Chapter 1

Introduction and Basic Differential

Calculus

1.1 Why study mechanics?

Mechanics is essentially the study of motion and its causes1 . The subject has been of interest

even before the time of the ancient Greek philosophers. However, it was only around the late

seventeenth century, when Newton2 put the finishing touches on the task begun by Galileo, that

a coherent framework to understand motion emerged. Mechanics encompasses a bewildering

array of phenomena you observe around you, from the motion of cars to the movement of planets

to the to-and-fro motion of a swing. Coupled with the theory of electromagnetism formulated by

Maxwell in the later part of the nineteenth century, it was thought that the study of physics was

complete. With the advent of relativity and quantum mechanics, such a notion turned out to be
1
It’s a bit more than that, since if something is not moving, the tools provided by mechanics allow us to
analyze why that thing is not moving. For example, you can find the force needed to prevent something from
moving.
2
Isaac Newton was born in 1642 and died in 1727. He was born premature, his father died before his birth, and
his mother left him to remarry another man when he was a little child. Newton went on to attend the University
of Cambridge, which in those days was not really an intellectual center; most professors did not deserve their
positions, and students were more interested in partying. It was in these circumstances that Newton came up with
his ideas (encompassing the laws of motion, gravitation, calculus, optics, and even a very accurate determination
of the number π) that changed the world forever. He also had many faults - he could be stubborn, egotistical,
and prone to fits of uncontrollable rage, and he loved to pursue personal vendettas. If he can come up with all
this, surely you can at least understand it!

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1.1. Why study mechanics?

highly premature3 . Nevertheless, classical mechanics remains extremely important for a variety

of reasons. First, most ‘corrections’ to classical mechanics are only for speeds close to the speed

of light, and/or atomic scales as well as for immensely strong gravitational fields - using Newton’s

laws to describe, say, the motion of the Earth around the Sun is perfectly valid. The applications

of the subject are essential to our modern way of life - for example, we can build bridges, design

the bodies of cars and aircrafts, and send man to the moon, based largely on Newton’s laws.

Second, mechanics is the ‘easiest’ arena in which to introduce abstract concepts such as energy

and momentum which pervade modern science. Third, most importantly, mechanics teaches

you the ‘mathematization’ of the physical universe in the simplest and cleanest context - the

ability to write the physical world around you in terms of physical laws and to make various

deductions from the mathematical equations expressing the physical laws. In this sense, this

course is the gateway to real science and engineering, introducing the idea of doing science

quantitatively and rigorously. The fact that mechanics is science in action all around you helps

in relatively easy visualization and a straightforward testing ground of physical laws. Moreover,

the hope is that, by the end of this course, you would develop new ways of thinking to become

far more efficient and logical problem solvers.

To be perfectly honest, this is not an easy course. To do well, you not only have to attend

the lectures and the recitations, but you also have to read a lot - not reading like reading a simple

fiction novel, but rather critically analyzing what’s written. Most of all, the course demands

a lot of practice - you simply must become adept at solving a variety of physical problems to

really understand the material. There are no shortcuts here - solve a bunch of worked examples,

go through the recitation and tutorial problems, solve the assignment problems as well as the

additional problems, and, if possible, solve more problems from books as well. The more practice

you do, the better your grade will be. Given the hectic pace of the semester, you should aim

to study this course every single day - once you fall behind, you will keep falling behind, as one

topic in this course builds upon the previous topic. Cramming at the last minute is absolutely

not going to help you, this I can promise you.

3
For an excellent overview of the current state of physics, I would recommend that you watch this short video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZihywtixUYo.

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 Chapter 1. Introduction and Basic Differential Calculus

1.2 Motion under free fall

Let us start our study of mechanics from something that we have all seen: an object, once

dropped, falls towards the surface of the Earth. The question is: why does it fall down? That is

a deep question! We don’t really know. Aristotle thought that things fall because they are trying

to reach their natural place in contact with the Earth. Newton said that two objects attract

each other with a force, but this is not a fully convincing explanation since, as Richard Feynman

said, nobody really knows what is a force. Einstein stitched space and time into one entity

called spacetime, and he thought of gravity as the curvature of spacetime - but then why does

mass/energy curve spacetime? You see, even now, there are many questions in science to which

we do not have fully satisfactory answers. However, this does not mean that we cannot make any

progress. What allows us to make progress are falsifiable statements, that is, statements that

we can experimentally check for their validity. For example, Aristotle did produce a falsifiable

statement - he believed that heavier, more massive objects fall faster. Was he right? Well in

many cases, yes. A feather does seem to fall slower than a coin. But Galileo in a stroke of

genius realized that actually air resistance plays a vital role in the motion of falling objects. If

there is no air resistance, he thought, perhaps all objects fall at the same rate, so that they hit

the ground, if released from the same height, at the same time. This is an example of what

scientists do. They look for an ideal situation in which they can come up with a simple law. The

realistic situations (for example, including air resistance) can be dealt with as a modification of

this simple law.

