General Physics I (PHY 101)

(Lecture Note 1)
Course Outline
Space and time. Units and dimensions, Vectors and Scalars. Differentiation of vectors: displacement,
velocity and acceleration. Kinematics. Newton laws of motion (Inertial frames, Impulse, force and
action at a distance, momentum conservation). Relative motion. Application of Newtonian
mechanics. Equations of motion. Conservation principles in physics. Conservative forces.
Conservation of linear momentum.

Space and Time

Space, a boundless, three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative
position and direction.

Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. Physical space is often
conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a
boundless four-dimensional continuum known as spacetime. The concept of space is of fundamental
importance to an understanding of the physical universe.

Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible
succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of
various measurements used to sequence events, to compare the duration of events or the intervals
between them, and to quantify rates of change of quantities in material reality or in
the conscious experience. Time is often referred to as a fourth dimension, along with three spatial
dimensions. Time is one of the seven fundamental physical quantities in both the International
System of Units (SI) and International System of Quantities. The SI base unit of time is the second.

Fundamental Quantities and Units

No physical quantity is meaningful unless it can be exactly measured, quantified and given a unit. In
other words, we need two things to specify a physical quantity: the number or quantity and its unit of
measurement.

Fundamental quantities are the basic quantities that are independent of other quantities. Fundamental
units are basic units upon which other units depend.

There are three important fundamental quantities in physics. There are: length, mass and time. The
units of these quantities form the base units upon which the units of other quantities depend. Other

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fundamental quantities are electric current, temperature, amount of substance and luminous intensity.
Scientists all over the world try to use the same quantity. For example, the British and others prefer
to use inches to measure length and pounds to measure weight. In most scientific measurements, the
system of units now accepted internationally is called the International System of Units, often called
SI unit. The fundamental units are shown in the Table below

Quantity Unit Unit Abbreviation

Length Meter m
Mass kilogram kg
Time second s
Temperature kelvin K
Electric Current ampere A
Amount of Substance mole mol
Luminous Intensity candela cd

If you consider only the first three fundamental quantities and units, that is, length (metres), mass
(kilograms), time (second), the SI unit can be referred to as m-k-s (metre-kilogram-second) system.
Another sub system of m-k-s is the cm-g-s system in which the standard units of length, mass and
time are centimeter, gram and second respectively. The SI units are the principal system of units used
in scientific work today.

Submultiples and multiples of units

Each unit can exist in multiples and submultiples using the following prefixes

Submultiples Prefix
10-1 deci (d)
10-2 centi (c)
10-3 milli (m)
10-6 micro (µ)
10-9 nano (n)
10-12 pico (p)
Multiples
10 deca (da)
102 hector (h)
103 kilo (k)
106 mega (M)
109 giga (G)
1012 tera (T)

Some examples of units formed in this way are given below:

For length
1000 meter (m) = 1 kilometer (km)
10-1 meter (m) = 1 decimeter (dm)

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10-2 meter (m) = 1 centimeter (cm)
10-3 meter (m) = 1 millimeter (mm)

For mass
10-3 kilogram (kg) = 1 gram (g)
10-6 kilogram (kg) = 1 milligram (mg)

For time
24 hours (h) =86400 seconds (s) = 24 x 60 x 60) seconds = 1 day
60 minutes (min) = 3600 seconds = 1 hour
60 seconds (s) = 1 minute
(1000)-1 second = 1 millisecond (ms)

Derived quantities and units

By simple combination of SI basic units, we can obtain other useful units. These are called derived u
nits. The unit of volume is obtained by multiplying the unit for length three times m  m  m  m 3
pronounced ‘cubic metre’ or metre cubed’. Density is the ratio of mass and volume. Therefore, the
unit of density kgm-3, pronounced kilogram per metre cubed. Speed is defined as distance divided by
time; therefore, the unit is ms-1, pronounced meter per second.

Quantity Derivation Unit

Area Length x breadth m2
Volume Length x breadth x height m3
Density mass Kgm-3
volume
Speed dis tan ce ms-1
time
Velocity displacement ms-1
time
Acceleration velocity ms-2
time
Force Mass x acceleration Newton (N)
Weight Mass x acceleration due to gravity N
Momentum Mass x velocity = Force x time Newton second (Ns)
Pressure Force Pascal (Pa) or Nm-2
Area
Energy or work Force x distance Joules (J) or Nm
Power work Watts (W) or Nms-1 or Js-1
time

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Derived quantities and units are those obtained by simple combination of fundamental quantities and
units.

Dimensions of physical quantities

The dimensions of a physical quantity indicate how it is made up in terms of the SI base quantities.
In other words, the physical quantity is said to have been expressed in terms of dimensions of the
three fundamental units’ length (L), mass (M) and time (T).

For example, the dimension of density (kgm-3) = mass x (length)-3, that is

mass M
density   3  ML3
volume L

velocity v s
The dimension of acceleration, a    2  LT  2
time t t

The dimension of force, F  ma  MLT 2

The table below shows some physical quantities and their dimensions.

