TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

TECHNICAL SCIENCE
INTRODUCTION
Science means knowledge. More accurately, science means an organized body of knowledge that
has been accumulated from both theory and experimentation.

This unit aims to provide you with a foundation in scientific principles, which will enable you to
tackle and solve a variety of unique engineering problems at the technician level. After
successfully working your way through the subject matter presented in this unit, you will also find
that you are adequately prepared for further study of your chosen specialist engineering science
units, in addition to having the necessary scientific base for progression on to higher education
engineering programs.

MEASUREMENTS AND UNITS

Our starting point for studying this subject will be measurements and units. In this section or unit,
we will deal with basic principles, units and derived units of the SI system.

No study of science would be complete without considering the units of measurement.

The SI system of units is now the accepted international standard for all units of scientific measure.

The International System of Units (SI) consists of three main groups: Seven base units, two
supplementary units and a number of derived units.

SI base units
QUANTITY SYMBOLS S.I UNITS UNITS
SYMBOLS

Length L Metre m

Mass M Kilogram Kg

Time T Second s

1
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

Electric current I Ampere A

Thermodynamic temperature Θ Kelvin K

Luminous intensity I Candela Cd

Amount of substance N mole mol

Metre

The metre is the length of the path travelled by light in a vacuum during the time interval of
1Ú299792458 seconds.

Kilogram

The kilogram or kilogramme is the unit of mass; it is equal to the mass of the international
prototype of the kilogram, as defined by CIPM.

Second

The second is the duration of 9192631770 periods of corresponding to the transition between the
two hyperfine levels of the ground state the cesium 133 atom.

Ampere

The ampere is that constant current which if maintained in two straight parallel conductors of
infinite length, of negligible circular cross-section, and placed 1 metre apart in vacuum, would
produce between these conductors a force equal to 2 x 10-7 newton per metre length.

Kelv in

The Kelvin, unit of thermodynamic temperature, is the fraction 1/273.16 of the thermodynamic
temperature of the triple point of water.

Candela

The candela is the luminous intensity, in a given direction, of a source that emits monochromatic
radiation of frequency 540 x 1012 Hz and that has a radiant intensity in that direction of 1/683 watt
per steradian.

Mole

The mole is the amount of substance of a system which contains as many elementary particles as
there are atoms in 0.012kg of carbon 12. When the mole is used, the elementary entities must be

2
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

specified and may be atoms, molecules, ions, electrons, or other particles, or specified groups of
such particles.

SUPPLEMENTARY UNITS

In addition to the seven base units given above, as mentioned before there are two supplementary
units, the radian for plane angles and the steradian for solid three dimensional angles. Both of these
units are non dimensional, that is they are ratios and have a dimension of unity.

In fact all ratios are non-dimensional and have no units.

SUPPLEMENTARY UNITS

QUANTITY SYMBOL S.I UNITS UNITS SYMBOL

Plane angle θ Radian Rad

Solid angle ω Steradian Sr

Derived units

The SI derived units are defined by simple equations relating two or more base units. The names
and symbols of some of the derived units may be substituted by special names and symbols.

SOME DERIVED UNITS

QUANTITY QUANTITY SYMBOL S.I UNITS UNITS SYMBOL

Area A Square metre M2

Volume V Cubic meter M3

Density P Kilogram/cubic meter Kg/m3

Velocity V Meter per second M/s

Force F newton N(kg m/s2)

Energy E joule J (N M)

Power P watt W (J/S)

Pressure P pascal Pa(N/M2)

3
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

Some Non-SI units in common use

Name SYMBOL Physiacl quantity Equivalent in SI base

unit

Ampere-hour Ah Electric charge 1 Ah = 3600C

Day d Time, period 1 d = 86400 s

Degree 0 Plane angle 10 =π/180 rad

Kilometre per hour kph Velocity 1 kph = (1/3.6) ms-1

Hour h Time, period 1h = 3600 s

Litre L,l Capacity, volume 1 L = 10-3 m3

Minute min Time, period 1 min = 60 s

Metric tonne t Mass 1 t = 103 kg

Measurement

Study the following statements.

The length of a table is 2 metres.

The transmission time for a TV advertisement is 20 seconds.

The mass of a bag of cement is 50 kilogram

In these examples , length , time and mass are quantities. The quantities can vary in size , and
when we measure , we find out how many standard units there of a particular quantity.

The statement ´The length of the table is 2 metres ' , can also be written as

Length = 2 metres.

In this equation:

Length is the quantity;

Metre is the unit;

4
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

2 is the size (a number).

Measurement is a major activity of science and technology. It is the comparison of a quantity with
a standard or known unit.

When we measure, we find out how many standard units there are of a particular quantity.

When a measurement is made the resulting number needs to be followed by the correct unit.

Example

The length of the model is 2.

This, of course is meaningless. The sentence makes sense if the unit is included:

The length of the model is 2m.

What we measure is called the quantity.

