CIE

Physics
Section 1

Motion, Forces, and Energy

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1.1 Physical quantities and measurement Techniques
• Units and basic quantities

• Three basic quantities we measure in physics are

• length, mass and time

• The SI (Système International d’Unités) system is a set of metric units now used in
many countries.

• It is a decimal system in which units are divided or multiplied by 10 to give smaller or

larger units.

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Standard Notation

• The small figures 1, 2, 3, etc. are called

powers of ten.
• The power shows how many times the
number has to be multiplied by 10 if the
power is greater than 0 or divided by 10
if the power is less than 0.
• Note that 1 is written as 100.

This way of writing numbers is called standard

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notation.
Length
• The unit of length is the metre (m) and is the distance travelled
by light in a vacuum during
a specific time interval.
• At one time it was the distance between two marks on a certain
metal bar.
• Submultiples are:

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Length measurements are made with rulers

• Many length measurements are made with

rulers; the correct way to read one is shown in

Figure 1.1.2.

• The reading is 76mm or 7.6cm. Your eye must

be directly over the mark on the scale or the

thickness of the ruler causes a parallax error.

• To obtain an average value for a small distance,

multiples can be measured.

• For example, in ripple tank experiments (Topic

3.1), measure the distance occupied by five

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 Significant figures
• The number of figures, called significant figures, given for a measurement indicates how
accurate we think it is and more figures should not be given than are justified.
• For example,
• a value of 4.5 for a measurement has two significant figures;
• 0.0385 has three significant figures, 3 being the most significant and 5 the least,
• i.e. it is the one we are least sure about since it might be 4 or it might be 6.
• Perhaps it had to be estimated by the experimenter because the reading was between two
marks on a scale.
• For example,
• if your calculator gave an answer of 3.4185062, this would be written as 3.4 if the
measurements had two significant figures.
• It would be written as 3.42 for three significant figures.
• Note that in deciding the least significant figure you look at the next figure to the right.
• If it is less than 5, you leave the least significant figure as it is (hence 3.41 becomes 3.4),
but if it equals or is greater than 5 you increase the least significant figure by 1 (round it up)
(hence 3.418 becomes 3.42). YNEC Education Center, Tr. Yamin 7
If number is expressed in standard notation,

• The number of significant figures is the number

of digits before the power of ten.

• For example,
• 2.73 x103 has three significant figures.

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Area
• The area of the square in Figure 1.1.3a with sides 1cm long is 1 square
centimetre (1cm2).
• In Figure 1.1.3b the rectangle measures 4cm by 3cm and has an area of 4  3
= 12cm2 since it has the same area as twelve squares each of area 1cm2.

The area of a square or rectangle is given by

area = length  breadth

The SI unit of area is the square metre (m2) which is the area of a square with sides 1m
long. YNEC Education Center, Tr. Yamin 9
Area of a triangle

Area of a circle

• The area of a circle of radius r is r

2

• where  = 22/7 or 3.14;

• its circumference is 2r.
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Volume
• Volume is the amount of space occupied.
3
• The unit of volume is the cubic metre (m )
but as this is rather large,for most purposes
3
the cubic centimetre (cm ) is used.
• The volume of a cube with 1cm edges is
3
1cm .

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Volume of a cylinder
• The volume of a cylinder of radius r and height h is
r2h.
• The volume of a liquid may be obtained by pouring it
into a measuring cylinder (Figure 1.1.6).
• When making a reading the cylinder must be upright
and your eye must be level with the bottom of the
curved liquid surface, i.e. the meniscus.
• The meniscus formed by mercury is curved
oppositely to that of other liquids and the top is read.
• Measuring cylinders are often marked in millilitres
(ml) where
1ml = 1cm3
1000cm3 = 1dm3 (= 1litre)
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Mass
• The mass of an object is the measure of the amount of matter in it. The
unit of mass is the kilogram (kg)
• The gram (g) is one-thousandth of a kilogram.

• The term weight is often used when mass is really meant.

• In science the two ideas are distinct and have different units, as we shall
see later.
• The confusion is not helped by the fact that mass is found on a balance by a
process we unfortunately call ‘weighing’!
• There are several kinds of balance.
• In the beam balance the unknown mass in one pan is balanced against
known masses in the other pan.
• In the lever balance a system of levers acts against the mass when it is
placed in the pan.
• A direct reading is obtained from the position on a scale of a pointer joined
to the lever system.
• A digital top-pan balance is shown in YNEC
Figure 1.7.
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Time
• The unit of time is the second (s), which used to be based on the
length of a day, this being the time for the Earth to revolve once on
its axis.
• However, days are not all of exactly the same duration and the
second is now defined as the time interval for a certain number of
energy changes to occur in the caesium atom.
• Time-measuring devices rely on some kind of constantly repeating
oscillation.
• In traditional clocks and watches a small wheel (the balance
wheel) oscillates to and from;
• In digital clocks and watches the oscillations are produced by a
tiny quartz crystal.
• A swinging pendulum controls a pendulum clock.
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To measure an interval of time in an
experiment
• To measure an interval of time in an experiment, first choose a timer that is
precise enough for the task.
• A stopwatch is adequate for finding the period in seconds of a pendulum (see
Figure 1.1.7 opposite), but to measure the speed of sound (Topic 3.4),
• A clock that can time in milliseconds is needed.
• To measure very short time intervals, a digital clock that can be triggered to start
and stop by an electronic signal from a microphone, photogate or mechanical
switch is useful.
• Tickertape timers or dataloggers are often used to record short time intervals
in motion experiments.
• Accuracy can be improved by measuring longer time intervals.
• Several oscillations (rather than just one) are timed to find the period of a
pendulum; the average value for the period is found by dividing the time by the
number of oscillations.
• Ten ticks, rather than single ticks, are used inYNEC
tickertape timers.
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Systematic errors
• Figure 1.1.8 shows a part of a ruler used to measure the height of a
point P above the bench.
• The ruler chosen has a space before the zero of the scale. This is
shown as the length x.
• The height of the point P is given by the scale reading added to the
value of x.
• The equation for the height is
height = scale reading + x
height = 5.9 + x
• By itself the scale reading is not equal to the height. It is too small
by the value of x.
• This type of error is known as a systematic error.
• The error is introduced by the system.
• A half-metre ruler has the zero at the end of the ruler and so can
be used without introducing a systematic error.
• When using a ruler to determine a height, the ruler must be held so
that it is vertical.
• If the ruler is at an angle to the vertical, a systematic error is
introduced. YNEC Education Center, Tr. Yamin 21
Vernier scales
• Lengths can be measured with a ruler to a precision of about

0.5 mm.