Physical Qualities Units Dimension

Velocity ms-1 LT-1
Acceleration ms-2 LT-2
Force N M LT-2
Momentum kgms-1 MLT-1
Density kgm-3 ML-3
Pressure Nm-2 ML-1T-2
Young modulus Nm-2 ML-1T-2
Surface tension Nm-1 MT-2

Tutorials
Mm
1. If F  G . Find the dimension of G, if R is a distance, F is force and Mm are masses.
R2
F/A
2. The young modulus of elasticity is defined as E  . Obtain the dimension of E where F is the
e/l
force.

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Vectors and Scalars
In physics, we have physical quantities which can be categorized in two ways, namely, Scalar
Quantity and Vector Quantity.

The physical quantities which have only magnitude are known as scalar quantities. It is fully
described by a magnitude or a numerical value. Scalar quantity does not have directions. In other
terms, a scalar is a measure of quantity. For example, if I say that the height of a tower is 15
meters, then the height of the tower is a scalar quantity as it needs only the magnitude of height to
define itself. Let’s take another example, suppose the time taken to complete a piece of work is 3
hours, then in this case also to describe time just needs the magnitude i.e. 3 hours.

Scalars are physical quantities that are entirely defined by numerical values or magnitudes, they
don’t have directions. Examples are distance, speed, mass, temperature, time, volume, energy, and so
on. Scalars are real numbers, and, in most cases, they are with units such as meter, degree, feet, …

Vectors are physical quantities that are characterized by both numerical values (magnitude) and
directions. Examples include displacement, velocity, acceleration, force, momentum, moment and so
on. Vectors are in most cases represented by straight lines, and the length of the lines determines the
magnitude of the vectors. An arrow sign placed at the edge or middle of a vector line is used to
denote the sense or direction of the vector.

Consider vectors represented by line segments AB and CD in Figure 1 below, the lengths
(magnitudes) of the vectors are represented as AB and CD respectively. In AB , A is the origin or

initial point while B is the end or terminal point of the vector. As shown in the diagram below,
vector AB may also be denoted as P and CD as Q .

Figure 1: Vector Representations

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Difference Between Scalar and Vector Quantity
Scalar Quantity Vector Quantity
It has magnitude only It has both magnitude and the direction
It does not have direction It has direction
It is specified by a number and a
It is also specified by a number along with the direction and unit
unit
It is represented by quantity It is represented by quantity symbol in bold or with the arrow sign
symbol above
Example: Temperature, speed, etc Example: Acceleration, velocity, etc

Types of vectors
There are many types of vectors, but in this text, we shall limit our discussions to the following.
1. Unit vector: This is a vector with a magnitude of one unit. For example, i and j are unit vectors.
Any vector, say, x can be expressed as the product of its magnitude and a unit vector in the same
direction. That is, x  x xˆ (1)

Where x̂ is a unit vector, and x is the magnitude of the vector x .

2. Zero or Null vector: This is a vector with a magnitude of zero, its length is zero. It is denoted as 0 .

3. Equal vectors: These are vectors of equal magnitude or length and are in the same direction.

4. Reciprocal vectors: These are vectors in the same direction, and the product of their magnitudes is
unity (one).

5. Negative of a vector: These are vectors of the same magnitude or length but are in opposite
directions.

6. Parallel vectors: These are vectors that are collinear or parallel to one another.

7. Like and unlike vectors: Like vectors are parallel vectors in the same direction, while unlike
vectors are parallel vectors in opposite directions.

8. Co-initial vectors: These are vectors with the same origin or initial point.

9. Proper vectors: These are non-zero vectors.

10. Coplanar vectors: These are vectors that are parallel to the same plane.

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Vector Components
Vector can be represented in one, two or three dimensions. If a vector A is in three dimensions, it
could be represented as Ai , A j , Ak in the directions x, y, z respectively (Figure 2). Then, vectors Ax i

, Ay j and Az k are the components of vector A in the x, y and z directions respectively. Also, the

scalar Ax , Ay and Az are the components of A in the x , y and z directions respectively. The

components of vector A can be summed, subtracted, or multiplied by a scalar quantity. The

magnitude of vector A is given as Equation (2).

A  Ax2  Ay2  Az2 (2)

Figure 2: Vector components in x, y, and z directions

Direction vectors
These are vectors that are used to indicate the direction of another vector. For example, if a vector x
has a magnitude of 10 units in the direction of the vector 4i  3 j , then 4i  3 j is the direction vector

of x . It is mostly denoted as d̂ .

d
The direction vector is given as dˆ  (3)
d

Therefore, vector x can be given as x  x dˆ (4)

Worked Examples
1. Find x if it has a magnitude of 10 units in the direction of the vector 4i  3 j .