QUANTITY = NUMBER x UNIT

Quantities and units are represented by symbols. Symbols for quantities are printed in italics whilst
those for units are printed in ordinary print.

The symbols for S.I units do not have plural form and are not followed by a full stop, except at the
end of a sentence . The symbols for derived units may be written in index form or with a solius
(/ ). For example MS –2 OR M /S2 .

In science when we measure the unit must always be included in the answer.

All measurements in physical science are related to three fundamental quantities of length,
mass and time.

Example :

Area = length x length or length2

Volume = length x length x length or length3

Density = mass ÷ ( length x length x length ) or mass ÷ length3

Velocity = length ÷ time

5
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

Acceleration = length ÷ (time x time ) or length ÷ time2

Multiples and sub-multiples of SI units

Sometimes things are too big or too small to measure conveniently in the base unit, we end up with either lots of
naught or lots of decimal places. So the distance from Banjul to Basse, for example, is more conveniently expressed
in kilometers (a multiple of a metre) and thickness of a piece of sheet metal in millimeters ( a sub-multiple of a
metre).

Kilo- and milli- are examples of prefixes which show that we are using multiples or sub-multiples.

We do not write plurals of units:

m = metre or metres

ms = milliseconds and not metres

Unit Prefixes

Prefix Symbol Factor

tera T 1012 = 1 000 000 000 000
giga G 109 = 1 000 000 000
mega M 106 = 1 000 000
kilo k 103 = 1 000
hector h 102 = 1 00
deca da 101 = 10
Base unit
deci d 10-1 = 0.1
centi c 10-2 = 0.01
milli m 10-3 = 0.001
micro µ 10-6 = 0.000 001
nano n 10-9 = 0.000 000 001
pico p 10-12 = 0.000 000 000 001
femto f 10-15 = 0.000 000 000 000 001
atto a 10-18 = 0.000 000 000 000 000 001

If we are using sub-multiples, we count the decimal places and put a minus sign before the index figure.

e.g 1mm = 0.001m (the first figure is three places after the decimal) = 1m x 10-3.

The base unit itself has no noughts or decimal places. So we could write

1m = 1m x 100, but it is usually a waste of time. That is why the table above goes straight from 101 to
-1
10 and you have to remember that the base unit comes between them.

To make things simpler, the SI system uses 101, 102,103 and then the multiples of 103 i.e. 106, 109, 1012, etc.

Examples

20 000N = 20 x 103N = 20KN (we do not use 104)

6
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

0.003m = 3 x 10-3m = 3mm

5000m = 5 x 103m = 5Km

0.0003s = 0.3 x 10-3s (we do not use 10-4)

Mass weight and gravity

Mass

The mass of a body is a measure of the quantity of matter in the body. The amount of matter in a body
does not change when the position of the body changes so, the mass of a body does not change with
position.

The SI unit of mass is the kilogram (kg).

Weight

The weight of a body is the gravitational force of attraction between the mass of the earth and the mass
of a body. The weight of a body decreases as the body is moved away from the earth’s centre.

The SI unit of weight is the newton (N)

Gravitational acceleration

When a body is allowed to fall it moves towards the earth’s centre with an acceleration caused by the
weight of the body. If air resistance is ignored, then at the same altitude all bodies fall with the same
gravitational acceleration. Although heavier bodies have more weight, at the same altitude they fall with
the same gravitational acceleration because of their greater resistance to acceleration.

Like weight, gravitational acceleration depends on distance from the earth’s centre. At sea level
gravitational acceleration(g) has an accepted standard value of 9.80665 ms-2. For the purpose of
calculations in this unit, we will use the approximation g = 9.81ms-2 or 10ms-2.

The mass-weight relationship

From what has already been said, we may define the weight of a body as the product of its mass and the
value of gravitational acceleration at the position of the body. This is expressed in symbols as:

W = mg

Where in the SI system the weight (w) is in newtons (N) the mass is in kilograms (kg) and the acceleration
due to gravity is taken as 9.81 ms-2 unless specified differently.

Example

A missile having a mass of 25000 kg is launched from sea level on a course for the moon. If the gravitational
acceleration of the moon is one-sixth that on earth, determine

7
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

(a) the weight of the rocket at launch

(b) the mass of the rocket on reaching the moon
(c) the weight of the rocket on reaching the moon.

DENSITY AND UPTHRUST

Definition of density

It is well known that in general a given volume of one material has a mass different from that of the same
volume of some other material. For example we say that iron is heavier than wood. This means that any
given volume of iron is heavier than the same volume of wood. To make the comparison exact we
measure 1m3 each of iron and wood respectively and find that their masses are 7900kg and 500kg
respectively. These are called the densities of iron and wood. That is, the density of a substance is the
mass of 1m3 of the substance.

The density of a substance is its mass

per unit volume

mass
Density =
volume
m
р =
v

where р(rho) is a Greek letter representing density.

Although the SI unit of density is kg/m3, in laboratory work results may be obtained in g/cm3. There will
be no difficulty in converting to SI units.