The question then is: how do you come up with the simple law? There are two ways. One

is that you do a thought experiment, which means that think of some situation, and imagine

what will happen in your head to see if everything makes sense or not. The other, of course,

is that you do an actual experiment. Here is what Galileo thought. Assume that we have two

blocks as shown below. Block B is heavier than block A.

According to Aristotle, block B will fall faster than A. In our thought experiment, let us

accept that this is so. Now tie A and B with a string, and release this setup from rest so that the

blocks fall freely (with B, tied to A, being below A). Since we are assuming that B falls faster

than A, it is clear that, with this assumption, the string stretches. Due to this stretched string in

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1.2. Motion under free fall

A B

Fig. 1.1: Two blocks, A and B. One is smaller than the other.

between, B falls slower than if B had been dropped alone. However, from another perspective,

B and A together form one big object. So B really should fall faster. In other words, we have

a contradiction! The only way out of this contradiction is to accept that something is wrong

with our original assumption - perhaps heavier objects do not fall faster.

The thought experiment is a not a conclusive test - we also need to do the actual experiment.

This is the real test. It does not matter how beautiful the theory you have cooked up is, it doesn’t

matter how simple it is, if it doesn’t agree with experiment, it’s wrong - wrong I say, wrong!

The experiment here in principle is straightforward enough, with the only complication being

that we need to make sure that there is negligible air resistance. To ensure this, we can do the

experiment in vacuum to find that two objects, dropped from the same height, do fall to the

ground at the same time4 .

This is well and good, but as scientists and engineers, we try to be more quantitative. For

example, what if somebody asks you the speed of the object two seconds after release? It is

not obvious how to answer this question using our ‘law’ that two objects fall at the same time.

What we need is to write down a law as a precise mathematical statement. Therefore, let’s look

at how the distance that an object falls changes with time. Once again, we don’t know exactly

what time is, but you and I both know how to measure it. You have physical phenomena that

repeat over and over again in cycles. Take one of these, and say that these many cycles equal

one unit of time. The second is defined in this way using the oscillations between two atomic

levels in a particular atom. Similarly, we can define the meter and measure distances in units of

this standard distance (just for kicks, I should tell you that the meter is not defined as the length

of a rod, but rather in terms of the distance traveled by light in a particular time interval. Since
4
Demonstration on the Earth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E43-CfukEgs; demonstration on the
moon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDp1tiUsZw8.

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 Chapter 1. Introduction and Basic Differential Calculus

()
Fig. 1.2: Plot of the distance fallen by an object near the Earth’s surface as a function of the time elapsed.
It is assumed that air resistance is negligible. SI units have been used here.

the speed of light is believed to be a fundamental constant, this way is much more accurate).

Now the distance that the object falls depends on the time elapsed. We say that the distance

fallen is a function of time, and we mathematically write this function as x (t), read x of t. Now,

what does this function look like? From experiment, we find that

x (t) = ct 2 ,

where c is a constant. In SI units, we find that c ≈ 5 m/s2 .

The ‘law’ that the distance fallen by an object in free fall is given by x (t) = ct 2 is certainly

more useful than merely the statement that all objects, released from the same height, fall at

the same time - with x (t) = ct 2 we can make precise quantitative predictions. That’s the power

given to science by mathematics.

1.3 The derivative

If one observes a falling object, it certainly seems that the object is falling faster and faster

as time goes on. How fast? This information can be extracted from x (t) = ct 2 . We look

at the distance fallen in different time intervals. The distance fallen during a time interval,

divided by the time interval, tells you the average speed over that time interval. But what about

instantaneous speed, that is, the speed at a particular instant? That’s where the idea of the

derivative comes in. Since the idea of the derivative is so pervasive, it is worthwhile to review

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1.3. The derivative

it in general terms.

Suppose you are given a general function f (x ). To find the rate of change at x , the idea

is to consider two points (x , f (x )) and (x + ∆x , f (x + ∆x )), where ∆x is the change in x -

these two points can then be used to calculate the slope. For example, consider the function

f (x ) = x 2 . To find the rate of change at x = 1, we can consider the points (1, f (1)) and

(1.8, f (1.8)); these two points can then be joined by a straight line and the slope of this line

can be found. The idea now is that the second point can be brought closer and closer to the

first point. In this limit, the line joining the two points starts to become a tangent line [see the

figure below]. The gradient of this tangent line gives the rate of change at the point that we

are considering. The analytical expression for this process is written as

df f (x + ∆x ) − f (x )
= lim ,
dx ∆x →0 ∆x

df
where dx is known as the derivative of the function f (x ). The notation is supposed to remind you

of the fact that the derivative is the ratio of a very small change in the function df (technically,

this is known as an ‘infinitesimal’ change) to a very small change in x (denoted by dx ). Note

that the derivative of a function is another function that allows you to calculate the gradient of

the tangent line drawn at any point on the curve. To better understand the derivative, I would

very strongly encourage you to play with the VPython program available here. The recitations

should further reinforce the ideas of limits and derivatives. Also, reading books helps! See, for

example, Quick Calculus or University Physics by Young and Freedman.

