THEME 1 (PART 2)

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Physics Group Form 4

On the move (part 2)

In this topic we will be covering the following sub-topics:

 Equations of motion and
acceleration
In this topic:  Graphs
 Newton’s Laws
Speed & Velocity 2
 Momentum
Acceleration 3

Equations of motion 4

The equations covered in this topic:

Free fall 6

Graphs of motion 6

Stopping distance 9

Newton’s 1st law 10

Newton’s 2nd law 11

Newton’s 3rd law 12

Momentum 14

End of topic ques- 17

tions
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Equations of motion
1. Speed and velocity

Speed

On a journey from your home to school, the speed of the car varies, so the
actual speed at any moment is usually different from the average speed. To
find an actual speed:

Speed = distance moved Speed (m/s)

time taken distance (m)
Time taken (s)

Speed only indicates the speed of something. Speed is thus a scalar

quantity, as it has a size only but no direction.

Average and instantaneous velocity

The average velocity of the whole

journey is found by considering the
total distance covered over the total
time taken of the journey. The
actual velocity of the bicycle at any
time as given by the speedometer is
called the instantaneous velocity.

The average velocity can be found by using:

Average velocity = total distance moved v=s

total time taken t

where v – velocity (m/s)

s – distance (m)
t – time (s)

TIP: this equation can only be used when you have constant velocity.
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Velocity indicates the speed of something and its direction of travel.

Velocity is thus a vector quantity, as it has a size and direction.

2. Acceleration
An object is accelerating when its velocity changes. We refer to acceleration
when the velocity increases and deceleration when velocity decreases.

If a car slows down by -2m/s 2 this means that in every second the car is
slowing down by 2m/s in every second.

To find the acceleration or deceleration of the object we

use:

where

Acceleration = final velocity – initial velocity a=v-u

Time t

u = initial velocity (m/s)

v = final velocity (m/s)
a = acceleration (m/s2)
t = time (s)

Acceleration is a vector. A + or – sign can be used to indicate whether

velocity is increasing or decreasing. The negative acceleration is the
deceleration or retardation. A uniform acceleration means a constant
(steady) acceleration.

Tip:
 When the car starts from stationary or from rest, we take u = 0m/s
 When the car is going to stop, we take v = 0m/s
 When the car is speeding up, acceleration is +
 When the car is slowing down, acceleration is -
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3. Equations of Motion
A set of equations can be used to solve all kinds of problems on motion. In
these equations we find the following five qualities:

s – distance (m)
u – initial velocity (m/s)
v – final velocity (m/s)
a – acceleration (m/s2)
t – time (s)

The equations to be used are:

v = u + at s = ut + ½at2

s = (u + v)t v2 = u2 + 2as
2

Example:

A cyclist starting from rest with uniform acceleration can reach a velocity of
20m/s in 25s. Calculate her acceleration

Tip: First write s, u, v, a and t vertically on each other and fill in all the
information available in the question. Remember that starting from rest, u =
0 m/s. Place a question mark near what you need to find. Use the equation
which has all the quantities you know and that quantity which you need to
find.
v = u + at
s= / 20 = 0 + a x 25
20 = a In this problem, s has not been
25 given and does not need to be
u = 0m/s
0.8m/s2 = a found, so we use the equation
v = 20m/s
which does not have s.
a=?
t = 25s
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Example:

A car starting from rest travels for 100m with an acceleration of 2m/s2. How
long did the journey take?

s = 100m
u = 0m/s s = ut + ½ at2
100 = 0 t + ½ 2 t2
v=
100 = 0 + 1 x t2
a = 2m/s2 √100 = t
t=? 10s = t

Exercise:

1. Susan was travelling with a constant velocity of 60m/s. How long did
she take to travel 90m?
2. Jim just bought a new Toyota and wanted to test its speed. If from
rest, he accelerated with 10m/s2 in 5s. i) What was his velocity? ii)
What distance did Jim cover in this time?
3. A lorry took 2 minutes to accelerate from rest to 70m/s. What was the
distance covered by the lorry? (Tip: need to change min to s)
4. The fastest racing car managed to accelerate up to 120m/s2 covering
a distance of just 1.5m. What was its velocity ?
5. Luke the sprinter was running with a constant velocity of 30m/s. How
long did he take to decelerate to a stop , if his deceleration was 10m/
s2
6. An apple fell on Newton’s head covering a distance of 0.75m in 0.39s.
What was the acceleration of the apple?
7. If a car travelling at 60m/s needed to stop with a deceleration o f 8m/
s2 , what distance did it need to cover?
8. The final velocity of a bike was 20m/s. What was its acceleration if it
took 2 minutes from an initial velocity of 5m/s?
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4. Free fall

If an elephant and a boy jumps

from the tower of Pisa, both fall
downwards because of gravity.
However, the boy is slowed due
to air resistance. When an object
falls freely because of the force
of gravity, we say that the
motion of the object is due to
gravity.

