Physics

Physics
Physics, which comes from the Greek phúsis, meaning “nature,” is
concerned with describing the interactions of energy, matter, space, and
time to uncover the fundamental mechanisms that underlie every
phenomenon.
This concern for describing the basic phenomena in nature essentially
defines the scope of physics.
Physics aims to understand the world around us at the most basic level.
It emphasizes the use of a small number of quantitative laws to do this,
which can be useful to other fields pushing the performance boundaries
of existing technologies.
• When you use a GPS in a vehicle, it relies on physics equations to
determine the travel time from one location to another
• the laws of physics govern everything in the observable universe at all
measurable scales of length, mass, and time.
• How did we come to know the laws governing natural phenomena?
What we refer to as the laws of nature are concise descriptions of the
universe around us. They are human statements of the underlying laws
or rules that all natural processes follow. Such laws are intrinsic to the
universe; humans did not create them and cannot change them. We can
only discover and understand them. Their discovery is a very human
endeavor, with all the elements of mystery, imagination, struggle,
triumph, and disappointment inherent in any creative effort.
• The cornerstone of discovering natural laws is observation; scientists
must describe the universe as it is, not as we imagine it to be.
• A model is a representation of something that is often too difficult (or
impossible) to display directly. Although a model is justified by
experimental tests, it is only accurate in describing certain aspects of a
physical system.
• An example is the Bohr model of single-electron atoms, in which the
electron is pictured as orbiting the nucleus, analogous to the way
planets orbit the Sun
• To a scientist, a theory is a testable explanation for patterns in nature
supported by scientific evidence and verified multiple times by various
groups of researchers.
• A law uses concise language to describe a generalized pattern in nature supported
by scientific evidence and repeated experiments. Often, a law can be expressed in
the form of a single mathematical equation. Laws and theories are similar in that
they are both scientific statements that result from a tested hypothesis and are
supported by scientific evidence. However, the designation law is usually reserved
for a concise and very general statement that describes phenomena in nature, such
as the law that energy is conserved during any process, or Newton’s second law of
motion, which relates force (F), mass (m), and acceleration (a) by the simple
equation F = ma. A theory, in contrast, is a less concise statement of observed
behavior. For example, the theory of evolution and the theory of relativity cannot
be expressed concisely enough to be considered laws. The biggest difference
between a law and a theory is that a theory is much more complex and dynamic. A
law describes a single action whereas a theory explains an entire group of related
phenomena. Less broadly applicable statements are usually called principles (such
as Pascal’s principle, which is applicable only in fluids), but the distinction
between laws and principles often is not made carefully.
We define a physical quantity either by specifying how it is measured or
by stating how it is calculated from other measurements. For example,
we might define distance and time by specifying methods for measuring
them, such as using a meter stick and a stopwatch. Then, we could
define average speed by stating that it is calculated as the total distance
traveled divided by time of travel. Measurements of physical quantities
are expressed in terms of units, which are standardized values. For
example, the length of a race, which is a physical quantity, can be
expressed in units of meters (for sprinters) or kilometers (for distance
runners). Without standardized units, it would be extremely difficult for
scientists to express and compare measured values in a meaningful way
Two major systems of units are used in the world: SI units (for the
French Système International d’Unités), also known as the metric
system, and English units (also known as the customary or imperial
system). English units were historically used in nations once ruled by
the British Empire and are still widely used in the United States. English
units may also be referred to as the foot–pound–second (fps) system, as
opposed to the centimeter–gram–second (cgs) system. You may also
encounter the term SAE units, named after the Society of Automotive
Engineers. Products such as fasteners and automotive tools (for
example, wrenches) that are measured in inches rather than metric units
are referred to as SAE fasteners or SAE wrenches.
• In any system of units, the units for some physical quantities must be
defined through a measurement process. These are called the base
quantities for that system and their units are the system’s base units.
All other physical quantities can then be expressed as algebraic
combinations of the base quantities. Each of these physical quantities
is then known as a derived quantity and each unit is called a derived
unit. The choice of base quantities is somewhat arbitrary, as long as
they are independent of each other and all other quantities can be
derived from them.
• Based on such considerations, the International Standards
Organization recommends using seven base quantities, which form the
International System of Quantities (ISQ). These are the base quantities
used to define the SI base units.
ISQ Base Quantity SI Base Unit
Length Meter (m)
Mass Kilogram (kg)
Time Second (s)
Electrical Current Ampere (A)
Thermodynamic temperature Kelvin (k)
Amount of substance Mole (mol)
Luminous intensity Candela (cd)
• The dimension of any physical quantity expresses its dependence on
the base quantities as a product of symbols (or powers of symbols)
representing the base quantities.
Base Quantity Symbol for Dimension
Length L
Mass M
Time T
Current I
Thermodynamic temperature
Amount of substance N
Luminous intensity J
Motion
• Our universe is full of objects in motion. From the stars, planets, and
galaxies; to the motion of people and animals; down to the
microscopic scale of atoms and molecules- everything in our universe
is in motion.
• We can describe the motion using the two disciplines of kinematics
and dynamics.
Force
External influence that can change the motion of an object.

