Mechanics

2.1 – Motion
• Distance and displacement
Distance Displacement
Scalar Vector
A scalar quantity which measures how far two A vector quantity defined by the length and
locations are apart from each other along a direction of the line segment joining the initial
certain path. and final positions of an object.

• Speed and velocity

Speed Velocity

Scalar Vector

Rate of change of distance to time. Rate of change of displacement to time.

Velocity is a measure dependent on the motion of the observer. The relative velocity of A to
B is equal to the vector subtraction of the velocity of B from the velocity of A.

• Acceleration
Acceleration
Vector
Rate of change of velocity
Acceleration due to gravity of any free-falling object is given by g=9.81m/s^2. This value
does not depend on the mass of the object.

Take note that acceleration is a vector and thus has a direction. If we assume the upwards
direction to be positive, the acceleration due to gravity would have a negative value of g=-
9.81m/s^2.

• Graphs describing motion

Displacement-time graph

The slope gradient indicates the velocity.

Straight lines imply constant velocity.

Velocity-time graph

The slope gradient indicates the acceleration.

Straight slanted lines imply constant acceleration or

deceleration.

The area under the lines indicates the change in displacement.

Acceleration-time graph

Horizontal lines imply constant acceleration.

The area under the lines indicates the change in velocity.

• Equations of motion for uniform acceleration
s = displacement u = initial velocity v = final velocity a = acceleration t = time taken
If acceleration is constant (uniform), the following equations can be used

• Projectile motion
An object is said to undergo projectile motion when it follows a curved path due to the
influence of gravity.

If we assume air resistance to be negligible in a projectile motion:

• The horizontal component of velocity is constant

• The vertical component of velocity accelerates downwards at 9.81m/s^2
• The projectile reaches its maximum height when its vertical velocity is zero
• The trajectory is symmetric
The presence of air resistance changes the trajectory of the projectile by the following

• The maximum height of the projectile is lower

• The range of the projectile is shorter
• The trajectory is not symmetric

• Fluid resistance and terminal speed

Air resistance limits the maximum velocity an object could attain from free-falling. For
example:

• If you jump out of a plane and undergo free-falling, you will feel an upward force exerted
on you by the surrounding air due to air resistance.
• As you fall faster and faster due to gravity, this upward force exerted by air becomes
greater and greater until it balances your weight. At this point, the net force acting on you
becomes zero, and you no longer accelerate.
• This specific velocity at which you stop accelerating during a free-fall is called the
terminal velocity.

2.2 – Forces
• Objects as point particles
Forces change the velocity or shape of objects.

The unit of force is newton (N).

Objects are represented as a point mass to enable the representation for forces as arrows in
free-body diagrams.

• Free-body diagrams
On a free body diagram, forces acting on an object are represented as arrows which stem
from a point mass.

The length and direction of the arrows corresponds to the magnitude and the direction of the
forces acting on the body of interest.

Determining the resultant force

1. Resolve all acting forces into horizontal and vertical components

2. Add up the horizontal components
3. Add up the vertical components
4. Combine the sum of horizontal components and the sum of vertical components

• Translational equilibrium
A body is said to be in translational equilibrium if it the net force acting on the body is zero.
This means the body is either at rest or travels at constant velocity. For example:

• Mass hanging at rest

• Elevator moving upwards at constant velocity
• Parachutist reaching terminal velocity

• Newton’s laws of motion

Newton’s First Law (Law of Inertia) states that a body remains at rest or travels with constant
speed along a straight line unless acted upon by an external force. (Net force = 0)

Newton’s Second Law states that net force is directly proportional to acceleration and to
mass. (F=ma)

Newton’s Third Law states that if a body A exerts a force on body B, then body B exerts a
force of the same magnitude but in the opposite direction of body A.

This pair of forces is called an action-reaction pair, which must act on two different bodies.
• Solid friction
Friction is a non-conservative force which opposes motion. If there is no motion, then there
will be no force caused by friction.

For two solid surfaces moving over each other, the friction will be affected by the nature
(roughness etc) of the two surfaces. However, the surface area and velocity of the object does
not affect the friction.

There are also two types of friction for solid surfaces: static friction and kinetic friction.
Static friction is that which stops objects from beginning to move. Kinetic friction is that
which slows objects down when they are moving. Static friction is always larger than kinetic
friction.