UNSWPhys1121CourseNotes

GeorgeOConnell
2016

Headings
ConvertingUnits

Notes

Kinematics(Taken
fromWileys
PowerpointNotes&
JoeWolfesLecture
slides)

Kinematicsstudyofmotion
Measurelengthstogetrelativepositionsusuallyveryinaccurate,becauseofspecial
relativity.
*Countfromzero0,1,2,3.
Wealwaysmeasureaveragevelocitychangeinposition:/\s//\t
Vectorsandcomponents
vectorshavedirectionandmagnitude,ie.displacement,velocity,acceleration,
force,spin
vectorscanbegivenasaonthelaptop(seenotebookforotherwritings)

Measurement
Givenengineeringandphysicsuseprecisemeasurementsofphysicalquantities,weneed
waysformeasurementandcomparisonaswellasunitsforthemeasurement
Units:uniquenameassignedtoaquantity
Correspondstoastandardwithavalueof1.0usuallytheS.I.Unitsbutcanbe
imperial.
Therearemanydifferentquantitiesthatarebaseunits,butsomeareindependent
(e.g.speeddistance/time)
S.I.Units
Therearebasestandardswhichmakethefundamentalsofallquantitiesthemain
formechanicsbeinglength(m),time(s)andmass(kg).
Allbasequantitieshavebeenassignedstandardsandassumethebuildingblocksof
otherunits.
22
E.gJoules:1J=1kgm
s
,Watts:1W=1J/s
Scientificnotationisoftenemployedtodescribelargenumbers.
Aconversionfactorisamethodofchangingunits:
2min=(2min)(1)=(2min)(60s/1min)=120s(canceloutthemins)
Mustbeveryaccuratetoday,themeterisdefinedbythelengthofthepathlighttakes
whilsttravellinginavacuumfor1/299792458ofasecond.
Significantfigureshowmanyfiguresareshowninyourcalculationsitisalwaysthe
smallestamountofsigfigsfoundintheinputdata.
Time
Timefollowsasimilarconversionmethodoflength
Onesecondisthetimetakenfor9192631770oscillationsoflightofaspecified
wavelengthemittedbyacesium133atom
Mass
Astandardkilogramisacylinderofplatinumandiridium.
Atomicmassunitisalsousedformeasuringthemassofatomsandmolecules.
Densityisp=m/v

MotionAlongaStraightLine
Kinematicsistheclassificationandcomparisonofmotion
Weconsiderstraightlinemotiontobeofaparticle,ie.anelectronoramoleculewithno
rotationorstretching.
Positionismeasuredrelativetoareferencepoint:theoriginorzeropointofanaxis
directioncanbeidentifiedaspositiveornegative,wherepositiveisinthedirectionof
increasingnumbers
Thechangeofpositioninaparticleiscalledthedisplacement:

x=x
x
2
1
Displacementisavectorquantity,ie.ithasbothdirection(+/)andmagnitude
Asitisavectorquantity,itcanbewrittenas
x
orxonthecomputer,orwithan
arrowoverthetoponpaper
Bytakingtheabsolutevalueofx,wegetsimplythemagnitude,whichisthe
distance:|x|,whichiswrittenwithasmallx
Velocityistheratioofthedisplacement(x)tothetimeinterval(t)
V
=xt
average
1
Averagevelocityhastheunitsofmetrespersecond(ms
)
Onagraphofx:t,thevelocityistheslopeofthestraightlinethatconnectstwo
givenpoints.
Averagespeedisthetotaldistancecoveredoveragiventimeinterval.
Instantaneousvelocity,orsimplythevelocity(v)isthevelocityatasinglemoment
intime.Itcanbefoundonadisplacementtimegraphbytakingthederivativeof
thegraphatasinglepoint.

Inavelocitytimegraph,thevelocityisdepictedbyasinglepointanditsvalue,the
slopeistheaccelerationandtheareaunderneaththegraphisthetotaldisplacement
(theintegralofthegraph)
Accelerationisthechangeinaparticlesvelocityovertime

Accelerationisavectorquantitypositivetimemeanspositivedirectionhence
2
gravity(9.8ms
)isalwaysnegative.
Ifthesignsofthevelocityandaccelerationarethesamethespeedisincreasing.If
oneisnegative,thenthespeedisdecreasing.
Inanaccelerationtimegraph,
Whenaccelerationis0,velocityisaconstant
Whentheaccelerationispositive,thevelocityisincreasingandviceversa
forthenegative.
Thesteeperthegradient,thelargertheamountoftheacceleration.
(velocitytime)
Whentheaccelerationisconstant,

Thesetwoequationscanalsobeobtainedbyintegratingaconstantacceleration
Freefallaccelerationistherateatwhichanobjectacceleratesdownwardsinthe
absenceofairresistance.
Varieswithlatitudeandelevation
2
Writtenasg,withavalueof9.8ms

Itisindependantonthepropertiesoftheobjectshape,mass,size,density.
Taketheintegralofvv
tofindtheaccelerationoveraperiodoftwogivenvaluessame
o
thingwiththedistancebutwithxreplacingv.

Vectors
Avectorisamathematicalobjectwithsizeanddirection
Avectorquantityisaquantitythatcanberepresentedbyavector,ie.position,velocity,
acceleration.
Ascalarquantityhasamagnitudebutnodirection,ie.distance,speed,time
Displacementvector:ifaparticlemovesfromAtoB,thenitisrepresentedbyanarrow
pointingfromAtoB.
Thedisplacementisthemostdirectpaththerecouldbymanydifferentpathswith
varyingdistancesbetweentwogivenpoints,butthedisplacementwillalways
remainthesame.
Thevectorsumcomesfromvectoradditionaddingtwovectorstogether
S
=
a
+
b

Vectoradditioniscommutative(itcanbeaddedinanyorder)anditis
associative(cangroupadditioninanyway)

Anegativesignreversethedirectionofthevector,ieb+b=0
Thisbecomesthebasesofvectorsubtraction

Theserulesholdforallvectors,whetherits
displacement,velocityoracceleration
Ratherthanusinggraphicalmethods,vectorscan
be
foundbysplittingthemintotheircomponentsa
componentiswhenavectorisprojectedontoanxandyaxis,ie.findsthexandydistances
oftheoriginalvector.
Componentsintwodimensionsaregivenby:

Here,thetaistheanglethevectormakeswiththepositivesideofthexaxis.
Thelengthandangleofthevectorcanbefoundifbothcomponentsareknown
usingbasictrigandpythagorastheorem:

Inthreedimensions,weneedthezvector,ie.weneeda
,a
anda
x
y
z
Anglesaremeasuredindegreesorradians(pushforradiansduetotheusein
o
maths)afullcircleis360
or2piradians.

Unitvectors
Unitvectorshaveamagnitudeof1,hasaparticulardirection,butlacksboth
dimensionandunit

Weusetherighthandcoordinatesystem(seeabove)
Thequantitiesa
ianda
jarevector
components
x
y
Vectorscanbeaddedbycomponents:

Vectorsareindependentofthecoordinatesystemusedtomeasurethemie.
rotatingthecoordinatesystemwillnotmeanthevectorwillmove.
Multiplyingvectors
Multiplyingavectorzbyascalarcwillproduceanewvectorwhosemagnitudeis
themultiplicationofzby|c|.Itsdirectionisthesameaszortheoppositeifthe
scalarisnegative.
Toachievethiswemustmultiplyeachofthecomponentsofthevectorbyc
DotProduct

Crossproduct
Producesanewvectorintheperpendiculardirection
Directionisdeterminedbytherighthandrule.

MotioninTwoandThreeDimensions
Apositionvectorlocatesaparticleinspaceanditextendsfromareferencepointknownas
theorigin:r=xi+yj+zk
Achangeinthepositionvectormeansdisplacementhasoccurredandiswrittenasr=r
r
2
1
orr=xi+yj+zk
Averagevelocityustheaboveequationdividedbythechangeintime(t)
Theinstantaneousvelocityisgivenby:

Theaverageaccelerationinunitvectorsisgivenby:

ProjectileMotion
Aprojectileisaparticlemovinginaverticalplane,whichhasaninitialvelocity
2
andaccelerationisconstantdownwardsgivenbythevalueg9.8ms
Belowarethecomponentsoftheinitialvelocity,withV
beingthisinitialvelocity
0

Thehorizontalmotion
Noacceleration,hencevelocityisaconstant
VerticalMotion
Accelerationalwaysisg

Theprojectile'strajectoryis
thepathittravelsthrough
spacewhichisaparabola.
Itisfoundbysimultaneouslysolvingtheequationsforthehorizontalandvertical
displacementcomponents.
Thehorizontalrangeisthemaximumdistancetheprojectiletravelsinxbythetime

o
itreturnstoitsoriginalheight.Risamaximumatanangleof45
(seeexercise
bookforworking)

Ifabulletisfiredfromagunanddroppedatthesametime,theywillhittheground
atthesametimeasthereisidenticalverticalaccelerationandasthecomponentsof
projectilescanbetreatedseparately,theywillhitthegroundatthesametime,
regardlessofhorizontalvelocity
Inthreedimensionssplitmotionintoitsxyandzcomponentsandworkfrom
thereeasierthanvisualisingitandworkingwiththetrajectoryasawhole.
UniformCircularMotion
Aparticleisincircularmotionifittravelsinacircleorcirculararcataconstant
speed.
Sincethevelocityisconstantlychanging,thentheparticleissaidtobe
accelerating,hencevelocityandaccelerationhaveaconstantmagnitudebut
changingdirection.
Theaccelerationiscalledthecentripetalaccelerationandalwayspointsdirectly
inwards(tothecirclecentre).
Periodofevolutionisthetimetakentocompleteacircleonce.
Equations:
=t
2
2
a=v
r=
r
2
a
=
r
=22

Relativemotioninonedimension:measurementofpositionandvelocitydependonthe
referenceframeofthemeasurer
Intwodimensions,itisgivenby:

ForcesandMotion
NewtonsLawsofMotion
Aforceisapushorpullonanobjectthatcausesacceleration.Itisgeneralisedas
anapproximationofgeneralrelativity
Newtonianmechanicsholdforeverydaysituations,howeveritvariesasthespeed
1
ofanobject/particleapproachesthespeedoflight(3.0E8ms
)andforminiscule
structuresie.atanatomiclevel.
2
TheunitofforceisNewton(N),ie.1N=1kgms

Thenetforceisthevectorsumofallforcesactingonanobject.
FirstLaw:Ifnonetforceactsonabody(F=0),thenthebodysvelocitycannot
changeoraccelerate.
If
F
=0,thereexistreferenceframesinwhich
a
=0,calledInertial
frames.

