.0),
𝑥 = 𝑅 and 𝑡 = 𝑇
From equation (14), we will have
2𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 𝑢2 (2𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃) 𝑢2 𝑠𝑖𝑛2𝜃
𝑅 = (𝑢𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃) = =
𝑔 𝑔 𝑔
𝑢2 𝑠𝑖𝑛2𝜃
∴𝑅=
𝑔
Thus, maximum range will be obtained when 𝜃 = 450
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The velocity with which the projectile strikes the ground will be given by

𝑣 = √𝑣𝑥2 + 𝑣𝑦2 = √𝑢2 cos2 𝜃 + (𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 − 𝑔𝑇)2

∴ 𝑣 = √𝑢2 cos2 𝜃 + (𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 − 𝑔𝑇)2

Let us now consider the case when the projectile is launched at a height of 𝒉 above the ground surface as
shown in figure 6.0.
𝑢 = initial velocity of projection
y
𝜃 = angle of projection

𝑢𝑥 = 𝑢𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃, 𝑢𝑦 = 𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃

𝑔𝑥 = 0, 𝑔𝑦 = −𝑔
C

Trajectory

𝜃
O

ℎ ℎ

x
D
R
Figure 6.0: Diagrammatic representation of the motion of a projectile at a height above ground level.

The equation of motion along the y-direction will be given by

1
𝑦 − ℎ = (𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃)𝑡 − 𝑔𝑡 2
2
1
𝑦 = ℎ + (𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃)𝑡 − 𝑔𝑡 2 (20)
2
Putting equation (18) into equation (20), we will have
𝑔
𝑦 = ℎ + 𝑥𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 − ( ) 𝑥2 (21)
2𝑢2 cos 2 𝜃
Equation (21) is the equation of a projective which projected into the air at a height of h above the ground
level. The maximum height reached by the projectile will be given by
𝑢2 sin2 𝜃 (22)
Maximum height reched = ℎ + 𝐻 = ℎ +
2𝑔

Which should always take note that the value of ℎ is negative when the body goes down and positive when
it goes up.

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EXAMPLE 33
A ball is launched upward at a velocity of 60 m/s in a direction making an angle of 250 with the horizontal.
Take 𝑔 = 9.81 𝑚/𝑠 2. Calculate (a) the maximum height and horizontal range covered by the projection
(b) what is the total time spent by the ball in air? (c) what is the total time spent by the ball in air? (d) how
high up or down is the ball after 2.2s? (e) what is the magnitude of the velocity of the ball just before it hits
the ground?

EXAMPLE 34
Find the angle of projection such that the maximum height reached by the projectile equals the horizontal
range covered.

EXAMPLE 35
The trajectory of a projectile launched from the ground is given by the equation 𝑦 = −0.025𝑥 2 + 0.5𝑥,
where 𝑥 and 𝑦 are the coordinates of the projectile on a rectangular system of axes. Find the initial velocity
and the angle at which the projectile was launched.

EXAMPLE 36
A stone is to be launched at an angle of 300 so that it falls beyond the pond of length 20 metres as shown in
the diagram below. Take 𝑔 = 9.81 𝑚/𝑠 2 . What is the range of values of the initial velocity 𝑢 so that the
projectile falls between points M and N?
Trajectory
𝑢

Pond
0
30 M N
O
10 m 10 m

20 m

EXAMPLE 37
A basketball player throws a ball with an initial velocity of 6.5 𝑚/𝑠 at an angle of 490 above the horizontal
to a top of the basket which is located a horizontal distance 𝐿 from the point of release as shown in the
diagram below. What is the required value of 𝐿 if the basketball is to reach the basket? Take 𝑔 = 9.81 𝑚/𝑠 2 .
The effect of air resistance can be ignored.

6.5 𝑚/𝑠

490
1.01 m

Basketball player
2.3 m

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EXAMPLE 38
A stone was thrown upward from the top of a cliff at an angle of 370 to the horizontal with initial speed of
65 m/s. If the height of the cliff is 125 m, how long is it before the stone hits the ground? Take 𝑔 = 10 𝑚/𝑠 2 .

EXAMPLE 39
A plan is flying horizontally with a constant speed of 75 m/s at an altitude of 914 m. If the pilot drops a
package with same horizontal speed of 76 m/s, determine the angle 𝜃 at which he must sight the target so
that when the package is released it falls and strikes the target. Take 𝑔 = 10 𝑚/𝑠 2 .

EXAMPLE 40
An object is projected horizontally at 8.0 m/s from the top of a 122.5 m building. How far from the base of
the building will the object strike the ground?

EXAMPLE 41
A football player kicks a ball at a 2.4m tall goalpost from a distance of 30m. He kicks the ball at an angle of
10 degrees above the horizontal and with a velocity of 25 m/s. Will he score a goal?

EXAMPLE 42
A daredevil is attempting to jump his motorcycle over a line of buses parked end to end by driving up a 32 0
ramp at a speed of 40.0 m/s (144 km/h). How many buses can he clear if the top of the take-off ramp is at
the same height as the bus tops and the buses are 20.0 m long?

EXAMPLE 43
Suppose a soccer player kicks the ball from a distance 30 m toward the goal. Find the initial speed of the ball
if it just passes over the goal, 2.4 m above the ground, given the initial direction to be 40 0 above the
horizontal.

EXAMPLE 44
A basketball player is running at 5.00 m/s directly toward the basket when he jumps into the air to dunk the
ball. He maintains his horizontal velocity. What vertical velocity does he need to rise 0.750 m above the floor?

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EXCERCISES 2
Q1. The position of an object moving in a straight line is given by 𝑥 = 3𝑡 − 4𝑡 + 𝑡 3 , where 𝑥 is in metres and
𝑡 in seconds. (a) Calculate the position of the object at t=1.0, 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 s. (b) Calculate the object’s
displacement between t = 0 and t = 4.0 s. (c) Calculate the average velocity for the time interval from t = 2.0
to t = 4.0 s. (d) Calculate the time at which the object will be brought to rest. (e) What is the acceleration of
the object at any time t?
Q2. An automobile travels on a straight road for 40 km at 30 km/h. It then continues in the same direction
for another 40 km at 60 km/h. Calculate the average speed of the car during this 80 km trip.
Q3. Two trains, each having a speed of 30 km/h, are headed toward each other on the same straight track.
A bird that can fly 60 km/h flies off the front of one train when they are 60 km apart and heads directly for
the other train. On reaching the other train it flies directly back to the first train, and so forth. Calculate the
total distance the bird travels before the trains crash.
Q4. A particle had a velocity of 18 m/s and 2.4s later its velocity was 30 m/s in the opposite direction.
Calculate the average acceleration of the particle during this 2.4s interval.
Q5. An object has a constant acceleration of 3.2 m/s2. At a certain clock reading its velocity is +9.6 m/s.
Determine its velocity (a) 2.5s earlier and (b) 2.5s later.
Q6. A car moving with constant acceleration covers the distance between two points 60 m apart in 6.0 s. Its
speed as it passes the second point is 15 m/s. (a) Calculate the speed at the first point. (b) Calculate the
acceleration. (c) At what prior distance from the first point was the car at rest?
Q7. An object falls from a bridge that is 45 m above the water. It falls directly into a small boat moving with
constant velocity that was 12 m from the point of impact when the object was released. Calculate the speed
of the boat.
Q8. A stone is dropped into the water from a bridge 144 ft. above the water. Another stone is thrown
vertically down 1.0 s after the first is dropped. Both stones strike the water at the same time. Calculate the
initial speed of the second stone. (g =32 ft/s2).
Q9. A projectile is launched at ground level with an initial speed of 50.0 m/s at an angle of 30 0 above the
horizontal. It strikes a target above the ground 3.00 seconds later. What are the x and y distances from where
the projectile was launched to where it lands?
Q10. A ball is kicked with an initial velocity of 16 m/s in the horizontal direction and 12 m/s in the vertical
direction. (a) At what speed does the ball hit the ground? (b) For how long does the ball remain in the air?
(c)What maximum height is attained by the ball?
Q11. Serving at a speed of 170 km/h, a tennis player hits the ball at a height of 2.5 m and an angle θ below
the horizontal. The service line is 11.9 m from the net, which is 0.91 m high. What is the angle θ such that
the ball just crosses the net? Will the ball land in the service box, whose outline is 6.40 m from the net?
Q12. Can a goalkeeper at her/ his goal kick a soccer ball into the opponent’s goal without the ball touching
the ground? The distance will be about 95 m. A goalkeeper can give the ball a speed of 30 m/s.

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5.0 FORCE, MOMENTUM AND IMPULSE
5.1 Force
Force is any agent that can change the state of motion of an object. When you kick a ball a force is applied
and the ball changes its position or state of motion. Force is a vector quantity having both magnitude and
direction. The SI unit of force is Newton (N).
5.2 Mass and Weight
Mass and weight are the most confusing concepts in physics. Sometimes we use them interchangeably in
daily life; however, in physics we must be careful while using them. Mass is the quantity of matter in a body
which is constant everywhere. The SI unit of mass is kilogram (kg). weight is of course related to the mass of
a body, but it has a little bit different definition. Weight is the force of gravity acting upon an object. Since it
is a force, weight is directly proportional to the acceleration due to gravity, 𝑔. Weight is vector quantity
which changes from place to place on the earth.
Thus,
𝑤 = 𝑚𝑔 (23)

Where 𝑤 is the weight of the body in Newtons (N) and m is the mass of the body in kilograms (kg). Mass is
the measure of the inertia of a body. Inertia is the measure of the reluctance of a body at rest to move or its
reluctance to stop while in motion. The more the mass of a body the higher its inertia.
5.3 Newton’s First law of motion
In his first law of motion, Newton stated that all objects save their state of motion. In other words, if an
object is at rest it will continue to be at rest and if it is in motion, it will continue to be in motion unless a
non-zero force is applied on it. Newton’s first law of motion is sometimes called the law of inertia which
stated that, objects want to continue their state of motion whether they are at rest or in motion.
5.4 Newton’s Second Law of Motion
According to the Newton’s second law of motion, force (F) is linearly proportional to product of mass (m)
and acceleration of a body.
Thus,
𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎 (24)

If the mass is constant, when we increase the force, the object gains acceleration with the same amount or,
if the force is constant, when we decrease the mass, the acceleration increases with the same amount.
5.5 Newton’s Third Law of Motion
Newton’s third law states that when two bodies interact, they apply forces (action and reaction) to one
another that are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction. The third law is also known as the law of
(25)
action and reaction. This law is important in analyzing problems of static equilibrium, where all forces are
balanced, but it also applies to bodies in uniform or accelerated motion.
𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = −𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

5.6 Momentum and Impulse

Any object can have momentum. This is because momentum is mass in motion. The way we determine an
object’s momentum is fairly straightforward. Momentum (p) is the object’s mass (m) times its velocity (v).
Thus,
𝑝 = 𝑚𝑣 (26)

Momentum is proportional to both mass and velocity, meaning that a change in one will cause the same
amount of change in the other. So, if you increase the mass of an object, you also increase its momentum.

