F=ma prep #1- Fundamentals

Physics Club

Session 1: Fundamentals (Newton’s Laws, Free Fall, Kinematics, Motion Graphs,

Inclined planes)
Session 2: Dynamics (Forces, Friction, Work, Power)
Session 3: Energy and conservation laws
Session 4: Momentum (elastic and inelastic collisions, conservation of momentum)
Session 5: Review of Sessions 1-4 (practice problems)
Session 6: Rotational Motion (Torque, moment of inertia, angular kinematics,
dynamics, conservation of angular momentum)
Session 7: Oscillation and Springs (SHM, Spring constant, energy in oscillatory
systems)
Session 8: Fluids and Buoyancy (buoyant force, fluid mechanics, pressure, density,
flow rate, Bernoulli’s equation)
Tentative Schedule (Subject to change)

Session 9: Gravitation and Orbits (Circular, Elliptical orbits, Newton’s Laws of

gravitation, gravitational potential energy)
Session 10: Other topics (dimensional analysis, error, fictitious forces, atwood
machine)
Session 11: Review of Sessions 6-10 (practice problems)
Session 12+: Mock F=ma + review
—USAPhO prep—
Session 1: Thermodynamics+Statistical Mechanics (laws)
Session 2: Electromagnetism (electric fields, potentials, magnetic fields, ac
circuits, integration)
Session 3: Optics and Waves
Session 4: Modern Physics
Session 5: Advanced Topics (chaos theory, nonlinear dynamics, etc)

Tentative Schedule (continued)

Extra practice for those just starting out with physics is included within the
slides (not discussed in the meeting)
Fundamental Knowledge Checks (answers are in speaker notes in all slides)
AP Physics 1 problems

Slides :

Slide 6
Kinematics
Table of Contents
Free fall
Newton’s laws
Inclined planes

Kinematics

Location of an object at any given time. Units are meters (m)

Fundamental knowledge check: A cart is moving in a straight path. At time t= 4 what

is the position of the cart?
Position
Answer: 2, find the time t=4 on the axis and find the y axis position that
corresponds to it

Velocity is the change in position over the change in time. Essentially, it is the
rate of change of position with respect to time. If an object is moving positively
(slope positive), its position is changing at a positive rate, so velocity is
positive. If an object’s position is decreasing (slope negative), its position is
changing at a negative rate, so velocity is negative

Units for velocity are meters/second (m/s)

Velocity is . This is the first

derivative of the position function represented by x(t)

The area under a velocity curve is the position:

Fundamental Knowledge check (ans in speaker notes):

Using the power rule: , find the velocity of

the function

at time t=5
Velocity
Answer: 5 m/s, The derivative of x(t) is 2t-5. Plugging in 5, we get 10-5=5

Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity with respect to time. If an object’s

velocity is increasing, the acceleration is positive. If an object’s velocity is
decreasing, the acceleration is negative

Acceleration is , the
first derivative of the velocity function, and the

second derivative of the position function.

The acceleration on Earth is -9.8 m/s/s, Using a=-10 is usually acceptable

The area under an acceleration graph is velocity:

Fundamental knowledge check (ans in speaker notes):

Find the acceleration of this position function at t = 4,

Acceleration
Answer: 24 m/s/s. Find the first derivative to be 3x^2-2, and the second
derivative, which is acceleration, to be 6x. Plug in t=4 to get 24

Kinematics Practice for AP Physics 1

11. Looking at the graph, you can see the displacement of both Car X and Car Y for
t=20 seconds. The area of the triangle between the graph and the horizontal axis is
the displacement. Since there is more area under the curve for Car X, Car X has
gone farther. Therefore, Car Y is behind Car X. The correct answer is A.

