AY 2022 Sem 2 A107 L01 Lecture Notes (Lecturer)

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A107 Physics
Lesson 01: Physical quantities and units;
vectors and scalars
Interactive Seminar
Copyright © 2022 by Republic Polytechnic, Singapore

Contents
• Vectors and scalars
• Addition of vectors
• Resolving of vectors into their respective
components
• Force
• Newton’s laws of motion

Section 1:
Vectors and scalars

What are the differences between

vector and scalar quantities?
• A scalar is a physical quantity that has only magnitude
but no direction.
• A vector is a physical quantity that has both magnitude
and direction.
• To illustrate the point:
i. Mass is a scalar quantity. For example, 5 kg has magnitude
but it does not have direction. So it is a scalar.
ii. Volume is a scalar quantity. For example, 4 m3 has a
magnitude but it does not have direction.
iii. Force is a vector quantity. For example, a force of 10 N has
a magnitude and it is pointing in a certain direction. So it is
a vector.
iv. Velocity is a vector quantity. For example, a velocity of 8
m/s has a magnitude and it is pointing toward a certain
direction. So it is a vector.
Section 2:
Addition of Vectors

What happens when a scalar quantity

adds to another scalar quantity?
• A scalar quantity added with another scalar quantity will
still give a scalar quantity.
• For example:
5 kg + 8 kg = 13 kg
Adding together gives

5 kg is a
13 kg which is a
scalar quantity
8 kg is a scalar quantity
scalar quantity

What happens when scalar quantity

adds to another vector quantity?
• A scalar and vector quantity cannot be added together.
Adding a scalar and vector is not meaningful.
• For example:
5 kg + 8 m/s = ?
Adding mass to velocity does
not have any meaning.

What happens when scalar quantity

multiples to another vector quantity?
• Multiplying a scalar with a vector will produce a vector
quantity.
• One of the best example is the Newtonian formula,

which is Newton’s 2nd law of motion:
mass × acceleration = force
Scalar Vector Vector

quantity quantity quantity

What happens when vector quantity

• “Addition” of two vectors will result in a single vector.
• If the two vectors are parallel to one another, “adding”
the two vectors will be easy.
• Example 1 shows that when two forces, 4 N and 7 N, are
acting in the same direction, the two forces “add up” to
become 11 N in the direction as shown.

What happens when vector quantity

• “Addition” of two vectors will result in a single vector.
• If the two vectors are parallel to one another, “adding”
the two vectors will be easy.
• Example 2 shows that when two forces, 4 N and 7 N, are
acting in the opposite direction, the two forces “add up”
to become 3 N in the direction as shown.

Activity 1
1. Determine the resultant vector that is formed by adding
up the set of parallel vectors.
3N 5N
5N 8N
Ans: 3 + 5 = 8 N (right) Ans: 5 - 8 = -3 N (right)

or 3 N (left)
- 3N

Section 3:
Resolving of vectors into their
respective components

How to resolve a vector into two

perpendicular components?
• If the two vectors are not parallel, the addition of the two
vectors is not so straightforward.
• For example,
12 N
6N
• To add up the two vectors as shown, we will need to
understand the two characteristics of vectors.


• Two characteristics of vectors which we will learn to help
us perform vector addition are:
• Characteristic 1:
We can resolve a vector into its perpendicular
components.
• Characteristic 2:
We can combine perpendicular vectors to form a single
vector using Pythagoras’ theorem.


• A vector can be “broken” down into two separate
perpendicular vectors (horizontal and vertical) if the
angle of the vector with respect to either one direction is
known.
For this case, the The vector F can be broken

vector F is at an down into two perpendiculars
angle  from the vectors, where F = Fx + Fy and
horizontal. Fx = F cos  while Fy = F sin .


• Two perpendicular vectors can be combined to form a
single vector. The magnitude of the single vector can be
found using Pythagoras’ theorem as shown.
The two vectors F1 The two vectors can be combined to

and F2 are form a resultant vector FR. The value
perpendicular to of FR can be determined using the
one another. Pythagoras’ theorem.
FR = F12 + F2 2
Final direction,  can be obtained
using trigonometry, tan-1(F1/F2)

• Using the two characteristics, we can design a way to
add up two vectors not pointing in the same direction.
• Let’s try to “add up” the vectors from the examples.
4N
7N


4N F = 8.06 N
7N
• To find the magnitude of the “added” vector, we will use

Pythagoras’ theorem: F = 4 2 + 7 2 = 8.06 N
• To determine the exact direction of the vector F, we
make use of simple trigonometry rule.
 = tan -1 (4 / 7) = 29.74o
The magnitude of the final resultant vector is 8.06 N; and
the vector is pointing in a direction of 29.74 from the
horizontal.