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The same is true for velocity. Increase or decrease the object’s velocity and you increase or decrease its
momentum by the same amount. To understand how a change in momentum affects an object, we look to
impulse. Force is an important factor, but time also counts. Specifically, when we are interested in knowing
how long the force acts. For example, if you push a box across the floor for just a few seconds, the time
interval is very short. But if you push a box across the same floor and you do so with the same force as before,
but this time for several minutes, you’ve increased the amount of time the force acts. This longer time
interval leads to a grater change in momentum. This change in momentum is called impulse. Impulse has the
same SI unit of kgm/s as that of momentum.
𝑣−𝑢
Impulse = change in momentum = 𝑚(𝑣 − 𝑢) = 𝑚 ( ) 𝑡 = (𝑚𝑎)𝑡 = 𝐹𝑡
𝑡
Impulse = 𝑚(𝑣 − 𝑢) = 𝐹𝑡 (27)

EXAMPLE 45
A net force of 6N acts upon an object with a mass of 2kg. if the object were initially moving with velocity of
1m/s when the force was applied, what will be its displacement after 5s?

EXAMPLE 46
A 1.5kg ball drops vertically onto a floor, hitting the floor with a speed of 25 m/s. The ball was in contact with
the floor for 0.020s and then rebounds to a height of 11.5m. What is the magnitude of the average force of
the floor on the ball?

EXAMPLE 47
A ball of mass 0.500kg moving with a speed 15.0 m/s collides with a wall and bounces back with a speed of
10.5m/s. If the motion is in a straight line, calculate the initial and final momenta of the ball. If the ball exerted
an average force of 1Kn on the wall, how long did the collision last?

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6.0 WORK, ENERGY AND POWER
6.1 Work (W)
Work is done when force is exerted on an object and the object moves from one place to another. Work is
as a result of force acting over a certain distance called displacement. If the force F, and the displacement x,
are in the same direction, then work done is given by the formula

Work done = 𝐹𝑥
𝑊 = 𝐹𝑥 (28)

The SI unit of work done is Newton-metre (Joule). 1𝑁𝑚 = 1𝐽. Equation (28), depends on force applied and
the displacement being in the same direction. There are many situations in which the force is not in the same
direction as the displacement. In a case like this, only the component of the force that is along the path of
the displacement contributes to the work done. If we treat the force and displacement as vectors, then

𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 = 𝐹⃗ ∙ 𝑥⃗ = 𝐹𝑥𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 (29)

Where 𝜃 is the angle between the force and the displacement vectors.

6.2 ENERGY
Energy is the capacity or ability for doing work. You must have energy to accomplish work. To do 100 Joules
of work, you must expend 100 Joules of energy. There basically two main types of energy, kinetic and
potential energy. Energy is measure in Joules (J).

6.2.1 Kinetic Energy (K)

Kinetic energy is energy of motion. The kinetic energy of an object is the energy it possesses because of its
motion. The kinetic energy of a body of mass 𝑚, moving with velocity 𝑣 is given by
1 (30)
Kinetic energy, K = 𝑚𝑣 2
2
Kinetic energy is an expression of the fact that a moving object can do work on anything it hits; it quantifies
the amount of work the object could do as a result of its motion.

6.2.2 Potential Energy (P)

Potential energy is energy that is stored. There are various types of stored or potential energy. Chemical
energy from a battery is a form of potential energy, elastic energy in a stretched rubber band is a form of
potential energy too. The most commonly referred to form of potential energy in physics is that of a
gravitational potential energy. Gravitational potential energy is the energy that is stored due to an object’s
position. It is dependent on the mass 𝑚 of the object, the height ℎ of the object above the ground surface,
and the acceleration due to gravity, 𝑔.

Thus,

Potential energy, P = 𝑚𝑔ℎ (31)

6.2.3 Mechanical Energy (E)
In the process of doing work, the object that is doing the work exchanges energy with the object upon which
the work is done. When the work is done upon the object, that object gains energy. The energy acquired by
the objects upon which work is done is known as mechanical energy. Mechanical energy is the energy that
is possessed by an object due to its motion and/or due to its position.

Mechanicl energy, E = kinetic energy + potential energy

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 𝐸 =𝐾+𝑃 (32)

the principle of conservation of mechanical energy sates that the total mechanical energy in any given
system remains constant as long as the forces acting are conservative forces.

Thus,

1 1
𝑚𝑣𝑖2 + 𝑚𝑔ℎ𝑖 = 𝑚𝑣𝑓2 + 𝑚𝑔ℎ𝑓 (33)
2 2

A conservative force is a force which does not change the total mechanical energy. Magnetic, electrical,
gravitational forces are examples of conservative forces.

6.2.4 Work -Energy Theorem

If you push a stationary car, the car will start moving. That means, the car has gained some velocity. We say
that the car has gained some kinetic energy. According to the work energy theorem, this work is converted
into the kinetic energy of the car. The work – energy theorem gives the relationship between work done and
kinetic energy. For the sake of simplicity, we will consider the case in which the resultant force 𝐹 is constant
in both magnitude and direction and is parallel to the velocity of the particle as shown in figure 7.0 below.

𝑣𝑖 𝑣𝑓
𝐹 𝐹
m m

𝑥
Figure 7.0: Diagrammatic representation of work -energy theorem.

The particle is moving with constant acceleration 𝑎 along a straight line. The relationship between the net
force and the acceleration is given by the equation 𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎 (Newton’s second law), and the particle’s
displacement 𝑥, can be determined from the equation:

𝑣𝑓2 = 𝑣𝑖2 + 2𝑎𝑥

𝑣𝑓2 − 𝑣𝑖2
𝑥= (34)
2𝑎

The work of the net force is calculated as the product of its magnitude (𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎) and the particle’s
displacement 𝑥. Substituting equation (34) above equations yields:

𝑣𝑓2 − 𝑣𝑖2 1 1
Work done = 𝐹𝑥 = 𝑚𝑎 ( ) = 𝑚𝑣𝑓2 − 𝑚𝑣𝑖2 = change in kinetic energy
2𝑎 2 2

1 1
𝑊 = 𝑚𝑣𝑓2 − 𝑚𝑣𝑖2 (35)
2 2

Thus, the work done by the net force on an object equals the change in the object’s kinetic energy.

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6.3 POWER
We can define power as the rate of doing work, and it is the amount of energy consumed per unit of time.
Therefore, it can be calculated by dividing work done by time. The formula for power is given below.

work done 𝑊 (36)

Power, P = =
time 𝑡

Where, 𝑃 is the power, 𝑊 is the work done and 𝑡 is the time taken. As power doesn’t have any direction, it
is a scalar quantity. The SI unit of power is Joules per Second (J/s), which is termed as Watt. Watt can be
defined as the power needed to do one joule of work in one second. The unit Watt is dedicated in honour of
Sir James Watt, the developer of the steam engine. One common unit of energy is the kilowatt-hour (kWh).
If we are using one kW of power, a kWh of energy will last one hour. Horsepower is another unit of
measurement. One horsepower is equivalent to 735.7 Watts.

From the definition of work done,

𝑊 = 𝐹𝑥

𝐹𝑥
⇒ Power = = 𝐹𝑣
𝑡

Where 𝑣 is the velocity of the body. When the force 𝐹 acting on the body is not in the direction of motion,
the power can be expressed as

𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 = 𝐹⃗ ⋅ 𝑣⃗ = 𝐹𝑣𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 (37)

Where 𝜃 is the angle between the force and velocity vectors.

EXAMPLE 48
How much work is done when a weightlifter lifts a 200N barbell from the floor to a height of 2m?

EXAMPLE 49
An ice skater with a mass of 50 kg is gliding across the ice at a speed of 8 m/s when her friend comes up from
behind and gives her a push, causing her speed to increase to 12 m/s. How much work did the friend do on
the skater?

EXAMPLE 50
A body of mass 10kg at rest is subjected to a force of 16N. Find the kinetic energy at the end of 10 s.

EXAMPLE 51
A particle moves along 𝑥 − 𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑠 from 𝑥 = 0 to 𝑥 = 8 under the influence of a force given by
𝐹 = 3𝑥 2 − 4𝑥 + 5. Find the work done in the process.

EXAMPLE 52
A garage hoist lifts a truck up 2 meters above the ground in 15 seconds. Find the power delivered to the
truck. The mass of the truck is 1000 kg.

EXAMPLE 53
A body of mass 5kg is thrown up vertically with a kinetic energy of 1000 J. If acceleration due to gravity is
10ms-2, find the height at which the kinetic energy becomes half of the original value.

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EXCERCISES 3

Q1. A 0.450-kg hammer is moving horizontally at 7.00 m/s when it strikes a nail and comes to rest after
driving the nail 1.00 cm into a board. Assume constant acceleration of the hammer-nail pair. Calculate the
duration of the impact. What was the average force exerted on the nail?

Q2. A particle of mass 5 kg moving with a velocity. (a) What is the momentum of the particle as a function
of time? (b) What is the net force acting on this particle?

Q3. Calculate the final speed of a 110-kg rugby player who is initially running at 8.00 m/s but collides head-
on with a padded goalpost and experiences a backward force of 1.76 × 104 N for 5.5 × 10−2 𝑠

Q4. A gun fires 8 bullets per second into a target X. If the mass of each bullet is 3 g and its speed 600 m/s.
Then, calculate the power delivered by the bullets.

Q5. A box is pulled with a force of 25 N to produce a displacement of 15 m. If the angle between the force
and displacement is 300, find the work done by the force.

Q6. If an object of mass 2 kg is thrown up from the ground reaches a height of 5 m and falls back to the Earth
(neglect the air resistance). Calculate: (a) The work done by gravity when the object reaches 5 m height (b)
The work done by gravity when the object comes back to Earth.

Q7. A weight lifter lifts a mass of 250 kg with a force 5000 N to the height of 5 m. (a) What is the work done
by the weight lifter? (b) What is the work done by the gravity? (c) What is the net work done on the object?

Q8. Calculate the energy consumed in electrical units when a 75 W fan is used for 8 hours daily for one
month (30 days). 1 electrical unit = 1kWh.

Q9. A vehicle of mass 1250 kg is driven with an acceleration 0.2 m/s2 along a straight level road against an
external resistive force 500 N. Calculate the power delivered by the vehicle’s engine if the velocity of the
vehicle is 30 m/s.

Q10. force 𝑓 = 𝑖̂ + 2𝑗̂ + 3𝑘̂ acts on a particle and displays it through a distance 𝑥 = 4𝑖̂ + 6𝑗̂. Calculate
the work done on the particle.

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7.0 COLLISION THEORY
7.1 What is a Collision?
Collision means two objects coming into contact with each other for a very short period. In other words,
collision is a reciprocative interaction between two masses for a very short interval wherein the momentum
and energy of the colliding masses changes. You might have seen two billiard balls colliding with each other
in the course of the game. This forceful coming together of two separate bodies is called collision. Collision
normally involves two masses 𝑚1 and 𝑚2 .