Everybodypersistsinitsstateofrestoruniformmotioninastraightline
unlessitiscompelledtochangethatstatebyforcesimpressedonit
Thisisnottrueinallframesofreferenceonlyinertialframes,asallof
newton'slawsholdinaninertialframeofreference

Mass
Themassofabodyisthecharacteristicthatrelatesaforceonthebodyto
theresultingacceleration
Massmeasurestheresistanceabodyhastochangingmotion.
SecondLaw:Thenetforceonabodyisequaltotheproductofthebodysmass
andacceleration

Toanybodymaybeascribeda(scalar)constant,mass,suchthatthe
accelerationproducedintwobodiesbyagivenforceisinversely
proportionaltotheirmasses
Thislaw(alongwiththefirstlaw)isrepresentedby
F
=ma
Theaccelerationalongagivenaxis(ie.inasingledirection)isonlycaused
bythenetforcefromthesumoftheforcestravellingonthesameaxis
Ifthenetforceonabodyiszero,theaccelerationiszero&theexternal
forcesareinequilibrium.
Solvingproblems
Bestthingtodoistodrawafreebodydiagram,ie.justtheforces.Here,
wecangenerallygraphicallytellthemagnitudeanddirectionofforces,
howeverifitissimplytwoorthreeforces,thenwecandetermineusing
simplealgebra.Neverhaveaccelerationaspartofafreebodydiagram.
Ifasystemconsistsoftwoormorebodies,theforcestheoutsideexerton
thebodiesarecalledexternalforcesandtheforcesbetweenthebodiesare
internalforces.Thenetforceisthesumoftheexternalforces.
Gravitationalforce
Thisisapullthatactsonabody,whichisdirectedtowardsasecondbody
(typicallyEarth)
Itisgivenbytwodifferentequations:
F
=mg
g
2
F=Gm
m
/d
(whereG=6.67E11,disthedistancebetween
1
2
massoneandtwo)
Thisforceisalwaysactingonabodyexceptwhenthebodyisaninfinite
distanceawayfromthesecondbody,meaningitisoutsideofits
gravitationalfield.Itisalwaysactingonabodyatrest.
Weightforce
Thenameofthegravitationalforcethatonebody(likeEarth,themoon,
mars,etc.)exertsonanobject.
ItismeasuredinNewtonsandisdirectedtothecentreoftheplanet.
ItisgenerallygivenbyW=mg
Weightisnotthesameasmassitcanbemeasuredusingspecialscales
whichhavespringsthatadjustthecalculationsduetothegravitational
force,oritcanbeeasilycalculatedusingtheaboveformula.
Weightmustbemeasuredwhentheobjectisnotacceleratingvertically,ie.
apersoninaliftwillhaveachangingweightdependingonitsacceleration.
NormalForce
Thenormalforcecomesasaresultofnewton'sthirdlaw.Itisanewtonian
pairwiththeweightforce,ieitaddstozero(samemagnitude,opposite
direction).

Whenabodypressesagainstasurface,thesurfacedeformsandpushes
backonthebody.Thisreactionforceisthenormalforceandis
perpendicular
tothesurface.
TensionForce
Whenaropeorcordispulled/stretched(examplestypicallyinclude
betweentwobodieslikepulleysortraincarriages),thecordisunder
tension.
Theexternalforcesthatcausethetensionpulltherope,sothedirectionof
theforceistypicallytowardtheendoftherope,howevertheinternal
forcesarenewtonianpairswhichresistthismotionandaredirected
towardsthecentreoftherope.
Intensionproblems,treatthestringasrigidandinextensible.
Whenthemassofastring,coupling,etcisnegligible,forcesatopposite
endsareequalandoppositecalledtension.
Hooke'sLaw:F=kx
Thisisameasureoftheelasticityofanobjecthowmuchit
stretches.Hookeslawiswhenstressisproportionaltothestrain.
Kisaconstantasitislinearelasticity,whichisveryimportanton
amolecularscale.

NewtonsThirdLaw:Whentwobodiesinteract,theforcesofthebodiesoneach
otherarealwaysequalinmagnitude,butoppositeindirection
.
"Toeveryactionthereisalwaysopposedanequalreactionorthemutual
actionsoftwobodiesuponeachotherarealwaysequalanddirectedto
contraryparts"
Ie.F
=F
thisiscalledathirdlawforcepairornewtonianpair.
AB
BA
F
=F
AB
BA
Internalforcesofasystemaddtozero.
Typesofforces
FrictionalForce
Thisoccurswhenanobjectslidesorattemptstoslideoveranother,ie.
thereisrelativemotionb/nthetwo.
Itisasurfaceforceintheoppositedirection,aimingtoopposemotion.
Frictionalforcesareessentialineverydaylifepickingthingsup,building
things,brakingonbikes,walking,etc.
Overcomingfrictionisalsoanissuewhenwewantthingsinmotionto
increasemaximumefficiencyofasystem.

Therearetwotypesoffriction:staticandkinetic.
StaticFriction:(norelativemotion)
Theopposingforcethatpreventsanobjectfrommoving
Canhaveanymagnitude(dependingonthemassoftheobject)
untilamaximumandwhenithitsthismax,theobjectgivesinand
beginstoslide.
Themagnitudeofstaticfrictiononly
equalsuNwhenitisatitslimiting
frictionpoint(pointbeforemoving).
Thismeansitisgenerallygivenby:
KineticFriction:(relativemotion)
Theopposingforcethatresiststhemotionofanobject.
Doesnothaveachangingvalueandisgenerallysmallerthanthe
staticfrictionforce.

Atamicroscopiclevel,everysurfaceisrough,somesurfacestoagreater
degreethanothers.Whentwosurfacerubtogether,thereisconstant
catchingandresistiveforceswhichisessentiallywhatfrictionis.
Insomecircumstancesthereissomuchcontactforcesthatitisnear
impossibleformovementtooccur(e.g.coldweldedmetals).
Thegreaterthenormalforce,thegreaterthefrictionalforce,asthereis
morepressureforthesurface,resultinginincreasedcatching,meaning
greaterfriction.
Propertiesoffriction:
Ifthebodydoesnotmove,thentheappliedforceandthefrictional
forceareequalinmagnitudebutoppositeindirection(friction
resistsmotion)
TheF
hasamax,givenby:(whereu
isthecoefficientoffriction)
s
s,

Iftheforceisgreaterthanf
,thenslidingoccurs
smax
Onceslidingoccurs,thefrictionalforcedecreasesasitbecomes
kineticfriction(asseenaboveright).
Magnitudeofthenormalsignifieshowstronglythesurfacesarepushed
together.
Themagnitudeofthecoefficientsoffrictionaredependantonthe
situations,unitlessandmustbedeterminedthroughexperiments.
Dragforce/terminalspeed
Afluidisanythingthatcanflowwhenthereisrelativemotionbetweena
bodyandafluid,thenthereexistsadragforcewhich,likefriction,opposes
therelativemotion.

Itisgivenbytheequation:

Here,
D
isthedrag,
C
isthedragcoefficient(determinedthrough
experimentsandcanchangeduetothevelocity),
p
isthedensityof
thefluidand
A
isthecrosssectionalareaofthebody
(perpendiculartothemotion).
Thedragforceopposesthegravitational(weight)forceofabodythatisin
freefall.
Theterminalspeedistheconstantspeedthatcomeswhenabodysdragis
equivalenttoitsgravitationalforce,resultinginazeronetforce.

Uniformcircularmotion
Centripetalforcesaccelerateabodybychangingitsdirectionandmaintaininga
constantspeed.
Thisforceisinthedirectionofthecentreofthecircleandisgivenby:

KineticEnergyandWork

KineticEnergy
Energyisascalartermandisrequiredforanysortofmotion
Itisconservedinallclosedsystems,ie.E
=E
(lawofconservationofenergy)
in
out
Itisrequiredforanyformofmotion
Kineticenergyistheamountofenergyanobjectinmotioncontains.Thefasterthe
objectismoving,thegreatertheamountofkineticenergythisalsomeansifthe
objectisnotmoving,thenitwillhavenokineticenergy.
2
TheS.I.unitforenergyistheJoule(J),1J=1kg.ms
Whenthevelocityoftheobjectisnotcomparabletothespeedoflight,theformula
forthekineticenergyis:

Work
Changesinkineticenergycomefromtheenergybeingtransferredtoorfroman

object.
Work(W)isenergytransferredtoorfromanobjectbymeansofaforceactingon
theobject.Energytransferredtotheobjectispositiveworkandenergytransferred
fromtheobjectisnegativework.
Inatransferofenergyfromaforce,workisdoneontheobjectbytheforce.
Therearethreeeqsthatdefinetheworkleftissimple,middleiswhenthereisan
anglebetweentheforceandthedisplacementandtherightiswritteninvectorform

Foralltheequations,theforceisconstant,theobjectisrigid(ie.no
elasticity/absorptionofenergy)
TheS.I.unitforworkisalsothejoule(J).
Aforcedoespositiveworkwhenithasavectorcomponentinthesamedirectionas
thedisplacement
Formorethanoneforce,thenetworkistakenontheobject,whichisthesumofall
theworks.Itcanbetakenbysummingeachworkcausedbyeachforce,orfinding
thenetforceontheobjectandfromthere,workingoutthework(easiermethod).
Workkineticenergytheorem:
Thechangeinkineticenergyisequaltothetotalnetworkdone.\

Itcanalsoberearrangedtobereadassuch:K
=K
+W
f
i
Holdsforpositiveandnegativework.
Workdonebythegravitationalforce.
Here,wesimplysubstituteF
=mgintothework
g

equation:
Forarisingobject,mgdisnegative(mgd)andforafalling,itispositive.This
meansthatdownisthepositivedirection.
Whenweareliftinganobject,weareliftingitagainstthegravitationalwork,
thereforeW
+W
=0andW
=W
a
g
a
g

Workdonebyaspringforce
Aspringisavariableforcegivenfromaspring.