All objects falling due to gravity have the

same acceleration of 10m/s2.

The acceleration of free fall is represented by the symbol g.

Tip: Whenever you have an object falling freely, you always need to use
one of the equations of motion (the SUVAT equations), and acceleration is
always 10m/s2. If an object is thrown upwards, then acceleration is taken as
—10m/s2

5. Graphs of Motion
Graphs can be very useful when studying motion. From a graph one can
interpret whether the object is accelerating, decelerating, at rest or at
constant velocity.

On a graph, if you consider two co-ordinates from the vertical scale (x1, y1)
and divide them with two respective points from the horizontal scale (x2,
y2) , you get the gradient.

Gradient = Δy = y2—y1 Tip: Always remember that a gradient in

Δx x2—x1 physics always has a unit! First write the
unit on the y-axis / the unit on the x-axis.
Distance-time graphs

Here are some distance – time graphs for a car travelling between one
location and another:
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If a car is travelling at a steady speed:

If a car is travelling at a higher steady speed:

If a car has stopped (at rest):

On a distance-time graph, the gradient of the line is numerically

equal to the speed.
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Speed-time graphs

Each speed-time graph below, is for a car travelling along a straight road.
On a speed-time graph, the gradient of the line is equal to the
acceleration.

On a speed-time graph, the area under the graph is equal to the

distance travelled.

If a car is travelling at a steady speed:

If a car is accelerating:

Draw a sketch of a graph if a car is decelerating:

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6. When you get your license - driving

Kathleen was driving her car, when all of a sudden a cat ran in front of her
car. Will she hit the cat? Will she just escape it?

Thinking / Reaction Distance

The driver takes a certain time

(human reaction time) from the
time s/he sees the obstacle
(person/animal/another car/
pothole etc.) until s/he applies
the break. In this time, the car
still travels a certain distance.
This is known as the thinking distance.

The thinking distance is affected by the alertness of the driver. This is

affected by tiredness or amount of alcohol consumed, mobile phone
ringing, children playing on the back seat, drugs and medicine.

Braking Distance

When the driver applies the brakes, the car still moves whilst decelerating
until it stops. The distance covered whilst decelerating is known as the
braking distance.

The braking distance is mainly effected by the speed of the car. The greater
the speed of the car, the longer it takes for the car to come to a stop.

Another factor which affects braking distance is the state of the car. Worn
out tyres and faulty brakes can be very
dangerous as the car will take longer to
decelerate. Worn out tyres reduces friction
greatly.
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The road surface is also a factor which affects the braking distance. A very
smooth road has less friction and therefore the braking distance is greater.
Wet roads are also much more dangerous than dry due to less grip
between the tires and the surface.

Overall stopping Distance

The overall stopping distance is the distance the car travels from the time
the driver sees the obstacle on the road until
the car stops.

Overall stopping distance = thinking

distance + braking distance
(this can also be applied to time)

Newton’s laws of motion

7. Newton’s first law of motion
Newton’s 1st law of motion states that:

An object at rest will stay at rest and a moving object will continue to
move with constant velocity unless an external resultant (unbalanced)
force acts on it.

This law is made up of two parts:

 If an object is not moving, it will not do so unless it is pushed or
pulled
 If an object is moving with constant velocity, the resultant force on
it will be zero. All forces on it have to be balanced so that it does
not decelerate or accelerate.

For example a car on a flat surface will not move unless the engine produces
an initial starting force. The car starts
accelerating and moving forward because of
the force of the engine.

As the car starts accelerating, two forces act

against motion. These are friction and air
resistance. For the car to accelerate, the force of the engine must be
greater than the forces of friction and air resistance.
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The car will move with constant velocity when the forces of air resistance
are equal to the force of the engine.
To decelerate, the force of the engine must be less than the forces of
friction and air resistance.

