PHY-1111: Physics

Chapter- 1 (Mechanics)

by

Dr. Mithun Kumar Das

Associate Professor

Department of Physics
Comilla University, Cumilla.

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Fundamentals of Physics: The building blocks of our universe

Physics, at its core, is the study of matter, energy, motion, and force. It
seeks to understand the fundamental laws and principles that govern the
behavior of the universe.

Key Concepts and Principles:

Classical Mechanics:
Newton's Laws of Motion: These laws describe the relationship between
force and motion, forming the foundation of classical mechanics.

Conservation Laws: These principles, such as the conservation of energy

and momentum, state that certain quantities remain constant in an
isolated system.

Gravity: The force of attraction between any two objects with mass.
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Electromagnetism:
Electric charge and fields: The study of electric charges, their interactions, and the
electric fields they create.

Magnetism: The study of magnetic fields and their interactions with electric currents and
magnetic materials.
Electromagnetic waves: These waves, such as light and radio waves, consist of
oscillating electric and magnetic fields.
Thermodynamics:
Heat and Temperature: The study of heat, work, and energy transfer.

Laws of Thermodynamics: These laws describe the behavior of heat and energy,
including the impossibility of creating continuous motion machines.

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Quantum Mechanics:

Atomic and Subatomic Phenomena: This branch of physics deals with the
behavior of matter and energy at the atomic and subatomic levels.

Wave-Particle Duality: The concept that particles can exhibit both wave-
like and particle-like properties.

Relativity:

Special Relativity: This theory describes how space and time are relative
to the observer's frame of reference.

General Relativity: This theory explains gravity as a curvature of space

time caused by mass and energy.

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Why study fundamentals of physics?

Understanding the World Around Us: Physics helps us understand the

fundamental principles that govern the natural world.

Technological Advancements: Many technological advancements, from

smartphones to spacecraft, are based on principles of physics.

Problem-Solving Skills: Studying physics develops critical thinking and

problem-solving skills that are valuable in many fields.

Intellectual Curiosity: Physics explores the fundamental questions about

the universe and our place in it.

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Mechanics:
Mechanics is the branch of physics that deals with the study of motion and the
forces that cause it. It's a fundamental area of physics that explores how
objects move, interact, and change over time.

Key areas of mechanics:

Kinematics: This branch describes the motion of objects without considering the
forces that cause the motion. It deals with concepts like position, velocity,
acceleration, and time.

Dynamics: This branch investigates the relationship between the motion of

objects and the forces acting upon them. It's governed by Newton's laws of
motion.

Statics: This branch focuses on objects at rest or in a state of constant velocity

(equilibrium). It analyzes the forces acting on these objects to ensure they
remain stationary or maintain a uniform motion.
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Why is Mechanics Important?
Foundation of Physics: Mechanics provides the foundation for
understanding many other areas of physics, such as thermodynamics,
electromagnetism, and even relativity.

Engineering Applications: It's crucial for engineering disciplines like

mechanical, civil, and aerospace engineering, where understanding the
motion and forces acting on structures and machines is essential for
design and analysis.

Everyday Life: Mechanics helps us understand everyday phenomena,

from the motion of a car to the flight of a bird.
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Motion in one dimension/Kinematics:

Motion in one dimension, also known as linear motion, describes the
movement of an object along a straight line. This type of motion is the
simplest to analyze because it only involves one spatial coordinate.

 Consider motion in one dimension

 Along a straight line
 Motion represents a continual change in an object’s position.
Types of Motion
 Translational
An example is a car traveling on a highway.
 Rotational
An example is the Earth’s spin on its axis.
 Vibrational
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An example is the back-and-forth movement of a pendulum.
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Key factors:

Position: The location of an object along the line of motion. It's often
represented by a coordinate (e.g., x).

Displacement: The change in position of an object. It's a vector quantity,

meaning it has both magnitude (size) and direction.

Distance: The total length traveled by an object, regardless of direction. It's

a scalar quantity, meaning it only has magnitude.

Speed: The rate at which an object covers distance. It's a scalar quantity.

Velocity: The rate of change of displacement. It's a vector quantity, having

both magnitude and direction.

Acceleration: The rate of change of velocity. It's also a vector quantity.

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Equations of Motion:

For constant acceleration, the following equations can be used to describe one-
dimensional motion:

v = u + at

s = ut +1/2at²

v² = u² + 2as

where:

v = final velocity
u = initial velocity
a = acceleration
t = time
s = displacement
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Applications:
Understanding one-dimensional motion is crucial in various fields,
including:
Physics: Analyzing the motion of objects under the influence of forces.