Whennoforceisappliedtoaspring,itrestsinarelaxedstate.Ifthestringis
stretchedorcompressed,itexertsarestoringforce,attemptingtoreturnthespring
backtotherelaxedstate.
ThespringforceisgivenbyHookeslaw:
Thenegativerepresentshowthespringforceis
alwaysintheoppositedirectiontothe
displacementvector.
Theconstantkisameasureoftherigidityofthespring.
Asitisavariableforce(thefunctionoftheposition),thenthereisalinear
relationshipbetweentheforceandthedistance.
Alongthexaxis,thedcanbereplacedwithx.Theworkisfoundby
integratingthisequation:

Workcanbeeitherpositiveornegative,dependingonthenetenergy
transfer.
Whenthedisplacementiszeroandtheinitialandfinalkineticenergiesare
zero,thentheworkisgivenby:W
=W
a
s
Workdonebyavariableforce
Thisisfoundbyintegratingtheworkequationie.workistheareaunderthe
graphforagivenfunction.

Power
Poweristheworkdoneoveraperiodoftime.ItsS.I.unitistheWatt(W)1W=
1J/s.Thismeansthatworkenergycanbewrittenaspowertimestime.
Theequationforpowervariesonthespecificityrequiredandtheinformation
given.Theaveragepowerisontheleftandbelowitistheinstantaneouspower,
whichisinrespecttodistance.Youcanalsogetpowerwithrespecttovelocity
whichisontheright.

PotentialEnergy

Potentialenergy(U)isenergythatcanbeassociatedwiththeconfigurationofobjectsthat
exertaforceononeanother.Thisincludesgravitationalpotentialenergy,whichaccounts
forthekineticenergyofafallingobjectandelasticpotentialenergy,whichaccountsforthe
negativeaccelerationofafallingobject.
Forobjectsbeingloweredorraised,thechangeingravitationalpotentialenergyisequalto
thenegativeworkdone,whichalsodoesapplytoelasticsprings.
Asystemconsistsoftwoormoreobject,whereaforceactsbetweenaparticleandtherest
ofthesystem.Whenthisconfigurationchanges,thisforcedoesworkonthesystem,
changingkineticenergytoanotherformofenergy.Whentheconfigurationisreversed,the
forcereversestheenergytransfer,againdoingwork.
Anexampleofthisisliftingandobjectthendroppingit.Whenitisbeinglifted,
negativegravitationalworkisbeingdone,butthekineticenergyusedinliftingit
transferredtopotentialenergyandwhenitisdropped,positiveworkisdoneand
thisnewpotentialenergyistransferredbacktokineticenergy,
Conservativeandnonconservativeforces:
Conservativeforcesareforceswherethepositiveworkisalwaysequaltothe
negativework,ie.W
=W
1
2
Zeroworkaroundaclosedpath
Examplesgravitationalforce(seeabove),springforce.
Whenconservativeforcesactonaparticle,theproblemcanbesimplified,
ie.thenetworkdonebyaconservativeforcearoundanyclosedpathis
zero.Thismeansthatifthereisaconservativeforcebetweentwopoints,
anychoiceofpathbetweenthetwopointsgivesthesameamountofwork.

Nonconservativeforcesareforceswherethepositiveworkisnotequaltothe
negativework.
Thisincludesakineticfrictionforce,dragforce,etc.
Frictionforce:Thekineticenergyofamovingparticleistransferredto
heatduetothefrictionalforce.Thisthermalenergycannotberecoveredby
theparticle,hencethethermalenergyisnotapotentialenergy
Equationsforpotentialenergy:

Onthetoprightoftheaboveequationsisthegravitationalpotentialenergywheny
=0isthereferencepoint.Similarlybelowitaretheelasticpotentialenergy

equationsonahorizontalaxis,wherex=0isthereferencepoint.
PotentialEnergyCurve
Inonedimension,forceandpotentialenergyarerepresentedby:
Thismeansthatonapotentialenergycurve,theforceisthe
derivative.
Thepotentialenergyrelatestothemechanicalenergyassuch:

Workdonebyanexternalforce
Workisenergytransferredtoorfromasystembymeansofanexternalforce.
Forasystemwithoutfriction,theworkisequaltothesumofthechangesof
potentialandkineticenergies:

Whenthekineticenergyiszero,thentheyarerepresentedbyturningpointsonthe
graph.Itisinequilibriumwhenthepotentialenergyiszeroandisinaneutral
equilibriumifitisstationary,butthereispotentialenergybutnoforce.
Stableandunstableequilibriumarerepresentedassuch:

Forasystemwithfriction,someoftheenergyislostduetothefrictionherethe
kineticenergyistransferredtothermalenergy.Thisthermalenergycomesfrom
theformingandbreakingofweldsonasurface.Itisgivenbytheequations:

ConservationofEnergy
Theenergytransferredinasystemcanalwaysbeaccountedfor.
ThelawofconservationofenergystatesthatthetotalenergyEofasystemcan
onlychangebyamountsofenergythataretransferredtoorfromthesystem.
Itconcernsthetotalenergywhichincludesmechanical,thermalandother
energies.

Anisolatedsystemallowsnoenergytobetransferredfromexternalsources.This
meansthatthetotalenergyofanisolatedsystemcannotchange.

 Thepowerofasystemisgivenbythechangeinenergyoverthechangeintime.

CentreofMass
Thecentreofmass(denotedcom)ofasystemofparticlesisthepointthatmovesasthough
allofthesystemsmassisconcentratedthereandallexternalforcesareappliedthere
Fortwoparticlesthatareagivendistanceapartandthereferencepointistheorigin,itis
givenbytheequationontheleft.Whenthereferencepointisnottheorigin,itgivesthe
equationontheright:

Thecentreofmasswillalwaysbethesameregardlessofwhichreferencepointyoutake.

Formanyparticles,thecentreofmasscanbegeneralisedusingageometricseries:

Here,Misthesumofallthemassesandxisthedistancefromagivenpoint.
Thecentreofmassequationgivenabovecanbesplitintothexyandzcomponentswhen
inthreedimensions.
Newton'ssecondlawforasystemofparticles
Thecentreofmassofamotioncontinuestobeassuchregardlessoftheexternal
forces(unlessthereisamasschangemoreambiguousathighspeeds).
Newton'ssecondlawforasystemofparticlesisgivenbytheequation:
F
=M
a
net
com
Again,thiscanbebrokenupintoeachcomponentinthreedimensions.
Thenetforceisthesumofallexternalforces,theMisthetotalmassoftheclosed
systemandtheaccelerationisthecentreofmassacceleration

Momentum
LinearMomentum
Themomentumhasthesamedirectionalcomponentofthevelocityanditcanonly
bechangedthroughanexternalforce.
Thetimerateofchangeofthemomentumofaparticleisequaltothenetforce

actingontheparticleandisinthedirectionoftheforceUCFphysics
Thismeansnewton'ssecondlawcanbegivenbythederivativeofmomentumover
time:

Forasystemofparticles,theMisthetotalmassandthevisthecentreofmass
(com)
Thenetexternalforcechangeslinearmomentum.Withoutthisforce,thetotal
momentumofaparticlesdoesnotchange.
CollisionandImpulse
Inacollision,themomentumofaparticlecanchange.Theimpulseisisthechange
ofmomentumofaparticleinasystem:

Likeothervectorequations,thiscanbebrokendownintotheindividual
components.
Theimpulseisalsogivenby:
J
=F
*t
ave
Collisionsofmorethanoneparticles:
Forasteadystreamofprojectiles,eachundergoesachangeinmomentum
(nistheamountofprojectiles)

Thevchangesdependingonthetypeofcollisioniftheparticlestops,
v=v,butifitbouncesbackwiththesamevelocity,v=2v
Itissummarisedbytheequation:

Conservationoflinearmomentum
Foraclosedsystemandanimpulseofzero,then
P
isaconstant.Thissaysthatif
noexternalforceactsonasystemofparticles,thetotallinearmomentum,
P
ofthe
systemcannotchange.Thisisknownasthelawofconservationofmomentum.
Ifthecomponentofthenetexternalforceonaclosedsystemiszeroalonganaxis,
thenthecomponentofthelinearmomentumofthesystemalongthataxiscannot
change.
Internalforcescanchangethemomentaofpartsofasystem,butnotthetotallinear
momentum
Momentumandkineticenergyincollisions
Therearethreetypesofcollisions:
Elastictotalkineticenergyisconserved(unchanged)itcanbeauseful

approximationallcollisionsinreallifesituationstransferenergy.
Inelasticcollisionssomeenergyistransferred

Completelyinelasticcollisionstheobjectssticktogetherthisisthe
greatestlossofkineticenergy.

Thecentreofmassofallvelocityremainsunchanged
Elasticcollisions
Onedimension
Inanelasticcollision,thekineticenergyofeachcollidingbodymay
change,butthetotalkineticenergyofthesystemdoesnot,ie.totalkinetic
energyisconserved.

Ifthemassesareequal,thenthefinalvelocityofthefirstobjectwillbe
zero.
Ifm
ismuch,muchlargerthanthefirstobject,thenthefirstobject
2
bouncesback,thespeedalmostunchanged(e.g.bouncingaballagainstthe
surfaceoftheEarth)
Twodimensions
Applytheconservationofmomentumalongeachaxisandconservationof
energyforelasticcollisions
Systemswithavaryingmass(rocket)
Therocketandexhaustformanisolatedsystem,whichconservesmomentum(P
=
i
P
)
f

Thisgivesthefirstrocketequation:
fuelconsumption.

,whereRisthemassrateof

Theleftsideoftheaboveequationisthethrust(T)
Derivingthevelocitychangegivesthesecondrocketequation:

Rotation
Forrotation,thesamelawsofphysicsapply,howevertherearenewquantitiesinventedto
expressthem.
A
rigid
bodyrotatesasaunitandwelookatthisrotationaroundafixedaxis.Thisfixed
axisisknownastheaxisofrotationthereferencelinethatisperpendiculartotheaxishad
azeroangulardisplacement.
Angulardisplacement
Theanglelookslike(andhenceangulardisplacementontheright):

Here,thetaisinradians,whichareunitless.Theequationisderivedfromthe
lengthofanarc,wherethelengthofthearcisthedisplacementtheobject
undergoesinthisrotation.
Onefullrevolutionisequivalentto2radians.Itdoesnotresettozeroafterafull
rotation.
Angulardisplacementispositivefortheanticlockwisedirection.
Angularvelocity
Theangularvelocityistherateofchangeoftheangulardisplacementinatime
interval:

Thisgivestheaverageangularvelocitytheinstantaneousangularvelocityis
foundbytakingthelimitast0oftheaverageangularvelocity.
Ifthebodyisrigid,thesecalculationsholdforeverylocationonthebody.
Heangularspeedisthemagnitudeoftheangularvelocity.
Angularacceleration
Thisfollowsthesamepatternasthevelocityabove.Theaverageisgivenbelow,
withtheinstantaneoustakenbythelimitoftheangularvelocityast0.
Italsoholdstrueforeverypointonarigidbody.
Byusingtherighthandrule,thedirectionforthevelocityandaccelerationmaybe
calculated.