7.2 One-Dimensional Collision Between Two Objects

One dimensional sudden interaction of masses is that collision in which both the initial and final velocities of
the masses lie in one line. All the variables of motion are contained in a single dimension. Consider a one-
dimensional elastic collision between two objects moving in the x - direction. One object, with mass 𝑚1 and
initial velocity 𝑢1 , collides with an object of mass 𝑚2 and initial velocity 𝑢2 . No forces other than the
interaction force between the objects act during the collision. After the collision, the final velocities are 𝑣1 , f
and 𝑣2 respectively. Because there are no external forces in the x -direction, momentum is constant in the x
- direction. Equating the momentum before and after the collision gives the relation

𝑚1 𝑢1 + 𝑚2 𝑢2 = 𝑚1 𝑣1 + 𝑚2 𝑣2 (38)
The total kinetic energy before and after the collision may not always be the same as some amount energy
is sometimes lost as in form of another energy such as heat energy. Equation (38) is the statement of the
law of conservation of linear momentum.

7.3 Characterizing Collisions

In a collision, the ratio of the magnitudes of the initial and final relative velocities is called the coefficient of
restitution and denoted by the symbol e,
relative speed after collison 𝑣𝑎 𝑣2 − 𝑣1
𝑒=| |=| |=| |
relative speed before collion 𝑣𝑏 𝑢1 − 𝑢2

Where 𝑣𝑏 and 𝑣𝑎 are the relative velocities of the body before and after the collision respectively. If the
magnitude of the relative velocity does not change during a collision, 𝑒 = 1, then the change in kinetic
energy is zero. Collisions in which there is no change in kinetic energy (∆𝐾) are called perfectly elastic
collisions,

Thus, for a perfectly elastic collision,

𝑒 = 1

If the magnitude of the final relative velocity is less than the magnitude of the initial relative velocity, 𝑒 < 1,
then the change in kinetic energy is negative. Collisions in which the kinetic energy decreases are called
inelastic collisions,

Thus, for an inelastic collision,

𝑒< 1

If the two objects stick together after the collision, then the relative final velocity is zero, 𝑒 = 0 . Such
collisions are called totally inelastic.

Thus, for a totally inelastic collision,

𝑒= 0

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If the magnitude of the final relative velocity is greater than the magnitude of the initial relative velocity, e >
1, then the change in kinetic energy is positive. Collisions in which the kinetic energy increases are called
super elastic collisions,

Thus, for a super elastic collision,

𝑒> 1

7.4 One-Dimensional Totally Inelastic Collision Between Two Objects

For a totally inelastic collision, 𝑒 = 0 so that 𝑣1 = 𝑣2 = 𝑣 = common velocity. Thus, equation (38) reduces
to

𝑚1 𝑢1 + 𝑚2 𝑢2 = (𝑚1 + 𝑚2 )𝑉
𝑚1 𝑢1 + 𝑚2 𝑢2
∴𝑣= (39)
𝑚1 + 𝑚2
The change or lost in kinetic energy before and after the collision will be given by
1 1 1
∆𝐾 = (𝑚1 + 𝑚2 )𝑣 2 − (𝑚1 𝑢12 + 𝑚2 𝑢22 ) = [(𝑚1 + 𝑚2 )𝑣 2 − 𝑚1 𝑢12 − 𝑚2 𝑢22 ]
2 2 2
1
∴ ∆𝐾 = [(𝑚1 + 𝑚2 )𝑣 2 − 𝑚1 𝑢12 − 𝑚2 𝑢22 ] (40)
2
7.5 One-Dimensional Perfectly Elastic Collision Between Two Objects
For a perfectly elastic collision, 𝑒 = 1 .

𝑣2 − 𝑣1 = 𝑢1 − 𝑢2

𝑣2 = 𝑢1 − 𝑢2 + 𝑣1 (41)

Putting equation (41) into equation (38), we will have

𝑚1 𝑢1 + 𝑚2 𝑢2 = 𝑚1 𝑣1 + 𝑚2 (𝑢1 − 𝑢2 + 𝑣1 )

𝑚1 𝑢1 + 𝑚2 𝑢2 − 𝑚2 𝑢1 + 𝑚2 𝑢2 = 𝑚1 𝑣1 + 𝑚2 𝑣1
(𝑚1 +𝑚2 )𝑣1 = (𝑚1 − 𝑚2 )𝑢1 + 2𝑚2 𝑢2
(𝑚1 − 𝑚2 )𝑢1 + 2𝑚2 𝑢2
∴ 𝑣1 = (42)
(𝑚1 +𝑚2 )

Putting equation (42) into equation (41), we will have

(𝑚1 − 𝑚2 )𝑢1 + 2𝑚2 𝑢2 (𝑢1 − 𝑢2 )(𝑚1 +𝑚2 ) + (𝑚1 − 𝑚2 )𝑢1 + 2𝑚2 𝑢2
𝑣2 = 𝑢1 − 𝑢2 + =
(𝑚1 +𝑚2 ) (𝑚1 +𝑚2 )
𝑚1 𝑢1 +𝑚2 𝑢1 − 𝑚1 𝑢2 − 𝑚2 𝑢2 + 𝑚1 𝑢1 − 𝑚2 𝑢1 + 2𝑚2 𝑢2
=
(𝑚1 +𝑚2 )
2𝑚1 𝑢1 − 𝑚1 𝑢2 + 𝑚2 𝑢2 (𝑚2 − 𝑚1 )𝑢2 + 2𝑚1 𝑢1
= =
(𝑚1 +𝑚2 ) (𝑚1 +𝑚2 )
(𝑚2 − 𝑚1 )𝑢2 + 2𝑚1 𝑢1
∴ 𝑣2 = (43)
(𝑚1 +𝑚2 )

Equations 42 and 43 are the final velocities of the two bodies after the perfectly elastic collision. Consider
what happens in the limits 𝑚1 = 𝑚2 in Equations 42 and 43. Then

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 0 + 2𝑚2 𝑢2 0 + 2𝑚1 𝑢1
𝑣1 = = 𝑢2 and 𝑣2 = = 𝑢1
(𝑚2 +𝑚2 ) (𝑚1 +𝑚1 )

Thus, if the two objects are identical, or have the same mass the objects will exchange their velocities, and
unless we could somehow distinguish the objects, we might not be able to tell if there was a collision at all.
If on the other hand, we consider what happens in the limits 𝑚1 >> 𝑚2 and 𝑚1 is at rest in Equations 42
and 43. Then
(𝑚1 − 𝑚2 )0 + 2𝑚2 𝑢2 0 𝑚2
𝑣1 = = +2 ≈0
(𝑚1 ) 𝑚1 𝑚1
and
(𝑚2 −𝑚1)𝑢2 + 0 𝑚1 𝑢2
𝑣2 = ≈− + 0 = −𝑢2
(𝑚1 ) 𝑚1
Thus, the less massive object rebounds with the same speed relative to the more massive object which barely
changed its speed.

7.6 Two-Dimensional Collision Between Two Objects

A collision in two dimensions obeys the same rules as a collision in one dimension:
➢ Total momentum in each direction is always the same before and after the collision
➢ Total kinetic energy is the same before and after for an elastic collision
The kinetic energy is not calculated for each direction separately, but depends on the magnitude of the total
velocity of each object. When the objects are free to move in two dimensions, we can continue to use the
same law of conservation of linear momentum here as follows:

𝑚1 𝑢1𝑥 + 𝑚2 𝑢2𝑥 = 𝑚1 𝑣1𝑥 + 𝑚2 𝑣2𝑥 (44)

and

𝑚1 𝑢1𝑦 + 𝑚2 𝑢2𝑦 = 𝑚1 𝑣1𝑦 + 𝑚2 𝑣2𝑦 (45)

For elastic collisions,

1 1 1 1
𝑚1 𝑢12 + 𝑚2 𝑢22 = 𝑚1 𝑣12 + 𝑚2 𝑣22 (45)
2 2 2 2
Where:

𝑢1𝑥 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑢1𝑦 are the initial velocities of object of mass 𝑚1 in the x and y directions respectively.

𝑢2𝑥 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑢2𝑦 are the initial velocities of object of mass 𝑚2 in the x and y directions respectively.

𝑣1𝑥 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑣1𝑦 are the final velocities of object of mass 𝑚1 in the x and y directions respectively.

𝑣2𝑥 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑣2𝑦 are the final velocities of object of mass 𝑚2 in the x and y directions respectively.

32 | P H Y 1 2 1 0 ( M e c h a n i c s ) – L e c t u r e N o t e s b y Y u s u f A . M u s a , w w w . a y m u s a . c o m
EXAMPLE 54
What is the velocity of a 900 kg car initially moving at 30.0 m/s, just after it hits a 150 kg deer initially running
at 12.0 m/s in the same direction? Assume the deer remains on the car.

EXAMPLE 55
Train cars are coupled together by being bumped into one another. Suppose two loaded train cars are moving
toward one another, the first having a mass of 150,000 kg and a velocity of 0.300 m/s, and the second having
a mass of 110,000 kg and a velocity of 0.120 m/s. What is their final velocity?

EXAMPLE 56
A 0.240 kg billiard ball that is moving at 3.00 m/s strikes the bumper of a pool table and bounces straight
back at 2.40 m/s (80% of its original speed). The collision lasts 0.0150 s. (a) Calculate the average force
exerted on the ball by the bumper. (b) How much kinetic energy in joules is lost during the collision? (c) What
percent of the original energy is left?

EXAMPLE 57
A basketball with an initial speed of 3 meters per second impacts a hard floor at an angle of 600 to the floor.
If the collision has a coefficient of restitution of 0.8, what is the expected speed and angle of the basketball
after the impact?

EXAMPLE 58
A 10.0 g bullet is stopped in a block of wood of mass 5.00kg. The speed of the bullet–plus–wood combination
immediately after the collision is 0.600 m/s. What was the original speed of the bullet?

EXAMPLE 59
An unstable nucleus of mass 17 × 10-27 kg initially at rest disintegrates into three particles. One of the
particles, of mass 5.0 × 10-27 kg, moves along the y-axis with a speed of 6.0 × 106 m/s. Another particle of
mass 8.4 × 10-27 kg, moves along the x-axis with a speed of 4.0 × 106 m/s. Find (a) the velocity of the third
particle and (b) the total energy given off in the process.

EXAMPLE 60
A billiard ball moving at 5.00 m/s strikes a stationary ball of the same mass. After the collision, the first ball
moves at 4.33 m/s at an angle of 300 with respect to the original line of motion. Assuming a perfectly elastic
collision (and ignoring friction and rotational motion), find the struck ball’s velocity.

EXAMPLE 60
Let a ball be dropped from height ℎ to a fixed horizontal plane. If 𝑢 be the velocity of the sphere just before
striking the plane. If 𝑣 be the vertically upward velocity with which the ball rebounds to a height 𝐻. Show
that

𝐻 = 𝑒 2ℎ

Where is the coefficient of restitution between the material of the ball and the horizontal plane.