Example

Convert the 0.2g/cm3 to kg/m3.

Since 1g = 1/103 kg and 1cm = 1/102m

We have, 0.2g/cm3 = 0.2 x 10-3/ (10-2)3kg/m3

= 0.2 x 103kg/m3

= 200 kg/m3.

Relative density (R.d)

Since water is the most common substance and its density is 1000kg/m3 or 1g/cm3 it is convenient to use
it as a standard for comparing the densities of other substances.

8
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

The relative density (R.d) of a substance is defined as follows:

𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆
R.d =
𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓

𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆
R.d =
𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒘
𝒕𝒆𝒓
𝒂

𝒘𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆
R.d =
𝒘𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒘
𝒕𝒆𝒓
𝒂

Relative density has no units. For example, the relative density of mercury is 13.6. Relative density used
to be known as specific gravity.

Determination of density of solids by direct method

Regular solid

For a regular solid, the volume can easily be found by measuring its dimensions. The mass can be obtained
by direct weighing. Hence density can be calculated.

Example

1. Find the density of the material of a cylinder of base radius r = 0.1m and height h = 0.5m, if the
mass of the cylinder is 44kg. What is the relative density of the material?
Volume of cylinder = πr2h = 3.142 x (0.10)2 x 0.50m3
Density = mass/ volume
= 44/3.142 x (0.10)2 x 0.50m3
= 2800kg/m3

𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆

Relative density ( R.d )=
𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓

= 2800kg/m3/ 1000 kg/m3

= 2.8

2. The relative density of an alloy is 6.5.

(a) Find the mass of a solid alloy cube of side 20cm.
(b) What volume of the alloy has a mass of 13kg?

solutions

(a) Density = mass/ volume

9
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

Therefore mass = density x volume

Since r.d = 6.5, density = 6500kg/m3
Volume of cube = (20 x 20 x 20) / (100)3m3
Therefore mass = (6500kg/m3) x (20 x 20 x 20) / (100)3m3
= 52kg
(b) Volume = mass/ density
Mass 13kg, density = 6500kg/m3
Therefore volume = 13/6500
= 2 x 10-3
= 0.002m3

Relative density of liquid by direct method

A relative density bottle can be used to find the density of a liquid directly.

The relative density bottle is weighed empty, and has mass m

It is then filled with liquid and weighed and has mass m1

Finally is emptied, dried and refilled with water and weighed again, when it has mass m2

𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒅
R.d =
𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓

𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒅
=
𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓

m1–m
=
𝒎𝟐–𝒎

Example

1. An empty relative density bottle weighs 25g. It weighs 65g when filled with a liquid and 75 g when
filled with water. Calculate the density of the liquid.
Relative density of liquid = mass of liquid / mass of equal volume of water
= (65-25)/(75-25)
= 40/50
= 0.8
Density of substance = relative density x density of water
= 0.8 x 1g/cm3 or 0.8 x 1000kg/m3
=0.8g/cm3 or 800kg/m3
2. If 32g of kerosene of density 0.80 g/cm3 are mixed with 8g of water, what is the density of the
resulting mixture?
10
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

Volume of kerosene = mass/density

= 32/0.80
= 40cm3
Volume of water = 8/1 = 8cm3
Total volume of mixture = 40cm3 + 8cm3 = 48cm3
Total mass of mixture = 32g + 8g = 40g
Density of mixture = mass/volume
= 40/48
=0.83g/cm3 or 830kg/m3

Relative density of a solid in the form of powder e.g sand.

We can use the relative density bottle to measure the relative density of sand.

The density bottle is weighed empty (m1) and again weighed when about one-third full of sand (m2). The
bottle with sand is filled up with water and weighed (m3). Finally the bottle is emptied of its contents.
Filled with water, and weighed (m4).

The relative density (R.d) of sand is then obtained as follows:

mass of any volume of sand

R.d =
mass of an equal volume of water

m2–m1
= (m4–m1)–(m3–m2)

Archimedes’ principle

When a heavy object is completely immersed in water, common experience shows that the object appears
to become lighter. This is experienced when a bucket of water is being drawn out from a well the bucket
appears very light when it is still under water and can be drawn out very easily with one hand, but it
becomes very heavy as soon as it is out of water, so that you need to use two hands to draw it out.

This puzzle was first explained by a Greek scientist called Archimedes. He showed that while it is in water,
an upward force is exerted by the water on the body. This force is called the upthrust, U, of water on the
object. Hence the resultant pull experienced as tension in the rope when the object is under water is T =
W-U where W is weight of the object when it is out water. From the above equation, the upthrust U can
be written as

U = W – T = loss in weight

Verification of Archimedes’ principle

1
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

An object is suspended from a spring balance and its weight W(N) is noted

It is then completely immersed in water and the weight in water is W’ is noted

The water displace displaced is also collected and weighed. Let the weight w.