• Some investigations may need a more precise measurement

of length, which can be achieved by using vernier calipers

(Figure 1.1.9) or a micrometer screw gauge.

Vernier Scale
• The calipers shown in Figure 1.1.9 use a vernier scale.
• The simplest type enables a length to be measured to
0.01cm.
• It is a small sliding scale which is 9mm long but divided
into ten equal divisions (Figure 1.1.10a)
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• One end of the length to be measured is made to coincide with
the zero of the millimetre scale and the other end with the zero
of the vernier scale.
• The length of the object in Figure 1.1.10b is between 1.3cm and
1.4 cm.
• The reading to the second place of decimals is obtained by
finding the vernier mark which is exactly opposite (or nearest to)
a mark on the millimetre scale. In this case it is the 6th mark and
the length is 1.36 cm,

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Micrometer screw gauge
• This measures very small objects to 0.001cm.
One revolution of the drum opens the flat,
parallel jaws
by one division on the scale on the shaft of
the gauge; this is usually mm, i.e. 0.05 cm.
• If the drum has a scale of 50 divisions round
it, then rotation of the drum by one division
opens the jaws by 0.05/50 = 0.001 cm
(Figure1.1.11).
• A friction clutch ensures that the jaws exert
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Scalars

• Length and time can be described by a single number

specifying size, but many physical quantities have a directional
character.

• A scalar quantity has magnitude (size) only.

• Time is a scalar and is completely described when its value is

known.

• Other examples of scalars are

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 Vectors
• A vector quantity is one such as force which is described completely only if both its size
(magnitude) and direction are stated.

• For example,
• a force of 10N, but rather a force of 10N acting vertically downwards.
• Gravitational field strength and electric field strength are vectors, as are weight, velocity,
acceleration and momentum.

• A vector can be represented by a straight line whose length represents the magnitude of the
quantity and whose direction gives its line of action.

• An arrow on the line shows which way along the line it acts.
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Scalars and Vectors
• Scalars are added by ordinary arithmetic; vectors are added
geometrically, taking account of their directions as well as their
magnitudes.

• In the case of two vectors FX and FY acting at right angles to each

other at a point, the magnitude of the resultant F, and the angle 
between FX and F can be calculated from the following equations:

The resultant of two vectors acting at right angles to each other can
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1.2 motion

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Speed
• The speed of a body is the distance that it has travelled in unit
time. When the distance travelled is s over a short time period t,
the speed v is given by

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• If a car travels 300km in five hours,
• its average speed is 300km/5h = 60km/h.
• The speedometer would certainly not read 60km/h for the whole journey and
might vary considerably from this value.
• That is why we state the average speed.
• If a car could travel at a constant speed of 60km/h for 5 hours, the distance
covered would still be 300km.
• It is always true that

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• To find the actual speed at
any instant we would need
to know the distance moved
in a very short interval of
time.
• This can be done by
multiflash photography.
• In Figure 1.2.1 the golfer is
photographed while a
flashing lamp illuminates him
100 times a second.
• The speed of the club-head
as it hits the ball is about
200km/h.
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 Velocity
• Speed is the distance travelled in unit time; velocity is the distance travelled in unit time
in a given direction.
• If two trains travel due north at 20m/s, they have the same speed of 20m/s and the
same velocity of 20m/s due north. If one travels north and the other south, their speeds
are the same but not their velocities since their directions of motion are different.

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The velocity of a body is uniform or constant if it moves with a steady speed in a straight
line. It is not uniform if it moves in a curved path. Why?

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 Non-Constant Speed
• The speed of the object is higher when the
gradient of the graph is steeper. The
object is travelling faster in time interval
AB than it is in time interval CD; it is at
rest in time intervals OA and BC when the
distance does not change.
• When the speed of the object is changing,
the gradient of the distance–time graph
varies, as in Figure 1.2.5, where the
upward curve of increasing gradient of the
solid green line shows the object
accelerating. The opposite, upward curve
of decreasing gradient (indicated by the
dashed green line) shows an object
decelerating above T.

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 Area under a speed–time graph

• The area under a speed–time graph

measures the distance travelled.
• In Figure 1.2.2, AB is the speed–time graph
for an object moving with a constant speed of
20m/s. Since distance = average speed  time,
after 5s it will have moved 20m/s  5s = 100m.
This is the shaded area under the graph, i.e. Note that when calculating the area from the
rectangle OABC. graph, the unit of time must be the same on
• In Figure 1.2.3a, PQ is the speed–time graph both axes. The rule for finding distances
for an object moving with constant travelled is true
acceleration. even if the acceleration is not constant. In
• At the start of the timing the speed is 20m/s, Figure 1.2.3c, the distance travelled equals
but it increases steadily to 40m/s after 5s. the shaded area OXY.
If the distance covered equals the area under
PQ, i.e. the shaded area OPQS, thenYNEC Education Center, Tr. Yamin 51
 Equations for constant acceleration
• Problems involving bodies moving with
constant acceleration in a straight line
can often be solved quickly using some
equations of motion.