Engineering: Designing and analyzing mechanical systems.

Astronomy: Studying the motion of celestial bodies.

By understanding the concepts of one-dimensional motion, you can put a

strong foundation for understanding more complex types of motion, such
as two-dimensional and three-dimensional motion. 11
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What is two-dimensional motion?
Two-dimensional (2D) motion means motion that takes place in two different
directions (or coordinates) at the same time. Two-dimensional motion, as the name
suggests, describes the movement of an object in a plane. Unlike one-dimensional
motion, which is confined to a straight line, two-dimensional motion allows for
movement in two perpendicular directions.

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What are the components of two-dimensional motion?
Two dimensional motion can be described using the two separate components. The
two separate motions are in horizontal and vertical directions respectively. Projectile
motion is two-dimensional because it has a horizontal component and a vertical
component.

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Three-Dimensional Motion: A Journey in Space
Three-dimensional motion describes the movement of an object in three-dimensional
space. This is the most general type of motion we encounter in the real world, as it
accounts for movement in all directions.
Common Examples:
The flight of a bird: A bird can move forward, sideways, and up or down.
The motion of a planet: Planets orbit the Sun in elliptical paths, moving in three
dimensions.
The trajectory of a rocket: Rockets can move in any direction in space, subject to
gravitational forces.
Applications:
Physics: Understanding the motion of celestial bodies, fluid dynamics, and other
complex phenomena.
Engineering: Designing aircraft, spacecraft, and other vehicles that move in three
dimensions.
Computer graphics: Creating realistic simulations of objects moving in virtual
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 Difference between one, two and three dimensional motion:
One dimensional motion is motion along a straight line. The line used for this
motion is often the familiar x-axis, or x number line. The object may move
forward or backward along this line: Forward is usually considered positive
movement, and this movement is usually considered to be to the right.
Remember that the study of one-dimensional motion is the study of movement
in one direction, like a car moving from point “A” to point “B.”

Whereas,

In two-dimensional motion, the path the object follows lies in a plane. Two-
dimensional motion is the study of movement in two directions, including the
study of motion along a curved path, such as projectile and circular motion.
Examples are projectile motion where the path is a parabola, or planetary
motion where it is an ellipse.

Whereas,
Three-dimensional motion would be a case where the path is more complex
and is not confined to a single plane.
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Projectile motion:
Projectile motion is the motion of an object thrown or projected into the
air, subject to only the acceleration of gravity. The object is called a
projectile, and its path is called its trajectory.

What are the 3 main concepts of projectile motion?

The key components that we need to remember in order to solve

projectile motion problems are: Initial launch angle (θ), Initial velocity (u),
and Time of flight (T). 21
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Work:
Work is the energy transferred to or from an object via the application of force along a
displacement. In its simplest form, for a constant force aligned with the direction of
motion, the work equals the product of the force strength and the distance traveled. A
force is said to do positive work if when applied it has a component in the direction of the
displacement of the point of application. A force does negative work if it has a component
opposite to the direction of the displacement at the point of application of the force.

For example, when a ball is held above the ground and then dropped, the work done by
the gravitational force on the ball as it falls is positive, and is equal to the weight of the ball
(a force) multiplied by the distance to the ground (a displacement). If the ball is thrown
upwards, the work done by the gravitational force is negative, and is equal to the weight
multiplied by the displacement in the upwards direction.

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Energy:
In physics, energy is the quantitative property that is transferred to a
body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work
and in the form of heat and light. Energy is a conserved quantity—the
law of conservation of energy states that energy can be converted in
form, but not created or destroyed.

Momentum:
Momentum is the product of the mass and velocity of an object. It is a
vector quantity, possessing a magnitude and a direction. If m is an
object's mass and v is its velocity, then the object's momentum p is: mv

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What Is Conservation of Momentum?
Conservation of momentum is a major law of physics which states that the momentum of
a system is constant if no external forces are acting on the system. It is embodied in
Newton’s First Law or The Law of Inertia.

Example of Conservation of Momentum

Consider this example of a balloon, the particles of gas move rapidly colliding with each
other and the walls of the balloon, even though the particles themselves move faster and
slower when they lose or gain momentum when they collide, the total momentum of the
system remains the same.

Hence, the balloon doesn’t change in size, if we add

external energy by heating it, the balloon should expand
because it increases the velocity of the particles and this
increases their momentum, in turn, increasing the force
exerted by them on the walls of the balloon. 28
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Application of Law of Conservation of Momentum
Having said so the energy of a system is always conserved, one of the best applications
of the law of conservation of momentum would be in space travel, there is no medium in
space to exert a force on, then how do rockets travel?