33 | P H Y 1 2 1 0 ( M e c h a n i c s ) – L e c t u r e N o t e s b y Y u s u f A . M u s a , w w w . a y m u s a . c o m
8.0 CENTER OF MASS
8.1 What is Center of Mass (C.M)?
The center of mass of a body or system of a particle is defined as a point where the whole of the mass of the
body or all the masses of a set of particles appeared to be concentrated. When we are studying the dynamics
of the motion of the system of a particle as a whole, then we need not worry about the dynamics of individual
particles of the system. Rather than we have to focus on the dynamic of a unique point corresponding to
that system.

8.2 Motion of Center of Mass

The motion of this unique point is similar to the motion of a single particle whose mass is equal to the sum
of all individual particles of the system. Also, the resultant of all the forces exerted on all the particles of the
system by surrounding bodies is exerted directly to that particle. This point is known as the centre of mass
of the system of particles.

8.3 Center of Mass Formula

We can extend the formula for the centre of mass to a system of particles. We can apply the equation
individually to each axis also. Although the centre of mass and the center of gravity often coincide, these are
all different concepts. Meanwhile, the centre of gravity and the centre of mass are only equal when the
entire system is subject to a uniform gravitational field.
For a N- discrete (pointed) system of masses 𝑚1 , 𝑚2 , 𝑚3 , ⋯ , 𝑚𝑁 , the center of mass will be given by

𝑋𝐶.𝑀 = (𝑥𝑐.𝑚 , 𝑦𝑐.𝑚 , 𝑧𝑐.𝑚 ) (46)

Where:
𝑚1 𝑥1 + 𝑚2 𝑥2 + ⋯ + 𝑚𝑁 𝑥𝑁
𝑥𝑐.𝑚 =
𝑀
𝑚1 𝑦1 + 𝑚2 𝑦2 + ⋯ + 𝑚𝑁 𝑦𝑁
𝑦𝑐.𝑚 =
𝑀
𝑚1 𝑥1 + 𝑚2 𝑧2 + ⋯ + 𝑚𝑁 𝑧𝑁
𝑧𝑐.𝑚 =
𝑀
Where:
𝑀 = total mass of the sytem of the masses
𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , 𝑥3 , ⋯ , 𝑥𝑁 are distances of the pointed masses 𝑚1 , 𝑚2 , 𝑚3 , ⋯ , 𝑚𝑁 along the x-axis respectively.
𝑦1 , 𝑦2 , 𝑦3 , ⋯ , 𝑦𝑁 are distances of the pointed masses 𝑚1 , 𝑚2 , 𝑚3 , ⋯ , 𝑚𝑁 along the y-axis respectively.
𝑧1 , 𝑧2 , 𝑧3 , ⋯ , 𝑧𝑁 are distances of the pointed masses 𝑚1 , 𝑚2 , 𝑚3 , ⋯ , 𝑚𝑁 along the z-axis respectively.

The corresponding velocity of center of mass, 𝑉𝐶.𝑀 is given by

𝑑𝑋𝐶.𝑀 𝑑𝑥𝑐.𝑚 𝑑𝑦𝑐.𝑚 𝑑𝑧𝑐.𝑚 (47)

𝑉𝐶.𝑀 = =( , , )
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡
Where:
𝑑𝑥𝑐.𝑚 𝑚1 𝑣1𝑥 + 𝑚2 𝑣2𝑥 + ⋯ + 𝑚𝑁 𝑣𝑁𝑥
=
𝑑𝑡 𝑀
𝑑𝑦𝑐.𝑚 𝑚1 𝑣1𝑦 + 𝑚2 𝑣2𝑦 + ⋯ + 𝑚𝑁 𝑣𝑁𝑦
=
𝑑𝑡 𝑀
𝑑𝑧𝑐.𝑚 𝑚1 𝑣1𝑧 + 𝑚2 𝑣2𝑧 + ⋯ + 𝑚𝑁 𝑣𝑁𝑧
=
𝑑𝑡 𝑀

34 | P H Y 1 2 1 0 ( M e c h a n i c s ) – L e c t u r e N o t e s b y Y u s u f A . M u s a , w w w . a y m u s a . c o m
Where:
𝑣1𝑥 , 𝑣2𝑥 , 𝑣3𝑥 , ⋯ , 𝑣𝑁𝑥 are velocities of the pointed masses 𝑚1 , 𝑚2 , 𝑚3 , ⋯ , 𝑚𝑁 along the x-axis respectively.
𝑣1𝑦 , 𝑣2𝑦 , 𝑣3𝑦 , ⋯ , 𝑣𝑁𝑦 are velocities of the pointed masses 𝑚1 , 𝑚2 , 𝑚3 , ⋯ , 𝑚𝑁 along the y-axis respectively.
𝑣1𝑧 , 𝑣2𝑧 , 𝑣3𝑧 , ⋯ , 𝑣𝑁𝑧 are velocities of the pointed masses 𝑚1 , 𝑚2 , 𝑚3 , ⋯ , 𝑚𝑁 along the z-axis respectively.

EXAMPLE 61
A 3.00 kg particle is located on the x axis at x = −5.00 m and a 4.00 kg particle is on the x axis at x = 3.00 m.
Find the center of mass of this two–particle system.

EXAMPLE 62
An old Honda accord car with mass 2400 kg is moving along a straight stretch of road at 80 km/h. It is followed
by a Ford car with mass 1600 kg moving at 60 km/h. How fast is the center of mass of the two cars moving?

EXAMPLE 63
A 2.0 kg particle has a velocity of ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑣1 = 2.0𝑖̂ − 3.0𝑗̂ m/s , and a 3.0 kg particle has a velocity of ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑣1 = 1.0𝑖̂ +
6.0𝑗̂ m/s. Find (a) the velocity of the center of mass and (b) the total momentum of the system.

EXAMPLE 64
Find the center of mass of the three masses shown below

y
m (4,4)

m (2,2) 3m (6,2)
x
EXAMPLE 65
Find the center of mass of the system of three uniform rods shown in the figure below

2L
2m

m m L

35 | P H Y 1 2 1 0 ( M e c h a n i c s ) – L e c t u r e N o t e s b y Y u s u f A . M u s a , w w w . a y m u s a . c o m
EXCERCISES 4

Q1. A 1.80 kg falcon catches a 0.650 kg dove from behind in mid-air. What is their velocity after impact if the
falcon’s velocity is initially 28.0 m/s and the dove’s velocity is 7.00 m/s in the same direction?

Q2. The Moon’s craters are remnants of meteorite collisions. Suppose a fairly large asteroid that has a mass
of 5.00 × 1012 kg about a kilometre across strikes the Moon at a speed of 15.0 km/s. (a) At what speed does
the Moon recoil after the perfectly inelastic collision (the mass of the Moon is 7.36×10 22 kg ) ? (b) How much
kinetic energy is lost in the collision? Such an event may have been observed by medieval English monks who
reported observing a red glow and subsequent haze about the Moon.

Q3. Two football players collide head-on in mid-air while trying to catch a thrown football. The first player is
95.0 kg and has an initial velocity of 6.00 m/s, while the second player is 115 kg and has an initial velocity of
3.50 m/s. What is their velocity just after impact if they cling together?

Q4. Two cars collide at an icy intersection and stick together afterward. The first car has a mass of 1200 kg
and is approaching at 8.00m/s due south. The second car has a mass of 850 kg and is approaching at 17.0m/s
due west. (a) Calculate the final velocity (magnitude and direction) of the cars. (b) How much kinetic energy
is lost in the collision? (This energy goes into deformation of the cars).

Q5. What is the acceleration of a 5000 kg rocket taking off from the Moon, where the acceleration due to
gravity is only 1.6m/s2, if the rocket expels 8.00 kg of gas per second at an exhaust velocity of 2.20×103 m/s?

Q6. A 5 kg mass moving at 6 m/s makes a head-on collision with a 4 kg mass travelling at 3 m/s Assuming
that there are no external forces acting on the system, what are the velocities of the two masses after
impact? Assume coefficient of restitution e = 0.5.

Q7. Three-point masses are placed at the corners of a triangle as shown in the figure below.

Find the center of mass of the three-mass system.

Q8. Find the center of mass of a one-meter long rod, made of 50 cm length of iron (density = 8g/cm3) and
50 cm length of aluminium (density = 2.7 g/cm3).

Q9. Two–point masses, 𝑚1 = 4𝐾𝑔 and 𝑚2 = 2𝐾𝑔, are located moving with velocity vectors 𝑖̂ + 𝑗̂ and v
−𝑖̂ + 𝑗̂ respectively. Find the Center of mass.

36 | P H Y 1 2 1 0 ( M e c h a n i c s ) – L e c t u r e N o t e s b y Y u s u f A . M u s a , w w w . a y m u s a . c o m
9.0 UNIFORM CIRCULAR MOTION
9.1 What is a Circular Motion?
Uniform circular motion is a motion of a body off mass 𝑚 in a circular path of constant radius 𝑟 at constant
speed. The velocity 𝑣 changes and is always tangent to the circle but its magnitude is constant. We know
from kinematics that acceleration is a change in velocity, either in magnitude or in direction or both.
Therefore, an object undergoing uniform circular motion is always accelerating, even though the magnitude
of its velocity is constant as shown in figure 8.0 below.
A

𝑎⃗ 𝑣⃗
𝑟 s
circular path of motion
𝜃
O
center
𝑟
𝑎⃗ B

𝑣⃗
Figure 8.0: Diagrammatic representation of uniform circular
motion.
From figure 8.0, when the object moves from point 𝐴 to point 𝐵 it moves through an angular displacement
𝜃 and a corresponding linear distance, 𝑠 (length of arc AB). The acceleration 𝑎⃗ is always towards the center
of motion and it is directed along the radius of the path.