A Force is an interaction between 2 objects involving a push or a pull.

Forces are vectors – they have a direction in space.

Dynamics
Concerned with the causes of motion, in Newton’s laws of motion.
Kinematics
Kinematics involves describing motion through properties such as
position, time, velocity, and acceleration.
A full treatment of kinematics considers motion in two and three
dimensions.
For now, we discuss motion in one dimension, which provides us with
the tools necessary to study multidimensional motion.
A good example of an object undergoing one-dimensional motion is
IFESCU bus, suppose we are going to cox’sbazar as part of our study
tour. It is at different positions along the track at various times in its
journey, and therefore has displacements, or changes in position. It also
has a variety of velocities along its path and it undergoes accelerations.
Position
• To describe the motion of an object, you must first be able to describe its position
(x): where it is at any particular time.
• More precisely, we need to specify its position relative to a convenient frame of
reference.
• A frame of reference is an arbitrary set of axes from which the position and
motion of an object are described.
• Earth is often used as a frame of reference, and we often describe the position of
an object as it relates to stationary objects on Earth. For example, a rocket launch
could be described in terms of the position of the rocket with respect to Earth as a
whole, whereas a cyclist’s position could be described in terms of where she is in
relation to the buildings she passes.
• In other cases, we use reference frames that are not stationary but are in motion
relative to Earth. To describe the position of a person in an airplane, for example,
we use the airplane, not Earth, as the reference frame.
Displacement
If an object moves relative to a frame of reference, then the object’s position
changes. This change in position is called displacement.
The word displacement implies that an object has moved, or has been
displaced.
Although position is the numerical value of x along a straight line where an
object might be located, displacement gives the change in position along this
line. Since displacement indicates direction, it is a vector and can be either
positive or negative, depending on the choice of positive direction.
Also, an analysis of motion can have many displacements embedded in it. If
right is positive and an object moves 2 m to the right, then 4 m to the left, the
individual displacements are 2 m and −4 m, respectively.
Displacement
Δx is the change in position of an object: Δx = xf − x0,
where Δx is displacement, xf is the final position, and x0 is the initial position
ΔxTotal = ∑Δxi