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Falling bodies
• In air, a coin falls faster than a small piece of
paper.
• In a vacuum they fall at the same rate, as
maybe shown with the apparatus of Figure
1.2.6.
• The difference in air is due to air resistance
having a greater effect on light bodies than
on heavy bodies.
• The air resistance to a light body is large
when compared with the body’s weight.
• With a dense piece of metal, the resistance
is negligible at low speeds.
• There is a story, untrue we now think, that in
the
• sixteenth century the Italian scientist Galileo
Galilei dropped a small iron ball and a large
cannonball ten times heavier from the top of
the Leaning Tower of Pisa (Figure 1.2.7).
• And we are told that, to the surprise of
onlookers who expected the cannonball toYNEC Education Center, Tr. Yamin 56
arrive first, they reached the ground almost
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A rough estimate for g
• A rough estimate for g can be made by timing the fall of a rubber ball from the top of a building.
• It will only take a second to reach the ground from a height of 5 m, so you will need fast reactions if
you use a stopwatch for the measurement. Watch out that you do not hit anybody below!

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Weight
• We all constantly experience the force of gravity, in other words, the pull of the
Earth.
• It causes an unsupported body to fall from rest to the ground. Weight is a
gravitational force on an object that has mass.
• For an object above or on the Earth’s surface, the nearer it is to the centre of
the Earth, the more the Earth attracts it.
• Since the Earth is not a perfect sphere but is flatter at the poles, the weight of
a body varies over the Earth’s surface. It is greater at the poles than at the
equator.
• Gravity is a force that can act through space, that is there does not need to be
contact between the Earth and the object on which it acts as there does when
we push or pull something.
• Other action-at- a-distance forces which, like gravity, decrease with distance
are
(i) magnetic forces between magnets and
(ii) electric forces between electric charges.
• When a mass experiences a gravitational force we say it is in a gravitational
field. YNEC Education Center, Tr. Yamin 67
 The newton
• The unit of force is the newton.
• It will be defined later (Topic 1.5); the definition is
based on the change of speed a force can produce
in a body.
• Weight is a force and therefore should be measured
in newtons.
• The weight of an object can be measured by
hanging it on a spring balance marked in newtons
(Figure 1.3.2) and letting the pull of gravity stretch
the spring in the balance.
• The greater the pull, the more the spring stretches.
• On most of the Earth’s surface:
• The weight of an object of mass 1 kg is 9.8 N.
• Often this is taken as 10N.
• A mass of 2kg has a weight of 20N, and so on.
• The mass of an object is the same wherever it is and,
unlike weight, does not depend on the presence of the
Earth.
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 Weight and gravity

• The weight W of an object is the force of gravity acting on it which

gives it an acceleration g when it is falling freely near the Earth’s
surface.
• If the object has mass m, then W can be calculated from F = ma
(Newton’s second law, see p. 39).
• We put F = W and a = g to give
• W = mg
• Taking g = 9.8m/s2 and m = 1kg, this gives W = 9.8N, that is an object
of mass 1kg has weight 9.8N, or near enough 10N.
• Similarly, an object of mass 2kg has weight of about 20N, and so on.
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Gravitational field
• The force of gravity acts through space and can cause an object,
not in contact with the Earth, to fall to the ground.
• It is an invisible, action-at- a-distance force.
• We try to explain its existence by saying that the Earth is
surrounded by a gravitational field which exerts a force on any
object in the field.
• Later, magnetic and electric fields will be considered.
• The gravitational field strength is defined as the force acting per
unit mass.
• Rearranging the equation

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Liquid
• The mass of an empty beaker is found on a balance.
• A known volume of the liquid is transferred from a burette or a measuring cylinder into the beaker.
• The mass of the beaker plus liquid is found and the mass of liquid is obtained by subtraction.

Air
• Using a balance, the mass of a 500cm3 round- bottomed flask full of air is found and again after removing
the air with a vacuum pump; the difference gives the mass of air in the flask.
• The volume of air is found by filling the flask with water and pouring it into a measuring cylinder.

Floating and sinking

• An object sinks in a liquid of lower density than its own; otherwise it floats, partly or wholly submerged.
• For example, a piece of glass of density 2.5g/cm3 sinks in water (density 1.0g/cm3) but floats in mercury
(density 13.6g/cm3).
• An iron nail sinks in water but an iron ship floats because its average density is less than that of water,
due to the low- density air enclosed in the hull.

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Newton’s first law
• Friction and air resistance cause a car to come to rest when the engine is switched off.
• If these forces were absent, we believe that an object, once set in motion, would go on moving forever with
a constant speed in a straight line.
• That is, force is not needed to keep a body moving with uniform velocity provided that no opposing forces
act on it.
• This idea was proposed by Galileo and is summed up in Isaac Newton’s first law of motion:
• An object stays at rest, or continues to move in a straight line at constant speed, unless acted on by a resultant force.
• It seems that the question we should ask about a moving body is not what keeps it moving but what changes
or stops its motion.
• The smaller the external forces opposing a moving body, the smaller is the force needed to keep it moving
with constant velocity.
• A hover scooter, which is supported by a cushion of air (Figure 1.5.8), can skim across the ground with little
frictional opposition, so that relatively little power is needed to maintain motion.
• A resultant force may change the velocity of an object by changing its direction of motion or speed.

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Practical work

Effect of force and mass on acceleration see page no.38

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You should now appreciate that when the forces acting
on a body do not balance there is a net (resultant) force
which causes a change of motion, i.e. the body
accelerates or decelerates.
 The force and the acceleration are in the same direction.
If the forces balance, there is no change in the motion of
the body.

 However, there may be a change of shape, in which

case internal forces in the body (i.e. forces between
neighbouring atoms) balance the external forces.
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Friction
 Friction is the force that opposes one surface moving, or trying to move, over another. It can be
a help or a hindrance.
 We could not walk if there was no friction between the soles of our shoes and the ground. Our feet would slip
backwards, as they tend to when we walk on ice.
 On the other hand, engineers try to reduce friction to a minimum in the moving parts of machinery by using
lubricating oils and ball-bearings.