Next example
F1 = 12 N
50
30
F2 = 6 N


F1 = 12 N
50
30
F2 = 6 N
• We will find the vertical and horizontal components of the two forces 12 N
and 6 N and “add up” to find the total vertical and horizontal components:
Vertical Component Horizontal Component

F1 = 12N 12 cos 50 = 7.71N 12 sin 50 = 9.19 N
F2 = 6N - 6 sin 30 = - 3 N 6 cos 30 = 5.20 N
Total 7.71 N – 3 N = 4.71 N 9.19 + 5.20 = 14.39 N


12 N
4.71 N FR
50
30 14.39 N
6N
• After getting the total horizontal components and the
total vertical components, we know the added vector will
look like this as shown.
Total Vertical Component Total Horizontal Component
4.71 N () 14.39 N (→)


12 N
4.71 N FR = 15.14 N
50
30 14.39 N
6N
• To find the magnitude of the “added” vector, we will use
Pythagoras’ theorem:
FR = 4.712 + 14.39 2
= 15.14 N


12 N
4.71 N FR = 15.14 N
50
 = 18.12
30 14.39 N
6N
• To determine the exact direction of the vector FR, we
make use of simple trigonometry rule. We may find the
angle of the vector FR with respect to the horizontal.
 = tan -1 (4.71 / 14.39)

= 18.12o


In summary, the working can be summarized as follow:
F1 = F1x + F1y
F2 = F2x + F2y
Resultant vector, FR = (F1x + F2x) + (F1y + F2y) = FRx + FRy
FRy
FR
FRx
To find the magnitude of the resultant vector, we will use Pythagoras’ theorem
FR = FRx 2 + FRy 2
To determine the exact direction of the vector FR with respect to the
horizontal, we make use of simple trigonometry rule. tan-1(FRy/ FRx)
Summary: How to Resolve Forces or Split a Force
in to Two Components and Combine Forces?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QwivZK_Vfs
Activity 2
Determine the magnitude and the direction of the resultant
force. 60 N
35
40 N
Force Horizontal component Vertical Component

60 N 60 cos 35 = 49.15 N 60 sin 35 = 34.41 N
40 N 40 N 0N
Total 89.15 N 34.41 N
Resultant force, FR
= sqrt (89.152 + 34.412)
= 95.56 N
−1
34.41
𝜃 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛 = 21.110
89.15
Activity 3
Determine the resultant vector that is achieved by combining
(add up) the sets of perpendicular vectors. Determine also the
direction of the resultant vector.
3N 8N
5N 5N
Ans: sqrt(32 + 52) = 5.83 Ans: sqrt(52 + 82) = 9.43

3 −1
8
𝜃 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛 −1 = 30.960 𝜃 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛 = 57.990
5 5

Section 4:
Force

What is a Force?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoKo3DbfYZk
What is a Force?
• A force is a push or pull that can cause an object
with mass to change its state of motion. (e.g
Tension in a string, frictional force, gravitational
forces)
• As mentioned, a force is a vector that has both

magnitude and direction. The SI unit of force is
Newton (N).

What are Contact Forces?

• Pushing/Pulling forces
• Tension in a string
• Force in springs
• Frictional force
What are Non-Contact Forces?

• Magnetic forces
• Gravitational forces
• Electrostatic forces

Section 5:
Newton’s laws of motion

Newton’s law of motion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn34mnnDnKU
What is Newton’s 1st law of motion?

Newton's First Law states that:
“An object at rest tends to stay at rest, and an
object in motion tends to stay in that motion with
the same speed and in the same direction i.e.
constant velocity, unless there is a net force
acting on it.”
• Simply put, an object will not change its
motion, unless there is a net force acting on it.
• Also commonly known as law of inertia.

What is Newton’s 1st law of motion?

Adapted from: http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/newtlaws/Lesson-1/Newton-s-First-Law
Net force = 0 N
Examples:
Constant velocity
The object which was initially at rest The object which is moving at certain
will remain at rest when there is no net velocity will continue to move at the
force acting on it. same velocity when there is no net
force acting on it.
What is Newton’s 2nd law of motion?

Newton's Second Law states that:
“The acceleration of an object, a, due to a net force, Fnet is
directly proportional to the magnitude of the net force, in
the same direction as the net force, and inversely
proportional to the mass, m, of the object.”
This can be expressed using the following relationship:

Fnet = m  a
Note:
• Fnet and a are in the same direction.
• When Fnet is zero, the acceleration a will be zero too,
which is in fact Newton’s 1st law of motion.