Upthrust or loss in weight = W - W’

Weight of water displaced = w

It is found that W- W’ = w

We therefore conclude that upthrust equals weight of water displaced, which verifies Archimedes’
principle.

Example

1. A solid weighs 0.09N in air and 0.02N in a liquid of density 700kg/m3 or 0.7g/cm3. Calculate :
(a) The upthrust of liquid on the solid
(b) The volume of the solid

Solution

(a) Upthrust = loss in weight = (0.09 – 0.02)

= 0.07N
(b) Mass = 0.007kg (since 1kg has a weight of 10N) = 7g
Therefore mass of liquid displaced = 7g
Volume of liquid displaced = mass / density
= 7/0.7
= 10cm3
But volume of liquid displaced = volume of solid
Therefore volume of solid = 10cm3

2. An object of mass 60g and density 10 g/cm3 is suspended by thread and lowered until half of its
volume is immersed in a liquid of density 0.80g/cm3. What is the tension in the thread?

Volume of object = mass/ density

= 60/10

= 6.0cm3

Only 3.0cm3 is immersed

Mass of liquid displaced = mass of 3.0cm3 of liquid

= = density x volume
2
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

= 0.8 x 3 = 2.4g

= 0.0024kg

Therefore upthrust = 0.024N

Mass of object = 60g = 0.06kg

Therefore weight = 0.6N

Tension = weight of object – upthrust

= 0.60 -0.024

= 0.58N

Density measurements using Archimedes’ principle

Density of solid

The density of a solid can be found using Archimedes’ principle.

A solid is weighed in air using a spring balance.

It is then suspended completely immersed in water and the spring balance reading is noted.

Let the mass the mass in air = m (in grams)

Let the mass in water = m’

Upthrust = (m – m’) = mass of water displaced

mass mass
Density = , so volume =
volume density

. . . volume of water displaced = (m – m’ ) (in cm3)

( since R.d of water = 1 )

Now the object displaces an amount of water equal to its own volume.
(m–m')
. . . volume of object = (cm3)
1

The relative density of the object can be found by using the formula
m
R.d =
m–m'

weigh in air
Or r.d =
apparent loss of weight under water

3
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

So density = r.d x 1000kg/m3

To measure the relative density of a solid that floats in water ( e.g. cork) we make use of a “sinker”.

The sinker is weighed when fully immersed in water (w1).

The cork is attached to the string above the water level and a new weight (w2)is obtained with the sinker
fully immersed in water but the cork in air.

Finally sinker and cork are tied together and both are immersed in water. The new weight on the spring
balance is read (w3).

Weight of cork in air = w2 – w1

Upthrust of cork in water = weight of water displaced

= w2 – w3
weigh of cork in air
R.d of cork = weigh of equal volume of water

w2–w1
=
w2–w3

Density of liquid

A solid is first weighed in air (let this weight be W)

Then in water (let this weight be W’) and finally

in the given liquid(let this weight be W’’)

from Archimedes’principle,

weight of water displaced = W –W’

weight of liquid = W - W’’

since the same solid is used, the volume of liquid displaced is the same as the volume of water displaced.

weigh of liquid displaced

Relative density of liquid =
wei of water displaced

W–W''
= (
W–W'

Example

4
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

An object weighs 10.0N in air, 7.0N when immersed totally in water and 7.6Nwhen immersed in a liquid.
Calculate the relative density of the liquid.

weight of liquid displaced (or upthrust in liquid)

Relative density of liquid =
weig of waterdisplaced (or upthrust in water)

= (10-7.6)/(10-7) = 2.4/3 = 0.80

Floating objects

If a body is denser than a liquid it sinks in it completely, but when a body with density which is less than
that of the liquid is placed in it, the body sinks until the weight of liquid displaced by the submerged
volume is just equal to its own weight. It then floats and the body is in equilibrium.

If the upthrust, which is the weight of liquid displaced, is U and W is the weight of the body in air, then
condition for the body to float is that the upthrust should equal the weight of the body.

W = U

The above statement is known as the principle of flotation which can be stated as follows:

A floating body displaces its own weight of the fluid in which it

Alternatively, it can be restated.

A body floats when the upthrust exerted upon it by the fluid in which it floats
equals the weight of the body.

Some applications of flotation

Although ships are made of steel, which is denser than water, they still float in water. This is because they
are hollow objects, containing a great deal of air, and thus the average density is less than that of water,
so they are able to displace a large amount of water, consequently the upthrust is large enough to support
the weight of the ship and so keep it floating in equilibrium.

Exercises

1. A body has mass 10kg in air and 4kg when immersed totally in water. Calculate the volume of the
body and its density.
2. A body of mass 20kg appears to have a mass of 13g in oil and 12g in water. What is the relative
density of the oil?

