Introduction to physics

Physics is a science concerned with basic principles of the universe. It is foundation on which
other sciences are based. The beauty of physics lies in its simplicity of its fundamental theories.
Physics theories are expressed in mathematical form. It is typically an experimental science
which involves measurement of physical quantities.

Units of measurement

They are used in defining measurement of a physical quantity.

SI system

Is internationally agreed/accepted standard of measurement of physical quantities. They were put

in place in 1960. Physical quantities are either basic or derived. Basic quantities are fundamental
i.e. they cannot be obtained from any other quantity.

Basic quantities in mechanics

Quantity SI unit Symbol
Length metre m
Mass kilogram kg
time second s
The standard units were set by International committee as SI (systeme international) units.

Length
Its SI unit is metre (m). A metre is a distance travelled by light in a vacuum in a time of
1/299,792,458 second. It was established in Oct 1983. The speed of light in a vacuum is
299,792,458 m/s.

Mass
It SI unit is kilogram (kg). 1kg is mass of specific platinum-iridium alloy cylinder kept at the
International Bureau of Weights and Measures at Sevres, France. Standard kilogram was
established in 1887.
Examples of mass;
Milkway galaxy - 7 x 1041kg
Earth - 6 x 1024 kg
Sun - 2 x 1030 kg
Moon - 7 x 1022 kg
Mosquito - 1 x 10-5 kg
Electron - 9.0 x 10-31 kg
Time
It SI unit is second (s). 1 sec is 9,192,631,700 times the period of vibration of radiation from
cesium atom.
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Other basic quantities

Quantity SI unit Symbol

Electric current ampere A
Amount of substance mole mol
Temperature kelvin K
Luminous intensity candela cd

Derived quantities
Are quantities that are obtained from other quantities.
Quantity SI unit Symbol
Velocity metre per second m/s
Force Newton N
Weight Newton N
Density Kilogram per metre cubic Kg/m3
Volume Metre cubic m3
Pressure Newton per metre square N/m2

Prefixes used in measurement

Prefix symbol Factor Prefix Symbol Factor
Yocto y 10-24 Deka da 101
Zepto Z 10-21 Hecto h 102
Atto A 10-18 Kilo k 103
Femto F 10-15 Mega M 106
pico P 10-12 Giga G 109
Nano N 10-9 Tera T 1012
Micro  10-6 Peta P 1015
Milli m 10-3 Exa E 1018
Centi c 10-2 Zetta Z 1021
Deci d 10-1 Yotta Y 1024

The most commonly used prefixes are; kilo, mega, giga, centi, milli and nano.
Mechanics – is the study of relationship between motion of bodies and forces applied to them. It
describes measures and relates forces with motion.
Kinematics – is the study of motion, position and time.
Dynamics – is the study of forces and motion.
Statics – is the study of forces, resultant forces, bodies in equilibrium (no acceleration).
Resultant force – a single force produced when two or more forces act simultaneously on a
body.

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FORCE
Force is the action of one body on another that changes or tends to change the state of the body
acted upon. Force is a directed action of one body on another in form of a push or pull. The
action tends to move the body and the motion depends on the magnitude, direction and point of
application of force. Force is a vector quantity; therefore it is represented by a vector.

P

Point of e Unit vector parallel to P
application
Force can be applied on a body as;
(a) Contact force – a force due to mechanical contact of acting body on acted body. This force is
created by push or pull e.g. tension, compression, upthrust, ect.
(b) Remote action (body force) – this is a force applied by remote action e.g. gravitational force,
electrical, magnetic force etc.

Properties of force
(a) Forces occur in occur in equal and opposite pairs (Newton’s 3 rd law) each having same line
of action.
(b) The pair of forces have same line of action but acting on different bodies.
(c) Forces have resultant effect i.e. when two or more forces act at a point concurrently, their
effect is that of a single force equal to the vector sum (or resultant) of individual forces.
Resultant force is the sum of all external forces acting on a body i.e. it is a single force
produced when two or more forces act simultaneously on a body.
Two forces F1 and F2 concurrently acting on body A have resultant effect (resultant force F)

F1
F = F1 + F2

A
F2
Point of application
(d) Forces have magnitude and direction. Magnitude is the strength of a force measured in
Newtons.
(e) Forces act on a specific point of application.