Solution: x  x dˆ

d  4i  3 j , d  4 2  ( 3) 2  5

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 d 1
d  ( 4i  3 j )
d 5

1
x  10  (4i  3 j )  8i  6 j
5

2. A force of magnitude 30 N acts in the direction of 3i  5 j . Find the force F .


Solution: F  F d

d  5 .8  6

d 1
dˆ   (3i  5 j )
d 6

1
F  30  (3i  5 j )  5(3i  5 j )
6
F  15i  25 j

Vector Algebra
Vector algebra is vector addition and subtraction, as well as vector-scalar multiplication.
1. Vectors Addition: Consider two vectors B and C in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Vectors addition

The sum of the vectors is the resultant vector D obtained by placing the terminal of B on the origin
of C . The sum D is written as D  B  C . This definition of vector addition is equivalent to the
parallelogram law for vector addition (Figure 4). Please note that in vectors’ addition, the direction
and length (magnitude) of the vector lines are very important.

Figure 4: Parallelogram law for vector addition

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2. Vectors Subtraction: If two vectors are not in the same direction, subtraction gives the resultant
vector. The difference in the vectors B and C in figure 1.03 above is denoted by D  B  C which
is defined as D  B  (C ) . If vectors B  C , then, D  B  B is defined as the null vector.

3. Vector-Scalar Multiplication: When a vector is multiplied by a scalar, the resultant is a vector. For
instance, if a vector B is multiplied by a scalar p , the magnitude of vector B is multiplied by the

magnitude of p to give a vector B p in the direction of B . If p  0 , then B p  0 (null vector).

Laws of Vector Algebra

Suppose A , B , and C are vectors, and p and q are scalars, we have the following laws;
1. ( A  B )  C  A  ( B  C ) (Associative law of addition)
2. A  B  B  A (Commutative law of addition)
3. A  0  0  A  A (Addition of null vector)
4. ( A  (  A)  ( A  A)  0 (Addition of negative of a vector)
5. 1( B )  B (Unit multiplication)
6. p ( A  B )  pA  pB (Distributive law of multiplication)
7. ( p  q )C  pC  qC (Distributive law of multiplication)
8. ( pq )C  p ( qC )  q ( pC ) (Associative law of multiplication)

Vector Product
If B and C are two vectors separated by an angle  as shown in figure 5 below, then the product of
the two vectors is given as;
B  C  BC sin  (5)

Figure 5: Vectors B and C separated by angle 

If B and C are three dimensional such that the components of B and C are given as
B  B x i, B y j , B z k  and C  C x i, C y j, C z k  . The product of the two vectors is given as

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 i j k
B  C  Bx By B z  B y C z  B z C y i  B x C z  B z C x  j  B x C y  B y C x k
Cx Cy Cz

Suppose A , B and C are vectors, and p and q are scalars, we have the following laws for vector
product.
1. B  C  B  C (Not Commutative)
2. A  ( B  C )  ( A  B )  ( A  C ) (Distributive)
3. p ( A  B )  ( pA)  B  A  ( pB )  ( A  B ) p (Associative)
4. i  i  j  j  k  k  0 , and i  j  k , j  k  i , k  i  j
5. If A and B are parallel, A  B  0 (Null vector)
6. If A and B are perpendicular, A  B  A  B

Worked Examples:
1. Suppose B  3i  2 j  2k and C  5i  8 j  7k .

Find (a) B  C (b) 3 B  C (c) 5C  3B (d) B (e) C

Solutions
(a) B  C  (3i  2 j  2k )  (5i  8 j  7 k )

B  C  (3  5)i  (2  8) j  (2  7)k  8i  10 j  9k

(b) 3B  C  3(3i  2 j  2k )  (5i  8 j  7 k )  (9i  6 j  6k )  (5i  8 j  7 k )

3B  C  (9  5)  (6  8) j  (6  7)k  4i  2 j  k

(c) 5C  3B  5(5i  8 j  7 k )  3(3i  2 j  2k )  (25i  40 j  35k )  (9i  6 j  6k )

5C  3B  (25  9)i  (40  6) j  (35  6)k  16i  34 j  29k

(d) B  3 2  2 2  (2) 2  9  4  4  17  4.12

(e) C  5 2  8 2  (7) 2  25  64  49  138  11.75

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2. Suppose B  3i  2 j  2k and C  5i  8 j  7k . Find (a) B  C (b) 2 B  C
Solutions:
i j k
(a) B  C  3 2  2  (2  7)  (2  8) i  (3  7)  (2  5)  j  (3  8)  (2  5) k
5 8 7