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 When a gradually increasing force P is applied through a spring balance to a block on a table
(Figure 1.5.13), the block does not move at first.
 This is because an equally increasing but opposing frictional force F acts where the block and table
touch. At any instant P and F are equal and opposite.
 If P is increased further, the block eventually moves; as it does so F has its maximum value, called
starting or static friction. When the block is moving at a steady speed, the balance reading is
slightly less than that for starting friction.
 Sliding or dynamic friction is therefore less than starting or static friction.
 Placing a mass on the block increases the force pressing the surfaces together and increases
friction.
 When work is done against friction, the temperatures of the bodies in contact rise (as you can test
by rubbing your hands together); kinetic energy is transferred to thermal energy by mechanical
working (see Topic 1.7).
 Solid friction can be described as the force between two surfaces that may impede motion and
produce heating.
 Friction (drag) acts on an object moving through gas (air resistance), such as a vehicle or falling
leaf, which opposes the motion of the object. Similarly, friction (drag) acts on an object moving
through a liquid.
 Drag increases as the speed of the object increases, and acts to reduce acceleration and slow the
object down.
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It follows from Newton’s first law of motion that if we consider a body moving in a
circle to be accelerating, then there must be a force acting on it to cause the
acceleration.
In the case of the whirling ball it is reasonable to say the force is provided by the
string pulling inwards on the ball. Like the acceleration, the force acts towards the
centre of the circle and keeps the body at a fixed distance from the centre.
A larger force is needed if
 l the speed v of the ball is increased, with mass and radius constant
 l the radius r of the circle is decreased, with mass and speed constant
 l the mass m of the ball is increased, with speed and radius constant.
This force, which acts towards the centre and keeps a body moving in a circular path,
is called the centripetal force (centre-seeking force).
Should the force be greater than the string can bear, the string breaks and the ball
flies off with steady speed in a straight line along the tangent, i.e. in the direction of
travel when the string broke (as Newton’s first law of motion predicts). It is not thrown
outwards.
Whenever an object moves in a circle (or circular arc) there must be a centripetal
force acting on it.
In throwing the hammer it is the pull of the athlete’s arms acting on the hammer
towards the centre of the whirling path.
When a car rounds a bend, a frictional force is exerted inwards by the road on the 104
car’s tyres. YNEC Education Center, Tr. Yamin
Satellites

• For a satellite of mass m orbiting the Earth at radius r with

orbital speed v, the centripetal force, F, is the Earth’s
gravitational force on the mass.
• To put an artificial satellite in orbit at a certain height above the
Earth it must enter the orbit at the correct speed.
• If it does not, the force of gravity, which decreases as height
above the Earth increases, will not be equal to the centripetal
force needed for the orbit.

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Communication satellites
• Communication satellites circle the Earth in orbits above the equator.
Geostationary satellites have an orbit high above the equator (36000km);
they travel with the same speed as the Earth rotates, so appear to be
stationary at a particular point above the Earth’s surface – their orbital
period is 24 hours.
• They are used for transmitting television, intercontinental telephone and
data signals.
• Geostationary satellites need to be well separated so that they do not
interfere with each other; there is room for about 400.
• Mobile phone networks use many satellites in much lower equatorial
orbits; they are slowed by the Earth’s atmosphere and their orbit has to
be regularly adjusted by firing a rocket engine.
• Eventually they run out of fuel and burn up in the atmosphere as they fall
to Earth.
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 Monitoring satellites
• Monitoring satellites circle the Earth rapidly in
low polar orbits, i.e. passing over both poles;
at a height of 850km the orbital period is only
100 minutes.
• The Earth rotates below them so they scan
the whole surface at short range in a 24-hour
period and can be used to map or monitor
regions of the Earth’s surface which may be
inaccessible by other means.
• They are widely used in weather forecasting
as they continuously transmit infrared
pictures of cloud patterns down to Earth
(Figure 1.5.18), which are picked up in turn
by receiving stations around the world.

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Balancing a beam
• To balance a beam about a pivot, like the ruler in Figure 1.5.20, the weights must
be moved
so that the clockwise turning effect equals the anticlockwise turning effect and the
net moment on the beam becomes zero.
• If the beam tends to swing clockwise, m1 can be moved further from the pivot to
increase its turning effect; alternatively, m2 can be moved nearer to the pivot to
reduce its turning effect.
• What adjustment would you make to the position of m2 to balance the beam if it is
tending to swing anticlockwise?

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Principle of moments
• The law of moments (also called the law of the lever) is
stated as follows:
• When a body is in equilibrium, the sum of the clockwise
moments about any point equals the sum of the
anticlockwise moments about the same point. There is
no resultant moment on an object in equilibrium.
• The law of moments is an equivalent statement to the
principle of moments.
• If the clockwise moments are regarded as positive and the
anticlockwise moments are regarded as negative, then the
sum of the moments is zero when the body is in equilibrium.
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Levers
• A lever is any device which can turn about a
pivot. In a working lever a force called the
effort is used to overcome a resisting force
called the load.The pivotal point is called the
fulcrum.
• If we use a crowbar to move a heavy
boulder (Figure 1.5.22), our hands apply the
effort at one end of the bar and the load is
the force exerted by the boulder on the other
end.
• If distances from the fulcrum O are as
shown and the load is 1000N (i.e. the part of
the weight of the boulder supported by the
crowbar), the effort can be calculated from
the law of moments. As the boulder just
begins to move, we can say, taking
moments about O, that

