GENERAL PHYSICS (102801208) DIPLOMA COURSE

UNIT 5: Mechanics

Force
In Physics, force is defined as:
The push or pull on an object with mass causes it to change its velocity.
Force is an external agent capable of changing a body’s state of rest or motion. It has a
magnitude and a direction.

Common symbols: F
SI unit: Newton
In SI base units: kg·m/s2

Derivations from other quantities: F = m a

Dimension: LMT-2

Newton's laws of motion give a scientific relationship between the forces that act on a body
and the changes that occur due to this force.
The Three Laws of Motion are:
I. Newton’s first law - Newton's first law of motion states that, if a body is in the state of
rest or is moving with a constant speed in a straight line, then the body will remain in
the state of rest or keep moving in the straight line, unless and until it is acted upon by
an external force.
II. Newton’s second law - Newton's 2nd law of motion states that the rate of change of
momentum of a body is directly proportional to the force applied on it, and the
momentum occurs in the direction of the net applied force.
F=dp/dt or F=ma
III. Newton’s third law - According to Newton's third law of motion, to every action,
there is always an equal and opposite reaction.

What Is Friction?
Friction is defined as the resistance offered by the surfaces that are in contact when
they move past each other.
Friction provides traction that is needed to walk without slipping. Friction is helpful in
most cases. However, they also offer a great measure of opposition to the motion.

What Is Uniform Circular Motion?

The movement of a body following a circular path is called a circular motion.
Now, the motion of a body moving with constant speed along a circular path is called
Uniform Circular Motion. Here, the speed is constant but the velocity changes.
In the case of uniform circular motion, the acceleration is:ar = v2/r

What is Momentum and angular momentum?

Momentum is the product of mass and the velocity of the object. Any object moving with
mass possesses momentum. The only difference in angular momentum is that it deals with
rotating or spinning objects.
Momentum is expressed as, P = mv while angular momentum is expressed as L=r×p

What is conservation of angular momentum?

Conservation of angular momentum is a physical property of a spinning system such that its
spin remains constant unless it is acted upon by an external torque; put another way, the
speed of rotation is constant as long as net torque is zero.

Angular Displacement Definition

Angular displacement is defined as “the angle in radians (degrees, revolutions) through
which a point or line has been rotated in a specified sense about a specified axis”. It is the
angle of the movement of a body in a circular path.
It can be measured by using a simple formula. The formula is:

𝑠
𝜃=
𝑟

where,
θ is the angular displacement,
s is the distance travelled by the body, and
r is the radius of the circle along which it is moving.
In simpler words, the displacement of an object is the
distance travelled by it around the circumference of a circle
divided by its radius.

Angular Velocity
In physics, we define angular velocity as follows:
Angular velocity is the vector measure of the rotation rate, which refers to how fast an
object rotates or revolves relative to another point.
Since the angular velocity of an object is the object’s angular displacement with respect to
time, angular velocity is expressed as follows:
𝜃
𝜔=
𝑡
Where ω is the angular velocity, θ is the angular displacement, and t is the change in time t.

What is Hooke’s Law?

In the 19th-century, while studying springs and elasticity, English scientist Robert Hooke
noticed that many materials exhibited a similar property when the stress-strain relationship
was studied. There was a linear region where the force required to stretch the material was
proportional to the extension of the material. This is known as Hooke’s Law.
Stress and strain take different forms in different situations. Generally, for small
deformations, the stress and strain are proportional to each other, and this is known as
Hooke’s Law.

When the elastic materials are stretched, the atoms and molecules deform until stress is
applied, and when the stress is removed, they return to their initial state.
Mathematically, Hooke’s law is expressed as:
F = –kx
In the equation, F is the force, x is the extension in length, k is the constant of proportionality
known as the spring constant in N/m.

Example: A spring is displaced by 5 cm and held in place with a force of 500 N. What is
the spring constant of the spring?
Solution:
We know that the spring is displaced by 5 cm, but the unit of the spring constant is Newtons
per meter. This means that we have to convert the distance to meters.
Converting the distance to meters, we get
5 cm = 0.05 m
Now substituting the values in the equation, we get
F = –k.x
500 N = – k x 0.05 m
Now, we need to rework the equation so that we can calculate the missing metric, which is
the spring constant, or k. Looking only at the magnitudes and therefore omitting the negative
sign, we get
500 N/0.05 m = k
k = 10000 N/m
Therefore, the spring constant of the spring is 10000 N/m.

What is tension in force?

In physics, a tension force is a force that develops in a rope, thread, or cable as it is stretched
under an applied force.

Tension Force Formula

The tension in a body can be expressed numerically as follows:
T = mg + ma
Where;
T indicates tension,
m indicates mass in kg
g indicates gravitational force, 9.8 m/s2
a indicates acceleration, m/s2

What is Gravitational Force?