12. Looking at the graph, you can see the displacement of both Car X and Car Y for
t=40 seconds. The area under both curved for Car X and Car Y are equal. However,
the velocity values for Car Y are increasing between t=0 seconds and t=40 seconds.
And the velocity value of t=40 seconds for Car Y is higher than Car X. Therefore,
Car Y is moving faster as they reach the same point. The correct answer is B.
Solution

Kinematics Practice AP Physics 1

78. The way to find the average speed is to find the total distance and to divide
it over the total time. To find the total distance we can add up 3 meters, 9 meters
and 9 meters. We know that it moved 3 m/s for one second and then 9m/s for two
seconds. We find the distance as 21 meters. The total trip took 3 seconds to
complete. Dividing 21/3 is 7m/s for the average speed. The correct answer is D.

79. The relative speed between the two cars is v₁-v₂. This lets us perform
(60km/h)-(-40km/h)=100km/h using the velocities given. To find where the two cars
meet we will do t-d/relative velocity. We plug it in to get 150 km/100 km/h.

Motion graphs
Slope is constant and positive, so the velocity is constant and positive

0 concavity
Slope is constant and negative, so the velocity is constant and negative

0 concavity
Slope is increasing (getting steeper) and positive so the velocity is positive and
acceleration is positive

Concave up

Motion Graphs (continued)

Position is decreasing, so velocity is negative. The slope is getting steeper so
the acceleration is positive.

Concave down

Position is increasing, so velocity is positive. The slope is getting less steep so

the acceleration is negative.

Concave down
Position is decreasing, so velocity is negative. The slope is getting less steep so
the acceleration is negative.

Concave up

Velocity time graphs

Fundamental Knowledge Check:

Explain features of each graph

(answers in speaker notes)

Constant velocity because the y-axis does not change, 0 slope means 0 acceleration
The slope is positive so there is a constant acceleration
Slope is negative so there is a constant deceleration
When an object is thrown upwards it starts off with positive velocity that
decreases because of the acceleration of g on earth
When an object bounces off the wall (assuming conservation of energy) the positive
velocity will be converted into negative velocity because of the work done on the
object by the wall
The acceleration is non-constant which is not common on Earth

Motion graphs problem: 2023 #3

The ball loses velocity every time it bounces since the height it rebounds to after
is decreasing. This eliminates A, D, and C. As we have seen before, with a bounce,
the work done on the ball reverses the direction of its velocity immediately, as
the ball is not in contact with the surface of the inclined plane for a very long
time. So the ball’s velocity will immediately jump from negative to positive and
vice versa, so the answer must be E
Solution

Another Motion Graphs Problem 2024 #7

This looks different from typical motion graphs.

We should write as a function to visualize it better.

For S1,

and , so , substituting

v,

For S2, v is constant so the graph should be a horizontal line

For S3, and

Is a constant. So,

This is basically the same thing but in the opposite direction so the answer is
Solution
S1
S2
S3

These equations work when acceleration is constant

Fundamental knowledge check: Try to derive these yourself using the principles from
previous slides

1.

2.

3.

4. (Hint: start from a(t)=a, find v(t) and

x(t) using integration)

5.
Big 5 kinematics equations

Use the big 5 equations for these. This is 2d kinematics.

When an object is launched with a velocity of the horizontal component of

velocity is and the vertical component of velocity is
(use trigonometry)

Projectile Motion

In a projectile the horizontal velocity remains constant throughout the motion,

since there is no horizontal acceleration

Using this we can now derive the time of motion before hitting the ground with a
speed of v0:

The time it takes to reach the top can be found using the equation
. We know vfy=0, so solving:

Since the motion on both sides is symmetrical, the time it takes for the full
motion is doubled :
(we can drop the negative sign since time is positive)

Projectile Motion Equations

Maximum height reached derivation can be found using the equation

Fundamental knowledge check: Solve for delta x to derive the maximum height reached
by a projectile

Answer:

Projectile Motion equations continued

Projectile Problem 2022 #1

Solution
We know that maximum height reached is . Here because the proj.
is thrown straight up,

So the maximum height reached is just .