9.2 Terms Associated with Uniform Circular Motion

Period (T): The period of a circular motion is the time taken in seconds for a body to make one complete
circle/revolution. If a body performs 𝑛 – number of revolutions in 𝑡 seconds, the period will be given by
𝑛
𝑇= (48)
𝑡
Frequency (f): The frequency of a circular motion is the number of complete circles/revolutions made in one
seconds. The SI unit of frequency is Hertz (Hz). Thus,
𝑛 1 1
𝑓= =𝑛= (49)
𝑡 𝑇
𝑡
Angular Velocity (𝝎): Angular velocity is the amount of angle turned in radians by the body in one second.
The SI unit of angular velocity is radians-per-seconds (rad/s). Thus,
𝑑𝜃
𝜔=
𝑑𝑡
or
𝜃 (50)
𝜔=
𝑡

Note: 𝜋 rad = 1800 , 2𝜋 𝑟𝑎𝑑 = 1 revolution = 3600

If we set 𝜃 = 2𝜋 = 1 revolution,
2𝜋
⇒𝜔= = 2𝜋𝑓
𝑇
∴ 𝜔 = 2𝜋𝑓 (51)

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Linear / Tangential Velocity (𝒗): Linear velocity is the time rate of change of linear displacement with time.
It is also the velocity with which the body will move-off tangent if eventually the centripetal force is removed.
From figure 8.0, in radians form, the length of the arc 𝑠 is given by
𝑠 = 𝜃𝑟
Differentiate both sides with respect to time 𝑡, we will have
𝑑𝑠 𝑑𝜃
=𝑟
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝑠 𝑑𝜃
Since 𝑑𝑡 = 𝑣 and 𝑑𝑡 = 𝜔,
𝑣 = 𝜔𝑟 (52)

Centripetal Acceleration (𝒂𝒓 ): Centripetal acceleration is the acceleration with which the body accelerates
towards the center of motion. By definition,
𝑣2 (53)
𝑎𝑟 =
𝑟
Centripetal Force (𝑭): Centripetal force is the force that keeps an object in a uniform circular motion. By
definition,
𝑚𝑣 2 (54)
𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎𝑟 =
𝑟
Centrifugal Force: Centrifugal force is the force that is equal in magnitude but opposite in direction to the
centripetal force which will stop the body from performing circular motion.
centrifugal force = −𝐹

Angular Acceleration (𝜶): Angular acceleration is the time rate of change of angular velocity. The SI unit of
angular acceleration is radians-per-seconds -squared (rad/s2). Thus,
𝑑𝜔
𝛼=
𝑑𝑡
or
𝜔
𝛼= (56)
𝑡

9.3 Derivation of Centripetal Acceleration

Let us consider an object moving in a circular path of radius 𝑟 with velocity 𝑣 from point 𝐴 to a very close
point 𝐵 through an angular displacement of ∆𝜃 as shown in figure 9.0i below. Figure 9.0ii is the vector
diagram for the change of velocity of the object from point 𝐴 to point 𝐵.

⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑉 𝐵
D R - ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑉𝐴 0
∆𝜃
O
𝑟
B
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑉 ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝐵 − 𝑉𝐴 ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑉
∆𝜃 𝐵
𝑟
∆𝜃
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑉𝐴 P
A C
(i) (ii)

Figure 9.0: Diagrammatic representation of centripetal acceleration.

38 | P H Y 1 2 1 0 ( M e c h a n i c s ) – L e c t u r e N o t e s b y Y u s u f A . M u s a , w w w . a y m u s a . c o m
From figure 9.0i above, we can see that a change in velocity or acceleration takes place from point A to point
B. The velocity change from A to B is 𝑉 ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝐵 − 𝑉𝐴 . In figure 9.0 ii, line PR is drawn to represent 𝑉𝐵 both in
magnitude and direction. Thus,
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
Velocity change = |𝑉 ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝐵 − 𝑉𝐴 | = 𝑃𝑅

When ∆𝑡 is small, the angle AOB i.e. ∆𝜃 will be also small. PR will then points towards the center 𝑂. The
velocity change or acceleration is thus directed towards the center. The magnitude of this acceleration is
given as
Velocity change 𝑃𝑅 𝑣∆𝜃
𝑎𝑟 = = =
Time taken ∆𝑡 ∆𝑡
∆𝜃 𝑑𝜃
In the limit ∆𝑡 → 0, ∆𝑡
→ 𝑑𝑡
=𝜔

𝑣 𝑣2
𝑎𝑟 = 𝑣𝜔 = 𝑣 ( ) =
𝑟 𝑟

𝑣2
∴ 𝑎𝑟 =
𝑟

9.4 Equations of Uniformly Accelerated Circular Motion

To obtain the equations of the uniform circular motion, we cans proceed in way similar to the one we used
in the uniform rectilinear motion, but considering angular magnitudes, rather than linear. The equations a
uniformly accelerated motion are:
𝜔𝑓 = 𝜔0 + 𝛼𝑡

𝜔𝑓2 = 𝜔02 + 2𝛼(𝜃𝑓 − 𝜃0 ) (57)

1
𝜃𝑓 − 𝜃0 = 𝜔0 𝑡 + 𝛼𝑡 2
2
Where:

𝜔𝑓 and 𝜔0 are the initial and final angular velocities in rad/s.

𝜃𝑓 and 𝜃0 are the initial and final angular displacement in radians after time 𝑡 seconds.

𝛼 is the angular acceleration in rad/s2.

9.5 Banking of Road

The necessary centripetal force required to negotiate a turn by a vehicle moving along a horizontal unbanked
curved road is provided by the force of friction between the wheels (tyres) and the surface of the road. Let
us consider a vehicle of a mass 𝑚 is moving along a horizontal curved road of radius 𝑟 with speed 𝑣 as shown
in figure 10.0. Let 𝜇 be the coefficient of friction between the road surface and the wheels then
𝑚𝑣 2
Centripetal force =
𝑟
Force of friction, f = 𝜇𝑚𝑔

Centripetal force = Force of friction

𝑚𝑣 2
= 𝜇𝑚𝑔
𝑟
∴ 𝑣 = √𝜇𝑟𝑔 (58)

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 Figure 10.0: Diagrammatic representation of unbanked road
circular motion.
Equation (58) gives the maximum speed with which a vehicle can be moved safely along a horizontal/flat
curved road. If the speed is more than this velocity, then there is a danger that the vehicle will get thrown
(skid) off the road. To make the turning of a vehicle on a curved safer, the outer edge of the road is raised
above the inner edge making some inclinations with the horizontal. This process is known as banking of a
road. When the road is banked then, the inclination of the surface of the road with horizontal is known as
the angle of banking, 𝜃 as shown in figure 11.0 below

free-body diagram

Figure 11.0: Diagrammatic representation of a banked road

circular motion.
Considering equilibrium,
Total upward force = Total downward force
𝑁𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 = 𝑚𝑔 + 𝑓𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃
𝑚𝑔 = 𝑁𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 − 𝑓𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 (59)
The horizontal components 𝑁𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 and 𝑓𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 provides the necessary centripetal force
𝑚𝑣 2
= 𝑁𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 + 𝑓𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 (60)
𝑟
Diving equation (60) by equation (59), we will have
𝑚𝑣 2
𝑟 = 𝑁𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 + 𝑓𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃
𝑚𝑔 𝑁𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 − 𝑓𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃

𝑣 2 𝑁𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 + 𝑓𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃
= (61)
𝑟𝑔 𝑁𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 − 𝑓𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃
Now, frictional force 𝑓 = 𝜇𝑁. Where 𝜇 is the coefficient of kinematic friction between the road and tyres.

𝑣 2 𝑁𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 + 𝜇𝑁𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 + 𝜇𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃

⇒ = =
𝑟𝑔 𝑁𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 − 𝜇𝑁𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 − 𝜇𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃

𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃
𝑣 2 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 + 𝜇𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 + 𝜇 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 + 𝜇
= = =
𝑟𝑔 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 − 𝜇𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 − 𝜇 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 1 − 𝜇𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃
𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃

𝑣2 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 + 𝜇
=
𝑟𝑔 1 − 𝜇𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃

40 | P H Y 1 2 1 0 ( M e c h a n i c s ) – L e c t u r e N o t e s b y Y u s u f A . M u s a , w w w . a y m u s a . c o m
 𝑟𝑔(𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 + 𝜇) (62)
∴𝑣=√
1 − 𝜇𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃
Equation (62) gives the expression for safe velocity on a curved banked road. When the frictional force
between the road and tyres of the vehicle is negligible 𝜇 = 0.

𝑟𝑔(𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 + 0)
𝑣𝑚𝑎𝑥 = √ = √𝑟𝑔𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃
1−0

∴ 𝑣𝑚𝑎𝑥 = √𝑟𝑔𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 (63)

𝑣2
⇒ 𝜃 = tan−1 ( )
𝑟𝑔
From equation (63), the speed will be maximum when 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 = 1 i.e. 𝜃 = 450 . It means that the vehicle can
be driven with maximum safe speed only when the angle of banking = 450

EXAMPLE 66
A 5 kg object moves around a circular track of a radius of 18 cm with a constant speed of 6 m/s. Find (a) The
magnitude and direction of the acceleration of the object. (b) The net force acting upon the object causing
this acceleration.

EXAMPLE 67
A 20 kg child sitting in a cart to which a 2 m rope is attached. The rope is tied to a motor that rotates the cart.
At the instant that the tension in the rope is 100 N, how many revolutions per minute does the cart make?

EXAMPLE 68
Calculate the angular speed of the second hand, minute hand and hour hand of a clock.

EXAMPLE 69
A particle is traveling in a circle of radius of 2.5 m and with an angular velocity of 10 rad/s. The particle begins
to slow down with an angular acceleration of -1 rad/s2. After 5 seconds, what is the centripetal acceleration

EXAMPLE 70
To what angle must a racing track of radius of curvature 600 m be banked so as to be suitable for a maximum
speed of 180 km/h?

EXAMPLE 71
A vehicle enters a circular bend of radius 200 m at 72 km/h. The road surface at the bend is banked at 10. Is
it safe? At what angle should the road surface be ideally banked for safe driving at this speed?

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EXCERCISES 5

Q1. A crankshaft of radius 8 cm rotates at 2400 rpm (revolutions per minute). What is the speed of a point
at the surface of it?

Q2. A radially inward constant force of 300 N is exerted on a 2-kg ball as it revolves around a circle of radius
85 cm. What is the speed of the ball?

Q3. A ball of mass 2 kg is attached to a rope having a breaking strength of 1500 N and is whirled around a
horizontal circle of radius 85 cm. Calculate the maximum speed that the ball can have.

Q4. The speed of a 515 kg roller-coaster at the bottom of a loop of radius 10 m is 20 m/s. Find the net vertical
force pushing up on the object at this point of the circular path.

Q5. What is the acceleration of a stone attached to the end of a 2 m long rope revolving at 45 revolutions
per minute (rpm)?

Q6. A centripetal force 𝐹 is exerted on an object moving around a circular track with a constant speed 𝑣. If
the speed of the object is tripled and the radius of the track is quadrupled, what happened to the centripetal
force?

Q7. What is the angular displacement of the minute hand of a clock in 25 minutes?

Q8. A turntable rotates at 100 rev/sec. Calculate its angular speed in rad/s and degree/s.

Q9. A circular road course track has a radius of 500 m and is banked to 10. If the coefficient of friction
between the road and the tyre is 0.25. Compute the maximum speed to avoid slipping.

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10.0 ROTATIONAL DYAMAMICS
10.1 Rotational Motion
Till now in our study of force and laws of motion we have always analysed motion of an object by considering
it as a particle even when the size of the object is not negligible. Here in the study of rotational mechanics,
this point mass or point particle model is inadequate for problems involving rigid body. Rotational motion is
the motion of a body about a fixed axis. If a rigid body is moved in such a way such that all the particles
constituting it undergoes circular motion about a common axis then that type of motion is rotational motion.