According to Newton’s universal law of gravitation,
The force of attraction between any two bodies is directly proportional to the product of
their masses and is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

Gravitational Force Formula

Where,
F is the gravitational force between two bodies

 m1 is the mass of the first body

 m2 is the mass of the second body
 r is the distance between the centres of two bodies

Example 1: Find the gravitational force of attraction between two elephants, one of
mass 1000 kg and the other of mass 800 kg, if the distance between them is 5 m.
Solution:
Given: m1 = 1000 kg, m2 = 800 kg, r = 5 m
The formula for gravitational force is given as:
𝑚1𝑚2
𝐹𝑔 = 𝐺 𝑟2
Here, G = 6.67 ×10−11 N⋅ m2/kg2
Substituting the values in the formula, we have:
Fg = 2.1 × 10-6 N

Example 2: Find the gravitational force of attraction between a man of mass of 50 kg

and a bus of mass 1500 kg, if the distance between them is 10 m.
Solution:
Given: m1 = 50 kg, m2 = 1500 kg, r = 10 m
𝑚1𝑚2
The formula for gravitational force is given as 𝐹𝑔 = 𝐺
𝑟2
−11 2 2
Here, G = 6.67 ×10 N⋅ m /kg
Substituting the values in the formula, we have:
𝑚1𝑚2
𝐹𝑔 = 𝐺 𝑟2
Fg = 5.0025 × 10-8 N

What is Work?
For work to be done, a force must be exerted and there must be motion or displacement in the
direction of the force. The work done by a force acting on an object is equal to the magnitude
of the force multiplied by the distance moved in the direction of the force. Work has only
magnitude and no direction. Hence, work is a scalar quantity.

Formula of Work
The work done by a force is defined to be the product of the component of the force in the
direction of the displacement and the magnitude of this displacement.
W= F∙d = Fdcosɵ
Where W is the work done, F is the force, d is the displacement, θ is the angle between
force and displacement and Fcosθ is the component of force in the direction of
displacement.

Unit of Work
The SI unit of work is Joule (J). For example, if a force of 5 newtons is applied to an object
and moves 2 meters, the work done will be 10 newton-meter or 10 Joule. It should be noted
that 1 J = 1 N ⋅ m = 1 kg ⋅ m2/s2.

Example of Work
An object is horizontally dragged across the surface by a 100 N force acting parallel to
the surface. Find out the amount of work done by the force in moving the object
through a distance of 8 m.
Solution:
Given:
F = 100 N, d = 8 m
Since F and d are in the same direction, θ = 0, [θ is the angle of the force to the direction of
movement], therefore
W = FdCos θ
W = 100 x 8 x Cos 0
W = 800 J [Since Cos 0 = 1]
What is Energy?
Energy is the ability to perform work. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, and it can
only be transformed from one form to another. The unit of Energy is the same as of Work, i.e.
Joules. Energy is found in many things, and thus there are different types of energy.
All forms of energy are either kinetic or potential. The energy in motion is known as Kinetic
Energy, whereas Potential Energy is the energy stored in an object and is measured by the
amount of work done.

Types of Energy
Some other types of energy are given below:

 Mechanical energy
 Mechanical wave energy
 Chemical energy
 Electric energy
 Magnetic energy
 Radiant energy
 Nuclear energy
 Heat Energy
 Elastic energy
 Gravitational energy
 Thermal energy

Unit of Energy
The SI unit of energy is Joules (J), named in honour of James Prescott Joule.
Although there are many forms of energy, it is broadly categorized into:

1. Kinetic Energy
2. Potential Energy

Kinetic energy is the energy associated with the object’s motion. Objects in motion are
capable of causing a change or are capable of doing work.
Kinetic energy is determined by the given formula;
1
K.E= 𝑚𝑣 2
2

Potential energy is the energy stored in an object or system of objects. Potential energy can
transform into a more obvious form of kinetic energy.
Potential energy is determined by the given formula
P.E = mgh
2
Where, m is mass, g=9.8 m/s , acceleration due to gravity and his height of object
Both potential energy and kinetic energy form total mechanical energy.
1
Total mechanical energy = K.E + P.E =2 𝑚𝑣 2 + mgh
Work Energy Theorem And Its Application

According to this theorem, the net work done on a body is equal to the change in kinetic
energy of the body. This is known as Work-Energy Theorem. It can be represented as:

Kf – Ki = W

Where Kf = Final kinetic energy

Ki = Initial kinetic energy
W = net work done
So the above equation follows the law of conservation of energy, according to which we can
only transfer energy from one form to another. Also, here the work done is the work done by
all forces acting on the body like gravity, friction, external force etc.