Rotationwithconstantangularacceleration

Relatinglinearandangularvariables
Position(ifisinradians),thens=r
Speed(ifismeasuredfromradians),thenv=r
Theperiodcanalsobeexpressedinradians:T=2
Tangentialaccelerationisa
=r
t
2
Radialaccelerationisa
=
r
r
Kineticenergyofrotation
Thekineticenergyofapointparticleandsumofallparticlesis
givenbytheequationontheright.
Thiscanthenbewrittenas:

Here,thevalueintheparenthesisonthefinalequationiscalledtherotational
inertiaorthemomentofinertiaandisdonatedby
I

Iisaconstantforarigidbodyandtheaxisitrotatesaroundmustalwaysbe
specified
Thisgivesustwomoreequations:

Rotationalinertiaisameasureofdifficultyinchangingthestateofrotation.This
stateofrotationincludesspeedingup,slowingdownorchangingtheaxis.
Calculatingrotationalinertia

Ifwecanfindtheinertiaatthecentreofmass,we
canusetheparallelaxistheorem.Thistheorem

allowsustocalculateanotheraxis,giventhatitisparallel(mustbeparallel)tothe
axisthroughthecentreofmass.
Torque:
Theforcenecessarytorotateanobjectdependsontheangleotheforcerelativeto
thesurfaceoftheobjectandwhereitisapplied.

Alineextendedthroughtheappliedforceisthelineofactionandthe
perpendiculardistanceofthislinetotheaxisisthemomentarm
TorqueismeasuredinNewtonmetres(Nm)
Torqueispositiveifitiscausingmovementinthecounterclockwisedirection
(unlessspecifiedintheotherdirectiontobepositive)
Thenettorqueisthesumoftheindividualtorques(likemomentsinengineering
studiesHSC)
Torqueforanindividualparticlemovingalonganypathrelativetoafixedpoint
(directionisdeterminedbytherighthandrule):

Thenetexternaltorquet
actingonasystemofparticlesisequaltothe
net
timerateofchangeofthesystemstotalangularmomentumL(seeangular
momentumbelow)

Newton'ssecondlawforrotation
F=macanberewrittenas:(noteitisthetorquethatcausesangularacceleration)

Newton'ssecondlawinangularform
Thevectorsumofallthetorquesactingonaparticleisequaltothetime
rateofchangeofangularmomentumofthatparticle,ie.

Workandrotationalkineticenergy

Rolling
Infirstyearphysics,weonlytakeintoaccounttheobjectsthatrollsmoothly,ie,do
notslip.
Thecentreofmassmovesinastraightlineparalleltothesurfaceandtheobject
rotatesaroundthiscentreofmass.
Theequationsforrollingareassuch

Forcesandkineticenergy
Arollingobjecthastwotypesofkineticenergyrotationalkineticenergy
duetoitsrotationaboutthecomandtranslationalkineticenergyduetothe
translationofitscom.

Ifawheelaccelerates,itsangularspeedchangesandaforcemustactto
preventaslip.
Forsmoothrollingdownaramp,thegravitationalforceactsvertically
down,thenormalforceisperpendiculartotherampandthefrictionforce
isuptheslope
AngularMomentum
AparticledoesnotneedtorotatearoundOtohaveangularmomentum.

2
Angularmomentumismeasuredinkgms
orJs
Thedirectionagainusestherighthandrule
Themagnitudecanberepresentedassuch:

Angularmomentumonlyhasmeaningwhenitiswithrespecttoaspecifiedorigin

orpointofrotation.
Theangularmomentumisdenotedbytheletterl.
Momentumofarigidbody

Aboveistheequationforasystemofparticlesitaddseachsingle
momentumofaparticle.
Thetorqueandangularmomentummustbemeasuredrelativetothesame
originandifthecentreofmassisaccelerating,thenthatoriginmustbethe
centreofmass.

Theangularmomentumcanbesummedassuch:
Conservationofangularmomentum
Ifthenetexternalforceactingonasystemiszero,theangularmomentum
ofthesystemremainsconstant,nomatterwhatchangestakeplacewithin
thesystem.
Asitisavector,itcanbebrokendowntoitscomponentsandthesamecan
beappliedifthenettorqueforasinglecomponentiszero,thenthe
angularmomentumiszeroforthatcomponent.

Gravitation
ContextinPhysics
Gravityisoneofthefourfundamentalforcesdefinedbythestandardmodelof
matteranditissuggestedthatitactsthroughtheforceparticlegravitons.
Ofthefourforces,gravityandtheelectricforcehaveaninfiniterange
(macroscopic),andgravityistheweakestbutdominatesonalargescale.
Historydenotesthatthingsfalltothegroundintheirnaturalstateandthat
planetsandeverythingmoveforavarietyofindependentreasons.
Newton'slawsofgravity
Newton'scouldcalculatethecentripetalaccelerationofthemoonfromtheequation
2
=r

.Hefoundhecouldalsodothiswithanapple,andassuch,hefigured
m
m
thatthesetwoparticlescanacceleratebythesamelaw,andeverybodyinthe
universeattractsanother
Thisallowedhimtocomeupwiththeformulas:

CavendishmeasuresG
Cavendishwasthefirstpersontomeasureavaluefortheuniversalgravitational

constantandhencethemassoftheEarth.
Hesetuphisexperimentassuch:

Gravitationalfield
ThegravitybetweentwoobjectsonEarthissosmall,itisnegligibleitonlyis
takenintoaccountwhenoneofthemassesisofanastronomicalsize.
Whentherearemorethanthreebodies,wetakeintoaccountthesuperposition
principle:
F
allobjectstogether=
F
individual
GravitynearEarthssurface
Thisisfoundbysubstitutingf=ma(W=mg)intoNewton'suniversal
gravitationformula.
Therearetwoformulashowever,asweassumetheradiusoftheEarthis
constant,butitisalwayschangingduetoashiftinaltitude,ie.isnot
uniform,EarthisnotsphericalandEarthisconstantlyrotating.Thismeans
thattheweightforcedoesntgothroughthecentreoftheplanet,unlessone
isatthepoles.Thismoreexactformulaisontheright.

FromthedeflectionandspringconstantandbycalculatingF,m
andm
1
2
areknown,henceavalueofGcouldbecalculated.
ThisallowedhimtocalculatethemassoftheEarth:

Thegravitationalfield:afieldisaratioofforceonaparticleto
oneofitspropertiesinthecaseofgravity,itisthemassofthe
particle.
g
(r)
isavectorquantity.
GravitationalPotentialEnergy
Foraconservativeforce(F),wheretheworkistheworkdoneagainstit,allowsus
todefinepotentialenergyasUorU=W
against

Takingr
beinginfinity,weproduce:
i
Thismeansthegravitationalpotential
energyistheworkdoneto
moveonemassfrominfinitytoagivenradius(orviceversa)inthefieldof
another.Itisalwaysnegative,asyouapproachaninfinitedistancefromthebody,
thepotentialenergyisincreasing,butonceitisaninfinitedistance,itisoutsidethe
fieldandhenceiszero.Thismeansitisincreasingtowardsavalueofzeroand
henceisalwaysnegative.
Escapevelocity
Escapevelocityistheminimumspeedrequiredtoescapeamassesgravitational
field.
Rememberingthataprojectileinspacehasnononconservativeforces,henceits
mechanicalenergyisconserved,allowingK
+U
=K
+U
.AsK
andU
arezero,
i
i
f
f
f
f,
wecansubstituteintheformulaeforKandUtoproducetheequationforthe
escapevelocity:

Theradiusofablackholecanbecalculatediftheescapevelocityisthespeedof
light3E8.Forearththisturnsouttobe9mm,thesunwouldbe3km
Planetarymotion
LeucippusandDemocritustheorizedinC5BCEthatwehadaheliocentric
universe,ie.thesunwasatthecentre.
HipparchusandPtolemysuggesteditwasageocentricuniverseeverything
rotatedaroundEarth.
Braheinthe16thcenturytookmanyobservations,whichwasthenempirically
backedupbyKeplerwithhisownlaws:
Allplanetsmoveinellipticalorbits,withthesunatthefocus.Withthe
exceptionofpluto,theseorbitsareapproximatelycircles.
Alinejoiningtheplanettothesunsweepsoutequalareasinequaltime:
Thesquareoftheperiodofrotationisproportionaltothecubeoftheradius

Newtonscannon:Newtontheorisedifyouputacannononthetopofamountain
andfireditwithalowvelocity,thentheprojectilewillgothroughtheairandland
somedistanceaway.Ifthevelocitywasincreased,thenthedistancewhereitlands
isincreased.Ifitisfiredatsuchalargevelocity,thenpotentiallytheprojectilewill
neverreachtheEarthssurfaceandremaininorbitaroundtheplanet.
Orbitsandenergy
Nonconservativeforcesdonowork,sothereareonlyconservativeforcesand
hencemechanicalenergyisconserved.
Largeorbits(larger)areslower(lowK)

Usekeplerslawtoworkoutproblems.