Now, in our case, the function that we are concerned with is x (t) = ct 2 . Then, applying

the definition of the derivative gives

dx c(t + ∆t)2 − ct 2
= lim
dt ∆t→0 ∆t
ct 2 + 2ct∆t + (∆t)2 − ct 2
= lim
∆t→0 ∆t
= lim 2ct + ∆t
∆t→0

= 2ct = v (t),

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 Chapter 1. Introduction and Basic Differential Calculus

( )

Fig. 1.3: Finding the slope of the function f (x ) = x 2 at x = 1. The black curve is the graph of the function
f (x ). The idea in finding the slope at x = 1 is to join the point (1, f (1)) to a neighboring point via a
straight line, and to then find the slope of this line. The dashed purple line is the result of joining (1, f (1))
to (1.8, f (1.8)); the blue line joins (1, f (1)) to (1.2, f (1.2)); the red line joins (1, f (1)) to (1.01, f (1.01)).
You can see that as the two points get closer and closer together, the straight line becomes a tangent line.
The slopes of the straight lines are 2.8 (dashed purple), 2.2 (dashed blue), and 2.01 (red). So it seems
that the slope approaches 2 as the points becomes closer and closer. This is precisely the result obtained by
differentiating the function f (x ) = x 2 .

where v (t) is the instantaneous speed function. Differentiating once more gives us the acceler-

ation, that is,

dv 2c(t + ∆t) − 2ct

= lim
dt ∆t→0 ∆t
= 2c.

dv
Defining g = 2c, we get dt = g. The acceleration is simply g. We can also write this as

 
dv d dx d 2x
= dt dt = dt 2
= g.
dt

d 2x
The ‘2’ in dt 2
simply means that you differentiate x (t) twice - this is therefore the second

derivative of x (t), or the derivative of the derivative.

You need to be a little familiar with calculating derivatives quickly if required. I won’t ask

you to find complicated derivatives, but you should at least know that there are a few rules which

allow you to quickly find derivatives without going back to the basic definition again and again.

First, the derivative of a constant function such as f (x ) = k, where k is a constant such as 1,

5 or 102, is zero. This simply because for a constant function, the function does not change,

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1.3. The derivative

so the slope has to be zero (you can check this from the definition of the derivative as well).

Moreover, the graph of such a function is a horizontal straight line, and this picture immediately

informs us that the slope is zero. Second, the the derivative of the function f (x ) = x n (where

n is a number) is nx n−1 . Here are two illustrative examples. First, consider f (x ) = x . Then,

df (x + ∆x ) − x
= lim
dx ∆x →0 ∆x
∆x
= lim
∆x →0 ∆x

= 1.

Second, if f (x ) = x 3 , then

df (x + ∆x )3 − x 3
= lim
dx ∆x →0 ∆x
x 3 + 3x 2 (∆x ) + 3x (∆x )2 + (∆x )3 − x 3
= lim
∆x →0 ∆x
3x 2 (∆x ) + 3x (∆x )2 + (∆x )3
= lim
∆x →0 ∆x
= lim (3x 2 + 3x (∆x ) + (∆x )2 )
∆x →0

= 3x 2 .

In the last line, I have dropped 3x (∆x ) and (∆x )2 since, in the limit ∆x → 0, ∆x is negligible.
df
Both of these results check out with the rule that if f (x ) = x n , then dx = nx n−1 .

Here’s the next rule. If f (x ) = kg(x ), where k is a constant, then

df kg(x + ∆x ) − kg(x )
= lim
dx ∆x →0 ∆x
g(x + ∆x ) − g(x )
= k lim
∆x →0 ∆x
dg
= k .
dx

In the second line, I have factored out the constant k - the limit does not see this constant. This

rule tells you that any constants can be pushed out of the derivative operation. For example, if
df d
f (x ) = 3x 3 , then dx =3× 3
dx (x ) = 3(3x 2 ) = 9x 2 .