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Toppling

• The position of the centre of gravity of an

object affects whether or not it topples over
easily.
• This is important in the design of such
things as tall vehicles (which tend to
overturn when rounding a corner), racing
cars, reading lamps and even drinking
glasses.
• An object topples when the vertical line
through its centre of gravity falls outside its
base, as in Figure 1.5.31a.
• Otherwise it remains stable, as in Figure
1.5.31b, where the object will not topple.
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• Toppling can be investigated by placing an empty can on a plank (with a rough
surface to prevent slipping) which is slowly tilted.
• The angle of tilt is noted when the can falls over.
• This is repeated with a mass of 1kg in the can. How does this affect the position
of the centre of gravity?
• The same procedure is followed with a second can of the same height as the first
but of greater width. It will be found that the second can with the mass in it can
be tilted through a greater angle.
• The stability of a body is therefore increased by
• (i) lowering its centre of gravity, and
(ii) increasing the area of its base.
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• In Figure 1.5.32a the centre of gravity of
a fire truck is being found.
• It is necessary to do this when testing a
new design since fire trucks (and other
vehicles) may be driven over sloping
surfaces, e.g. ditches adjacent to
roadways, and any tendency to overturn
must be discovered.

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• The stability of a coach is being tested in
Figure 1.5.32b.
• When the top deck only is fully laden with
passengers (represented by sand bags in
the test), it must not topple if tilted through
an angle of 28o.
• Racing cars have a low centre of gravity and
a wide wheelbase for maximum stability.

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 Stability

• Three terms are used in connection with

stability.
1. Stable equilibrium
2. Unstable equilibrium
3. Neutral equilibrium

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1. Stable equilibrium
• An object is in stable equilibrium
if when slightly displaced and then
released it returns to its previous
position.
• The ball at the bottom of the dish
in Figure 1.5.33a is an example. Its
centre of gravity rises when it is
displaced.
• It rolls back because its weight has
a moment about the point of
contact that acts to reduce the
displacement.
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2.Unstable equilibrium 3. Neutral equilibrium

• An object is in unstable • An object is in neutral

equilibrium if it moves further equilibrium if it stays in its
away from its previous position new position when
when slightly displaced and displaced (Figure 1.5.33c).
released.
• Its centre of gravity does
• The ball in Figure 1.5.33b not rise or fall because
behaves in this way. there is no moment to
• Its centre of gravity falls when increase or decrease the
it is displaced slightly because displacement.
there is a moment which
increases the displacement.
• Similarly, in Figure 1.5.27a, the
balanced ruler is in unstable
equilibrium.

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Balancing tricks and toys
• Some tricks that you can try or toys you can make are shown in Figure 1.5.34. In
each case the centre of gravity is vertically below the point of support and
equilibrium is stable.

Figure 1.5.34 Balancing tricks

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A self-righting toy

A self-righting toy (Figure 1.5.35) has a heavy base and, when tilted,
the weight acting through the centre of gravity has a moment about the
point of contact. This restores it to the upright position.
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Chemical energy

• Food and fuels, like oil, gas, coal and wood, are concentrated
stores of chemical energy.
• The energy of food is released by chemical reactions in our
bodies, and during the transfer to other stores we are able to do
useful jobs.
• Fuels cause energy transfers when they are burnt in an engine
or a boiler.
• Batteries are compact sources of chemical energy, which in use
is transferred by an electric current.

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Gravitational potential energy

• This is the energy an object has because of its

position.
• A body above the Earth’s surface, like water in a
mountain reservoir, has energy stored as
gravitational potential energy.

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Elastic strain energy

• This is energy an object has because of its

condition.
• Work has to be done to compress or stretch a
spring or elastic material and energy is
transferred to elastic strain energy.
• If the bow string in Figure 1.7.3c on the next page
were released, the strain energy would be
transferred to the arrow.
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Kinetic energy

• Any moving object has kinetic energy and the

faster it moves, the more kinetic energy it has.
• As a hammer drives a nail into a piece of wood,
there is a transfer of energy from the kinetic energy
of the moving hammer to other energy stores.

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Electrostatic energy

• Energy can be stored by charged objects (see

Topic 4.2.1) as electrostatic energy.
• This energy can be transferred by an electric
current.

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Nuclear energy

• The energy stored in the nucleus of an atom is known

as nuclear energy.
• It can be transferred to other energy stores in nuclear
reactions such as fission and fusion (Topic 5.1.2).

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Internal energy

• This is also called thermal energy and is the final

fate of other energy stores.
• It is transferred by conduction, convection or
radiation.

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 Energy transfers
Demonstration
• The apparatus in Figure 1.7.2 can be used to show
how energy is transferred between different energy
stores.
• Chemical energy stored in the battery is transferred
by an electric current (electrical working) to kinetic
energy in the electric motor.
• The weight is raised when kinetic energy stored in
the motor is transferred (by mechanical working) to
gravitational potential energy stored in the weight.
• If the changeover switch is joined to the lamp and the
weight allowed to fall, the motor acts as a generator
of an electric current that transfers (by electrical
working) kinetic energy stored in the rotating coil of
the generator to internal energy in the lamp.
• Energy is transferred from the lamp to the
environment (by electromagnetic waves and by
heating).
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Other examples
• In addition to electrical working, mechanical working, electromagnetic waves
and heating, energy can be transferred between stores by other types of
waves, such as sound waves.
• Sound waves transfer energy from a vibrating source to our eardrums or to a
microphone.
• Heating water in a boiler transfers chemical energy stored in a fuel to internal
energy stored in the water.
• In summary, energy can be transferred between stores in the following ways:
• mechanical working – by the action of a force (Topic 1.5)
• electrical working – by an electric current (Topic 4.2.2)
• waves – electromagnetic, sound and other waves (Topic 3.3)
• heating – by conduction, convection or radiation (Topic 2.3).
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Some energy transfers
• Some energy transfers are shown in Figures
1.7.3a to d:
a. Potential energy is transferred to kinetic
energy by mechanical working (action
of a gravitational force).
b. Thermal energy stored in an electric fire
element is transferred by
electromagnetic waves and by heating
to the environment.
c. Chemical energy (stored in muscles in
the arm) is transferred to elastic energy
in the bow by mechanical working.
d. Gravitational potential energy stored in
the water in the upper reservoir is
transferred to the kinetic energy of a
turbine by mechanical working.
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Measuring energy transfers
• In an energy transfer, work is done.
• The work done is a measure of the amount of energy
transferred. Energy, as well as work, is measured in joules (J).
• For example, if you have to exert an upward force of 10N to
raise a stone steadily through a vertical distance of 1.5m, the
mechanical work done is 15J (see Topic 1.7.2).
• work = force  distance moved in the direction of force
• This is also the amount of chemical energy transferred from
your muscles to the potential energy of the stone.

