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Lec22 Physical Quantities
Lec22 Physical Quantities
The book A Tour of the Subatomic Zoo is at the SU Bookstore, not the Orange bookstore. (The SU Bookstore is the one in Schine) Frontiers of Science Lecture this Thursday at 7:30, Grant Auditorium. (Benefit of the doubt credits!) The Elegant Universe Brian Greene, Columbia University Lectures will be posted in the morning, so feel free to bring a printed copy with you to class. Sometimes they will be available the night before.
FYI, When printing the PDF file for a lecture, you can print multiple slides to a sheet using the Printer Properties dialog box.
Scalars
Scalar quantities are those which are described solely by their magnitude Some examples are: Mass Time Volume Temperature Voltage e.g. e.g. e.g. e.g e.g. 14 [kg], 36 [lbs], 10 seconds, 40 minutes, 1000 cm3, 4 litres, 12 gallons 14 oF , 25 oC, 9 Volts, etc
Vectors
Vector quantities are those which need to be described by BOTH magnitude and direction
Some of the most common examples which we will encounter are: Velocity Acceleration Force Momentum e.g. 100 [mi/hr] NORTH e.g. 10 [m/sec2] at 35o with respect to EAST e.g. 980 [Newtons] straight down (270o) e.g. 200 [kg m/sec] at 90o.
Distance
The separation between two locations. Distance can be measured in many types of units. We will mostly use:
MKS Units millimeters [m] centimeters [cm] meters [m] kilometers [km], etc
You should be comfortable with converting from [cm] to [m], [mm] to [km], and so on. We may use the symbolic notation Dd to mean a change in the position. The symbol D should be read as the change in
Time
In physics, we are most often less interested in absolute time than changes in time, or a time interval. seconds [sec] minutes [min] hours [hr] Time can be expressed in several units as well: days years etc Example 1: How much time does it take for the earth to make one revolution? Example 2: How long did it take for you to drive to the store today? We usually refer to a time interval as : Dt
Velocity
Velocity is a measure of the rate of change of the distance with respect to time. v = Dd / Dt It will usually be measured in [m/sec]. What does 5 [m/sec] mean? It means if an object passes by us at 5 [m/sec], it will advance its position by 5 [m] every second. So after 2 [sec], it will have advanced 10 [m], and 20 [m] in 4 [sec] and so on.
Acceleration (I)
Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity with respect to time
a = Dv / Dt
What does a = 5 [m/sec2] mean? If an object starts at rest, its velocity increases by 5 [m/sec] every second. Time (sec) 0 Acceleration 5 m/sec2 Velocity 0 m/sec
1 2 3 4
Acceleration (II)
Acceleration can be negative also! We call this deceleration.
If the acceleration is in the same direction as the velocity, the object has positive acceleration (it speeds up).
If the acceleration is in the opposite direction as the velocity, the object has negative acceleration or deceleration (it slows down).
What is a Force ?
Force is simply: A PUSH or A PULL
a=F/m
This means: Increasing the force increases the acceleration; decreasing the force results in a lower acceleration. This is Newtons Law, and it is often written:
F = ma
Force (I)
A force is generally a result of an interaction between two (or more) objects (Try and think of a scenario where a force is applied with only one object involved)? Can you think of some examples of forces? Gravitational Electric Magnetic Friction Wind drag Van der Waals forces Hydrogen bonds Forces in a compressed or stretched spring +
Forces (II)
Since two or more objects must be involved, a force intimately tied to the notion of an interaction. Interactions are now believed to occur through the exchange of force carriers. This is a very important point, and well come back to it later
Momentum (I)
What is momentum? Momentum is simply the product of the mass and the velocity. Denoting momentum as p, it is simply: m v
p = m*v
The units of momentum are [kg][m/sec] == [kg m/sec] Momentum is a very important subject in physics because it is what we call a conserved quantity. What does this mean? We will come back to the idea of conserved quantities in physics. They play a very important role in understanding the world around us!
Momentum (Example I)
If a 500 [kg] car is traveling west at 20 [m/sec], what is its momentum? A) -1x104 [kg m/sec] B) -1x103 [kg m/sec] C) 25 [kg m/sec] D) 1x105 [kg m/sec]
-20 [m/sec]
500 [kg]
p = m*v = (5000 [kg])(10 [m/sec]) = 50,000 [kg m/sec] = 5x104 [kg m/sec]
Since their momenta are aligned in the same direction, we can just add them: PTOTAL = -1x104 [kg m/sec] + 5x104 [kg m/sec] = 4x104 [kg m/sec]
Energy
What is Energy
From Merriam Webster: Energy: The capacity for doing work (or to produce heat)
2. Heat
3. Electricity
Energy
What do you mean mass is a form of energy? Well get to this later. The thing about energy is that it cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be transformed from one form into another Yes, like momentum it is a conserved quantity. We will learn that conserved quantities are a powerful tool in predicting the future!
Summary I
In nature, there are two types of quantities, scalars and vectors Scalars have only magnitude, whereas vectors have both magnitude and direction. The vectors we learned about are distance, velocity, acceleration, force, and momentum The scalars we learned about are time, and Energy.
Summary II
Forces are the result of interactions between two or more objects. If the net force on an object is not zero, it will accelerate. That is it will either speed up, slow down, or change direction. Energy and momentum are conserved quantities. This has far-reaching consequences for predicting whether certain events or processes can occur. There are many forms of energy. The topic of energy will be discussed in greater detail in next lecture.