Example Suppose there is a man pushing hard on the block in the
direction as shown in the diagram on the left, would you
expect the block to start moving if block is on a
frictionless surface? Provide an explanation.
Answer: Yes, it will move. This is because there is a net force acting on the block.
Suppose there are two men pushing hard on the block in
opposite directions with each man exerting the same
force on a frictionless surface, would you expect the block
to start moving? Provide an explanation.
Answer: No. This is because the forces are of the same magnitude but acting in
opposite directions (i.e. zero net force).
Suppose now two men are pushing the block in the same
direction on a frictionless surface with each man exerting the
same force, would you expect the block to move? How
would you expect the motion of the block to differ from the
motion of the block in the 1st diagram?
Answer: Yes. It will move. As there are two men pushing, the net force is greater than 1st
diagram, so the speed of the box will increase at a faster rate due to greater acceleration.

Example
There is a 5 kg stationary object resting on a table subjected
to an applied force of 40 N.
5 kg 40 N
a) Assuming that friction is negligible, find the magnitude of

the acceleration of the object.
Fnet = m  a → 40 = 5  a → a = 8 m/s2
b) Assuming the object is moving with a constant velocity, find

the magnitude of the frictional force.
As the object is moving with a constant velocity, net force
is 0 N. Hence, frictional force = 40 N.
Activity 4
A 4 kg mass block is initially at rest and three separate
forces of 2 N, 6 N and 10 N were applied to it. What is
the acceleration of this block? Assume that there is
negligible frictional force.
F=6N F=2N
4 kg
F = 10 N

Activity 4
A 4 kg mass block is initially at rest and three separate
forces of 2 N, 6 N and 10 N were applied to it. What is
the acceleration of this block? Assume that there is
negligible frictional force.
Answers:
The net force acting on the block
= (2 + 10) - 6
F=2N = 6 N (to the right)
F=6N
4 kg
F = 10 N F = ma
Acceleration = 6 N / 4 kg
= 1.5 m/s2 (to the right)

What is the difference between Mass and

Weight?
• Mass of an object is the amount of

matter in it measured in kilograms
(kg) and will have the same value
everywhere, even in outer space!
• Gravity is the force of attraction
between objects.
• Weight is a measure of how the
force of gravity acts upon that
object.

What is the difference between Mass and

Weight?
• Spring balances and scales measure the

weight, which is the force of attraction between
an object and the Earth.
• Weight is a force measured in Newton (N).
• Weight changes depending on where you are.
Weight = mass  gravitational acceleration

(N) (kg) (m/s2)

Free Fall
• Galileo performed his famous experiment at the
leaning tower of Pisa, Italy.
• Dropped a 10 kg cannon and 1 kg mass at the
same time.
• Acceleration for both objects are the same.

Free Fall
Based on Newton’s 2nd Law of Motion,
Fnet = m  a
• If an object has a large mass, it will experience

a large gravitational force.
• If an object has a small mass, it will experience
a small gravitational force.
• Either way, the ratio (F/m) is the same.
Will the result be different if air
resistance is considered?
Air Resistance and Terminal Velocity

Air resistance is directly affected by:
• Velocity of object
• Cross-sectional area of object
• Shape of object
• Density of air
Terminal velocity is when an object moves at a constant

speed due to the air resistance balancing out the object’s
weight.
If air resistance is considered, the more massive 10 kg

cannon will fall faster than the 1 kg mass.
• 10 kg cannon weighs more than the 1 kg mass.
• The 10 kg cannon accelerates faster before reaching
terminal velocity Copyright © 2022 by Republic Polytechnic, Singapore
Air Resistance and Terminal Velocity

FD=50N FD=100N
FD=10N
W=100N
W=100N W=100N W=100N
a= Fnet/m=100/10 a=90/10 a=0m/s2

a=50/10
=10m/s2 =9m/s2 =5m/s2
Reached terminal
FD=10N velocity!
W=10N
a= Fnet/m=10/1 W=10N Reached terminal
=10m/s2 a= 0m/s2 velocity!
Activity 5
Scenario 1: An elephant and an ant are undergoing free falling in the
sky. Assuming negligible air resistance, who will have higher
acceleration during the free fall?
Elephant Little ant

a=Fnet/m=10000/1000 a=Fnet/m=10/1
= 10m/s2 = 10m/s2
Both elephant and little ant will have the same
acceleration during the free fall.
Scenario 2: An elephant and an ant are falling in the sky. Assuming

there’s air resistance, who will fall to the ground first?
FD=10000N FD=10N
Elephant will need more air resistance to overcome its

weight compared to the ant. Hence ant will reach terminal
velocity earlier than elephant. Elephant will fall to the
ground faster than the ant.

What is Newton’s 3rd law of motion?