Fundamental forces
(i) Gravitational force – force between objects.
(ii) Electromagnetic force – force between electric charges.
(iii) Weak nuclear force – force due to radioactive decaying process.
(iv) Strong nuclear force – force between sub-atomic particles.

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System of forces
Is a combination of two or more forces acting on a body. The various systems of forces are;
1. Collinear forces system
The line of action of all forces is the same i.e the forces act on the same line. E.g. tug of war,
people pushing a vehicle together.

F1 F2 F1+F2 = 0

For equilibrium, F1 = F2
2. Coplanar forces system
All forces are parallel to each other and lie in a single plane. Coplanar forces are parallel to
each other but on same plane. F2 = R

F1 F2 F3

F1 F2
Fulcrum reaction R = F1 + F2

Example of co-planar forces, see saw, opening a door or soda bottle

3. Concurrent forces system

Are two or more forces acting on one point at the same time.
F2
F1

F3

4. Coplanar concurrent forces system

Are forces on single plane, parallel and acting on same point at the same time (their lines of
action meet at a point)
5. Non-coplanar forces- forces which act on different planes.
6. Coplanar forces – forces on same plane and act on same line.
7. Coplanar parallel forces – forces on same plane and parallel.

N/B: Force has two actions;

(i) Push or pull on an object
(ii) Turning about a given point.
(iii)
Balanced and unbalanced forces
Balanced forces- are system of forces whose net force on an object is zero. They don’t cause
any change in motion of an object. These forces are equal and opposite in direction. The shape of
the object may be distorted. If an object was initially moving, the velocity does not change.

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 Unbalanced forces
Are system of forces whose net force on an object is greater than zero. They cause an object to
start moving (in the direction of larger force) if it was at rest. An object already moving will
change its velocity or its direction.
Net force- is a combinational (sum) of all forces acting on a body. Forces acting in one
direction are added together.
Resultant force – is a single force that has same effect as two or more concurrent forces.

Equilibrium
Is a state of a body in which there is no change in its motion. a body in equilibrium is either at
uniform/constant velocity in a straight line. Resultant force (due to system of forces) acting on a
body is zero i.e. and . E.g. for an object moving downward in a liquid
attains terminal velocity (i.e. when equilibrium is attained) when .
Equilibriant is a single force which when added to a system of forces brings the status of
equilibrium.

Conditions for equilibrium

(i) Net force on a system is zero i.e. and .
(ii) No accelerated rotation i.e. constant angular rotation.

Types of equilibrium
1. Stable equilibrium
A system is in stable equilibrium if when displaced from equilibrium, it experiences a net
force or torque in a direction opposite to the direction of displacement. This makes the body
to return to its initial equilibrium position. E.g. a cone resting on its base.

=0
C.O.G

2. Unstable equilibrium
A system is in unstable equilibrium if when displaced from equilibrium, it experiences a net
force or torque in the same direction as displacement from equilibrium. A system in unstable
equilibrium accelerates away from its equilibrium position if displaced even slightly. This
makes the body to topple over and does not return to its initial equilibrium position. E.g. a
ball resting at the tip of a finger, a cone resting at its tip etc.

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3. Neutral equilibrium
A system is in neutral equilibrium is independent of displacement from its equilibrium
position i.e. its net force has no effect on the system e.g. a ball resting on a flat surface, a
cone resting with its side etc.

Composition of forces
This is the process of finding resultant force in a system of forces by reduction of a given system
of forces to the simplest system that will be equivalent. This leads to resultant force. Resultant
force is a single force that has same effect as two or more concurrent forces.
The methods of resolving composition of forces are;
(i) Law of parallelogram of forces
(ii) Law of triangle of forces
(iii) Resolution method (resolved parts)

Law of parallelogram of forces

It states;
“If two concurrent forces acting at a point are represented in magnitude and direction by the two
adjacent sides of a parallelogram drawn from one of its angular points, their resultant (force) is
represented by the diagonal of the parallelogram passing through that angular point in
magnitude and direction”.
Consider two forces F1 and F2 acting from point O on adjacent sides of a parallelogram OABC.
A B