It is also useful to know that, given a sum of two functions, the derivative of the sum is the

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 Chapter 1. Introduction and Basic Differential Calculus

sum of the derivative functions. In other words, if

f (x ) = u(x ) + v (x ),

then

df du dv
= + .
dx dx dx

df
We can use this rule to find the derivative of f (x ) = cx 2 + 2cx ; we get dx = 2cx + 2c. This

rule can be justified in the following way. Suppose you place two buckets out in the open while

it is raining. In time interval ∆t, the change in the volume of water in the first bucket is ∆V1 ;

similarly, the change in the volume of water in the second bucket is ∆V2 . The total volume of

water in the buckets is V = V1 + V2 ; the total change in the volume is ∆V = ∆V1 + ∆V2 . It
∆V ∆V1 ∆V2 dV dV1 dV2
follows that ∆t = ∆t + ∆t . In the limit ∆t → 0, we get dt = dt + dt , which says that

the rate of change of the total volume is the sum of the rate of change of volume in the first

bucket and the rate of change of volume in the second bucket.

We also have the so-called product rule of differentiation. Given f (x ) = u(x )v (x ), the

product rule says that

df dv du
= u(x ) + v (x ).
dx dx dx

A ‘physical’ motivation for the product rule can be given as follows. Consider a rectangular

metal sheet of area A. The material of the metal sheet can easily expand, so the area of the

sheet depends on the temperature x . Consequently, we write the area as A(x ). The length

and width of the sheet are denoted by `(x ) and w (x ). It is clear that A(x ) = `(x )w (x ).

Suppose now that the temperature increases slightly; this means that the length increases by

∆`, and the width by ∆w . You should now convince yourself that the change in area is

∆A = `(∆w ) + w (∆`) + (∆`)(∆w ). Dividing both sides by the change in temperature ∆x , we

∆A
get ∆x = ` ∆w ∆`
∆x + w ∆x +
∆`∆w
∆x . In the limit ∆x → 0, the last term can be ignored (make sure

you understand why!), and we end up with the product rule.

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1.3. The derivative

Finally, the last rule that you need to be familiar with is the chain rule. Consider a function

f (x ) and another function y (x ). Since y is a function of x , we can also write the function f in

terms of y (the example below will make this clearer). Then, the chain rule says that

df df dy
=
dx dy dx

df
For example, consider f (x ) = x 6 . We know that dx = 6x 5 . Let’s derive this in another way. I

write f (x ) = x 6 = (x 3 )2 . Let y = x 3 . Then I can write f in terms of y as f (y ) = y 2 . Now,

df df dy df dy
the chain rule says that dx = dy dx . In our case, dy = 2y , while dx = 3x 2 . So the the chain
df df
rule says that dx = (3x 2 )(2y ) = 6x 2 y . But y = x 3 , so we simply get dx = 6x 5 . No surprise
df
here. As a more useful example of the chain rule, consider f (x ) = (x 2 − 3)3 . To find dx , let
df dy
y = x 2 − 3. Then f (y ) = y 3 , which leads to dy = 3y 2 . On the other hand, dx = 2x . Using the
df
chain rule, we get dx = 6x y 2 = 6x (x 2 − 3)2 . By the way, the chain rule is easy to remember -

the dy ‘cancel’, so to speak.

The chain rule can be justified in the following way. Suppose you have a car whose mileage

you know (the mileage is the distance covered by the car per unit of fuel consumed) - let’s

suppose that this is 15 km/liter. You also know the rate of fuel consumption for the car - let’s

say that this is 3 liters per hour. If I now ask you the speed of the car, what will you tell me? It

is obvious that if in one hour, the car is consuming 3 liters, so it’s speed over this time interval

is 45 km/h. In symbols, let x represent distance, t time, and y gasoline. What we have done

is to say that
∆x ∆x ∆y
= × .
∆t ∆y ∆t

In the limit ∆t → 0, this becomes the chain rule.

Here are some practice problems for you to try using the rules given above.

1. If f (x ) = x1 , find df
dx .

1 df
2. If f (x ) = g(x ) , find dx .

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 Chapter 1. Introduction and Basic Differential Calculus

u(x )
3. If f (x ) = v (x ) , show that
du dv
df v (x ) − u(x )
= dx dx .
dx [v (x )]2

Going back, our problem is now easy. Since x (t) = ct 2 for a falling object, we can easily
dx
now deduce that v (t) = dt = 2ct. So the speed of such an object after two seconds is 20 m/s.
dv
Similarly, the acceleration is a(t) = dt = 10 m/s2 . In this case, the acceleration is constant,

independent of time. You see the power of calculus in action here - the process of differentiation

allows you calculate rates of change for all times t without drawing tangents everywhere! But

this is only the tip of the iceberg - in the next chapter, we will investigate how we can use the

opposite of differentiation (‘anti-derivatives’) to calculate sums (‘integrals’). This tool, known as

the fundamental theorem of calculus, is considered to be one of the most important discoveries

in the history of mankind.

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