B  C  (14  16)i  (21  10) j  (24  10)k  2i  31 j  34k

(b) 2 B  C  2(3i  2 j  2k )  (5i  8 j  7 k )  (6i  4 j  4k )  (5i  8 j  7 k )

i j k
2B  C  6 4  4  (4  7)  (4  8) i  (6  7)  (4  5)  j  (6  8)  (4  5) k
5 8 7

2 B  C  (28  32)i  (42  20) j  (48  20)k  4i  62 j  68k

Scalar Product
This is also called dot product, and it is the product of the magnitude of two vectors. If A and B are
vectors as shown in Figure 1.05, then the scalar product is denoted by A  B and represented as
equation (6).
A  B  A  B cos (6)

where  is the angle between the two vectors, and 0    

Suppose A , B and C are vectors, and p and q are scalars, we have the following scalar product
laws.
1. A  B  B  A (Commutative)
2. A  ( B  C )  A  B  A  C (Distributive)
3. p ( A  B )  pA  B  A  Bp  ( A  B ) p
4. i  i  j  j  k  k  1 , and i  j  j  k  k  i  0
5. If A and B are perpendicular, A  B  0 (Null vector)
6. If A and B are parallel, A  B  A  B

Worked Example:
Suppose A  i  4 j  6k , B  3i  2 j  2k and C  5i  8 j  7k . Find

(a) A  B (b) B  C (c) A  C (d) 3B  2 A

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Solutions:
(a) A  B  (i  4 j  6k )  (3i  2 j  2k )  (1)(3)i  i  (4)(2) j  j  (6)(2)k  k

A  B  3  8  12  17

(b) B  C  (3i  2 j  2k )  (5i  8 j  7 k )  (3)(5)i  i  (2)(8) j  j  (2)(7)k  k

B  C  15  16  14  15

(c) A  C  (i  4 j  6k )  (5i  8 j  7 k )  (1)(5)i  i  (4)(8) j  j  (6)(7)k  k

A  C  5  32  42  79

(d) 3B  2 A  3(3i  2 j  2k )  2(i  4 j  6k )  (9i  6 j  6k )  (2i  8 j  12k )

3B  2 A  (9i  6 j  6k )  (2i  8 j  12k )  (9)(2)i  i  (6)(8) j  j  (6)(12)k  k

3 B  2 A  18  48  72  102

Distance, Displacement, Speed, Velocity and Acceleration

Distance
Distance is a numerical or occasionally qualitative measurement of how far apart objects or points
are. In physics or everyday usage, distance may refer to a physical length. Distance between the
amount of space between two places or things. Distance is the total movement of an object without
any regard to direction. We can define distance as to how much ground an object has covered despite
its starting or ending point.

Displacement
Displacement is defined as the change in position of an object. It is a vector quantity and has
direction and magnitude. It is represented as an arrow that points from the starting position to the
final position.

Differences between Displacement and Distance included.

Distance Displacement
Displacement is the direct length between any two
The complete length of the path between
points when measured along the minimum path between
any two points is called distance
them

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Distance is a scalar quantity as it only
Displacement is a vector quantity as it depends upon
depends upon the magnitude and not the
both magnitude and direction
direction
Distance can only have positive values Displacement can be positive, negative and even zero

Speed
Speed is the time rate at which an object is moving along a path, while velocity is the rate and
direction of an object’s movement. Speed is a scalar quantity that refers to "how fast an object is
moving." Speed can be thought of as the rate at which an object covers distance. A fast-moving
object has a high speed and covers a relatively large distance in a short amount of time. Contrast this
to a slow-moving object that has a low speed; it covers a relatively small amount of distance in the
same amount of time. An object with no movement at all has zero speed.

Instantaneous Speed - the speed at any given instant in time.

Average Speed - the average of all instantaneous speeds; found simply by a distance/time ratio.

Acceleration
An object is said to be accelerated if there is a change in its velocity. The change in the velocity of an
object could be an increase or decrease in speed or a change in the direction of motion. A few
examples of acceleration are the falling of an apple, the moon orbiting around the earth, or when a
car is stopped at the traffic lights. Through these examples, we can understand that when there is a
change in the direction of a moving object or an increase or decrease in speed, acceleration occurs.

Acceleration is defined as the rate of change of velocity with respect to time. Acceleration is a vector
quantity as it has both magnitude and direction. It is also the second derivative of position with
respect to time or it is the first derivative of velocity with respect to time.

Kinematics
Kinematics is the branch of mechanics that describes motion of a matter without reference to force
that causes motion. In this case, a frame of reference is needed since rest and motion are relative.
Kinematics deals with motion of macroscopic objects, its displacement, velocity and acceleration.

Matter
Matters are physical objects; they have masses and can occupy spaces. They are generally made from
molecules and atoms. Examples are water, table salt, computer, house and so on.

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Frame of Reference
Frame of Reference is a set of coordinates: something you can use to measure the things that matter
in positions and velocities. A point in space is specified by its three coordinates ( x, y, z ) and
sometimes by an event in time ( x, y , z , t ) . A frame of reference is the perspective or platform used to
determine if an object or matter is at rest or moving. The object’s status is discussed relative to the
frame of reference in which the object is moving or at rest. When a ball is rolling on the football
field, you can tell if the ball is moving towards a particular direction because you are relating the ball
to the stationary frame of reference, the field. Also, when a car is moving, you can tell because you
are relating the car to a frame of reference, the Earth.