ThermalPhysicsand
Waves(Takenfrom
WileysPowerpoint
Notes&Michael
BurtonsLecture
slides)

Temperature
Therearethreekeystatesofanyelementwhichisbasedofftemperaturetheyaresolid,
o
liquidandgasstate.Water,at0
Ccanexistasallthreewaterinalake,iceonamountain
andvapour(gas)intheclouds.
Weoftenassociatetemperaturewithoursenses,whichprovidesaqualitativeindicationof
thetemperature.
Thermalcontact
Twoobjectsareinthermalcontactwitheachotherifenergycanbetransferred
betweenthem
Itisusuallyintheformofheatorelectromagneticradiation
Theenergyisexchangedduetoatemperaturedifference
Theytwoobjectsdonothavetobeinphysicalcontactiftheyareinthermal
contact.
Thermalequilibrium
Thermalequilibriumoccurswhentwoobjectswouldnotexchangeanynetenergy
ifthetwoobjectsareputinthermalcontact.
Thiscanbeproducedaftercontactanditreachesanequilibriumstate.
Thezerothlawofthermodynamics
IfobjectsAandBareseparatelyinthermalequilibriumwithobjectC,thenAand
Bareinthermalequilibriumwitheachother.
Hence,thereisnoenergybetweenthem.
Temperature
Temperatureisthepropertythatdetermineswhetheranobjectisinthermal
equilibriumwithanotherobject.
Conversely,iftwoobjectsarenotthesametemperature,theyarenotinthermal

equilibriumwitheachother.
Thermometers
Athermometerisadevicethatmeasuresthetemperatureofasystem.
Theyarebasedontheprinciplethatsomephysicalpropertychangeswiththe
temperature.Thisincludesthevolumeofaliquid,dimensionsofasolid,pressure
ofgasataconstantvolume,volumeofgasataconstantpressure,electrical
resistanceofaconductorandthecolourofanobject(e.g.planets)
Possiblythemostcommontypeofthermometeristheliquidinglass.Theliquid
materialinacapillarytubeexpandsasitisheated.Thisliquidisgenerallymercury
oralcohol.
Thermometerscanbecalibratedbyplacingitinanaturalsystemwithaconstant
temperature,oritusestheicepoint(mixtureoficeandwaterat1atm)andthe
steampoint(mixtureofsteamandwaterat1atm)ofwater.
o
Theicepointofwaterisdefinedat0
C
o
Thesteampointofwaterisdefinedat100
C
Theareabetweenthetwoareincremented,eachincrementrepresentinga
degree.
Problemswiththermometers
Thealcoholandmercurythermometersmayonlybetrueforthecalibration
o
points(0100
C)
Thediscrepanciesarelargewhenbeyondthecalibrationpoints.
Theyhavealimitedrangewhichtheycanmeasureie.mercuryisabove
o
o
30
Casitwouldotherwisebeasolid,alcoholmustbebelow85
C
otherwiseitwouldbeagas.
ConstantVolumeGasthermometer
Thephysicalchangeistheexpansionofgas(ie.theincreaseinpressure)
withafixedvolume.
ThevolumeiskeptconstantbychangingthelevelofthereservoiratB
raiseorlowerdependingonthetemperature.

Itiscalibratedagainusingtheiceandsteampointofwateritisplacedin
anicebathandthenasteambathandthepressuresarerecordedineach
situation

AbsoluteZero
Thepressureisalwayszeroatabsolutezero
o
Thistemperatureis273.15
Cor0K
Absolutezeroisthebasisoftheabsolutetemperaturescale,morecommonly
knownasKelvin(K)itisthetemperatureatwhichagasexertsnopressure.

Thesizeofasingledegreeisthesameasthatofcelsius.
T
=T
273.15
C
K
Celsiusandkelvinhavethesamesizeddegrees,butdifferentstartingpoints.
CelsiusandFahrenheithavedifferentsizeddegreesanddifferentstartingpoints
o
T
=(9/5)T
+32
F
F
C
Energyatabsolutezero
Classicalphysicsdictatesthattheenergy(specificallykinetic)ofagasis
zerowhenthetemperatureisabsolutezero.Thismeansthemolecular
motionwouldstop,resultinginthemoleculesfallingtothethebottomofa
container.
Quantumtheorycountersthisandsaysthereisadiscreteamountofenergy
leftthisiscalledzeropointenergy.
Thermalexpansion
Thermalexpansionistheincreaseinthesizeofan
objectduetoanincreaseintemperature
Itcomesasaresultofthetheaverageseparation
betweenatomsinanobject,ieasthereismoreenergy,
thereisincreasedmolecularmovement(oscillations),
resultinginalargerdistanceb/natoms.
Iftheexpansionissmallincomparisontotheoriginal
dimensionsoftheobject,thentheexpansioninany
directionisroughlyproportionaltothechangein
temperature.
Intheexampleontheright,thecavityexpandswith
materials,allowingustoseethattheexpansionis
linear.
Linearexpansion
IfanobjecthasanoriginallengthofL
,thenL
I
I
increasesbyLasthetemperaturechangesby
T.
Thecoefficientoflinearexpansionisdefined
o 1
as(unitsare
C
):

Manymaterialsexpandalongonedirection,butcontractalonganotheras
ifsteelisbeingstretchedanditnecksdown.Sincethelineardimensions

change,sotooshouldthevolumeandsurfacearea.
Volumeexpansion
Thevolumeexpandssuchthattheoriginalvolumeisproportionaltothe
changeinvolumeandthechangeintemperature.
Itisgivenbythefollowingequation(where=3):

Areaexpansion
Theareaexpandssuchthattheoriginalareaisproportionaltothechange
inareaandthechangeinthetemperature:

Whenbothsidesofabimetallicstrip(stripwithtwometalspastedbacktoback)
areheated,eachmetalexpandsadifferentamountduetothecoefficientofthermal
expansion.Anapplicationthatusesthisisthethermostat.
WatersUnusualbehaviour
o
o
Asthetemperatureincreasesfrom0
Cto4
C,watercontractsanditsdensity
increases.
o
Above4
C,thewaterexpandswithincreasingtemperature,allowingitsdensityto
decrease.
o
3
Thedensityisatitsmaximumat4
C,whereitis1.000g/cm

KineticTheoryofGases
Changeinvolumeforagas
Volumeexpansion(asseenhigheruponthepage)requiresandinitialvolumefor
temperaturechanges
Withgases,theforcesthatholdtheatomsinplaceareveryweakandareoften
negligible,meaningthereisnoequilibriumseparation(liketheoscillationsof
atomsinalatticestructure),resultinginnostandardvolumeofagas.
Thismeansthevolumeofagasisdefinedbythecontaineritlieswithin.
Asaresult,thevolumeforgasesbeingavariable,withitschangedenotedbyV.
Gasequationofstate
Showshowthevolume(V),pressure(P),temperature(T)ofagaswithamass(m)
arerelated
Itisarathercomplexequation,butifthegasismaintainedatalowpressureand/or
lowdensity,thenitbecomesrelativelysimple.
Theidealgasrequiresmoleculesnotinteractingwitheachother,withtheexception
ofcollisions.
Themole
Theamountofgasinagivenvolumecanbeexpressedinmoles.
OnemoleofasubstanceisthatamountofsubstancethatcontainsAvogadros
Number(6.022E23)ofparticles(canbeatomsormolecules).
Thenumberofmolesisdefinedbytheformulan=m/M.
Mbeingmolarmassofthesubstance.
mbeingthemass.
Andnbeingthenumberofmoles.

BoylesLawApparatus
Oneofarangeofexperimentsdonewheninvestigatingthebehaviourofgases
herethevolumeoftheairismeasuredonthescale,andthegaugemeasuresthe
pressure.Asthepressureisincreased,thevolumebecomessmallerandsmaller.
Thisproducesarelationshipthatcanbequantified~thepressuretimesthevolume
isaconstantthisrelationshipisknownastheidealgaslaw.

IdealGaslaw
Theequationofstateforanidealgasis
PV=nRT
nisthenumberofmolesofthegas
RisaconstantUniversalgasconstantR=9.314J/mol*K
Meansthegasesaremovingindependentlyunlesstheycollidewitheachother.
Theidealgaslawisoftenexpressedintermsofthenumberofmoleculespresentin
thesample(N)
PV=nRT=(N/N
)RT=
Nk
T
A
b
K
=1.38E23J/KisBoltzmannsconstant=R/N
b
A
ItiscommontocallP,VandTthethermodynamicvariablesofanidealgas.
Asyoudecreasethesizeofacontainer,themoleculesarestillmovingatthesame
rate,buttheycollidemorewiththewalls,whichmeansthereisagreaterforceon
thecontainer,resultinginanincreasedpressure.
Ifthetempofahousegoesup,theairexpands,causingairtoleavethehouse.This
canalsobeshownbytheidealgaslawasthepressureisconstantandthevolume
isthesame,thenasthetempgoesup,thenumberofmolesmustgodown.
Gasparticlescollidingisanelasticcollision,sothemomentumisconservedandas
aresult,onecouldcalculatetheforcethatthemoleculehaswhenitcollides.
Assumptions
Thenumberofmoleculesinthegasislarge,andtheaverageseparation
betweenthemoleculesislargecomparedwiththeirdimensions,ie.they
areessentiallypoints.
Themoleculesoccupyanegligiblevolumewithinthecontainer
ThemoleculesobeyNewtonslawsofmotion,butasawholetheymove
freelyandrandomlyunlessthecollide.
Anymoleculecanmoveinanydirectionatanyspeed.
Atanygivenmomentacertainpercentagemoveathighspeeds
andacertainmoveatlowspeeds

Themoleculesinteractonlybyshortrangeforcesduringelasticcollisions
Consistentwiththemacroscopicmodel
Moleculesmakeelasticcollisionswiththewalls
Thegasunderconsiderationisapuresubstanceallmoleculesare
identical.
Pressureandkineticenergy
Assumeacontainerisacubewithedgelengthd.
Themotionofthemoleculewithmassmhasvelocityintermsofits
componentsv
,v
,v

xi
yi
zi
Lookatatthemomentumandaverageforce~p
andF
i
i
Assumingperfectlyelasticcollisionsandapplyingnewton'slawstothe
collisions,wecandeterminetherelationbetweenthegaspressureandthe
molecularkineticenergy:

Aboveleft:Thisistherelationshipbetweenpressureandkineticenergy.
Theinterpretationisthatthepressureisproportionaltothenumberof
moleculesperunitvolume(N/V)andtotheaveragetranslationalkinetic
energyofthemolecules.Note:theVwiththelineaboveisthemeanvalue
ofthespeedsquared.
Abovecentreleft&right:Themolecularinterpretationoftemperature
thetemperatureishenceadirectmeasureoftheaveragemolecularkinetic
energy.Ontherightofitisthesimplifiedversionoftheequation.Itcanbe
expressedaseachcomponentofthevelocityv
,v
andv
x
y
z
Aboveright:ThetotalkineticenergyofagasitissimplyNtimesthe
kineticenergyofeachmoleculenbeingtheamountofmoles.Ifitisagas
withonlytranslationalenergy,
Rootmeansquarespeed
Therootmeansquare(rms)speedistherootoftheaverageofthe
squareofthespeeds:

HeremistheMisthemolarmassanditequalsmN
A

HeatandtheFirstLawofThermodynamics(CH18)
Historicalbackground
Thermodynamicsandmechanicsareseparatebranchesofphysicsuntil1850,when
JamesJouleprovedarelationshipthroughnumerousexperiments.
Thisrelationshipwasfoundbetweenthetransferofenergyinthermalprocesses
andthetransferofworkinmechanicalprocesses
Causedtheconceptofenergytoapplytointernalforcestoo.
Thelawofconservationofenergybecameauniversallawofnature.
InternalEnergy
Internalenergyisalltheenergycontainedwithinasystemthatisassociatedwith
itsmicroscopiccomponents(generallyconsideredtobeatomsandmolecules).
Itisviewedfromastationaryreferencewithrespecttothecentreofmassofa
system.
Thekineticenergyfromthemotionthroughspaceisnotconsidered(asitis
external).Itdoeshoweverconsiderthegeneraltranslational,rotationaland
vibrationalmotion.
Itincludespotentialenergybetweenmolecules.