10.2 Moment of Inertia and Kinetic Energy of Rotation

A rigid body rotating with uniform angular speed 𝜔 about a fixed axis possesses kinetic energy of rotation.
Its value may be calculated by summing up the individual kinetic energies of all the particles of which the
body is composed. A particle of mass 𝑚1 located at distance 𝑟1 from the axis of rotation has kinetic energy
1
given by 𝑚1 𝑣12 , where 𝑣1 is the speed of the particle. There will be a similar term for each particle making
2
up the body, so that we may write, for the total rotational energy kinetic energy 𝐸𝑟𝑜𝑡 ,

1 1 1 1
𝐸𝑟𝑜𝑡 = 𝑚1 𝑣12 + 𝑚2 𝑣22 + 𝑚3 𝑣32 + ⋯ + 𝑚𝑛 𝑣𝑛2 (64)
2 2 2 2
So that
𝑛
1
𝐸𝑟𝑜𝑡 = ∑ 𝑚𝑖 𝑣𝑖2
2
𝑖=1

Each particle of a rigid body rotates with uniform angular speed 𝜔. Let us express the instantaneous linear
speed of each particle in terms of the common angular speed. Remembering that 𝑣 = 𝜔𝑟, we substitute for
𝑣 in equation (64) above we will have

1 1 1 1
𝐸𝑟𝑜𝑡 = 𝑚1 𝑟12 𝜔2 + 𝑚2 𝑟22 𝜔2 + 𝑚3 𝑟32 𝜔2 + ⋯ + 𝑚𝑛 𝑟𝑛2 𝜔2
2 2 2 2
1 2
𝐸𝑟𝑜𝑡 = 𝜔 (𝑚1 𝑟12 + 𝑚2 𝑟22 + 𝑚3 𝑟32 + ⋯ + 𝑚𝑛 𝑟𝑛2 ) (65)
2
Let us denote the factor in parentheses by the letter 𝐼; that is,

𝐼 = 𝑚1 𝑟12 + 𝑚2 𝑟22 + 𝑚3 𝑟32 + ⋯ + 𝑚𝑛 𝑟𝑛2 (66)

Or
𝑛

𝐼 = ∑ 𝑚𝑖 𝑟2𝑖 (67)
𝑖=1
Thus, equation (65) can be re-written as
1 2
𝐸𝑟𝑜𝑡 =𝜔 𝐼 (68)
2
The factor 𝐼 is called the moment of inertia of the rotating body with respect to the particular axis of rotation.
The moment of inertia depends upon the manner in which the mass is distributed with respect to the axis.
In the motion of rotating systems, the moment of inertia plays a role analogous to that of the mass in
translational systems or in linear motion. Unlike the mass, which is a constant for a particular body, the
moment of inertia depends upon the location and direction of the axis of rotation as well as upon the way
the mass is distributed. When a body which is composed of a distribution of matter rather than a collection
of mass points must be imagined as segmented into small pieces approximating point masses. The
summation is replaced with integration of an infinitesimally fine subdivision 𝑟 2 𝑑𝑚. Thus,

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 𝐼 = ∫ 𝑟 2 𝑑𝑚 (68)

If the body is a homogeneous one of density 𝜌,then

𝑑𝑚 = 𝜌𝑑𝑣

∴ 𝐼 = ∫ 𝜌𝑟 2 𝑑𝑉 (69)

Where 𝑑𝑣 is a small element of volume of mass 𝑑𝑚. The SI unit of moment of inertia is kgm2.
9.3 Moments of Inertia of Simple Bodies
In this section, we are going to find the moment of inertia of several simple distributions of particles.
➢ Moment of Inertia of a Uniform Rod
Figure 12.0 below shows a uniform rod of length 𝐿 and cross-sectional area 𝐴 rotating about an axis
perpendicular to the rod through one end.

𝜔
Axis of rotation
𝐿
𝑥
𝐴
𝑑𝑥

Figure 12.0: A uniform rod rotating about an axis perpendicular through one end.

Suppose the density of the rod is 𝜌; the volume of an element of length 𝑑𝑥 is given by 𝐴 𝑑𝑥. By using equation
(69), we will have

𝐿 𝐿
𝐿3
𝐼 = ∫ 𝜌𝑥 2 𝑑𝑉 = ∫ 𝜌𝑥 2 𝐴 𝑑𝑥 = 𝜌𝐴 ∫ 𝑥 2 𝑑𝑥 = 𝜌𝐴 ( )
0 0 3
2 2
𝐿 𝐿 1
𝐼 = 𝜌(𝐴𝐿) ( ) = 𝜌𝑉 ( ) = 𝑀𝐿2
3 3 3
1
∴ 𝐼 = 𝑀𝐿2
3
➢ Moment of Inertia of a Flat Solid Disk
Let us consider a flat solid disk of radius 𝑅 and mass 𝑀 about an axis through its center of mass and
perpendicular to the plane of the disk as shown in Figure 13.0 below.
𝜔
Axis of rotation

Figure 13.0: A uniform rod rotating about an axis through its center.

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Let us suppose the disk to be of thickness 𝑎, and made of a homogeneous material of density 𝜌. To calculate
the moment of inertia of the disk, we imagine the disk to be made up of a set of nested rings, as shown in
Figure 13.0. The surface area of a ring of mean radius 𝑟 and width 𝑑𝑟 is given by 2𝜋𝑟𝑑𝑟, and the mass 𝑑𝑚 of
such a ring is the product of its volume 𝑉 by its density 𝜌; that is, 𝑑𝑚 = 2𝜋𝑟𝑎𝜌𝑑𝑟. By using equation (68),
we will have

𝑅 𝑅
𝑅4
𝐼 = ∫ 𝑟 2 𝑑𝑚 = ∫ 𝑟 2 2𝜋𝑟𝑎𝜌𝑑𝑟 = 2𝜋𝑎𝜌 ∫ 𝑟 3 𝑑𝑟 = 2𝜋𝑎𝜌 ( )
0 0 4
2 2
𝑅 𝑅 1
𝐼 = (𝜋𝑅 2 𝑎)𝜌 ( ) = 𝜌𝑉 ( ) = 𝑀𝑅 2
2 2 2
1
∴ 𝐼 = 𝑀𝑅 2
2
➢ Moment of Inertia of a Thin Ring
Let us consider a thin ring of mass 𝑀 and mean radius 𝑅 which is free to rotate about its center. The thin ring
may be thought of as a collection of segments of mass 𝑚1 , 𝑚2 , 𝑚3 , and so on as shown in Figure 14.0.
𝜔

Axis of rotation

Figure 14.0: A thin ring rotating about an axis through its center.

Each of the mass of the ring is located at a distance 𝑅 from the axis of rotation. By using equation (66), we
will have

𝐼 = 𝑚1 𝑅 2 + 𝑚2 𝑅 2 + 𝑚3 𝑅 2 + ⋯ + 𝑚𝑛 𝑅 2

𝐼 = 𝑅 2 (𝑚1 + 𝑚2 + 𝑚3 + ⋯ + 𝑚𝑛 ) = 𝑀𝑅 2

∴ 𝐼 = 𝑀𝑅 2

9.4 The Parallel Axis Theorem

The parallel axis theorem states that if the moment of inertia of a body about an axis through its center of
mass is known, the moment of inertia of the body about any axis parallel to the first is given by the moment
of inertia about the axis through the center of mass plus the product of the mass of the body by the square
of the perpendicular distance between the two axes. In the form of an equation we write

𝐼 = 𝐼𝐶 + 𝑀𝑅 2 (70)

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where 𝐼𝐶 is the moment of inertia of the body about an axis through its center of mass, 𝑀 is the mass of the
body, and 𝑅 is the perpendicular distance from the center of mass to the axis of rotation.

9.5 The Perpendicular Axis Theorem

The perpendicular axis theorem is used when the body is symmetric in shape about two out of the three
axes. If the moment of inertia about two of the axes (𝐼𝐴 and 𝐼𝐵 ) are known the moment of inertia 𝐼𝐶 about
the third axis can be found using the expression:
𝐼𝐶 = 𝐼𝐴 + 𝐼𝐵 (71)

9.6 Radius of Gyration

Radius of gyration of a body about the axis of rotation is defined as the radial distance to a point which would
have a moment of inertia the same as the body's actual distribution of mass, if the total mass of the body
were concentrated there. It is denoted by 𝐾. Therefore, radius of gyration is given by

𝐼 (72)
𝐾=√
𝑀

Radius of gyration is useful in finding dynamic quantities of irregular shaped bodies in rotational mechanics.
Radius of gyration of a body is not constant and it does change with the change in location of the axis of
rotation.

9.7 Rotational Energy, Work, and Power

Whenever a rigid body is set into rotation about an axis, work is done by the torques acting on it to increase
its kinetic energy of rotation. Suppose that a force F acts on the rim of a wheel of radius r and rotates the
body through an angle 𝑑𝜃, as shown in the diagram below. The displacement of the wheel is 𝑟𝑑𝜃, and the
work done by this force is

𝑑𝑊 = 𝐹𝑟𝑑𝜃
But 𝐹𝑟 = 𝜏 = Torque

𝑑𝑊 = 𝜏𝑑𝜃

Just as in the case of the work done by a force, the work of an applied torque is done by the component of
the torque parallel to the axis of rotation. In vector notation, if a torque 𝜏 produces a rotation 𝑑𝜃, the work
done is
𝑑𝑊 = 𝜏⃗ . ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑑𝜃

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If a constant torque acts on a rigid body which is rotating about a fixed axis, then, from the principle of
conservation of mechanical energy, assuming no loss due to friction, the work done by the torque will
produce a change in the kinetic energy of the body given by

1 1 (73)
𝑊 = 𝜏𝜃 = 𝐼𝜔𝑓2 − 𝐼𝜔02
2 2
The power of rotational motion is defined as the rate of change of angular work done. Hence can say that
𝑑𝑊 𝑑 𝑑𝜃
𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 = = (𝜏𝜃) = 𝜏 = 𝜏𝜔
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡

∴ 𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 = 𝜏𝜔 (74)

Thus, power of rotational motion is the product of torque applied and angular velocity of the body rotating
about an axis.

9.8 Angular Momentum and Angular Impulse

A rigid body rotating with angular velocity 𝜔 about a fixed axis has an angular momentum 𝐿 about this axis
given by
(75)
𝐿 = 𝐼𝜔

where 𝐼 is the moment of inertia of the body about this axis. Since the angular velocity about a given axis is
a vector quantity which lies parallel to the axis of rotation, in a direction given by the right-hand rule, and
the moment of inertia about this axis is a scalar quantity, the angular momentum is a vector quantity. To
change the angular momentum of a body, an external torque must be applied to it. The torque acting on the
body is given by
𝑑𝜔 𝑑(𝐼𝜔) 𝑑𝐿
𝜏 = 𝐼𝛼 = 𝐼 = =
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝐿 (76)
∴𝜏=
𝑑𝑡
Thus, the torque acting on a rigid body is equal to the rate of change of the angular momentum. In the
absence of external torques, the angular momentum of a rigid body must be constant; that is, there is no
change in the angular momentum of a rigid body when the sum of the external torques is zero. This is known
as the principle of conservation of angular momentum.
Thus,
𝐿1 = 𝐿2
∴ 𝐼1 𝜔1 = 𝐼2 𝜔2

Just as in the case of linear motion, we may treat impulsive motion in the case of rotation by examining the
incremental form of the equation relating the torque to the rate of change of angular motion. From equation
(76), we have
∆𝐿
𝜏=
∆𝑡
𝜏∆𝑡 = ∆𝐿 = change in angular momentum
∴ Angular impulse = 𝜏∆𝑡 (77)

Thus, the change in angular momentum is equal to the angular impulse.