Motion
We can define motion as the change of position of an object with respect to time. A book falling off
a table, water flowing from the tap, rattling windows, etc., all exhibit motion. Even the air that we
breathe exhibits motion! Everything in the universe moves. We live in a universe that is in continual
motion. The fundamental particle of matter, that is, the atom, is in constant motion too. Every
physical process in the universe is composed of motion of some sort. The motion can either be swift
or slow, but motion exists. It is important that we give due attention to the study of motion because
of its importance in the physical world. Motion is mainly described in terms of the following terms:
Distance, Displacement, Speed, Time

Types Of Motion
We might have noticed that different objects move differently. Some objects move in a curved path,
some in a straight path and a few others in a different way. According to the nature of the movement,
motion is classified into three types as follows: Linear Motion, Rotary Motion, and Oscillatory
Motion.

Linear Motion
In linear motion, the particles move from one point to another in either a straight line or a curved
path. The linear motion depending on the path of motion, is further divided as follows
 Rectilinear Motion – The path of the motion is a straight line.
 Curvilinear Motion – The path of the motion is curved.
A few examples of linear motion are the motion of the train, football, the motion of a car on the road,
etc.

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Rotatory Motion
Rotatory motion is the motion that occurs when a body rotates on its own axis. A few examples of
the rotatory motion are as follows:
 The motion of the earth about its own axis around the sun is an example of rotary motion.
 While driving a car, the motion of wheels and the steering wheel about its own axis is an
example of rotatory motion.

Oscillatory Motion
Oscillatory motion is the motion of a body about its mean position. A few examples of oscillatory
motion are
 When a child on a swing is pushed, the swing moves to and fro about its mean position.
 The pendulum of a clock exhibits oscillatory motion as it moves to and fro about its mean
position.
 The string of the guitar when strummed moves to and fro with its mean position resulting in
an oscillatory motion.

Relative Motion
Motion is relative, that is, no absolute frame of reference. The frame of reference represents
coordinate systems used to represent and measures properties of objects such as their position and
orientation. The coordinate systems are fixed and moving coordinate systems. Fixed coordinate
system describes the body in a fixed position or at resting position in a particular time. The moving
coordinate system is important because, no body or matter is at absolute rest. Therefore, a coordinate
frame or system at absolute rest is hypothetical, and hypothesized by Newton, when his first law of
motion holds. In reality, only the moving frames exist, and the prime example being Earth itself.

Newton’s Laws of Motion

First Law of Motion
The first law of motion states that matter will continue to move with uniform velocity or be at rest
unless an external force acted on it. The law describes that a free object always moves with uniform
velocity (with no acceleration) unless an external force is acting on the object. An object is said to be
free when it is in isolation, that is, the object is not subjected to any interaction with its immediate
environment. Net interaction with the environment is very negligible and can be approximated to
zero.

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The First law of motion also refers to as the law of inertia because the consequence of the first law is
best described by inertia which is the tendency of a body to keep moving in a straight line at a
constant velocity. Inertia is the response of any physical object to sudden change in its state of
motion. The law of inertia is related to free objects because free objects will always move with
constant momentum.

Second Law of Motion

The second law states that force applied to a body of constant mass is directly proportional to the
acceleration produced.
Force  mass  acceleration
F  ma (a)
Linear momentum of a body is the product of its velocity and mass.
Momentum  mass  velocity
P  mv (b)
Momentum is a vector quantity whose direction is the in the direction of the velocity. If a body
moves with a constant velocity, its momentum will be constant, and in order to have a change of
velocity, a force must be applied to the body. The unit of momentum is kgm/s or Ns.

The second law follows from the principle of conservation of linear momentum which states that the
total momentum of an isolated system is constant. That is, the net linear momentum at initial time
equals to the net linear momentum at final time.

P initial   Pfinal (c)

(v  v 0 )
Recall that, acceleration a
t
(v  v 0 )
Equation (a) becomes F  m (d)
t
where v and v0 are the final and initial velocities respectively.

Also, from Equation (d), the second law can be stated as the change in momentum (mv  mv0 ) is

directly proportional to impulse (Ft ) .

Ft  mv  mv0 (e)

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Third Law of Motion
When two bodies interact, the force exacted on one body is equal and opposite to the force exacted
on the other body. If F1 is the force on a body A due to its interaction with body B, and F2 is the
force on a body B due to its interaction with body A, then
F1   F2 (f)
The law can then be stated as if body A exerts a force on body B, then, body B will exact an equal
and opposite force on body A. This means that the actions of body A and the subsequent reactions of
body B are equal and opposite.

Newton’s Third Law of Motion states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
When two bodies interact, they apply forces on each other that are equal in magnitude and opposite
in direction. This law highlights the concept that forces always occur in pairs.