The magnitude of the total displacement should not be confused with the distance
traveled. Distance traveled ΔxTotal , is the total length of the path traveled between
two positions.
Average velocity
• To calculate the other physical quantities in kinematics we must introduce
the time variable.
• The time variable allows us not only to state where the object is (its
position) during its motion, but also how fast it is moving.
• How fast an object is moving is given by the rate at which the position
changes with time.
• For each position xi , we assign a particular time t i . If the details of the
motion at each instant are not important, the rate is usually expressed as the
average velocity v – . This vector quantity is simply the total displacement
between two points divided by the time taken to travel between them. The
time taken to travel between two points is called the elapsed time Δt .
If x1 and x2 are the positions of an object at times t1 and t2, respectively, then,
Average velocity = v = Displacement between two points /Elapsed time between
two points
v = Δx / Δt = x2 − x1/t2 − t1
It is important to note that the average velocity is a vector and can be negative,
depending on positions x1 and x2
Problem
Jill sets out from her home to deliver flyers for her yard sale, traveling due
east along her street lined with houses. At 0.5 km and 9 minutes later she
runs out of flyers and has to retrace her steps back to her house to get more.
This takes an additional 9 minutes. After picking up more flyers, she sets out
again on the same path, continuing where she left off, and ends up 1.0 km
from her house. This third leg of her trip takes 15 minutes. At this point she
turns back toward her house, heading west. After 1.75 km and 25 minutes
she stops to rest.
a. What is Jill’s total displacement to the point where she stops to rest?
b. What is the magnitude of the final displacement?
c. What is the average velocity during her entire trip?
d. What is the total distance traveled?
e. Make a graph of position versus time.
Jill’s total displacement is −0.75 km, which means at the end of her trip
she ends up 0.75 km due west of her home. The average velocity means
if someone was to walk due west at 0.013 km/min starting at the same
time Jill left her home, they both would arrive at the final stopping point
at the same time. Note that if Jill were to end her trip at her house, her
total displacement would be zero, as well as her average velocity. The
total distance traveled during the 58 minutes of elapsed time for her trip
is 3.75 km.
Instantaneous velocity
• The quantity that tells us how fast an object is moving anywhere along
its path is the instantaneous velocity, usually called simply velocity.
• It is the average velocity between two points on the path in the limit
that the time (and therefore the displacement) between the two points
approaches zero.
• The instantaneous velocity of an object is the limit of the average
velocity as the elapsed time approaches zero, or the derivative of x
with respect to t:
Speed
• In everyday language, most people use the terms speed and velocity
interchangeably. In physics, however, they do not have the same
meaning and are distinct concepts. One major difference is that speed
has no direction; that is, speed is a scalar.
• average speed by finding the total distance traveled divided by the
elapsed time
• Average speed, S = Total distance/Elapsed time
• Average speed is not necessarily the same as the magnitude of the
average velocity, which is found by dividing the magnitude of the total
displacement by the elapsed time.
• For example, if a trip starts and ends at the same location, the total
displacement is zero, and therefore the average velocity is zero. The
average speed, however, is not zero, because the total distance traveled
is greater than zero. If we take a road trip of 300 km and need to be at
our destination at a certain time, then we would be interested in our
average speed.
• Instantaneous speed
The position of a particle is given by x(t) = 3.0t + 0.5t3 m
(A)Find the instantaneous velocity at t = 2 s
(B)Calculate the average velocity between 1s and 3s
Acceleration
• The importance of understanding acceleration spans our day-to-day experience, as well as
the vast reaches of outer space and the tiny world of subatomic physics.
• In everyday conversation, to accelerate means to speed up; applying the brake pedal
causes a vehicle to slow down.
• We are familiar with the acceleration of our car, for example. The greater the acceleration,
the greater the change in velocity over a given time.
• Acceleration is widely seen in experimental physics. In linear particle accelerator
experiments, for example, subatomic particles are accelerated to very high velocities in
collision experiments, which tell us information about the structure of the subatomic
world as well as the origin of the universe.
• In space, cosmic rays are subatomic particles that have been accelerated to very high
energies in supernovas (exploding massive stars) and active galactic nuclei. It is important
to understand the processes that accelerate cosmic rays because these rays contain highly
penetrating radiation that can damage electronics flown on spacecraft.
• Average acceleration
a = Δv/ Δt = vf − v0 / t f − t0
With constant velocity and acceleration, a = v-v0/t-t0 (that is t) => v= v0 + at ( constant a)
Because acceleration is velocity in meters per second divided by time in
seconds, the SI units for acceleration are often abbreviated m/s2—that
is, meters per second squared or meters per second per second. This
literally means by how many meters per second the velocity changes
every second. Recall that velocity is a vector—it has both magnitude
and direction—which means that a change in velocity can be a change
in magnitude (or speed), but it can also be a change in direction.
• Keep in mind that although acceleration is in the direction of the
change in velocity, it is not always in the direction of motion. When an
object slows down, its acceleration is opposite to the direction of its
motion. Although this is commonly referred to as deceleration.
• The term deceleration can cause confusion in our analysis because it is
not a vector and it does not point to a specific direction with respect to
a coordinate system, so we do not use it. Acceleration is a vector, so
we must choose the appropriate sign for it in our chosen coordinate
system. In the case of the train, acceleration is in the negative direction
in the chosen coordinate system, so we say the train is undergoing
negative acceleration.
Newton’s law of Motion
• Everybody will continue in its state of rest, or uniform motion in a
straight line, unless it is acted upon by an external force.
• The rate of change of motion is proportional to the force producing the
change and takes place in the direction in which the force acts.
• To every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, or, when one
objects exerts a force on a second object, the second object exerts a
reactive force of equal magnitude and opposite direction on the first
object.
An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends
to stay in motion unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.
• Equal forces in opposite directions produce no motion
• Unequal opposing forces produce an unbalanced force causing motion.
• If objects in motion tend to stay in motion, why don’t moving objects
keep moving forever?
• Things don’t keep moving forever because there’s almost always an
unbalanced force acting upon them.
• A book sliding across a table slows down and stops because of the
force of friction.
• If you throw a ball upwards it will eventually slow down and fall
because of the force of gravity.
Momentum
• Momentum is what Newton called the ‘quantity of motion’ of an
object.
• Momentum of an object depends in the object’s mass and velocity
(directly proportional)