Terminal Velocity

A parachute uses this principle to work. When the parachute opens, the air
resistance is very great. When the force of air resistance becomes equal to
the weight of the person, terminal velocity is reached. This terminal
velocity is not high and so the person continues to come down at a low
terminal velocity.

If a person was to jump from a plane

without a parachute, terminal velocity
would eventually be reached, when the
air resistance equals the weight of the
person, but the air resistance would be
great enough at a very high velocity and
so the terminal velocity would be very
high when reached, and so the person
would land with a velocity which is too
high.

8. Newton’s second law of motion

When the forces on an object are unbalanced (there is a bigger force on one
side), there is a resultant force. This resultant force causes the object to
change its velocity. It accelerates or decelerates.

An unbalanced force acting on an object gives the object an acceleration

in the direction of the force.

The bigger the resultant force, the greater the acceleration.

Therefore, acceleration is directly proportional to the force aαF

Mass and acceleration

Imagine pulling a small car with a force of 100N. This will accelerate as the
100N makes an unbalanced force on the car.
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However, imagine pulling a truck which is much heavier with the same force
of 100N. As we can imagine, the acceleration of the truck will be much less
than the car.

If the mass increases the acceleration decrease.

So acceleration is inversely proportional to mass a α 1/m

Newton’s second law of motion brings the previous statements together.

F = ma where F – force (N)

m—mass (kg)
a— acceleration (m/s2)
Example:

A trolley of mass 2kg is pulled along a horizontal surface by a force of 5N

against an opposing force of 1N. Calculate the acceleration of the trolley.

2kg 5N

1N

Resultant force = 5N – 1N = 4N
m = 2kg
a=?

a = F = 4 = 2m/s2
m 2

10. Newton’s Third Law of Motion

If an object A exerts a force (action) on object B, then object B exerts an
equal but opposite force of object A (reaction).

To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

A girl standing on the floor makes a downward force on the

floor (action) because of the pull of the earth. This is its
weight. The floor on the other hand makes an equal and
opposite force (reaction) on the girl to support it. Note that
the action is equal and opposite to the reaction. The action
made by the girl on the floor and the reaction made by the
floor on the girl are equal.
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Newton’s Laws of Motion

1.State Newton’s first Law and give an example of a situation
illustrating this law.

2. State Newton’s second Law and give an example of a situation

illustrating this law.

3. State Newton’s third Law and give an example of a situation

illustrating this law.

4. Jo and Brian have fitted both their scooters with the same
engine. When he’s sat on it, Brian’s scooter has a mass of 110kg
and an acceleration of 2.80m/s2. Jo only manages an acceleration
of 1.71m/s2 on her scooter.

a) What force can the engine exert?

b) Calculate the total mass of Jo and her scooter.

5. A car has a mass of 900kg. It accelerates from rest at a rate

of 1.2m/s2.

a) Calculate the time taken to reach a velocity of 30m/s

b) Calculate the force required to accelerate the car at a rate
of 1.2m/s2
c) Even with the engine at full power, the car’s acceleration
decreases as the car goes faster. Why is this?

6. Maisie drags a 1kg mass along a table with a newton-metre so

that it accelerates at 0.25m/s2. The newton-metre reads 0.4N.
Calculate the force of friction between the mass and the table.

7. When a gun is fired, it exerts a forward force on the bullet.

Why does the gun recoil backwards?

8. A parachutist is descending at a steady velocity.

a) What name is given to this velocity?

b) Draw a diagram of a parachutist and mark the forces.
c) If the parachutist used a larger parachute, how would
this affect the steady velocity reached? Explain why.
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Momentum

11. MOMENTUM
The momentum of a moving object depends on the velocity of the object
and the mass of the object. A car moving with a velocity of 40m/s would
have a greater momentum and would be damaged more in a crash, than a
car moving with 20m/s. A truck moving with 20m/s would have a greater
momentum, than a car travelling at 20m/s, as the truck has greater mass. So
the momentum of an object is found by multiplying its mass and its velocity.

Momentum = mass x velocity

Momentum = m v
(kgm/s) = (kg) (m/s)

Example:

Find the momentum of a car of mass 1 tonne moving at 20m/s.

1t = 1000 kg

Momentum = mv
Momentum = 1000 x 20
Momentum = 20, 000kgm/s

The principle of conservation of momentum

The effect of momentum can be clearly seen in a collision. There are two
kinds of collisions, elastic and inelastic collisions. In inelastic collisions the
objects stick together after the collision (Tip: remember that in and elastic
are stuck together). An elastic collisions, the objects move separately after
the collision.