This third law of motion has profound implications, including conserving momentum. Momentum is
a property of moving objects determined by an object’s mass and velocity. According to Newton’s
third law, the total momentum of an isolated system remains constant. This means that in any
interaction, the total momentum before and after the interaction remains the same, regardless of the
forces involved.

Worked Examples
1. What constant force will act in the direction of motion if a particle of 8 kg increases its speed from
15 to 30 m/s in 4 seconds?
Solution
m(v  v 0 ) 8(30  15) 8(15)
F    30 N
t 4 4
The constant force will act in the direction of motion is 30 N

2. Calculate the mass of a particle when it moves through velocities 20 - 60 m/s at an impulse of 80
Ns.
Solution
Ft 80 80
m    2kg
v  v 0 60  20 40
The mass of the particle is 2kg

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3. Given that an object moves in the directions x  (3t 2  4t  2) , y  2 sin 3t and z  2 cos 3t for 20
seconds. Find the displacement, velocity and acceleration of the object.
Solution:
Displacement r  xi  yj  zk

r  (3t 2  4t  2)i  (2 sin 3t ) j  (2 cos 3t )k

At t  20 r  (3(20) 2  (4  20)  2)i  (2 sin 3(20)) j  (2 cos 3(20))k

r  (1200  80  2)i  ( 2 sin 60 ) j  ( 2 cos 60) k

3 1
r  1282i  2 j  2 k  1282i  3 j  k
2 2

Velocity, v 

dr d (3t 2  4t  2)i  (3 sin 3t ) j  (2 cos 3t )k 
dt dt
v  (6t  4)i  (6 cos 3t ) j  (6 sin 3t )k
At t  20 v  (12  4)i  (6 cos 60) j  (6 sin 60) k

1 3
v  16i  6 j6 k  16i  3 j  3 3k
2 2
dv d (6t  4)i  (6 cos 3t ) j  (6 sin 3t ) k
Acceleration a 
dt dt
a  6i  (18 sin 3t ) j  (18 cos 3t ) k
At t  20 a  6i  (18 sin 60) j  (18 cos 60) k

a  6i  18 
2
3 1

j  18  k  3 2i  3 3 j  3k
2


Equations of Motion
This describes motion in a straight line and with constant acceleration. Consider a particle moving in
a straight line with a constant acceleration (a ) , initial velocity (v 0 ) and final velocity (v ) after a time

interval (t ) . Then,

v  v0
Acceleration, a  v  v0  at
t
v  v 0  at (7)

Displacement (x ) in time (t ) is given as

1
x (v0  v)t (8)
2

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Substitute final velocity (v ) from equation (7) into (8),
1 1
x (v0  v0  at )t x ( 2v0 t  at 2 )
2 2
1 2
x  v0 t  at (9)
2
Substitute time (t ) from equation (7) into (8),

1  v  v0 
x ( v 0  v )   (v 2  v 02 )  2ax
2  a 
v 2  v 02  2 ax (10)

Equations (7), (9) and (10) are the equations of motion for particles moving in a straight line and
with constant acceleration. When objects undergo constant deceleration or retardation, the
acceleration becomes negative.

Worked Examples
1. A body is moving in a straight line with constant acceleration of -3 m/s2. If the body starts from
rest with a velocity of 8 m/s, find the displacement of the body after 4 seconds.
Solution:
a  3m / s 2 , v 0  8m / s , t  4 sec. , x  ?
1 2
Using displacement, x  v0 t  at
2
1
x  (8  4)  ( 3)( 4) 2  32  24
2
x  8m

2. A particle moves in a straight line with initial velocity of 3 m/s and constant acceleration of 2 m/s 2
for 4 seconds. Find the distance covered and final velocity of the particle.
Solution:
a  2m / s 2 , v 0  3m / s , t  4 sec. , x  ? , v  ?
1 2
x  v0t  at
2
1
x  (3  4)  ( 2  4 2 )  12  16
2
x  28m

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v  v0  at
v  3  ( 2  4)
v  11m / s
The distance covered and final velocity of the particle are 28m and 11m / s respectively.

3. A body moves rectilinearly with constant acceleration from rest and covers 300 m with a velocity
of 25 m/s. Calculate the acceleration of the body.
Solution:
x  300m , v 0  0 , v  25m / s

v 2  v 02  2ax

v 2  2 ax
v2 25 2 625
a    1.04m / s 2
2 x 2(300) 600

Force
Force is a vector quantity that causes a body with mass to change its velocity by pushing or pulling.
It is the product of the mass of an object and its acceleration in a particular direction. A force is any
interaction that, when unopposed, will change the motion of a body. A force can cause a body to
change its velocity at any time or instant. Concepts related to force include trust, which increases the
velocity of a body; drag, which decreases the velocity of a body; and torque, which produces changes
in rotational motion of a body. All forces or interactions between bodies can be grouped into two
broad categories, namely contact and non-contact forces.