F2 α is angle between two forces F1 and F2

θ - is angle resultant force FR makes with

α
θ horizontal
O
F1 C

The resultant force FR is given by;

The direction and angle θ the resultant force makes with horizontal is given by;

Law of triangle of forces

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If two forces acting simultaneously on a body are represented by the sides of a triangle taken in
order, their resultant is represented by the closing side of the triangle taken in opposite order.
E.g. for two forces F1 and F2 acting at a point O, the resultant force FR is given by;

F2
FR F2
FR = F1+F2
O O
F1 F1
Resolution of forces
This is the process of finding component forces of a single force. In each system of forces,
components are in two mutually perpendicular directions (x and y components). The components
in each direction are algebraically added to obtain resultant force, FR.
y
F
(x-component)

θ (y-component)
x

y F1

θ1
θ2 x

F2

Resultant force FR is given by;

The angle FR makes with horizontal is given by;

Resolving gravitational force

Compound forces are expressed trigonometrically. Consider weight W of a body on inclined
plane as shown in figure below. The plane prevents the body from moving in direction of weight.
FA

FA Inclined plane
θ
FA
θ

W = mg 7
Weight can be resolved in two components;
(i) Component acting in direction perpendicular to plane surface. FN (y-component)
(ii) Component acting parallel to plane surface (FP). This is x-component.

(part of weight supported by the plane)

(Component that tends to move the object down the plane assuming the plane is

frictionless)

N/B:
 Making the plane steeper by increasing θ increases the component F P(x-component) and
decreases component FN (y-component).
 FA is equal and opposite to F P. It represents the force needed to keep the body from sliding
down the plane.

Examples
1. In the figure below, F is 40N, acting at an angle of 30o as shown. Find x and y components.

Fx
30o

F=40N
Fy

2. Determine the magnitude and direction of resultant of two forces F 1=12N and F2=9N acting
at a point. The angle between the two forces is 30o.

The angle θ the resultant force makes with horizontal is given by;

3. Find the magnitude of two equal forces acting at a point with angle of 40o between them if
the resultant force is 30.7N.
4. The resultant of two forces when they act at right angles is 12N. Whereas when they act at an
angle of 50o, the resultant is 12.4N. Determine the magnitude of the two forces.
5. A person pushes an object weighing 25kg uphill inclined at 15o to the horizontal ground as
shown below. How much force is needed to keep the object from rolling down the hill.
25 kg

15o
6. A child pulls a toy by exerting a force of 15 N on a string making an angle of 55" with the
floor. Find the vertical and horizontal components of the force.
7. A person pushes a grocery cart by exerting a 76-N force on the handle inclined at 40.0°
above the horizontal.
(a) What component of the force pushes the cart against the floor?
(b) What component of the force moves It forward?
8. A 20,000 N car is parked on an incline that makes an angle of 30° with the horizontal. If the
maximum force the brakes can withstand is 12 000 N, will the car remain at rest?
9. Find the x and y components (i.e. the horizontal and vertical components) of an 88-N force
making an angle of 22o with the x axis.
10. Two paramedics are carrying a person on a stretcher. One of the paramedics exerts a force of
350 N at 58° above the horizontal and the other exerts a force of 410 N at 4Y above the
horizontal. What is the total upward force exerted by the paramedics?
11. A 2 X 103J_kg car is to be held on a 20° incline by a rope in which the maximum tension is 8
x 103 N.
(a)Will the rope support the car?
(b) If the rope is released, how far will the car have moved down the incline by the time its
speed reaches 35 m/s?
12. Mr. Justin has attached a sign that has a weight of 495 N to a wall outside her office, as
shown in figure below. Determine; (a) the magnitude of the tension in the chain and (b) the
thrust force exerted by the rod.

13. A traffic light is supported by two wires, as shown in figure below. If the maximum tension
in each wire is 750 N, what is the maximum weight of the light they can support?

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14. Find the magnitude and direction of the resultant force for the system of concurrent forces
shown below.

15. Three forces act at a point in a plate as shown in figure. If the resultant of these forces is
vertical, find the resultant force and angle α

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