Heat

Heatisthetransferofenergyacrosstheboundaryofasystemduetoadifferencein
temperaturefromthesystemtoitssurroundings.
Thetermheatalsoexpressestheamountofenergythatistransferred.
Heatisnothowhotsomethingis.

Changinginternalenergycanbedonethroughheatandwork.Heatisnot
necessarilyneededworkcanchangetheinternalenergyofasystem.
HeatismeasuredusingtheS.I.unitJoule(J),howeveritmayappearinplacesas
Calorie(cal)(1calorieistheamountofenergyneededtoincreasethetemperature
o
o
of1gramofwaterfrom14.5
Cto15.5
C.
1Calorie=4.1868Joules.
HeatCapacity/SpecificHeat
Heatcapacity(C)istheamountofenergyneededtoraisethetemperatureofa
differentsamplebyonedegree(itchangesforeachmaterial).
Ifenergyproducesachangeintemp,then:

Specificheat(c)istheheatcapacityperunitmass,ie.c=C/m
Ifenergytransferstothesampleandresultsinachangeintemperature,
thenitisgiventheequation:

Thespecificheatmeasureshowinsensitiveasubstanceistotheadditionof
energy.Themoreinsensitive,thehigherthecvalueandhencethemore
energyisrequiredtoresultinanincreaseintemperature.
Somecommonvaluesaregivenbelow:

Keepinmindifthetemperatureincreases,QanddeltaTarepositiveas
energyistransferredintothesystem.Ifthetemperaturedecreases,thenQ
anddeltaTarenegativeasenergytransfersoutofthesystem.
Specificheatvarieswithtemperature:

Forsmalltemperaturechanges,itisnegligible.

Thespecificheatofwateristhehighestofcommonmaterials,andthis
propertyisresponsibleformuchoftheweather.
Calorimetry
Thisisatechniqueformeasuringspecificheat.Thisinvolvesheatinga
material,addingittoasampleofwateranddeterminingthefinal
temperature.Thisisalldoneinadevicecalledacalorimeter
Assumingthecalorimeterlosesnoenergy,theenergyisconserved,andas
such,alltheenergythatstransferredfromthehotmaterialtothewateris
absorbedbythewater.
Byequatingthetwospecificheats,youcan
calculatetheheatcapacityofthesample:
(subscriptsissampleandwiswater).
SpecificHeatforagas
Changesdependingonhowitisheated.
Q=nc
T
forconstantvolume
V
Q=nc
T

forconstantpressure
P
Thisalsogivesustwoconstants:

Formonatomicgases(left),fordiatomicgases(right)

PhaseChanges
Whenasubstancechangesfromoneformtoanother
Commonchangesaresolidtoliquid(melting)andliquidtogas(freezing).
Duringaphasechange,thereisnochangeintemperatureofthesubstanceany
energyputinwillresultinthechangeofmolecularstructure,notthetemperature
Theamountofenergyrequiredtoeffectthechangeiscalledlatentheat
LatentHeat
Differentsubstancesreactdifferentlytotheenergyaddedorremoved
duringphasechanges
Italsodependsonthemassofthesample
Givenbytherelationship
L=Q/m
ThequantityListhelatentheat(latentmeanshidden).Italso
dependsonthesubstanceaswellasthephasechange.
Theenergyrequiredtochangethephaseis
Q=+mL
Thelatentheatoffusionisusedwhenthephasechangeisfromsolidto
liquid
Latentheatofvaporisationisusedwhenthephasechangesfromliquidto
gas.
Thepositivesignisusedwhenwhenenergyistransferredintothesystem
(resultinmeltingorboiling)
Thenegativesignisusedwhenenergyistransferredfromthesystem
(resultinginfreezingorcondensation)

Fromicetosteam
PartA:(63J)
o.
Thechangeintemperatureis30
C.
Usespecificheatformula,withaheatcapacityofice(c
)
i
PartB:(333J)
o
At0
C,thereisaphasechangetemperaturehencestaysfixed,so
usedthelatentheatformula,whereyouuseLaslatentheatof
fusion.
PartC:(419J)
o
o
B/n0
Cand100
C,thereisnophasechanges,hencetheenergy
addedincreasesthetemperature.
Usethespecificheatformula,withtheheatcapacityofwater
PartD:Boilingwater(2260J)
o
At100
C,aphasechangeoccurs,meaningtemperaturedoesnot
changeandhenceintheequation,thelatentheatofvaporisationof
watershouldbeused.

PartE:Heatingsteam(40J)
Ifallthewaterisconvertedtosteam,thenthesteamwillheatupas
nophasechangeoccurs.
Usespecificheatwithaheatcapacityofsteam.
MolecularviewofPhasechanges
Canbedescribedintermsoftherearrangementofatoms

HeatTransfer
Theenergytransfer,Q,intooroutofasystemalsodependsontheprocess.
Theenergyreservoirisasourceofenergythatisconsideredtobesogreatthata
finitetransferofenergydoesnotchangeitstemperature.
Examples
1.Asapistonispulledupwards,gasisdoingworkonthepiston.
2.Secondexamplehasthesameinitialvolumetempandpressure.Itis
thermallyinsulatedhowever.Themembraneisbrokenandthegasexpands
rapidly.TheVolumedoublesandpressurereduces,butthereisno
temperaturechange

Liquidtogasphasechange:Moleculesinaliquidareclosetogether.The
forcesbetweenthemarestrongerthanthebondsofgas,henceworkmust
bedonetoseparatethemolecules.Thelatentheatofvaporisationisthe
energyrequiredperunitmasstoseparate
SolidtoLiquidphasechange:Theadditionofenergywillcausethe
amplitudeofvibrationofthemoleculestoincrease.Atmeltingpoint,this
amplitudeisbigenoughtocausethebondstobreak,allowingthe
moleculestomovearound.Thebondsintheliquidarelessstrongthanthe
solid.Thelatentheatoffusionistheenergyperunitmasstogofromsolid
toliquid.
Thelatentheatofvaporisationisgreaterthanthelatentheatoffusion~it
takesmoreenergytobreakthebondsthantochangethetypeofbonds

InitialvaluesofP,V,nandTarethesameinbothcases.ThenandVare
thesamefinalvaluesforbothcases.
T
=T
inbothcasessonochangeininternalenergychangein
in
final
mechanicalenergyiszero.
Thusfromtheidealgasequation,finalvaluesofPthesameinbothcases
whereitishalftheinitial,thereforeallthevaluesarethesame
Example1:Workdonebythegas,andheatflowsintoitchangeinwork
isequaltothechangeinheat.
Example2:noworkisbeingdoneandnoheatflowsintothesystem.
InitialandfinalstatesinPVdiagramarethesame.Energytransfersby
heat,liketheworkdone,dependontheinitial,finalandintermediatestates
ofthesystem.Bothworkandheatdependonthepathtaken.Neithercan
besolelybytheendpointsofthethermodynamicprocess.
Firstlawofthermodynamics
Aspecialcaseofconservationofenergy.Ittakesintoaccountchangesininternal

energyandenergytransfersbyheatandwork
AlthoughQandWaredependentonthepath,Q+Wisindependentofthepath
Thefirstlawofthermodynamicsstatesthat:

Qistheenergytransferofthesystem
Wistheworkdoneonthegas.
DeltaEisthechangeintheinternalenergy
Oneconsequenceisthattheremustexistaknownquantityknownasinternal
energywhichisdeterminedbythestateofthesystem.
Isolatedsystems:Anisolatedsystemisonethatdoesnotinteractwithits
surroundings.Noenergytransferbyheattakesplace,workdoneonthesystemis
zero,soQ=W=0,sothechangeininternalenergyiszero.
CyclicPrcoess:Acyclicprocessisonethatstartsandendinthesamestate.Itisnot
isolatedandonaPVdiagram,itisaclosedcurve.Thenetworkdoneisthearea
enclosedbythecurve..Thechangeininternalenergymustbesercosinceitisa
statevariable

Processes:
Adiabatic:Noenergyleavesorenters,Q=0.Ifyoumakeachangevery
rapidly,thereisnotimeforachangeofthermalenergyoritcanbe
achievedbythermallyinsulatingthewallsofthesystem

Ifthegascompresses,Wispositiveandsotheinternalenergy
changeispositiveandsothetemperatureofthegasincreases.
Ifthegasexpandsquickly,thetemperatureofagasdecreases.
Examplesofeverydayadiabaticprocessesincludetheexpansionof
hotgasesinaninternalcombustionengine,liquefactionofgasin
coolingprocessesandthecompressionstrokeinadieselengine
Theexamplebfromabovewasanadiabaticfreeexpansionasit
takesplaceinaninsulatedcontainer.NoworkisdoneandQ=0
thenthereisnochangeintheinternalenergy
Isobaric:Constantpressure(P=constant).Thevaluesofheatandthework
termsaregenerallybothnonzero

Isothermal:Constanttemperature(T=constant).Sincethevolumedoesnt
change,W=PdV=0,andthenfromthefirstlaw,thechangeininternal
energyisequaltoQ.