Contact forces are those forces that result when two interacting bodies are perceived to be physically
contacting each other. Examples include frictional forces, tensional forces, normal forces, air
resistance forces, spring force and applied forces. Non-Contact forces are those forces that result
when the two interacting bodies are not in physical contact with each other, but yet are able to exert a
push or pull. Examples include gravitational force, electrical force and Magnetic force. The sun and
planets exert a gravitational pull on each other despite their large spatial separation. Even when your
feet leave the earth and you are no longer in physical contact with the earth, there is a gravitational
pull between you and the Earth. Also, the protons in the nucleus of an atom and the electrons outside
the nucleus experience an electrical pull towards each other despite their small spatial separation.

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Force is the external agent which produces motion or tends to produce motion, or it stops motion or
tends to stop motion. Force can also change the direction of motion of an object or change the shape
or size of a body on which it acts. The types of force include:

1. Applied Force: This is a force that is applied to a body by another body or person. It is force
applied to a body or an object to make it move. This force is sometimes called muscular force
because it is due to the action of muscles.

2. Gravitational Force: This is also called weight, and it is the force with which the Earth attracts
object towards itself. All objects on the Earth experience a force of gravity that is directed
downward towards the center of the earth, and this force is always equal to the weight of the
object.

3. Frictional Force: This force is the force exerted by a surface as an object moves across it or tries
to move across it. It opposes the movement of an object on a plane’s surface. Friction results
from two surfaces that are pressed together closely, causing intermolecular attractive forces
between molecules of the two surfaces. As such, friction depends upon the nature of the two
surfaces and upon the degree to which they are pressed together.

4. Normal Force: This is a horizontal force exerted on an object that is in contact with another
stable object. For example, if a box is resting on a surface, then the surface is exerting an upward
force on the box to support the weight of the box. Also, if a person rests on a wall, the wall
pushes horizontally on the person.

5. Air Resistance: This force opposes the motion of an object, and it is a special type of frictional
force that acts upon objects as they travel through the air. In most calculations and predictions,
this force is frequently neglected because it is negligible in magnitude, and its value is
mathematically difficult to predict. However, it is noticeable in objects that travel at very high
speeds and objects with very large surface areas.

6. Tension: This force is transmitted through a string, rope, cable or wire when it is pulled tight by
forces acting in opposite direction. The tension force is always directed along the length of the
wire and pulls equally on the objects on the opposite ends of the string.

7. Spring Force: This force is exerted by a compressed or stretched spring when an object is
attached to it. An object that compresses or stretches a spring is always acted upon by a force
that restores the object to its rest or equilibrium position. For the springs that obey Hooke's Law,

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 the magnitude of the force is directly proportional to the amount of extension or compression of
the spring.

Conservation Laws in Physics

Conservation laws, in physics, a principle that states that a certain physical property (a measurable
quantity) does not change in the course of time within an isolated physical system. Laws of this type
govern energy, momentum, angular momentum, mass, and electric charge. An important function of
conservation laws is that they make it possible to predict the macroscopic behaviour of a system
without having to consider the microscopic details of the course of a physical process or chemical
reaction.

1. The law of conservation of energy implies that energy can be neither created nor destroyed,
although it can be changed from one form (mechanical, kinetic, chemical, electrical, …) into
another. In an isolated system, the sum of all forms of energy therefore remains constant. For
example, a falling body has a constant amount of energy, but the form of energy changes
from potential to kinetic. According to the theory of relativity, energy and mass are
equivalent. Thus, the rest mass of a body may be considered a form of potential energy, part
of which can be converted into other forms of energy.

The first kind of energy to be recognized was kinetic energy, or energy of motion. In certain
particle collisions, called elastic, the sum of the kinetic energy of the particles before collision
is equal to the sum of the kinetic energy of the particles after collision. The notion of energy
was progressively widened to include other forms. The kinetic energy lost by a body slowing
down as it travels upward against the force of gravity was regarded as being converted into
potential energy, or stored energy, which in turn is converted back into kinetic energy as the
body speeds up during its return to Earth. For example, when a pendulum swings upward,
kinetic energy is converted to potential energy. When the pendulum stops briefly at the top of
its swing, the kinetic energy is zero, and all the energy of the system is in potential energy.
When the pendulum swings back down, the potential energy is converted back into kinetic
energy. At all times, the sum of potential and kinetic energy is constant.

2. The law of conservation of mass implies that matter can be neither created nor destroyed, that
is, processes that change the physical or chemical properties of substances within an isolated
system (such as conversion of a liquid to a gas) leave the total mass unchanged. Both the laws

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 of conservation of mass and conservation of energy can be combined into one law, the
conservation of mass-energy.