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 Principle of conservation of energy
• The principle of conservation of energy is one of the basic laws of physics and is
stated as follows:
• Energy cannot be created or destroyed; it is always conserved.
• However, energy is continually being transferred from one store to another. Some
stores, such as those of electrostatic and chemical energy, are easily transferred; for
others, such as internal energy, it is hard to arrange a useful transfer.
• Ultimately all energy transfers result in the surroundings being heated (as a result of
doing
work against friction) and the energy is wasted, i.e. spread out and increasingly more
difficult to use.
• For example, when a brick falls, its gravitational potential energy is transferred by
mechanical working (gravitational force) to kinetic energy; when the brick hits the
ground, kinetic energy is transferred to the surroundings by heating and by sound
waves.
• If it seems in a transfer that some energy has disappeared, the ‘lost’ energy is often
transferred into non-useful thermal energy.
• This appears to be the fate of all energy in the Universe and is one reason why new
sources of useful energy have to beYNECdeveloped.
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• You will be able to recognise many different types of energy
sources. Such sources may be renewable or non-renewable;
non-renewable sources represent previously stored energy.
• Much of the energy used in everyday life is ultimately derived
from the release of energy in the Sun by nuclear fusion.
• Sunlight is used in biological processes to store chemical
energy and can be harnessed to generate electricity directly in
solar cells.

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Non-renewable energy sources

• Once used up these cannot be replaced.

Two advantages of all non-renewable fuels are
• (i) their high energy density (i.e. they are
concentrated sources) and the relatively small size of
the energy transfer device (e.g. a furnace) which
releases their energy, and
• (ii) their ready availability when energy demand
increases suddenly or fluctuates seasonally.

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Fossil fuels

• Fossil fuels include coal, oil and natural gas, formed from the remains of plants and animals which
lived millions of years ago and obtained energy originally from the Sun. Their energy is stored as
chemical energy and at present they are our main energy source. Predictions vary as to how long
they will last since this depends on what reserves are recoverable and on the future demands of a
world population expected to increase from about 7700 million in 2019 to about 9700 million by the
year 2050. Some estimates say oil and gas will run low early in the present century but coal should
last for 200 years or so.
• Burning fossil fuels in power stations and in
cars pollutes the atmosphere with harmful gases such as carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide. Carbon
dioxide emission aggravates the greenhouse effect (Topic 2.3) and increases global warming. It is
not immediately feasible to prevent large amounts of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere, but
less is produced by burning natural gas than by burning oil or coal; burning coal produces most
carbon dioxide for each unit of energy produced. When coal and
oil are burnt they also produce sulfur dioxide which causes acid rain. The sulfur dioxide can be
extracted from the waste gases so it does not enter the atmosphere or the sulfur can be removed
from the fuel before combustion, but these are both costly processes which increase the price of
electricity produced using these measures.
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Nuclear fuels

• The energy released in a nuclear reactor (Topic 5.1) from the

fission of uranium, found as an ore in the ground, can be used
to produce electricity.
• Nuclear fuels do not pollute the atmosphere with carbon
dioxide or sulfur dioxide but they do generate radioactive
waste materials with very long half- lives (Topic 5.2); safe
ways of storing this waste for perhaps thousands of years
must be found.
• As long as a reactor is operating normally it does not pose a
radiation risk, but if an accident occurs, dangerous radioactive
material can leak from the reactor and spread over a large
area. YNEC Education Center, Tr. Yamin 186
Renewable energy sources

• These cannot be exhausted and are generally non- polluting.

• Solar Energy

• Wind Energy

• Wave energy

• Geothermal energy

• Biofuels (Vegetable fuels)

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Solar energy
• The energy falling on the Earth from the Sun is transferred mostly by
visible light and infrared radiation and in an hour equals the total
energy used by the world in a year.
• Unfortunately, its low energy density requires large collecting devices
and its availability varies.
• The greatest potential use of solar energy is as an energy source for
low- temperature water heating.
• The energy transferred by electromagnetic waves from the Sun is
stored as internal energy in solar panels and can be transferred by
heating to produce domestic hot water at about 70C and to heat
swimming pools.
• Solar energy can also be used to produce high- temperature heating,
up to 3000C or so, if a large curved mirror (a solar furnace) focuses
the Sun’s rays onto a small area.
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• The energy can then be used to turn water to steam for driving the
turbine of an electric generator in a power station.
• Solar cells, made from semiconducting materials, convert sunlight
into electricity directly.
• A number of cells connected together can be used to supply
electricity to homes (Figure 1.7.13) and to the electronic equipment
in communication and other satellites.
• They are also used for small-scale power generation in remote areas
where there is no electricity supply.
• The energy generated by solar cells can be stored in batteries for
later use.
• Recent developments have made large-scale generation more cost
effective and large solar power plants are becoming more common.
• There are many designs for prototype light vehicles run on solar
power (Figure 1.7.14).
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 Wind energy