Isovolumetric:ConstantVolume(V=constant).Sincethereisnochange
inthetemperature,thereisnochangeintheinternalenergy.Thismeans
thatanyenergythatentersthesystembyheatmustleavebywork

Mechanismsforheattransfer
Therearevariousmechanismsforheattransfer:conduction,convectionor
radiation.
Conduction
Whilstviewingfromanatomicscale,weseeanexchangeofenergytoand
fromparticlesfromcollisions(particlescouldbeatoms,moleculesorfree
electrons).
Lessenergeticparticlesgainenergyfromthecollisionformmoreenergetic
particles.
Moleculesvibratearoundtheirequilibriumpointandparticlesnearaheat
sourcevibratewithalargeramplitude,whichcollideswithnearby
moleculesandtransfersthisheatenergy.
Therateofconductiondependsonthepropertiesofthematerial
Metalsaretypicallygood
conductorsastheycontainaseaof
delocalisedelectrons,whichmore
readilycantransfertheheat
throughoutthesample.
Poorconductorsincludeasbestos,
gasesandpaper.
Conductioncanonlyoccurifthere
isatemperaturedifference
betweentwosectionsofthe
conductingmedium

Itisgivenbytheformulaabove,whereAisthecrosssectional
area,dxisthethicknessoftheslabanddTisthedifferencein
temperature.Pispower,notpressureandismeasuredinWatts(if
Qisinjoules).isthethermalconductivityofthematerials(good
conductors,itishigh,badislow).
Thevalue|dt/dx|isthetemperaturegradient,measurestherateat
whichtemperaturechangeswithposition
Forarod,theformulaissuch:

Somecommonvaluesare:

Convection
Comesfromtheenergytransferredthroughthemovementofasubstance.
Whenthemovementisasaresultofdensity,itisnaturalconvection,ifitis
forced,saybyafanorapump,thenitisforcedconvection.
Radiation
Radiationrequiresnophysicalcontact.
Allobjectsradiateheatintheformofelectromagneticradiation(EMR),its
ratecanbecalculatedbyStefanslaw:

Poweristherateofenergytransfer(equalsenergyovertime)
2 4
=5.6696E8W/m
K

Aisthesurfacearea
Eisameasureoftheemissivity(orabsorptivity)anditvaries
between0and1.
Tisthetemperatureinkelvin.
Withitssurroundings,Stefanslawcanbealtered:

Ifitisinthermalequilibriumwiththesurroundings,thenit
radiatesandabsorbsatthesamerateandassuch,theTwillbe0.
Idealabsorbersabsorballtheenergyhittingitthevalueofeis1,anditis
commonlyreferredtoasablackbody.Itisalsoconsideredtobeanideal
radiator.
Anidealreflectorhasanevalueof0anditabsorbsnoneoftheenergythat
hitsit.

OscillatoryMotion
PeriodicMotion

Periodicmotionisthemotionofanobjectthatrepeatsregularly,ie.itreturnstothe
samepointafterafixedtimeinterval.
SimpleHarmonicmotioniswhentheforceactingproportionaltotheposition
relativetotheoriginandisdirectedtowardit,ie.F=k.x
HookesLawforthestretchedspringF
=k.x
s
Here,F
istherestoringforce,whichisalwaysdirectedtowardsthe
s
equilibriumpointandoppositethedisplacementfromtheequilibrium
Kistheforceorspringconstant
Xisthedisplacementfromtheequilibriumposition.
Acceleration
Theforcefromhookeslawisthenetforcefromnewtonssecondlaw.Thisgives
thefollowingrelationship:

Here,theaccelerationisproportionaltothedisplacementoftheblock,hasthe
directionoppositethatofthedisplacement.Itisnotaconstantforsimpleharmonic
motionasthedirectionsarechanging.Thismeanslinearequationswithconstant
accelerationcannotbeapplied.
VerticalOrientation
Whenablockishungfromaverticalspring,itsweightwillcausethestringto
stretch.Iftherestingequilibriumpositionisgivenbyy=0,then:

SimpleHarmonicMotion

Mathematicalinterpretation
Assumingtheblockisaparticle,andtheaxisitmovesalongisthexaxis
Applyingnewtonssecondlawgivesus:

Theequation

isanexamplesolution

Aistheamplitudeofthemotionthemaximumpositionofthe
particle(inthepositiveornegativedirection)
1
istheangularfrequency(radians.s
)
isthephaseconstantorinitialphaseangle.
Fromtheaboveeq,andAaredeterminedbythepositionofthe
particleatt=0.
Thephaseofthemotionist+
x(t)isperiodicandrepeatsevery2radians.
PeriodicityandFrequency
Theperiod
T
isthetimeintervalfortheparticletogothroughonefull

cycleofmotion.
x(t)=x(t+T)&v(t)=v(t+T)

Theinverseoftheperiodisthefrequencyitisthenumberofoscillations
pertimeinterval

UnitsareincyclespersecondorHertz(Hz).

Frequencyandperioddependonlyonthemassandtheforceconstantof
thespring.Ifkislarge,ormissmall,thenthefrequencyincreases).

EnergyoftheSHMoscillator
Assumeaspringmasssystemismovingonafrictionlesssurfacetotal
energyisaconstant
Kineticenergycanbefoundby:
Elasticpotentialenergycanbefoundby:

Thetotalmechanicalenergyisaconstantasseenabove.Itisalso
proportionaltothesquareoftheamplitude,andtheenergyisconstantly
beingtransferredbetweenpotentialandkineticenergy.
Summaryofthestagesareseenbelow

SHMandcircularmotion
Aparticlemovesalongacirclewithaconstantangularvelocitygivenby
.ThelineOPgivestheangletheta,anticlockwisefromthexaxis.

SHMinastraightlinecanberepresentedasthediameterofSHMofa
circle.UniformcircularmotionisarepresentationofSHMinthexandy
o
directions,howevertheyareoutofphaseby90
.
Thesimplependulum
Themotionisintheverticalplaneandmotioncomesasaresultofthegravitational
force.ItisveryclosetotheSHMoscillatorforsmallangles.
TheforcesactingareT(stringtension)andmg(weightforce).
Asthelengthofthependulumisconstant,andtheangleissmall,givesthe
equation:

Thisgivesupmultiplemoreequationsthefunctionoftheta,theangularfrequency
andtheperiodofthependulum

ThePhysicalPendulum
Thegravitationalforceprovidesatorquearoundtheaxis,itsvaluebeing
mgdsin(theta).ThismeansIisthemomentofInertiaabouttheaxisthroughthe
origin.Thisgivesaperiodof:

Dampingofoscillations
Iffrictionissignificantinasystemandthemechanicalenergydiminishesover
time,thenthesystemissaidtobedamped.
Theamplitudeofdampedmotionsdecreaseovertime.Inthediagrambelow,the
envelopeisgivenbytheblueline.

Examplesareusuallygivenbyimmersingaspringinathick(viscous)liquid).The
retardingforcecanbeexpressedasR=bv,wherebsomepositivedamping
coefficient.
Bynewton'ssecondlaw,F=k.xb.v=m.a
Typesofdamping

As
,
isthenaturalfrequencyofa
system.
Ifbv
<kA,thesystemisunderdamped(kAisthemaximumrestoring
max
forceofthespring).
Whenbisthecriticalvalue(b
)andb
/2m=
,thenthesystemwillnot
c
c
o
oscillateandiscriticallydamped.
Ifbc
>kA,thenthesystemisoverdamped.
max
ForcedOscillations
Itispossibletoovercomethelossofenergyinadampedsystemby
introducingaforce
Theamplitudeofmotionremainssteadyiftheenergylossismatchedby
theinputenergy.

Thisgivestheequation:

Resonancependulum
Whenthefrequencyofthedrivingforceisnearthenaturalfrequency(
approx=

),anincreaseinamplitudeoccurs.Thisincreaseiscalledresonance.
o
Resonance(maximumpeak_)occurswhenthedrivingfrequencyequalsthenatural
frequency.Theamplitudeincreaseswithdecreaseddamping.Asseenbelow,the
shapeoftheresonancecurvedependsonb.

Waves
GeneralWaves
Therearetwomaintypesofwaves:mechanicalandelectromagnetic.
Mechanical
Somephysicalmediumisbeingdisturbed
Thewaveisapropagationofthisdisturbancethroughamedium
Mechanicalwavesrequirethreekeythingsasourceofthedisturbance,a
mediumthatcanbedisturbedandaphysicalwayelementsofamedium
caninfluenceeachother(e.g.clappinghands10metresaway,throughthe
mediumofair,andtheairparticlesoscillateandcollide,transferring
energy).
Electromagnetic
Nomediumisrequired
Features
Energyistransferredoveradistance,butmatterisnot.
Allwavescarryenergytheamountandthemethodofpropagationdiffer
foreachwave.
Pulseonarope
Ifaropeisheldtaught,andthepersonflickstheirwrist,awaveisgenerated.It
howeverisjustasinglebumpcalledapulse,whichtravelstotheotherendofthe

rope.
Importanttonotethestringisintension.
Theropeisthemediumthroughwhichthepulse
travels.
Thepulsehasadefiniteheightandspeedof
propagation
Bycontinuouslymovingtheropeupanddown,
multiplepulsesaremade,whichformsawave.
TransverseWaves:Atravellingwavethatcauseselements
ofamediumtomoveperpendiculartothedirectionof
motionisatransversewave(asshownontheright,where
theparticlemotionisbluearrowandpropagationisthered
arrow).
LongitudinalWaves:Awaveorpulsethatcausestheelementsofthemediumtotravel
paralleltothedirectionofmotion.Ie.thedisplacementofthecoilbelowisparalleltothe
propagation.

ComplexWaves:thesewavesareacombinationoflongitudinalandtransversewaves,
Travellingpulse
Belowisapulseattwotimes,t=0andanothertimet=T

y=f(x)representsthepositionofywithrespecttoxattimeofzero
Thespeedofthepulseisvandintimet,itcoversthedistance(s)vt.
Theshapedoesnotchange,buttheequationisnowy=f(xvt)
Forapulsetravellingtotheright,thisisy(x,t)=f(xvt)andtotheleftitisgiven
byy(x,t)=f(x+vt).
Y(x,t)isthewavefunction.Theycoordinateisthetransverseposition.Atafixed
timet,itiscalledthewaveform.
Reflectionofawave
Fixedend
Sayaropeisconnectedtoawall,whenapulsesetfromtheotherendof
thestringreachesthewall,itreflectsandtravelsbackdownalongthe
string.
Thisiscalledthereflectionofapulse.Importanttonotethatthepulseis
alsoinverted
Freeend
Afreeendinvolvesanendthatcanmoveverticallyupanddown.
Thepulsefromaropeisreflected,butnotinverted.

Transmissionofawave
Whenawavereachestheboundaryofamedium,partoftheenergyoftheincident
(initial)pulseisreflectedandtherestundergoestransmissionintothenext
medium,wheresomeenergypassesthroughthisboundary.

Heavytolightstring
Partoftheincidentpulseistransmitted,someisreflected,butthe
reflectionisnotinverted.
Itisonlyinlighttoheavystrings,asseenabove,wherethepulseis
inverted.