Well, they eject matter at a very high speed, so in an

isolated system, the momentum should remain constant
therefore, the rocket will move in the opposite direction with
the same momentum as that of the exhaust.

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Work-energy theorem:
The work-energy theorem explains the idea that the net work - the total work done by all
the forces combined - done on an object is equal to the change in the kinetic energy of
the object. After the net force is removed (no more work is being done) the object's total
energy is altered as a result of the work that was done.
According to the theorem,

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Rotation of a rigid body:

Rigid body rotation is a motion that occurs when a solid body moves in a
circular path around something. The rotational motion can be broken down into
two types of rotation – Rotation about a fixed axis and rotation about a fixed
point.

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What do you mean by angular momentum?
Angular momentum is defined as: The property of any rotating object given by
moment of inertia times angular velocity. It is the property of a rotating body
given by the product of the moment of inertia and the angular velocity of the
rotating object.

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Torque:

The force that can cause an object to rotate along an axis is measured as torque. In
linear kinematics, force is what drives an object’s acceleration. Similar to this, an
angular acceleration is brought on by torque. As a result, torque can be thought of
as the rotational counterpart to force. The axis of rotation is a straight line about
which an item rotates. Torque in physics is only a force’s propensity to turn or
twist.

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Relation between torque and angular momentum:
The momentum that a rotating object has because of the distance between the
object and the perpendicular drawn from the center of rotation is called angular
momentum. It is due to the angular momentum that one can able to paddle a
bicycle without getting imbalanced. Mathematically, it is defined as the cross
product between the linear momentum of an object and the distance between the
object’s center of mass and center of rotation. This distance is equal to the radius
of the circular motion of the object. Therefore, we can calculate the angular
momentum of a rotating object from the below formula:

Here L is used to denote angular momentum, and r is the radius, i.e., distance
from the axis of rotation to the object’s center of mass. 39
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Torque is the force that accelerates the object to follow the rotational motion
along its axis of rotation. Torque acts perpendicularly on the distance between the
rotational axis. According to the definition of torque, it is the rate at which an
object’s angular momentum changes. It is equal to the cross product between the
distance from the rotational axis and the linear force acting on the object. To find
the torque of a rotating object, we can utilize the below equation,

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We can use this equation to find the torque and momentum of a rotating body. Last
equation can be used to find the relation between torque and angular momentum.
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What is meant by center of mass?
The center of mass is a position defined relative to an object or system of objects.
It is the average position of all the parts of the system, weighted according to their
masses. For simple rigid objects with uniform density, the center of mass is located
at the centroid. For example, the center of mass of a uniform disc shape would be
at its center. Sometimes the center of mass doesn't fall anywhere on the object. The
center of mass of a ring for example is located at its center, where there isn't any
material.

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Center of gravity:
Centre of gravity is an imaginary point in a body of matter where, the total weight of the body
may be thought to be concentrated. The concept is sometimes useful in designing static structures
(e.g., buildings and bridges) or in predicting the behaviour of a moving body when it is acted on
by gravity.
In a uniform gravitational field the center of gravity is identical to the center of mass. The two do
not always coincide, however. For example, the Moon’s center of mass is very close to its
geometric center (it is not exact because the Moon is not a perfect uniform sphere), but its center
of gravity is slightly displaced toward Earth because of the stronger gravitational force on the
Moon’s near side.

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LAWS OF PLANETARY MOTION
Kepler First law – The Law of Orbits
 According to Kepler’s first law, all the planets revolve around the sun in
elliptical orbits having the sun at one of the focus”. The point at which the
planet is close to the sun is known as perihelion, and the point at which the
planet is farther from the sun is known as aphelion.

 It is the characteristic of an ellipse that the

sum of the distances of any planet from
two focus is constant. The elliptical orbit
of a planet is responsible for the
occurrence of seasons.
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Kepler’s Second Law: The Law of Equal Areas

 Kepler’s second law states, ” The radius vector drawn from the
sun to the planet sweeps out equal areas in equal intervals of
time”.

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 As the orbit is not circular, the planet’s kinetic energy is not constant in its
path. It has more kinetic energy near the perihelion, and less kinetic energy
near the aphelion implies more speed at the perihelion and less speed (vmin)
at the aphelion. So, areas swept out by a line from the Sun to planate for
both aphelion and perihelion, were equal over the same amount of time.

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Kepler’s Third Law: The Law of Periods
According to Kepler’s law of periods, “The square of the time period
of revolution of a planet around the sun in an elliptical orbit is directly
proportional to the cube of its semi-major axis”.

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 Thank you
for your kind attention

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