Next, using the kinematics equation , and

substituting for , we get that , and to make

sure we have an appropriate variable to plug into the max height expression, solve
for to get . Plug this

into the max height expression to get

Alternatively you could solve this problem with energy if you know how

Range of the projectile can be found by multiplying the time it takes for the
projectile with the horizontal velocity, which remains constant throughout as there
is no horizontal acceleration (only gravity acts downward!).

Fundamental knowledge check: Derive the equation for the range (use trig to
simplify)

Answer:
Projectile Motion Range

Projectile problem: 2023 #10

Solution
Since she shoots the target at the same height it lands on, the arrow must exactly
be at the end of its projectile motion when it hits the target.

So the range is 100m as given in the problem

Using the range equation , the fact that g is

approximately 10, and :

.
Using basic trigonometry, the answer is

Topic that comes up in F=ma from time to time

Free-fall: When no forces act on an object except gravity. This causes the object
to be constantly accelerating 10 m/s/s (9.8 m/s)

Most kinematics problems occur when the object is in free fall, so make sure to use
the acceleration of g

Tips: avoid using 9.8 for gravitational constant in the F=ma because many of the
answers use g=10!
Free fall

Free Fall Problem: 2023 #11

Solution
We know that the vertical height and range are equal for the first projectile
. Solving for ,
 . However,
our goal is to find . We can find this as the variable h is

considered a given:

Brief trig break/review:

How to find ?

Draw the right triangle for arctan:

And find sin^2 using right triangle

trigonometry to get

Now (through further simplification), we know

that . The max height can be

found using the formula , where

theta is pi/2, so the answer is

Newton’s laws

There are some important forces to classical mechanics that we will cover in the
next session (including FBDs).

Here is a brief overview:

Force: One object exerts a push or pull on another object

Gravity: the force of attraction between two objects (only massive objects
experience a true force). Mg represents the weight of the object, where m is the
mass and g is the gravitational constant

Normal force: force exerted by a surface on an object that is directly

PERPENDICULAR to the inclined surface

Friction: force of resistance between two surfaces as motion occurs. Friction acts
opposite to the direction of motion

Fundamental Knowledge check:

On earth, what is the weight of an object that is 5 kilograms (use gravitational

constant g)
Forces overview (basic)
Answer: The weight mg: is 5*10= 50 N.

An object’s motion will not change unless acted upon by an unbalanced force

Fundamental Knowledge Check: The cart below is at rest. If I apply a force of 50 N

to the cart, will its motion change?
Newton’s 1st law
Ans: Yes, because of the unbalanced force

What’s the name of the competition?

F=ma is newton’s second law. VERY important in dynamics.

The units of force is N, and the units of mass are kg. What is the unit of
acceleration?

Force is equal to mass times the acceleration. The force is the net force, all the
forces combined together, where some can even cancel each other out

ALWAYS specify direction of the net force

Fundamental Knowledge Check: The object below has a mass of 0.5 kg

Find the net force on the object and calculate its x and y acceleration using

Newton’s Second Law

Answer: Horizontal net force= 100-50= 50 N to the left
Vertical net force: 0
Vertical acceleration: 0 N/m
Horizontal acceleration: 50/0.5=100 N/m or 100 m/s/s very fast haha

Whenever object A exerts a force on object B, object B exerts the same and opposite
force on object A

Newton’s third law CANNOT be applied to two forces acting on the same object, like
the normal force and gravity.

Fundamental Knowledge Check:

If I apply a force of 50 N on a table, how much force does the table exert on me?
Newton’s 3rd Law
Answer: 50 N equal and opposite

Angled theta with respect to the surface

Normal force acts perpendicular to

Inclined planes

If you are planning on studying these topics over next week, which we highly
recommend you do, especially if you are a beginner, this is a pretty good schedule

Day 1: Review PVA (position, acceleration, velocity) + practice problems

Day 2: Review Big 5 equations + practice problems
Day 3: Review Projectile motion +practice problems
Day 4: Newton’s 1st and second law + practice problems
Day 5: Newton’s third law + practice problems

Recommended set of problems are in this pdf here:

Recommended Study Schedule