Newton's Third Law states that:
“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”
• In every interaction, there is a pair of forces acting on

the two interacting objects. The size of the forces on
the first object equals the size of the force on the
second object. The direction of the force on the first
object is opposite to the direction of the force on the
second object.
• Forces always occur in pairs - equal and opposite,

action-reaction force pairs.


• For example, a man pushing against the wall will
experience an equal and opposite force from the wall
pushing back on him as shown.
The man
exerts a The wall will exert on the
force of 100 man an equal magnitude
N (leftward) force of 100 N in the
on the wall. opposite direction


Example:
A boy is separately pulling a rope attached to a wall and elephant. In both
cases, the force scale reads 500 N.
Which one of the following best describes the situation above?

(a) The boy is pulling with more force when the rope is attached to the wall.
(b) The boy is pulling with more force when the rope is attached to the elephant.
(c) The boy is pulling with the same force for both cases.
Answer: C
The boy is pulling with the same force for both cases. The rope transmits the force from the
boy to the wall (or to the elephant) and vice versa. Since the force of the boy pulling on the
wall and the wall pulling on the boy are action-reaction force pairs, they must have equal
magnitudes. Inanimate objects such as walls can push and pull.
What have you learnt today
• Understand what physical quantities are and

how they can be quantified in appropriate units
• Recognise what SI units are
• Decompose a unit into its equivalent SI units
(e.g. convert unit of Newton into kg m/s2)
• Convert one unit to another (e.g. from metric
system to imperial system)
• Check for consistency of units in a
formula/expression (units and dimensional
analysis)
What have you learnt today
• Understand what a vector and scalar is

• Recognise that all physical quantities can be
either a vector or scalar
• Identify if a physical quantity is a vector or scalar
• Add two or more physical quantities (e.g. forces)
in vector form to find the resultant quantity
• Resolve a physical quantity into two or more
vector components

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OFFICIAL (CLOSED) \ NON-SENSITIVE

Copyright © 2022 by Republic Polytechnic, Singapore

Copyright © 2022 by Republic Polytechnic, Singapore

Copyright © 2022 by Republic Polytechnic, Singapore

What are the differences between

Copyright © 2022 by Republic Polytechnic, Singapore

What happens when a scalar quantity

Adding together gives

Copyright © 2022 by Republic Polytechnic, Singapore

What happens when scalar quantity

Copyright © 2022 by Republic Polytechnic, Singapore

What happens when scalar quantity

• One of the best example is the Newtonian formula,

mass × acceleration = force

Scalar Vector Vector

Copyright © 2022 by Republic Polytechnic, Singapore

What happens when vector quantity

Copyright © 2022 by Republic Polytechnic, Singapore

What happens when vector quantity

Copyright © 2022 by Republic Polytechnic, Singapore

Ans: 3 + 5 = 8 N (right) Ans: 5 - 8 = -3 N (right)

Copyright © 2022 by Republic Polytechnic, Singapore

Copyright © 2022 by Republic Polytechnic, Singapore

How to resolve a vector into two

Copyright © 2022 by Republic Polytechnic, Singapore

How to resolve a vector into two

Copyright © 2022 by Republic Polytechnic, Singapore

How to resolve a vector into two

For this case, the The vector F can be broken

Copyright © 2022 by Republic Polytechnic, Singapore

How to resolve a vector into two

The two vectors F1 The two vectors can be combined to

How to resolve a vector into two

• Let’s try to “add up” the vectors from the examples.

Copyright © 2022 by Republic Polytechnic, Singapore

How to resolve a vector into two

• To find the magnitude of the “added” vector, we will use

How to resolve a vector into two

Copyright © 2022 by Republic Polytechnic, Singapore

How to resolve a vector into two

Vertical Component Horizontal Component

Total 7.71 N – 3 N = 4.71 N 9.19 + 5.20 = 14.39 N

Copyright © 2022 by Republic Polytechnic, Singapore

How to resolve a vector into two

Copyright © 2022 by Republic Polytechnic, Singapore

How to resolve a vector into two

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How to resolve a vector into two

 = tan -1 (4.71 / 14.39)

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How to resolve a vector into two

Force Horizontal component Vertical Component

Ans: sqrt(32 + 52) = 5.83 Ans: sqrt(52 + 82) = 9.43

Copyright © 2022 by Republic Polytechnic, Singapore

Copyright © 2022 by Republic Polytechnic, Singapore

• As mentioned, a force is a vector that has both

Copyright © 2022 by Republic Polytechnic, Singapore

What are Contact Forces?

What are Non-Contact Forces?

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Copyright © 2022 by Republic Polytechnic, Singapore

Newton’s law of motion

What is Newton’s 1st law of motion?

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