The principle of conservation of momentum states that when two or more

objects act on each other in a collision, then the total momentum of the
objects before the collision is equal to the total momentum after the
collision.
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Explosions

The principle of conservation of momentum also holds for explosions. In

explosions, the objects which initially are at rest, move apart in opposite
directions after the explosion.

An example of such explosion occurs when a rifle is fired. Before firing, the
total momentum is zero since both rifle and bullet are at rest. During the
firing the rifle and the bullet receive equal but opposite amounts of
momentum so that the total momentum after
the firing is zero.

This is very similar to Newton’s third law of

motion. If you release an inflated balloon with its
neck open, it flies off in the opposite direction to
that of the escaping air. The air has an action and
momentum downwards and the balloon moves
upwards with a reaction equal and opposite.

Rocket and jet engines work in a similar idea. In a

rocket engine, fuel and liquid oxygen are mixed
together in the combustion chamber. The fuel
burns fiercely in the oxygen and huge amounts of
gases are produced. As the gases come out of the rocket with a huge force,
the rocket moves forward.
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Newton’s second law of motion and momentum

F= m a and a=v-u
t

Substituting a, F = m (v – u)
t

F = mv – mu
t
So, Force = final momentum – initial momentum = change in momentum
time time

Impulse = Force x time

This means that the greater the change in momentum the greater the force
produced. But if the change takes place in a short time the force is much
greater than if the change takes place in a longer time.

When hammering a nail, the hammer has a very large momentum which is
reduced to zero in a very short time. So there is a large change of momentum
in a short time. So the force produced is large enough to drive the nail in.

A seat belt reduce injury because among other reasons, when the car stops it
will take longer for the person to stop and so the force is less. Crumple zones
and air bags in car also increase the time of impact and thus decrease the
force.

Eggs and other fragile objects are packed in a soft shock absorbing boxes. If
the object is moving and suddenly stops, the momentum changes in a very
short time and so the force is large and the object cracks. If however, the
object is in the soft box it will take longer for the object to stop because the
cushioning effect of the box. The change in momentum will take longer to
happen and so the force will be much smaller.
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End of topic questions:

1. How is velocity different from speed?

2. How far will a walker travel if he walks for 6 hours at an average speed
of 1.2m/s?
3. A girl rides a bicycle which records the distance travelled in metres. On
a short ride she records the distance every 10 seconds and obtains the
following readings:
Time/s 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Dis- 0 20 40 60 80 140 200 260 280 280 280

a) Plot a distance – time graph for her ride

b) was her speed during the first 40s?
c) What was her speed between 40s and 70s from starting?
d) What happened after 80s?

4.. A motor cycle, travelling at 20 m/s, takes 5s to stop. What is its average
deceleration?

5. The graph below represents the journey for a motor cycle travelling
along the same road.
a) What is the motor-cycle’s maximum speed?
b) What is the acceleration during the first 10s?
c) What is its deceleration during the last 5s?
d) What distance is travelled during the first 10s?
e) What is the total distance travelled?
f) What is the time taken for the whole journey?
g) What is the average speed for the whole journey?
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1. How much force is required to accelerate a 50 kg mass at 4 m/s2?

2. What is the acceleration of a 7 kg mass being pulled by a 56 N force?

3. Given a force of 75 N and an acceleration of 3 m/s2, what is the mass?

4. What is the acceleration of a 7 kg mass pushed by a 3.5 N force?
5. Given a force of 100 N and an acceleration of 5 m/s2, what is the mass?
6. What is the acceleration of a 24 kg mass pushed by an 8 N force?
7. How much force is required to accelerate an 8 kg mass at 5 m/s2 if there is
14 N of friction?
8. Find the acceleration of the 3 kg block in the following diagram.

9. What will be the acceleration of the 20 kg block below?

10. Calculate the force required to accelerate a car of mass 1000 kg from
rest to 12 m/s in 3 seconds.

11. Calculate the force required to decelerate a car of mass 1500 kg

from 20 m/s to rest in 4 seconds.
12. A car of mass 2000 kg is driven by a force of 40kN for 5 seconds; how
much does its speed change?

13. If a bus accelerates from 10 m/s to 15 m/s in 10 seconds with a force

of 3kN what is its mass?