5
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

3. A solid rectangular block measures 0.100m x 0.080m x 0.060m and floats freely in a liquid of
density 13546kg/m3. If the depth ofliquid is 0.045m up the block’s largest side find the density of
the block.
4. A body of density 9.0g/cm3 appears to have mass 27.0g in a liquid of density 1.2g/cm3. What is
the volume of the solid?
5. A substance of density 4g/cm3 causes 60g of turpentine (density 0.80 g/cm3) to overflow from a
displacement vessel. What is the mass of the substance?
6. A lump of gold is suspected to contain some quantity of aluminium. If the gold sample has a mass
500g and is found to have a relative density of 5.2, find what mass of gold is present if the relative
densities of gold and aluminium are respectively 19.3 and 2.6.
7. A body of mass 50g is weighed in water and then in a liquid of unknown density. If the apparent
masses in water and liguid are 46g and 45.5g respectively, find
(a) The density of the body
(b) The density of the liquid
8. A body of mass 2kg and volume 5 x 10-4 m3 is hung from a balance graduated in Newtons. What
would the balance read when the body is in air, fully immersed in water, fully immersed in
paraffin? Density of paraffin is 800kg/m3.
9. An 80kg man floats with 4% of his volume above the surface in fresh water. What is his volume?
What volume would be above the surface in sea water? How great is the upthrust on him in air
due to the air he displaces?
Density of sea water = 1030kg/m3 and density of fresh water = 1000kg/m3.
10. A piece of metal, mass 3.6kg is suspended from a spring balance. What is the reading of the
balance (in N).
(a) With the metal in air
(b) With the metal in water
(c) With the metal in brine and

(Density of brine = 1200kg/m3 and density of metal = 9000kg/m3).

6
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

MOMENTUM

The momentum of a body is defined as the product of its mass and its velocity.

MOMENTUM = MASS x VELOCITY

The units in which momentum is measured are those of

(units of mass) x (units of velocity)

Kg x m/s

i.e units of momentum are kg m/s.

CHANGE OF MOMENTUM

Change of momentum is always accompanied by a force. The value of this force will depend on the rate
at which the momentum is changed. For example, if the moving truck strikes ‘ solid’ buffers, the
deceleration is very great, the velocity of the truck is quickly reduced to zero and the force of the impact
is large. If the buffers are sprung so that they ‘give’ with the oncoming truck, the velocity is changed less
rapidly and the force will be less. For another example, if a cricketer catches a fast-moving cricket ball
with hands held stiffly, the ball will sting the hands much more than if they are moved along the
direction of flight as the ball enters them. In each of the examples quoted, the force is grater when the
momentum is changed more quickly. This effect is stated in what is known as Newton’s second law of
motion:

‘The rate of change of momentum is proportional to the force producing the change, and is in the
direction of the force.’

Relationship between force, mass and acceleration

Let a body of mass m undergo a change in velocity from u to v in a time t, under the action of a
constant force F.

The initial momentum = (mass) x (velocity)

= mu

Final momentum = mv

Change in momentum = (final value) - (initial value)

= mv – mu

7
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

= m(v - u)

8
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

Since this takes place in time t,

change in momentum
rate of change of momentum =
time taken

m(v – u)
=
t ...................................................... (i)

From Newton’s second law of motion,

(force) is proportion to (the rate of change of momentum)

M( v – u )
Or F α
t ...........................................................................................(ii)

but since the force F is constant, the acceleration produced, a, is also constant, so that
v = u + at
or at = v – u
(v – u )
t
substituting in (ii) gives
F α ma.....................................................................................(iii)
This may be taken as a statement of Newton’s second law in terms of mathematical symbols.

Since F α ma, the relationship may be written

F = kma .................................................................................... (iv)
The value of the constant of proportionality, k, will depend on the number values of F, m and a, or, in
other words, the units used to measure this quantities.

9
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

The International units of force, mass and acceleration

The (S.I) system of units using the NEWTON, KILOGRAMME and METRE/SECOND2 for the units of force,
mass and acceleration is an absolute or dynamical system of units. This means that a force of one
newton acting on a mass of one kilogramme produces an acceleration of 1m/s2. This relationship is
taken as the definition of the absolute unit of force, the Newton. In other words, for these units,

F = ma

or force (N) = 1 (N s2/kg m) x mass (kg) x acceleration (m/s2) ................................(v)

therefore 1 N = 1 kg m/ s2

10
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

Examples

1. Find the acceleration produced when a force of 10 N acts on a mass of 4 kg.

Force(N) = mass(kg) x acceleration(m/s2)

10 = 4 x a

a = 2.5m/s2

Acceleration produced = 2.5m/s2

2. A resultant force acting on a body of mass 60 kg, produces an acceleration of 7 m/s2. What is the
value of this resultant?