Conservationofenergy
Theconservationofenergyappliestoallwavesandwaveboundariesthe
sumoftheenergiesofthereflectedplusinvertedpulsesmustequalthe
energyoftheincidentpulse.
Sinusoidalwaves
Thecurveofsin(theta)
Itisthesimplestexampleofaperiodiccontinuouswave,whichcanbeusedto
buildmorecomplexwaves.
Eachelementmovesupanddowninsimpleharmonicmotion
Thewavemovestotheright.
AmplitudeandWavelength
Thecrestofthewaveisthemaximumdisplacementfromthenormal
positionofthewave(x=0).
Thisdistanceistheamplitude,andthewavelengthisthedistancebetween
twocrests.Wavelengthisgivenby:

Wavelengthandperiod
Thewavelengthistheminimumdistancebetweenanytwoidenticalpoints
onadjacentwaves.
Theperiod,T,isthetimeintervalfortwoidenticalpointsonawaveto
passthesameposition.

Frequency
Thefrequencyisthenumberofcrests(oranypointonthewave)that
passesagivenpointinagiventimeinterval
Thetimeisgenerallymeasuredinseconds.
ItismeasuredinHertz(Hz)
Wavefunction
Thewavefunctionofasinusoidalwaveisgivenby:

Here,thewavenumberisk=2/andtheangularfrequencyis=2/T
Sinusoidalwaveonastring
Ifastringismovingwithasinusoidalwave,itcreatesidenticalwaveforms,
andeachelementisactinginSHMwhichisidenticaltothesource.
Thetransversespeedofthewaveisgivenbyv
=dy/dt[thisisdifferentto
y
thewavespeedwhichis/T]
Speedofawave
Onastring
Itdependsonthephysicalcharacteristicsofthestringandthetensionitis
subjectedto.
Theequationbelowmakestwoassumptionsthetensionisnotaffectedby
thepulseandthepulsedoesnotassumeanyshape.

Foraspring

Here,alphaisandbetais,showingthatsolutionsexistonlyinthe
form:

EnergyinWavesinastring
Wavestransportenergywhentheypropagatethroughamedium.Aseveryelement
ofasinusoidalwaveisinsimpleharmonicmotion.Thismeansthateveryelement
hasthesametotalenergy

Ifeachelementhasmassm,thenm=
theequation:

andthekineticenergyisgivenby

Asthelengthshrinkstowardszero,weobtainanewequationforthekinetic
energy:

2
Byintegratingcos
xbetweenlambdaand0,weobtainequationsfortotalkinetic
energyandtotalpotentialenergyandhencemechanicalenergy.

Thepowerisgivenby:

Wavesvsparticles
Particleshavezerosize,multipleparticlesmustexistatdifferentplaces,neverthe
sameplace,andtheyalwaysexist
Waveshaveaspecificsizetheirwavelength.Multiplewavescancombineatone
pointinthesamemediumandonlycertainfrequenciescanexist(onesthatare
quantised)
Superposition
Iftwoormorewavesaretravellinginthesamespotinthemedium,thenthey
superposition,ie.addtogetheralgebraically.
Thishappensiftheyarelinearwavesmechanicalwaveshaveanamplitudethatis
muchsmallerthanthewavelength.
Twotravellingwavescanintersectwithoutbeingdestroyedoraltered.
Theresultantwaveoftwowavesjoiningiscalledinterference.
Theprocessofsuperpositioningisgivenbelow:

Typesofinterference
Constructive
Occurswhenthedisplacementcausedbythetwowavesareinthe
samedirection.
Theresultantpulseislargerthantheoriginalpulses
Destructive
Occurswhenthedisplacementcausedbythetwowavesareinthe
oppositedirection
Theresultantpulseislessthantheoriginalpulses.
Sinusoidalwaves

Whichissinusoidal,hasthesamefrequencyandwavelengthoforiginal
waves.Theamplitudeis2Acos(phi/2)andthephaseis(phi/2)
Whenthephaseiszero,theamplitudeis2A,ie.thecrestsofonewave
coincidewithanother)
WhenthephaseisPi/2,thentheamplitudeiszero,resultingindestructive
interference.
WhenthephaseisnotzeroorPi,thentheresultantinterferencewavehas

anamplitudebetween0and2A.
Standingwaves
Assumetwowaveshavethesameamplitude,frequencyandwavelength,
travellinginoppositedirectionsinamedium.
Theirequationsaregivenby:

Andtheirsuperposition:

Thisisthewavefunctionofastandingwave
Instandingwaves,theelementsofamediumalternateatextremes:

Anodeoccursatapointofzeroamplitude

Anantinodeoccursatapointofmaximumdisplacement,2A

EveryelementinthemediumoscillatesinSHMwithafrequency,
howevertheamplitudedependsonthelocationofanelementinthe
medium.
Amplitudesofwaves
AmplitudeofindividualwavesisA
AmplitudeofSHMofelementsinamediumis2Asin(kx)
Amplitudeofastandingwaveis2A
Standingwavesinastring
IfastringisfixedatbothendsandwithlengthL,astandingwaveiscreated
throughthereflectionateachend,withcontinuoussuperpositioning.Thismeans
theendofthestringsateachfixedendsmustbenodes.
Aharmonicdescribestheamountofloopsasshownbelow.Thewavelengthis
definedbyeverytwoloops:

Thenaturalfrequenciesaregivenby:

Quantization:Onlycertainfrequenciesofoscillationareallowed.Commonwhen
wavesaresubjecttoboundaryconditions.
Harmonicseries
Thefundamentalfrequencyoccursatn=1,therestaremultiplesofthis.
Frequenciesthatexhibitthisrelationshiparecalledharmonicseries

SoundWaves
Introductiontosoundwaves

Soundwavesarelongitudinalwavesthatcantravelthroughanymaterialmedium.
Thewavespeeddependsonthepropertiesofthemedium
Threetypesofcategories
Audiblewaveswithinsensitivityofthehumanear20Hzto20kHz.
Infrasonicbelowthesensitivityofthehumanear
Ultrasonicabovethesensitivityofthehumanear
Compressionswaves
Soundwavesarecompressionwaves,whichcaneasilybeexpressed
throughthemodelofanundisturbedgasinapiston.
Thereisacompressiblegaswithuniformdensity.Ifthepistonissuddenly
movedtotheright,thegasatthefrontiscompressed.Thecompressed
regionthenmovedtotherightofthisoriginalregionappearingtobea
wave.
Correspondstoacompressionpulsemovingthroughthetubewithvelocity
v.Notethespeedofthepistonisnotthesameasthespeedofthewave.

Speedofsoundwaves
Thespeedofsoundwavesdependsonthecompressibilityanddensityofthe
medium.Thespeedofallmechanicalwavesfollowthegeneralformula:

Speedofsoundinliquidsorgases.
Thebulkmodulusofthematerial,Bisgivenby:

Speedofsoundinasolid
Theyoung'smodulusofamaterial,Yisgivenby:

Thedensityisgivenbyandhencethespeedofsoundinaliquidofgasis

hedensityisgivenbyandhencethespeedofsoundinasolidis

Speedofsoundinair
Alsodependsonthetemperatureofthemedium,whichisveryessential
withgases.

Therelationshipisgivenby:

o
T
isthetemperatureoftheairindegreesCelsiusandat0
C,thespeedis
c
331metrespersecond.
Periodicsoundwaves
Acompressionmovesthroughamaterialasapulse,continuallycompressingthe
materialinfrontofit.
Theareasoflowerpressureanddensityarecalledrarefactions.
Theseareasmoveataspeedthatisequaltothespeedofsoundinthemedium.
Aperiodicsoundwave,usingthepistonexampleaboveusesanoscillatingpiston,
wherethedistancebetweentwocompressionsorrarefactionsisthewavelength.
Thespeedofsoundinthisexampledependsonthefrequencyandwavelength
[v=f],ratherthanthespeedofoscillations.

Displacement
EachelementofthemediummovesinSHMparalleltothedirectionofthe
wave.
Itmoveswiththeequation:

Pressure
Thevariationinpressureisalsoperiodic

S
isthemaximumpositionfromtheequilibriumpositionandis
max
knownasthedisplacementamplitudeofthewave.

P
isthepressureamplitude
max
P
=vS
max
max
Kisthewavenumber
istheangularfrequency
Thepressureis/2radiansoutofphasewiththedisplacement.
Asoundwavemaybeconsideredtobeeitheradisplacementorpressurewave.
Energyofperiodicsoundwaves

Apistontransmitsenergytotheelementofairinthetube
Theenergyispropagatedawayfromthepistonviasoundwave
Thisgivesrisetonumerousequations:

ThetotalPEandKEforonewavelengthisgivenby

Thepoweristheenergyovertime,soitisgivenbytheformula

Intensityofaperiodicsoundwave
Theintensityisthepowerperunitarea,ie.therateatwhichenergyis
transportedbythewavespassingthroughagivenarea,Aand
perpendiculartothedirectionofthewave.
Forair,

Apointsourcewillemitsoundwavesequallyinalldirections,resultingin
asphericalwave.Thepowerisdistributedevenlyaroundtheareaofathe
source.
Itisgivenbytheinversesquarelaw:

Therangeofintensitiesdetectedbythehumanearisverylarge.
Itisconvertedtoalogarithmicscaletodeterminetheintensitylevel,

I
isthereferenceintensity.Itistakentobethethresholdof
o
hearing:

ismeasuredindecibels

Lab

Whyareuncertaintiesimportant?
Itwon'talwaysbeaccurate,andwiththisrepetitionmustoccurforreliabilityand
averagingtomakeamoreaccurateanswer
RandomUncertainties:haveazeromean.overestimatingtheactualvaluerather
thanunderestimatingit.Systematicuncertaintiesiswhenyoudosomething
systemicallywrong,ie.theyhaveanonzeromean.Thisisoftencausedbypoor
technique,calibrationerrorsandzeroerrors.
Measuringthetimeaballtakestofalltotheground
Ifitisonepersonconstantly,itwillbesystematic
Iftherearemorethanonepersonondifferentdevices,thereforeitwithbe
systematicandrandom.
Howdoyouaccountforsystematicuncertainties
error=range/2=(biggestsmallest)/2
Ie.iftheaverageis0.67sandthehighestwas0.81andthelowestwas0.50,
thentheerrorisapprox0.155,thereforeitwouldbe0.67+or16s
Sigfigisimportantpastthedecimalplacetypically.
Dependanterrors:thesecomefromthesamesource,ie.ifyouusethesamepiece
ofequipmenttomakeameasurementthentheerrorsaredependent
IndependentErrors:Thesecomefromdifferentsources.Iftwodifferentpiecesof
equipmentareusedthentheerrorsareindependent