In symbols: p = mv
Impulse
The impulse exerted on an object depends on

• The force acting on the object. ( Impulse is directly proportional to

force)
• The time that the force acts. ( Impulse is directly proportional to time)

Impulse is a vector quantity. Common units of impulse: N s

Impulse and momentum
• The impulse exerted on an object equals the object’s change in
momentum.

In symbols: I = ΔP

Conservation of momentum
• Since impulse = change in momentum, if NO impulse is exerted on an
object, the momentum of the object will not change.
• In no external forces act on a system, the total momentum of the
system will not change.
 Energy
• Capacity of a body or substance to perform work.
• A body possess energy when it is capable of doing work.
• Energy can be contained in many forms and its presence is observed
only by its effects.
• Some forms of energy are solar, chemical, nuclear, electrical and
mechanical.
• Study of mechanics is concerned with the two forms of mechanical
energy: potential and kinetic
Potential Energy
Potential energy of a body to do work by virtue of its position.

• Example: Water stored behind a dam contains PE due to its position

and can be made to do work. If the water is released, it will flow to a
lower point due to the force of gravity.
• A stretched spring also has potential energy which increases as it is
stretched.( within certain limits)
• PE due to gravity can be expresses as
PE = mgh ( h= vertical height)
Kinetic Energy
• KE is the ability of a body to do work due to its motion.

KE = ½ mass * (Velocity )2
= ½ mv2

Mechanical energy = PE+KE

Work
Effort exerted on something that will change its energy.

• Two things (1) the application of a force, (2) the movement of

something by that force.
• The work done on an object by an applied force as the product of the
force and the distance through which the object is moved.

Work (W) = force (f) × distance (d)

Work depends on-
The amount of force applied to the object
The distance that the object moves while the force is applied
The direction of the force with respect to the direction the object moves

If the force on the object is in the direction the object moves, the work
done is: W = Fx
If the direction of the force is opposite the direction the object moves,
work is: W = -Fx
Power
Is the amount of work done per time it takes to do it
Power = work done/ time interval

For example, a high power engine does work rapidly.

An automatic engine that delivers twice the power of another
automobile engine does not necessarily produce twice as much work or
make a car to go twice as fast as the less powerful engine.
Twice the power means the engine can do twice the work in the same
time or do the same amount of work in half the time.
Machine
• A machine is a device that multiplies force or simply changes the
direction of force. The principle underlying every machine is the
conservation of energy.
• At the same time, we do work on one end of the lever, the other end
does work on the load. We see that the direction of force is changed. If
we push down, the load is lifted up.
• If the work done by friction forces and the unbalanced weight of the
level are small enough to ignore, then the work input will be equal to
the work output.
• Work input = work output
• ( Force × distance) input = ( Force × distance) output
• The point of support on which a lever rotates is called a fulcrum.
When the fulcrum of a lever is relatively close to the load, a small
input force will produce a large output force.
Examples of simple machines:
Inclined plane, Lever, Pulley
• Machines can not multiply work or energy, but they can multiply
force.
• Mechanical advantage measures how much a machine multiplies
force.