Force(N) = mass(kg) x acceleration(m/s2)

= 60 x 7N

Force = 420N

The resultant force = 420N

3. A force of 20N acts on a body to produce an acceleration of 5m/s2. What is the mass of the
body?

Force(N) = mass(kg) x acceleration(m/s2)

20 = 5 x m

m = 4kg

mass of body = 4 kg

4. What constant force will increase the velocity of a mass of 5kg from 15m/s to 23 m/s in 10 s ?

U = 15m/s, v = +23m/s, t= 10s

Then

V = u + at

23 = 15 + a x 10

10a = 23-15

a = 8/10m/s2

= 0.8m/s2
11
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

MOTION
An object is said to be in motion if its position changes with time. There are many different types of
motion. Motion can be random, linear, rotational or oscillatory.

SPEED:- Speed may be defined as distance per unit time. Speed takes no account of direction and is
therefore a scalar quantity.

The S.I unit for speed is the metres per second (m/s or ms-1) and the most common unit being used is
the kilometers per hour (kph).

VELOCITY:- velocity is defined as distance per unit time in a specified direction. Therefore velocity is
speed in a given direction and is a vector quantity. The S.I units for the magnitude of velocity are the S.I
units for speed, i.e. m/s or ms-1.

The direction of velocity is not always quoted but it should be understood that the velocity is in some
defined direction, even though this direction is unstated.

ACCELERATION:- acceleration is defined as change in velocity per unit time or rate of change of velocity
. acceleration is also a vector quantity and the SI unit of acceleration is metres per second per second
(m/s2 or ms-2).

LINEAR EQUATIONS OF MOTION

The equations of motion are based on further exploitation of the concept of force, velocity, acceleration
and the Newton’s laws.

The linear equations of motion rely for their derivation on the one very important fact that the
acceleration is assumed to be constant. We will now consider the four standard equations of motion.

v = u + at ….. equation 1

s = (𝒖+𝒗
𝟐
)𝒕 ………………..equation 2
𝟏
𝒔 = 𝒖𝒕 + 𝒂𝒕𝟐 …………….equation 3
𝟐

𝒗𝟐 = 𝒖𝟐 + 𝟐𝒂𝒔 …………….equation 4

Where s = distance in metres (m)

u = initial velocity (m/s)

v = final velocity (m/s)

a = acceleration in metres/second2 (m/s2)

t = time in seconds (s)

1
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

The simplest way to select which equation to use is to look at the problem you have been given`,
find which of the variables you have been given no information about and then find the equation
which does not contain that variable.

Equation 1 does not contain s.

Equation 2 does not contain a.

Equation 3 does not contain v.

Equation 4 does not contain t.

Examples
1. A body starts from rest and accelerates with constant acceleration of 2.0 ms-2 up to a
speed of 9 m/s. it then travels at 9 m/s for 15 seconds after which time it is retarded to a
speed of 1m/s. if the complete motion takes 24.5 seconds, find:
(a) The time taken to reach 9 m/s.
(b) The retardation.
(c) The toatal distance travelled.
2. A car starts from rest and accelerates uniformly until it reaches a velocity of 15m/s after 7
seconds. It travels with uniform velocity for 10 seconds and then is brought to rest in 5
seconds.
(a) Draw the velocity- time graph
(b) From the graph find the total distance travelled.

Scalars and Vectors

A scalar quantity is one which has only magnitude or size. Examples of scalar quantities are: the number
of desk in a classroom, the volume of a bottle and the speed of a car.

A vector quantity has both magnitude and direction. Examples of vector quantities are: force, velocity
and acceleration .

2
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

WORK, ENERGY AND POWER

INTRODUCTION

The principles of work and energy are important in physics and engineering, especially since
they are utilized in a great variety of machines upon which today’s industrial technology is
based. Also, the word energy appears in all branches of physics since, as we see later, energy is
shown in various forms.

The terms work and energy have several interpretations in ordinary conversation which include
mental activity, farm work, playing, creating, destroying, etc. Therefore, a great deal of energy
bis required for most human activity. For man in his environment, the primary source of energy
has been his muscles, combustible organic matter mainly in form of wood, coal and petroleum,
rays of the sun, wing, water in motion, etc.

These world energy resources are of two types : renewable and non-renewable.

Examples of the renewable resources are:

(a) Solar energy: when it falls on solar cells, electricity is produced. Light also is important in
the production of carbohydrates in green plants.
(b) Wind: this turns the wind mill, which produces electricity for work in the farm.
(c) Hydroelectricity: in dams, water turns generators and produces electricity.

Examples of non-renewable resources are:

(a) Petroleum: the gas is used in power stations to produce electricity. The gas and
kerosene are used as fuel for cooking. Petrol and diesel are used to drive vehicles.
Chemical energy is transformed to mechanical energy.
(b) Coal: burning of coal produces much heat to boil water in turbines for production of
electricity, and also for driving of trains and ship. Coal is used as fuel for cooking.
(c) Nuclear energy: this produces enormous heat to operate turbines and drive ships and
aircrafts. With time, it will be put into more uses.
(d) Food eaten by man is broken down and energy released for human activities.