3. The conservation of linear momentum expresses the fact that a body or system of bodies in
motion retains its total momentum, the product of mass and vector velocity, unless an
external force is applied to it. In an isolated system (such as the universe), there are no
external forces, so momentum is always conserved. Because momentum is conserved, its
components in any direction will also be conserved. Application of the law of conservation of
momentum is important in the solution of collision problems.

This is the general law of physics according to which the quantity called momentum that
characterizes motion never changes in an isolated collection of objects; that is, the total
momentum of a system remains constant. Momentum is equal to the mass of an object
multiplied by its velocity and is equivalent to the force required to bring the object to a stop
in a unit length of time. For any array of several objects, the total momentum is the sum of
the individual momenta. There is a peculiarity, however, in that momentum is a vector,
involving both the direction and the magnitude of motion, so that the momenta of objects
going in opposite directions can be cancelled to yield an overall sum of zero.

Before launch, the total momentum of a rocket and its fuel is zero. During launch, the
downward momentum of the expanding exhaust gases just equals in magnitude the upward
momentum of the rising rocket, so that the total momentum of the system remains constant—
in this case, at zero value. In a collision of two particles, the sum of the two momenta before
collision is equal to their sum after collision. What momentum one particle loses, the other
gains.

4. The conservation of angular momentum of rotating bodies is analogous to the conservation of

linear momentum. Angular momentum is a vector quantity whose conservation expresses the
law that a body or system that is rotating continues to rotate at the same rate unless a twisting
force, called a torque, is applied to it. The angular momentum of each bit of matter consists of
the product of its mass, its distance from the axis of rotation, and the component of its
velocity perpendicular to the line from the axis.

There is a similar conservation law for angular momentum, which describes rotational motion
in essentially the same way that ordinary momentum describes linear motion. Although the
precise mathematical expression of this law is somewhat more involved, examples of it are

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 numerous. All helicopters, for instance, require at least two propellers (rotors) for
stabilization. The body of a helicopter would rotate in the opposite direction to conserve
angular momentum if there were only a single horizontal propeller on top.

5. The conservation of charge states that the total amount of electric charge in a system does not
change with time. At a subatomic level, charged particles can be created, but always in pairs
with equal positive and negative charge so that the total amount of charge always remains
constant. The total charge in any closed system never changes, at least within the limits of the
most precise observation. In classical terms, this law implies that the appearance of a given
amount of positive charge in one part of a system is always accompanied by the appearance
of an equal amount of negative charge somewhere else in the system; for example, when a
plastic ruler is rubbed with a cloth, it becomes negatively charged and the cloth becomes
positively charged by an equal amount.

In the deepest sense, the conservation laws express the facts, respectively, that physics does not
change with passing time, with displacement in space, or with rotation in space.

Conservative forces
A conservative force is a force done in moving a particle from one point to another, such that the
force is independent of the path taken by the particle. It depends only on the initial and final position
of the particle. Gravitational force and elastic spring forces are two examples of conservative forces.

As the name suggests, conservative force conserves energy. It follows the law of conservation of
energy. Many forces in nature that we know of like the magnetic force, electrostatic force,
gravitational force, etc. are a few examples of conservative forces. Let us understand the concept
better with the help of the following example.

Figure 6: Gravitational force acting on a particle

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In Figure 6, the gravitational force acting on the particle has a magnitude equal to mg, where m is the
mass of the substance and g is the acceleration due to gravity. The particle moves from point A to
point B, and its vertical displacement is given by Δh. The blue curve in the image represents the
arbitrary path travelled by the body due to the influence of other forces acting on the body. But the
arbitrary path is of no consideration to the force of gravity as it is unaffected by it and therefore can
be treated independently. The force of gravity is only dependent on the vertical displacement.

The total work done by gravity on the body is given as Equation (11)

W g   mg (h) (11)

Where
 Δh is the difference between the final position (at point B) and the initial position (at point A)
 g is the acceleration due to gravity
 m is the mass of the body

No matter how complicated the path taken by the particle might be, we can easily find out the work
done by gravity on the particle using the above expression just by knowing the vertical displacement.
From this, we can conclude that the gravitational force doesn’t depend on the path taken but only
depends on the initial and final position. Hence, the gravitational force is a conservative force.

Properties of Conservative Forces

 When the force depends only on the initial and final position irrespective of the path taken.
 In any closed path, the work done by a conservative force is zero.
 The work done by a conservative is reversible.

Non-Conservative force
A non-conservative force is a force for which the work done depends on the path taken. Friction is
an example of a non-conservative force. A force is said to be a non-conservative force if it results in
the change of mechanical energy, which is nothing but the sum of potential and kinetic energy. The
work done by a non-conservative force adds or removes mechanical energy. For example, when
work is done by friction, thermal energy is dissipated. The energy lost cannot be fully recovered.

Properties of Non-Conservative Forces

 It is path-dependent therefore it also depends on the initial and final position.
 In any closed path, the total work done by a non-conservative force is not zero.
 The work done by a non-conservative is irreversible.

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