MA = Force machine exerts / Force you exert

Efficiency
• The efficiency of a machine tells how much of the energy (work) that
goes into the machine actually does useful work.
• It is usually expressed as a percent

Efficiency = Useful work done/ energy input ×100%

Vehicle dynamics
Vehicle dynamics is a complicated analytical and experimental
technology that is used to study and understand the responses of a
vehicle in various in-motion situations. In the driver education field, it
is not necessary to deal with the specifics of this technology but rather
with some of the basic physical principles involved in it.
I. Kinetic Energy
II. Centrifugal Force
III. Inertia
IV. Friction
V. Traction
Kinetic energy
The energy a vehicle has due to its mass and speed. Its formula is
simple, yet tells a great deal.

Kinetic energy = ½ (mass) x (velocity)2

This shows that the kinetic energy of the vehicle increases as the square
of the velocity. This means that if speed is doubled, the energy increases
four times. This energy increase causes no problem unless it must be
dissipated or redirected quickly.
Centrifugal force
When a vehicle turns, centrifugal force acts on the vehicle and tries to push it
to the outside of the curve.
Centrifugal Force = (mass) X (velocity)2 / radius of turn
This shows that centrifugal force increases as the square of velocity. Also, at a
given speed, small (tight) radius turns produce more force than large radius
turns.
Large amounts of centrifugal force require equally large amounts of
counteracting force from the tires if the vehicle is to remain on the road.
The tires can be thought of as strings from each end of the vehicle to the
center of the turn. If the centrifugal force is higher than the tires can
counteract, one or both of the strings break. The vehicle will then leave the
turn.
Inertia
Inertia is the resistance to change the direction or velocity of a body,
either at rest or in motion.
In this case, it is related to changing the heading, or direction, of a
vehicle; that is, changing from straight ahead driving to a turn.
The importance of inertia and weight distribution as they relate to
driving is that they affect the amount of time required to make a
transition from straight to turning or vice versa.
Since inertia dictates that a body in motion will continue to move in a
straight line, a force must be applied to cause a vehicle to turn. This
force is called Centripetal force, and is a result of tires stretching to pull
the car from a straight path. Centripetal force must exceed centrifugal
force for the vehicle to turn.
Friction
Friction is defined as the resistance to motion between two surfaces.
There are four basic types of friction.
A. Static – the holding force between two surfaces at rest
B. Sliding – the resistance to motion between two surfaces which are
moving across each other
C. Rolling – the resistance to motion of a rolling object like a ball,
cylinder or wheel
D. Internal – the resistance to motion within elastic objects (tires get
warm from internal friction as they flex)
Traction
Traction is defined as the adhesive friction of the tire to the road surface.
There are three traction forces:
1) Driving Traction – To accelerate the vehicle
2) Braking Traction – To slow or stop the vehicle
3) Cornering Traction – To turn the vehicle
Newton’s law and car safety
Newton's Laws are very important when it comes to car safety.
When there is a car crash, the car, its contents and the passengers decelerate rapidly. They experience
great forces because of the very large decelaration, which can cause injury.
Car safety features:
Modern cars also have safety features that absorb kinetic energy in collisions. These typically
include:
• seat belts
• air bags
• crumple zones
These features increase the time taken for the change in speed of the occupants. This reduces the
deceleration, which causes the forces involved to be reduced, and consequently serious injuries to be
reduced.
Seat belts
Seat belts stop you tumbling around inside the car if there is a collision. Upon
sensing a collision the seat belts lock in place. When the car crashes, there is no
unbalanced force acting on the person, so they continue forward (Newton's First
Law). The person moves against the seat belt, exerting a force on it. The seat belt
then exerts a force back on the person (Newton's Third Law). This causes a
controlled deceleration of the person.
Air bags
Air bags increase the time taken for the motion of a car occupant's head to
decelerate from maximum speed to zero. A short sharp deceleration would involve a
very large force, increasing the chance of a head injury. A longer time slowing
down decreases deceleration thereby reducing the size of the force acting and
decreasing the chance of injury.
Crumple zones
Crumple zones are areas of a vehicle that are designed to crush in a controlled way
in a collision. They increase the time taken for the vehicle to slow down in an
impact (like an airbag). This reduces the force exerted on the passengers. The
deformation (crumpling) of the car also absorbs energy from the collision meaning
that less energy is transferred to the passengers.
Conservation of energy
If no external forces act on a system the total energy of the system will
remain constant