• Infrared radiation from the Sun is also responsible

for generating wind energy.
• Giant windmills called wind turbines with two or
three blades each up to 30m long drive electrical
generators.
• Wind farms of 20 to 100 turbines spaced about
400m apart (Figure 1.7.15) supply about 400MW
(enough electricity for 250000 homes) in the UK and
provide a useful ‘top- up’ to the National Grid.
• Wind turbines can be noisy and are considered
unsightly by some people so there is some
environmental objection to wind farms, especially as
the best sites are often in coastal or upland areas of
great natural beauty.
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 Wave energy
• The rise and fall of sea waves
have to be transferred by some
kind of wave energy converter
into the rotary motion required to
drive a generator.
• It is a difficult problem and the
large-scale production of
electricity by this means is
unlikely in the near future.
• However, small systems are
being developed to supply island
communities with power.
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Tidal and hydroelectric energy
• The flow of water from a higher to a lower level from behind a tidal
barrage (barrier) or a hydroelectric dam (tidal energy) is used to drive a
water turbine (water wheel) connected to a generator.
• One of the largest working tidal schemes is the La Grande I project in
Canada (Figure 1.7.16). Such schemes have significant implications for
the environment, as they may destroy wildlife habitats of wading birds for
example, and also for shipping routes.
• Over 100 years ago, India was one of the first countries to develop
hydroelectric power; today such power provides about 14% of the
country’s electricity supply.
• China is the world’s largest producer of hydroelectricity, generating around
20% of the country’s needs.
• With good management, hydroelectric energy is a reliable energy
source, but there are risks connected with the construction of dams, and a
variety of problems may result from the impact of a dam on the
environment.
• Land previously used for forestry or farming may have to be flooded.
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Geothermal energy
• If cold water is pumped down a shaft into hot rocks below the Earth’s
surface, it may be forced up another shaft as steam.
• This can be used to drive a turbine and generate electricity or to heat
buildings.
• The geothermal energy that heats the rocks is constantly being released
by radioactive elements deep in the Earth as they decay (Topic 5.2).
• Geothermal power stations are in operation in the USA, New Zealand and
Iceland.
• A disadvantage is that they can only be built in very specific locations
where the underlying rocks are hot enough for the process to be viable.

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Biofuels (vegetable fuels)
• Biomass includes cultivated crops (e.g.
oilseed rape), crop residues (e.g. cereal
straw), natural vegetation (e.g. gorse), trees
grown for their wood (e.g. spruce), animal
dung and sewage.
• Chemical energy can be stored in biofuels
such as alcohol (ethanol) and methane gas
can be obtained from them by fermentation
using enzymes or by decomposition by
bacterial action in the absence of air.
• Liquid biofuels can replace petrol (Figure
1.7.17); although they have up to 50% less
energy per litre, they are lead- and sulfur-free
and so do not pollute the atmosphere with
lead or sulfur dioxide when they are burned.
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 Biogas
• Biogas is a mix of methane and
carbon dioxide with an energy
content about two-thirds that of
natural gas.
• It is produced from animal and
human waste in digesters (Figure
1.7.18) and used for heating and
cooking.
• Biogas is cheap to produce on a
small scale but not economically
viable for large- scale production.
• It reduces landfills but due to its
methane content it is unstable and
may explode. YNEC Education Center, Tr. Yamin 196
The Sun as an energy source

• The Sun is the main source of energy for many of the energy sources described
above.
• The exceptions are geothermal, nuclear and tidal sources.
• Fossil fuels such as oil, coal and gas are derived from plants which grew millions of
years ago in biological processes requiring light from the Sun.
• Sunlight is also needed by the plants used in biomass energy production today.
• Energy from the Sun drives the weather systems which enable wind and
hydroelectric power to be harnessed. Solar energy is used directly in solar cells for
electricity generation.
• The source of the Sun’s energy is nuclear fusion in the Sun. You will learn more about
the fusion process which produces large amounts of energy in Topic 5.1.
• At present it is not possible to reproduce the fusion process on Earth for the large-
scale production of electricity but much research is being directed towards that goal.
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Power stations

• The processes involved in the production of electricity at power stations

depend on the energy source being used.

• Non-renewable sources (Thermal Power Stations)

• Non-renewable sources (Gas-fired power stations)

• Renewable sources

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Non-renewable sources
(Thermal Power Stations)
• Fossil fuels and nuclear fuels are used in thermal
power stations to provide thermal energy that
turns water into steam.
• The steam drives turbines which in turn drive the
generators that produce electricity as described in
Topic 4.5.
• If fossil fuels are the energy source (usually coal
but natural gas is favoured in new stations), the
steam is obtained from a boiler.
• If nuclear fuel is used, such as uranium or
plutonium, the steam is produced in a heat
exchanger as explained in Topic 5.1.
• The action of a steam turbine resembles that of a
water wheel but moving steam, not moving water,
causes the motion.
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• Steam enters the turbine and is
directed by the stator or
diaphragm (sets of fixed blades)
onto the rotor (sets of blades on a
shaft that can rotate) (Figure
1.7.19).
• The rotor revolves and drives the
electrical generator.
• The steam expands as it passes
through the turbine and the size of
the blades increases along the
turbine to allow for this.
• The overall efficiency of thermal
power stations is only about 30%.
They require cooling towers to
condense steam from the turbine
to water and this is a waste of
energy.
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Non-renewable sources
(Gas-fired power stations)
• In gas-fired power stations, natural gas is burnt in a gas turbine linked
directly to an electricity generator.
• The hot exhaust gases from the turbine are not released into the
atmosphere but used to produce steam in a boiler.
• The steam is then used to generate more electricity from a steam
turbine driving another generator.
• The efficiency is claimed to be over 50% without any extra fuel
consumption.
• Furthermore, the gas turbines have a near 100% combustion efficiency,
so very little harmful exhaust gas (i.e. unburnt methane) is produced,
and natural gas is almost sulfur-free, so the environmental pollution
caused is much less than for coal.
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Renewable sources
• In most cases the renewable energy source is used to drive
turbines directly, as explained earlier in the cases of
hydroelectric, wind, wave, tidal and geothermal schemes.
• The efficiency of a large installation can be as high as 85–
90% since many of the causes of loss in thermal power
stations (e.g. water-cooling towers) are absent. In some
cases, the generating costs are half those of thermal stations.
• A feature of some hydroelectric stations is pumped storage.
Electricity cannot be stored on a large scale but must be used
as it is generated.
• The demand varies with the time of day and the season
(Figure 1.7.20), so in a pumped-storage system electricity
generated at off-peak periods is used to pump water back up
from a low-level reservoir to a higher-level one.
• It is easier to do this than to reduce the output of the
generator. At peak times the potential energy of the water in
the high-level reservoir is converted back into electricity;
three-quarters of the electricity that was used to pump the
water is generated.