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EXAMPLE 72
The flywheel of a gasoline engine is built in the form of a uniform disk of radius 0.3 m and weighs 34 kg. The
flywheel is rotating with an angular speed of 3,300 rpm. Determine the kinetic energy of the flywheel.

EXAMPLE 73
A small copper disk of 15 cm radius and 350 gm mass is rotating with an angular speed of 12 radians/sec
about an axis through its center. Determine (a) the kinetic energy of the disk and (b) its angular momentum.
EXAMPLE 74
A rod 50 cm long and weighing 2.3 kg is pivoted at one end. The rod is raised to a horizontal position and
released. (a) What is the angular velocity of the rod when it is at an angle of 45° with the horizontal. (b) What
is the angular acceleration of the rod at the same deflection?

EXAMPLE 75
A gasoline engine develops 75 hp when turning at 3,300 rpm. Determine the torque delivered by this engine
to the drive shaft. 1 hp = 745.7 W.
EXAMPLE 76
A constant torque of 500 Nm is applied to a wind turbine to keep it rotating at 6 rad/s. What is the power
required to keep the turbine rotating?
EXAMPLE 77
A 6 N force is applied to a cord wrapped around a pulley of mass 5 kg and radius 20 cm. What is the angular
acceleration of the pulley. The pulley is a uniform solid cylinder.

EXAMPLE 78
Suppose a yo-yo has a center shaft that has a 0.250 cm radius and that its string is being pulled. (a) If the
string is stationary and the yo-yo accelerates away from it at a rate of 1.50 m/s2, what is the angular
acceleration of the yo-yo? (b) What is the angular velocity after 0.750 s if it starts from rest? (c) The outside
radius of the yo-yo is 3.50 cm. What is the tangential acceleration of a point on its edge?

EXAMPLE 79
If the moment of inertia of a body along a perpendicular axis passing through its centre of gravity is 50 kgm2
and the mass of the body is 30 Kg. What is the moment of inertia of the same body along another axis which
is 50 cm away from the current axis and parallel to it?

EXAMPLE 80
Suppose a piece of dust finds itself on a CD. If the spin rate of the CD is 500 rpm, and the piece of dust is 4.3
cm from the center, what is the total distance travelled by the dust in 3 minutes?

EXAMPLE 81
A boy weighing 45 kg stands at the center of a brass turntable 0.15 m thick and 3 m in diameter. The turntable
is rotated with an angular speed of 1 rad/s. The boy walks out along a radius to a point 1.5 m from the center
of the turntable. What is the angular speed with which the disk is now rotating? The density of brass is 8.6
gm/cm3.
EXAMPLE 82
A merry-go-round at a playground is rotating at 4.0 rev/min. Three children jump on and increase the
moment of inertia of the merry-go-round/children rotating system by 25%. What is the new rotation rate?

48 | P H Y 1 2 1 0 ( M e c h a n i c s ) – L e c t u r e N o t e s b y Y u s u f A . M u s a , w w w . a y m u s a . c o m
EXCERCISES 6
Q1. A 2 kg mass is suspended from a string which is wound over the axle of a wheel. It is observed that the
mass has a downward acceleration of 2 m/s2. The radius of the axle is 0.05 m and the radius of the wheel is
1.5 m. At 𝑡 = 0 the system is at rest. (a) What is the angular acceleration of the wheel? (b) What is the
angular velocity of the wheel at t = 5 sec? (c) What is the radial acceleration of a point on the rim of the
wheel at t = 5 sec? (d) What is the moment of inertia of the wheel and axle?
Q2. A block of mass 4 kg hanging from a cord wrapped around a pulley of mass 8 kg and radius 10 cm.
Acceleration due to gravity is 10 m/s2. What is the linear acceleration of the block? The pulley is a uniform
solid cylinder.
Q3. A 0.2 g particle moves in a circle at a constant speed of 10 m/s. The radius of the circle is 3 cm. What is
the angular momentum of the particle?
Q4. A man sits on a piano stool holding a spinning bicycle wheel in his hands. The axis of the bicycle wheel is
directed vertically. He turns the wheel end for end while remaining seated, and finds that he begins to rotate
in the same direction that the wheel was spinning originally. Why? What happens if he once again reverses
the wheel?
Q5. When a car is going forward, the engine and flywheel are rotating counter clockwise as viewed by the
driver. In which direction will the car tend to go if the front wheels are suddenly lifted by a bump in the road?
Q6. A 12.0 Nm torque is applied to a flywheel that rotates about a fixed axis and has a moment of inertia of
30.0 kgm2. If the flywheel is initially at rest, what is its angular velocity after it has turned through eight
revolutions?
Q7. A boat engine operating at 9.0 x 102 W is running at 300 rev/min. What is the torque on the propeller
shaft?
Q8. A propeller is accelerated from rest to an angular velocity of 1000 rev/min over a period of 6.0 seconds
by a constant torque of 2.0 x 103 Nm. (a) What is the moment of inertia of the propeller? (b) What power is
being provided to the propeller 3.0 s after it starts rotating?
Q9. An athlete in a gym applies a constant force of 50 N to the pedals of a bicycle to keep the rotation rate
of the wheel at 10 rev/s. The length of the pedal arms is 30 cm. What is the power delivered to the bicycle
by the athlete?
Q10. A cyclist is riding such that the wheels of the bicycle have a rotation rate of 3.0 rev/s. If the cyclist
brakes such that the rotation rate of the wheels decrease at a rate of 0.3 rev/s2, how long does it take for
the cyclist to come to a complete stop?
Q11. Calculate the angular velocity of the orbital motion of Earth around the Sun.
Q12. Earth’s day has increased by 0.002 s in the last century. If this increase in Earth’s period is constant,
how long will it take for Earth to come to rest?
Q13. Show that the moment of inertia of a solid sphere of mass M and radius R about an axis through its
2
center is 𝑀𝑅 2
5

Q14. Show that the moment of inertia of a solid cylinder of mass M and radius R about an axis through its
1
center is 𝑀𝑅 2
2
Q15. A torque of 400 Nm acting on a body of mass 40 kg produces an angular acceleration of 20 rad/s 2.
Calculate the moment of inertia and radius of gyration of the body.

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11.0 UNIVERSAL GRAVITATION
11.1 Gravitational Force
The mere idea of an apple falling down on the earth from a tree led to the discovery of a very interesting
topic of Physics called Gravitation. Every object seems to fall on the earth. In this universe, every body
attracts another body towards itself. This force is called the force of gravitation. Discovered by Sir Isaac
Newton, Gravity is nothing but a force of attraction between any two elements that exist in a universe.
Elements in the universe attract each other with a specific amount of force. Gravity is a force which has an
infinite range. Gravitation is a study of the interaction between two masses. Gravitation is much more than
just an everyday phenomenon, it encompasses various theories and principles in its working.

11.2 Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation

This law states that every particle in the Universe attracts every other particle with a force that is directly
proportional to the product of the masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between
them. The force acts along the line joining the two masses.

𝐺𝑚1 𝑚2
𝐹= (78)
𝑟2

𝐹12 𝐹21
𝒎𝟏 𝒎𝟐

Figure 15.0: Gravitational force between two masses.

Where 𝐺 is the universal gravitational constant whose value is 6.67 x 10-11 Nm² /kg² and 𝑟 is the distance
between the two masses 𝑚1 and 𝑚2 .The value of G was found experimentally by Henry Cavendish in 1798.
Unlike electrical force, gravitational force is always attractive, i.e., the two masses are drawn to one another.
The force that mass 1 exerts on mass 2 is equal and opposite to the force mass 2 exerts on mass 1.
Gravitational forces form a Newton’s third law action-reaction.

11.3 Acceleration due to Gravity

Consider an object of mass m near the Earth’s surface a height ℎ above the earth surface as shown in Figure
16.0 below.
𝑚

Earth of mass ME
𝑅𝐸

Figure 16.0: A body of mass m at a height of h above the earth surface.

The force of attraction 𝐹 between the mass 𝑚 and the earth with mass 𝑀𝐸 and radius 𝑅𝐸 is given by
𝐺𝑚𝑀𝐸
𝐹= (79)
(𝑅𝐸 + ℎ)2
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The force 𝐹 is the same as the weight of the object of mass on the earth. Thus
𝐺𝑚𝑀𝐸
= 𝑚𝑔
(𝑅𝐸 + ℎ)2
𝐺𝑀𝐸 (80)
𝑔ℎ =
(𝑅𝐸 + ℎ)2
Where 𝑔ℎ is called acceleration due to gravity above the earth surface. On the earth surface (when ℎ = 0 ),
equation (80) will reduce to
𝐺𝑀𝐸
𝑔𝐸 = 2 (81)
𝑅𝐸
Where g is the value of the acceleration due to gravity on the earth surface.
With 𝐺 = 6.67 × 10−11 𝑁𝑚2 𝑘𝑔−2 , 𝑀𝐸 = 5.97 × 1024 𝑘𝑔 and R E = 6.37 × 106 𝑚, from equation (81) we
have
6.67 × 10−11 × 5.97 × 1024
𝑔𝐸 = = 9.81 𝑚𝑠 −2
(6.37 × 106 )2
∴ 𝑔𝐸 = 9.81 𝑚𝑠 −2
In generally, the value of acceleration due to gravity 𝑔𝑝 on the surface of any planet of mass 𝑀𝑝 and radius
𝑅𝑝 is given by
𝐺𝑀𝑝
𝑔𝑝 = 2
𝑅𝑝
Equation (80) can be re-written as

𝐺𝑀𝐸 𝐺𝑀𝐸 𝐺𝑀𝐸 ℎ −2 ℎ −2 𝑔𝐸

𝑔ℎ = 2 = 2 =( ) (1 + ) = 𝑔𝐸 (1 + ) =
ℎ𝑅 ℎ 𝑅𝐸2 𝑅𝐸 𝑅𝐸 ℎ 2
(𝑅𝐸 + 𝑅 𝐸 ) 𝑅𝐸2 (1 + 𝑅 ) (1 + 𝑅 )
𝐸 𝐸 𝐸
2 2
𝑔𝐸 ℎ 2ℎ ℎ
= (1 + ) = 1 + +( )
𝑔ℎ 𝑅𝐸 𝑅𝐸 𝑅𝐸