These world energy resources come from different sources. Solar energy comes from the sun.
wind comes from air and it is in rapid natural motion. Water comes from the rivers and oceans.
Petroleum and coal are fossil fuels which were locked up in the soil millions of years ago.
Radioactive materials e.g uranium are the source of nuclear energy.

3
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

WORK:- the term work can have several interpretations in ordinary conversation, including
mental activity, such as working in the office or reading in school. In physics, however, work has
only one meaning.

Work is said to be done whenever a force moves a body through

a certain distance in the direction of force, and is equal to the
product of the force and the distance moved.

For example, work is done when you drag a lump of stone a certain distance, or when a body is
raised through a certain distance, or when a car moves a certain distance. In each of these
examples, the amount of workdone is measured by the product of the force used and the
distance in the direction of force.

Thus work or workdone = force x distance in the direction of force.

W =Fxs

The SI unit of work is the joule (J).

One joule is the work done when a force of 1

newton moves a distance of 1 metre.

Examples

1. A man carried a bucket on level ground for 10 metres. When he has stopped, what work
has he done ?

The man is moving horizontally while the force acting on the bucket acts vertically,
therefore no distance has been moved in the direction force. In this case, using the
physics definition, no work has been done.
2. A man carries a bucket up a vertical ladder for a distance d. what work has he done ?

The force has been moved a distance d in the direction of the force. Therefore the work
done on the bucket will equal to F x d units.

3. A man carries a bucket up a ladder slopping at an angle θ° with the horizontal. What
work has he done ?

4
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

The distance moved by the force in the direction of the force is s , where s is the vertical
distance moved up the ladder. Therefore , the work doneon the bucket is equal to F x d
sin θ units.

Classwork 1

A man of mass 70 kg, carries a load of bricks of mass 30kg up a vertical ladder of length 5m.
what is the work done by the man ?

ENERGY: - The energy of a body is defined as its capacity or ability for doing work. The unit of energy is
the same as that of work, i.e. the joule.

In the world we live in, energy appears in various forms :

(a) Kinetic energy, such as the energy of a moving car or a falling stone,
(b) Chemical energy, such as the energy in our food which makes us grow,
(c) Heat energy, such as the energy developed in a steam engine, or car,
(d) Electrical energy, such as the energy travelling through wires and used in driving our fans,
running refrigerators and lighting houses.
(e) Light energy which enables us to see,
(f) Sound energy such as that from loudspeakers,
(g) Nuclear energy: energy from the nucleus of the atom.

Energy transformation and the conservation law

All the forms of energy listed above can be changed from one form to another by means of suitable
machines or apparatus. For example, the energy in the nuclei of atoms produces heat energy, which in
turn can be used to generate electrical energy.

Solar energy (energy from the sun) can be collected, stored and transformed into various forms of useful
energy.

The mechanical energy that moves a car comes from heat energy derived from the burning of fuel ,
which is stored as chemical energy.

The telephone works on the principle of energy conversion from sound to electrical and back to sound.

When brakes are applied to a moving car, the mechanical energy originally possessed by the car is not
lost when the car stops, but is changed to heat in the brakes and tyres and some sound energy.

The principle of conservation of energy states that although energy can be

changed from one form to another the total energy of a given system remains
unchanged, i.e, energy can neither be created nor destroyed during a
25
transformation.

5
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

The exception to this is the creation of energy from mass in some nuclear reactions.

Mechanical energy

A body can possess energy or have the ability to do work for two reasons, either by virtue of its position
or because of its motion. For example, a car possesses energy due to its motion while a stone held at a
height above the ground possesses energy because of its position. These two kinds of energy are called
kinetic energy and potential energy respectively.

Kinetic Energy is energy possessed by a body because of its movement.

Ek = ½ x mass x velocity2

Potential Energy is energy possessed by a body because of its position.

Ep = force x distance

Consider a 30kg mass of bricks at the top of a 5m ladder. Because of their position they can
now do work equivalent to the work done on them by lifting them to that height.

Ep of bricks = 30 x 10 x 5

= 1500 J

If they were allowed to fall, then at the moment they hit the ground they would have no
potential energy. The energy they possess would be due to their motion. As no energy has been
lost, assuming air resistance is negligible, then

Ek = 1500J

We express Ek in terms of the velocity of the body as

Ek = ½ x mass x velocity2

Using this in the case above and substituting for mass,

Ek = ½ x 30 x v2

The body starts from rest and accelerates at g m/s2,

Using the equation v2 = u2 + 2as substituting for v2

V2 = 0 + 2g x 5 Ek = ½ x 30 x 1002

= 10g =100 = 1500J

6
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

POWER
Power is a measure of the rate at which work is done or the rate of change of energy. Power is
therefore defined as: the rate of doing work. The SI unit of power is the watt(w),
i.e.
𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆 (𝑱) 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 (𝑱)
Power (w) = =
𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏 (𝒔) 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏 (𝒔)

Or, if the body moves with constant velocity,

Power (W) = force used (N) x velocity (ms-1)

Note units are N m s-1 = J s-1 = watt (W).