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Economic, environmental and social issues
• When considering the large-scale generation of electricity, the
economic and environmental costs of using various energy sources
have to be weighed against the benefits that electricity brings to
society as a clean, convenient and fairly cheap energy supply.
• Environmental problems such as polluting emissions that arise with
different energy sources were outlined when each was discussed
previously.
• Apart from people using less energy, how far pollution can be
reduced by, for example, installing desulfurisation processes in coal-
fired power stations, is often a matter of cost.
• Although there are no fuel costs associated with electricity generation
from renewable energy sources such as wind power, the energy is so
dilute that the capital costs of setting up the generating installation
are high. YNEC Education Center, Tr. Yamin 203
• Similarly, although fuel costs for nuclear power stations are relatively low,
the costs of building the stations and of dismantling them at the end of their
useful lives is higher than for gas- or coal-fired stations.
• It has been estimated that currently it costs between 9 USc and 22 USc to
produce a unit of electricity in a gas- or coal-fired power station in the UK.
• Wind energy costs vary, depending upon location, but are in the range 7
USc to 16 USc per unit.
• In the most favourable locations wind competes with coal and gas
generation.
• The cost for a nuclear power station is in excess of 10 USc per unit.
• After the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami disaster which led to the damage
and closure of the Fukushima nuclear reactor in Japan, several countries
have reduced their dependence on nuclear energy and Germany plans to
phase out nuclear power completely by 2022.
• The reliability of a source has also to be considered, as well as how easily
production can be started up and shut down as demand for electricity
varies.
• Natural gas power stations have a short start-up time, while coal and then
oil power stations take successively longer to start up; nuclear power
stations take longest. YNEC Education Center, Tr. Yamin 204
• They are all reliable in that they can produce electricity at any time of day and
in any season of the year as long as fuel is available.
• Hydroelectric power stations are also very reliable and have a very short start-
up time, which means they can be switched on when the demand for electricity
peaks.
• The electricity output of a tidal power station, although predictable, is not as
reliable because it depends on the height of the tide which varies over daily,
monthly and seasonal time scales.
• The wind and the Sun are even less reliable sources of energy since the output
of a wind turbine changes with the strength of the wind and that of a solar cell
with the intensity of light falling on it; the output may not be able to match the
demand for electricity at a particular time.
• Renewable sources are still only being used on a small scale globally.
• The contribution of the main energy sources to the world’s total energy
consumption at present is given in Table 1.7.2.(The use of biofuels is not well
documented.)
• The great dependence on fossil fuels worldwide is evident. It is clear the world
has an energy problem and new solutions to energy production need to be
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found.
• Consumption varies from one country to another; North America and Europe are responsible for
about 42% of the world’s energy consumption each year.

• Table 1.7.3 shows approximate values for the annual consumption per head of population for
different areas.

• These figures include the hidden consumption in the manufacturing and transporting of goods.

• The world average consumption is per head per year.

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Water supply system

• A town’s water supply often comes from a reservoir

on high ground.
• Water flows from it through pipes to any tap or
storage tank that is below the level of water in the
reservoir (Figure 1.8.5).
• The lower the place supplied, the greater the water
pressure.
• In very tall buildings it may be necessary to pump the
water to a large tank in the roof.
• Reservoirs for water supply or for hydroelectric power
stations are often made in mountainous regions by
building a dam at one end of a valley.
• The dam must be thicker at the bottom than at the
top due to the large water pressure at the bottom.

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 Hydraulic jack

• A hydraulic jack (Figure 1.8.7) has a platform on top of piston B and is used in garages to lift cars.
• Both valves open only to the right and they allow B to be raised a long way when piston A moves up and
down repeatedly.
• Hydraulic fork-lift trucks and similar machines such as loaders (Figure 1.8.8) work in the same way.
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Hydraulic car brakes
• Hydraulic car brakes are shown in Figure 1.8.9. When the brake pedal is pushed, the piston in the
master cylinder exerts a force on the brake fluid and the resulting pressure is transmitted equally to eight
other pistons (four are shown).
• These force the brake shoes or pads against the wheels and stop the car.

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Expression for liquid pressure
• In designing a dam an engineer has
to calculate the pressure at various
depths below the water surface.
• The pressure increases with depth
and density.
• An expression for the change in
pressure Δp at
a depth Δh below the surface of a
liquid of density
 can be found by considering a
horizontal area A (Figure 1.8.10).
• The force acting vertically
downwards on A equals the weight of
a liquid column of height Δh and
cross-sectional area A above it. Then

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U-tube manometer

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Mercury barometer

• A barometer is a manometer which measures

atmospheric pressure.
• A simple barometer is shown in Figure 1.8.14. The
pressure at X due to the weight of the column of
mercury XY equals the atmospheric pressure on
the surface of the mercury in the bowl.
• The height XY measures the atmospheric pressure
in mm of mercury (mmHg).
• The vertical height of the column is unchanged if
the tube is tilted. Would it be different with a
wider tube?
• The space above the mercury in the tube is a
vacuum (except for a little mercury vapour).
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