Since (h/RE) is a small quantity, (h/RE)2 will be a still smaller quantity. So it can be neglected in comparison to
(h/RE). Thus
𝑔𝐸 2ℎ 2ℎ
≈ 1+ +0=1+
𝑔ℎ 𝑅𝐸 𝑅𝐸
𝑔𝐸 2ℎ
=1+
𝑔ℎ 𝑅𝐸
𝑔𝐸
∴ 𝑔ℎ = (82)
2ℎ
(1 + 𝑅 )
𝐸
From equation (82), we can see that the value of the acceleration due to gravity on the earth decreases with
increase in altitude above the earth surface. Looking at equation (81), the acceleration due to gravity
produced in a body is independent of its mass. This means that a heavy ball and a light ball will fall with the
same velocity. If we drop these balls from a certain height at the same time, both would reach the ground
simultaneously. A body falling with an acceleration equal to 𝑔 is said to be in free-fall motion.
11.4 Gravitational Potential and Potential energy
Gravitational potential energy is energy an object possesses because of its position in a gravitational field.
The general expression for gravitational potential energy arises from the law of gravity and is equal to the
work done against gravity to bring a mass 𝑚 to a given point in space. The gravitational force between the
earth of mass 𝑀𝐸 and a mass 𝑚 separated by a distance 𝑟 is given by

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 𝐺𝑚𝑀𝐸
𝐹=
𝑟2
The gravitational potential energy is given by
𝑟 𝑟 𝑟
𝐺𝑚𝑀𝐸 1 1 𝐺𝑚𝑀𝐸
𝑈 = − ∫ 𝐹𝑑𝑟 = − ∫ 2
𝑑𝑟 = −𝐺𝑚𝑀𝐸 ∫ 𝑟 −2 𝑑𝑟 = −𝐺𝑚𝑀𝐸 (− − ) = −
∞ ∞ 𝑟 ∞ ∞ 𝑟 𝑟

𝐺𝑚𝑀𝐸 (83)
𝑈=−
𝑟
The gravitational Potential (𝑉) is defined as the gravitational potential energy of unit mass 𝑚. Hence,

𝑈 𝐺𝑀𝐸
𝑉= =−
𝑚 𝑟

𝐺𝑀𝐸
𝑉=− (84)
𝑟

Gravitational potential is a scalar quantity and its SI unit is J/kg.

11.5 Escape Velocity
You now know that a ball thrown upwards always comes back due to the force of gravity. If you throw it with
greater force, it goes a little higher but again comes back. If you have a friend with great physical power, ask
him to throw the ball upwards. The ball may go higher than what you had managed, but it still comes back.
You may then ask: Is it possible for an object to escape the pull of the earth? The answer is ‘yes’. The object
must acquire what is called the escape velocity. Escape velocity is defined as the minimum velocity required
by an object to escape the gravitational pull of the earth. For a body of mass m to escape from the earth, the
work done in taking the mass m from the surface of the earth to infinity must balances the kinetic energy
gained by the body. Thus,
𝐺𝑚𝑀𝐸 1
= 𝑚𝑣𝑒2
𝑅𝐸 2

2𝐺𝑀𝐸
𝑣𝑒2 =
𝑟

2𝐺𝑀𝐸
𝑣𝑒 = √ (85)
𝑅𝐸
From equation (81),
𝐺𝑀𝐸 = 𝑔𝐸 𝑅𝐸2 (86)

Putting equation (86) into equation (85) we will have

∴ 𝑣𝑒 = √2𝑔𝐸 𝑅𝐸 (87)

It is not that the force of gravity ceases to act when an object is launched with escape velocity. The force
does act. Both the velocity of the object as well as the force of gravity acting on it decrease as the object
goes up. It so happens that the force becomes zero before the velocity becomes zero. Hence the object
escapes the pull of gravity. Thus, for any plant of mass 𝑀𝑃 ,acceleration due to gravity 𝑔𝑃 and mean radius
𝑅𝑃 , the value of the escape velocity, 𝑣𝑃 will be given by
𝑣𝑃 = √2𝑔𝑃 𝑅𝑃 (88)

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11.6 Satellites and Weightlessness
A satellite is any object that is orbiting the earth, sun or other massive body. Satellites can be categorized as
natural satellites or man-made satellites. The moon, the planets and comets are examples of natural
satellites.
Accompanying the orbit of natural satellites are a host of satellites launched from earth for purposes of
communication, scientific research, weather forecasting, intelligence, etc. The Moon orbits Earth. In turn,
Earth and the other planets orbit the Sun. The space directly above our atmosphere is filled with artificial
satellites in orbit as shown in Figure 17.0.
Satellite

Earth

Figure 17.0: A satellite of mass m orbiting the earth.

Weightlessness is a condition when your body is in free fall and the acceleration is downward at gravity. This
condition can be defined by the term zero gravity. So weightlessness occurs when there is zero support of
force on our body. A geosynchronous satellite is one that stays above the same point on the Earth. Such
satellites are used for TV & radio transmission, for weather forecasting, as communication relays.

11. 7 Orbital Period and Velocity of Satellite

Consider a satellite of mass 𝑚 in a circular orbit about a planet of mass 𝑀𝑝 at distance 𝑟 from the center of
the planet (Figure 18.0). It has centripetal acceleration 𝑎𝑐 directed toward the center of the planet.
Satellite
𝑣
𝑚
𝐹
𝑟
Satellite’s orbit
𝑀𝑝

Planet

Figure 18.0: A satellite of mass m orbiting at radius r from the center of Earth.

The planet’s gravity is the only force acting, so Newton’s second law gives

𝐺𝑀𝑝 𝑚 𝑚𝑣 2
= 𝑚𝑎𝑐 =
𝑟2 𝑟

𝐺𝑀𝑝 𝑚 𝑚𝑣 2
=
𝑟2 𝑟

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 𝐺𝑀𝑝
𝑣2 =
𝑟
𝐺𝑀𝑝
∴𝑣=√ (89)
𝑟

Where 𝑣 is the speed of the satellite in its orbit. To find the period 𝑇 of a circular orbit, we note that the
satellite travels the circumference of the orbit 2𝜋𝑟 in one period 𝑇. Using the definition of speed, we have
2𝜋
𝑣 = 𝜔𝑟 = 𝑟
𝑇
2𝜋
𝑣= 𝑟 (90)
𝑇
Putting equation (90) into equation (89) we will have

2𝜋 𝐺𝑀𝑝
𝑟=√
𝑇 𝑟
4𝜋 2 2 𝐺𝑀𝑝
𝑟 =
𝑇2 𝑟

4𝜋 2 3
𝑇2 = ( )𝑟 (91)
𝐺𝑀𝑝

𝑟3
∴ 𝑇 = 2𝜋√ (92)
𝐺𝑀𝑝
Where 𝑇 is the period of motion of the satellite in its orbit. We see in the next section that equation (91)
represents Kepler’s third law for the case of circular orbits.

Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion

Several decades before Newton enunciated his Law of Gravitation, Johannes Kepler used precise
astronomical data of planetary motions to empirically deduce three general laws governing the orbits of the
planets orbiting the sun. These three laws are as follows:
➢ First Law: Planets move on elliptical orbits about the sun with the sun at one focus.

➢ Second Law: The area per unit time swept out by a radius vector from the Sun to a planet is constant.

➢ Third Law: The square of a planet’s orbital period is proportional to the cube of the major axis of the
planet’s orbit.

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EXAMPLE 83
Two objects attract each other with a gravitational force of magnitude 1.00 × 10−8 N when separated by 20.0
cm. If the total mass of the two objects is 5.00 kg, what is the mass of each?

EXAMPLE 84
Mt. Everest is at a height of 29,003 ft (8840 m) above sea level. The greatest depth in the sea is 34,219 ft
(10,430m). Compare the Earth’s surface gravity at these two points.
EXAMPLE 85
A satellite of mass 200 kg is launched from a site on the Equator into an orbit at 200 km above the Earth’s
surface. (a) If the orbit is circular, what is the orbital period of this satellite? (b) What is the satellite’s speed
in orbit?
EXAMPLE 86
The Sun has a mass of 1.9892 × 1030 kg and a radius of 6.9598 × 108 m. Calculate the escape velocity from
the
solar surface (in km/s) and compare it to the escape velocity from the surface of the Earth.

EXAMPLE 87
Careful measurements show that the radius of the earth at the equator is 6378 km while at the poles it is
6357 km. Compare values of 𝑔 at the poles and at the equator.

EXAMPLE 88
The mass of the moon is 7.3 × 1022 kg and its radius is 1.74 × 106 m. Calculate the gravitational acceleration
at its surface.

EXAMPLE 89
Modern aircrafts fly at heights upward of 10 km. Let us calculate the value of g at an altitude of 10 km. Take
the radius of the earth as 6400 km and the value of 𝑔 on the surface of the earth as 9.8 ms–2.
EXAMPLE 90
At what height must we go so that the value of g becomes half of what it is at the surface of the earth?

EXAMPLE 91
At what depth would the value of g be 80% of what it is on the surface of the earth?

EXAMPLE 92
An imaginary planet 𝑋 has mass eight times that of the earth and radius twice that of the earth. What would
be the escape velocity from this planet in terms of the escape velocity from the earth?

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EXCERCISES 7
Q1. Compare your weight at Mars with that on the earth? What happens to your mass? Take the mass of
Mars as 6 × 1023 kg and its radius as 4.3 × 106 m.
Q2. Calculate the orbital period of planet mercury, if its distance from the Sun is 57.9 × 109 m. You are given
that the distance of the earth from the Sun is 1.5 × 1011 m.
Q3. Two artificial satellites are orbiting the earth at distances of 1000 km and 2000 km from the surface of
the earth. Which one of them has the longer period? If the time period of the former is 90 min, find the time
period of the latter.
Q4. A new small planet, named Sedna, has been discovered recently in the solar system. It is orbiting the Sun
at a distance of 86 AU. (An AU is the distance between the Sun and the earth. It is equal to 1.5 × 1011 m.)
Calculate its orbital period in years.
Q5. The mass of the earth is 5.97 × 1024 kg and its radius is 6371 km. Calculate the escape velocity from the
earth.
Q6. Suppose the earth shrunk suddenly to one-fourth its radius without any change in its mass. What would
be the escape velocity then?
Q7. Some science writers believe that some day human beings will establish colonies on the Mars. Suppose
people living this desire to put in orbit a Mars synchronous satellite. The rotation period of Mars is 24.6
hours. The mass and radius of Mars are 6.4 × 1023 kg and 3400 km, respectively. What would be the height
of the satellite from the surface of Mars?
Q8. Suppose the earth expands to twice its size without any change in its mass. What would be your weight
if your present weight were 500 N?
Q9. Suppose the earth loses its gravity suddenly. What would happen to life on this plant?
Q10. A polar satellite is placed at a height of 800 km from earth’s surface. Calculate its orbital period and
orbital velocity.
Q11. Jupiter is 5.2 times as far from the sun as the earth is. What is the length of Jupiter’s year?

------------------------- END OF THE COURSE -------------------------

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