Task: Explain with example

Newton’s Law of Gravitation
Any particle in the universe attracts any other particle with a
gravitational force whose magnitude is
F = Gm1m2/r2

where m1 and m2 are the masses of the particles, r is their separation,

and G (= 6.67 × 10−11 N · m2 /kg2 ) is the gravitational constant.
• The gravitational force between extended bodies is found by adding
(integrating) the individual forces on individual particles within the
bodies. However, if either of the bodies is a uniform spherical shell or
a spherically symmetric solid, the net gravitational force it exerts on an
external object may be computed as if all the mass of the shell or body
were located at its center.
Gravitation near Earth’s surface
The gravitational acceleration, ag of a particle (of mass m) is due solely
to the gravitational force acting on it. When the particle is at distance r
from the center of a uniform, spherical body of mass M, the magnitude
F of the gravitational force on the particle is given by Newton’s law of
gravitation.
Thus, by Newton’s second law,
F = mag
Which gives,
ag = GM/r2
Because Earth’s mass is not distributed uniformly, because the planet is
not perfectly spherical, and because it rotates, the actual free-fall
acceleration ‘g’ of a particle near Earth differs slightly from the
gravitational acceleration ‘ag’, and the particle’s weight (equal to mg)
differs from the magnitude of the gravitational force on it.
Any ‘g’ value measured at a given location will differ from the ag value
for that location for three reasons. (1) Earth’s mass is not distributed
uniformly, (2) Earth is not a perfect sphere, and (3) Earth rotates.
Moreover, because g differs from ag, the same three reasons mean that
the measured weight ‘mg’ of a particle differs from the magnitude of the
gravitational force on the particle.
Planets and Satellites : Kepler’s law
The motion of satellites, both natural and artificial, is governed by
Kepler’s laws:
The law of orbits: All planets move in elliptical orbits with the Sun at
one focus.
The law of areas: A line joining any planet to the Sun sweeps out equal
areas in equal time intervals. (This statement is equivalent to
conservation of angular momentum.)
The law of periods: The square of the period T of any planet is
proportional to the cube of the semimajor axis a of its orbit.
Kepler’s law of periods from Newton’s law
• To see this, consider the circular orbit with radius r (the radius of
a circle is equivalent to the semimajor axis of an ellipse).
Applying Newton’s second law (F = ma) to the orbiting planet yields.
• GMm/r2 = (m)(ω2 r). (replacing F = ma as for centripetal acceleration,
a = ω2 r)
• If now we replace 𝜔 with 2𝜋/T, where T is the period of the motion,
we obtain Kepler’s third law:
T2 = (4ᴨ2/GM) r3
Problems
1. Satellite A is placed around planet ‘Green’ and has a period of 32
days. Satellite B is also placed in orbit but has thrice the radius of
satellite A. What is its period?
2. The Martian Satellite Phobos travels in an approximately circular
orbit of radius 9.4 × 106 m with a period of 7h 38m 40s. Calculate
the mass of Mars from this information.
Problems
3. A Saturn year is 29.5 times the Earth year. How far is Saturn from the
sun if the Earth is 1.5 × 10^8 km away from the sun?

4. The time period of a satellite of Earth is 8 hours. If the separation

between the Earth and the satellite is increased to two times the previous
value, find the new time period of the satellites.