Examples:

1. A pump running continuously can raise 100 000kg/h of water vertically to a height of
20m. Calculate the power.
2. Calculate the work done and power if a crane lifts a weight of 20KN from the ground
level to a height of 20m in 20 seconds.

SIMPLE MACHINES
Machines are devices by means of which we can apply a force greater than the effort we
actually make. Machines are also used when an effort made at one point is needed to
overcome a force at another point.

Efficiency :

The efficiency of a machine is defined as the ratio of the useful work produced by the
machine to the total work put into the machine, expressed as a percentage.
work done by machine
Efficiency = x 100%
work put into machi

Mechanical Advantage:

The mechanical advantage of a machine is defined as the ratio of the load to effort.
L
M.A. =
7
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

8
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

Velocity Ratio:

The velocity ratio of a machine is defined as the ratio of the distance moved by effort to the
distance moved by the load in the same time.
distance moved by the effort
V. R. =
distance moved by load in the same time

Since work done is equal to the product of the force and the distance, we can say,
load ×distance moved by load
Efficiency =
effort ×distance moved by effort

1
= M.A ×
V.R.

M.A.
=
V.R.

Examples

1. Water is pumped to a height of 15m at a rate of 8litres/second.

Find the power required. If the pump has an efficiency of 70%, find the input power to
the pump.
( 1 litre of water has a mass of 1 kg).

HEAT
Heat is a form of energy.
Transmission of heat may be by conduction,convection or radiation, or by a combination
of these.
Temperature is a measure of the relative degree of hotness of a body.
Suitable fixed points for a temperature scale are the melting point of ice (lower fixed point),
and the temperature of steam in contact with boiling water at normal atmospheric pressure
(upper fixed point).
The temperatures of these fixed points on the common scales of temperature are , 00C and
1000C ; 273K and 373K.
The unit of heat is the joule.
Specific heat capacity of a substance = heat energy required to raise the temperature of
unit mass of substance by temperature rise.
Specific heat capacity of water is 4.1868 kJ/kg0C or 4.2 kJ/kg0C
specific heat capacity of substance
Relative specific heat capacity =
specific heat capacity of water
Heat lost or gained = mass x specific heat capacity x temperature change
In any transfer of heat energy which does not involve work done,
Heat lost = heat gained
9
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

Thermal capacity of a body = heat energy required to raise the temperature of the body
by 10C.

MATTER

Matter is anything that occupies space and has mass.

All matter is made up from elementary building blocks that we know as atoms and
molecules.

The atom is the smallest part of an element that can enter into chemical combination
with an atom or atoms of other elements.

The atom consists of electrons, protons and neutrons.

The electrons are negatively charged particles and have a mass of zero. They are to
be found revolving around the nucleus in circles called orbits or shells.

The protons are positively charged and accounts for half the mass of the atom.

The neutrons which are neutral, accounts for the other half of the mass of the atom.

The protons and the neutrons are to be found concentrated at the center of the atom
called the nucleus of the atom.

The three states of matter:

Matter exists in three states of solid, liquid and gases.

solid

In a solid the molecules lie in a particular pattern. The molecules are close together
and they vibrate about fixed positions. If the solid is heated, the total energy is
divided among the molecules and makes them vibrate faster. Eventually they break
loose from their fixed positions. The solid melts and becomes liquid.

10
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

Liquid

The molecules in a liquid can move about within the liquid. They are in constant
random motion and they also vibrate. If the liquid is heated, its molecules gain
kinetic energy and move faster, until eventually molecules can escape from the
surface. The liquid then vaporizes and turns to a gaseous state.

Gases

The molecules of a gas are also in constant motion but the molecules are
comparatively far apart. They move at high speeds, colliding with one another and
with the walls of their containing vessel. They fill the vessel and exert pressure on
the walls of the container. The pressure of the gas is caused by collisions of the
molecules with the walls of the container.

FORCE AND PRESSURE

The word pressure is frequently used by people at random to mean several things. For example,
we talk of work, the pressure of the atmosphere, blood pressure, a pressure cooker, and so. In
physics however, pressure has just one meaning.

Pressure is defined as the force acting normally (perpendicular) per unit area of surface.

The SI unit of pressure is the pascal (Pa) or newton per square metre (N/M2).

Pressure is defined as the force acting normally (perpendicular) per unit area of surface.

P = F/A (in Pa or N/m2)

Pressure in liquid
11
TECHNICAL SCIENCE LECTURER: MR A JALLOW

When considering pressure in liquids it is often useful to consider a property which does not
vary. Density is such property. The density of a substance is the mass of one cubic metre;
measured in kilograms. The units of density are kg/m3 or (g/cm3).

1. The pressure in a liquid increases in direct proportion to the depth of the liquid
2. The pressure in different liquids at the same depth varies directly with density.
3. The pressure at any point in a the liquid acts equally in all directions.
4. The pressure at all points at the same level within a liquid is the same.

P = wA = hPg

12