14. What force is exerted on a ball of mass 100g if it accelerates from rest
to 30 m/s in 3 seconds?
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Change in
Momentum
Momentum = mass x velocity

Inelastic and Elastic Collisions

1. In a sea battle, a cannonball of mass 30kg was fired at 200ms from

cannon of mass 3000kg. What was the recoil velocity of the cannon?

2. A heavy car A, mass 2000kg, travelling at 10m/s has a head on collision

with a sports car B, mass 500kg. If both cars stop dead on colliding,
what was the velocity of car B?

3. A man wearing a bullet proof vest stands still on roller skates. The total
mass is 80kg. A bullet of mass 20g is fired at 400m/s. It is stopped by
the vest and falls to the ground. What is the velocity of the man? How
does it compare with what you see in films?

4. In a freight yard a train is being put together from freight cars. An

empty freight car, coasting at 10 m/s, strikes a loaded car that is
stationary and the cars couple together. Each of the cars has a mass of
3000 kg when empty, and the loaded car contains 12,000 kg of canned
soda. With what speed does the combination of the two cars start to
move?

5. An astronaut whose mass is 80 kg carries an empty

oxygen tank with a mass of 10 kg. He throws the tank
away from himself with a speed of 2.0 m/s. With what
velocity does he start to move off into space?

6. A 2.0 kg melon is balanced on a bald man's head. His son

shoots a 50.0 g arrow at it with a speed of 30.0 m/s.
The arrow passes through the melon and emerges with a speed of 18.0
m/s. Find the speed of the melon as it flies off the man's head.
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7. A raft of mass 180 kg carries two swimmers of mass 50kg and 80kg. The
raft is initially floating at rest. The two swimmers simultaneously dive
off opposite ends of the raft, each with a horizontal velocity of 3 m/s.
With what velocity and in what direction does the raft start to move?
Explosions

8. A golf ball that weighs 0.45 N is dropped from a height of 1.0 m.

Assume that the golf ball has a perfectly elastic collision with the floor.
Determine the time required for the ball to reach the floor.

9. One way of measuring the muzzle velocity of a bullet is to fire it

horizontally into a massive block of wood placed on a cart. The bullet had a
mass of 50g and the wood and its cart had a mass of 10kg. After the shot,
the cart, wood, and bullet moved at a constant speed, travelling 0.80 m in
0.40 s. From this data determine the original speed of the bullet.
Impulse

10. A moon rocket burns fuel at the rate of 13,000kg in each second.
The exhaust gasses rush out at 2500m/s. What is the change in momentum
of the fuel in each second? What is the thrust force?

11. a) Two objects, A & B, have identical velocities. Object A has 3 times the
mass of object B. Compare the momentum of each object. Justify your
answer.
b) While being thrown, a net force of 132 N acts on a baseball (mass = 140g)
for a period of 4.5 x 10-2 sec. What is the magnitude of the change in
momentum of the ball?
12. A tennis player returns a 30 m/s serve straight back at 25m/s, after
making contact with the ball for 0.50 s. If the ball has a mass of 0.20 kg,
what is the force she exerted on the ball?

13. Two girls with masses of 50.0 kg and 70.0 kg are at rest on frictionless in-
line skates. The larger girl pushes the smaller girl so that the latter rolls
away at a speed of 10.0 m/s. What is the effect of the
action on the larger girl? What is the impulse that each
girl exerts on the other?
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Newton Laws Vocabulary

Choose the word in the box which describes best the sentence.

Mass Inertia Gravity Friction Motion Acceleration Speed

Velocity Force First Law of Motion Weight Third Law of Motion
Second Law of Motion

1. ___________ Force that opposes motion between two surfaces

2. ___________ Amount of matter in an object or a measure or the

inertia of an object

3. ___________ Resistance to change

4. ___________ Speed of an object, but in a specific direction

5. ___________ Push or pull

6. ___________ Measure of gravitational attraction or force or

gravity pulling one object toward the center of another object

7. ___________ Every object persists in its state of rest or uniform

motion in a straight line unless it is compelled to change that state by
forces impressed on it.

8. ___________ The result of unbalanced forces

9. ___________ The force that pulls on objects and causes

acceleration if the objects are not balanced by an opposing force

10. ___________ Distance traveled per unit time

11. ___________ For every action, there is an equal and opposite

reaction

12. ___________ The rate velocity changes with time

13. ___________ Force is equal to the change in momentum (mV) per

change in time. For a constant mass, force equals mass times
acceleration. F=ma