Lecture 1

Linear Momentum: In classical mechanics, momentum is:

p = m.v
where P = momentum, m = mass and v = velocity.
P and v both are vector quantities because they have direction and magnitude. The
direction is same as the velocity vector. The unit of momentum is the kg-m/s.
Since the two physical quantities mass and velocity of the moving object depends on the
frame of reference, hence p depends on frame of reference.

Linear momentum of a system of particles:

The linear momentum of a system of particles is the vector sum of the momenta of all the
individual particles in the system:
n

P mi vi m1v1 m2 v 2 m3 v3 mn v n
i 1

where P is the total momentum of the particle system, mi and vi are the mass and the
velocity of each particle and n is the number of particles in the system.
In the center of mass frame the momentum of a system is zero. Additionally, the
momentum of a system that is moving at a velocity vcm in a frame of reference is simply:
P Mvcm
n

where:

M mi .
i 1

Law of Conservation of Momentum:

The law of conservation of linear momentum is a fundamental law of nature, and it
states that the total momentum of a closed system of objects is constant unless outside
forces act on the objects. Then putting F = 0 we get,
F=

dP
0 or P = constant
dt

This is called the law of conservation of linear momentum.

Proof of Newtons 1st law:

Law of conservation of linear momentum can be written as
Total linear momentum at some initial time ti = total linear momentum at some later time
tf
i.e
Pi = Pf
This is implied by Newton's first law of motion that states: Every body in this universe,
continues to be in the state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line, unless any external
force acts on it.
According to Newton's second law, the rate of change of the momentum of a particle is
proportional to the resultant force acting on the particle and is in the direction of that
force. Hence, if mass = constant and velocity is much less than the speed of light, then
F

dp d (mv )
dv

m
ma
dt
dt
dt

where F = force and a = acceleration.

Hence

F = ma is the Newton's second law.

Newtons third law: Conservation of linear momentum principle is applied to the

collision of two particles. Since, momentum is always conserved, the sum of the
momenta before the collision must equal the sum of the momenta after the collision.
m1u1 m2 u 2 (m1v1 m2 v 2 )

where:
u = velocity before the collision.
v = velocity after the collision
Now, suppose change in momentum of the first particle = P1 and change in
momentum of the second particle = P2 . So from the law of conservation of linear
momentum, in an isolated system, having external force zero,
P1 + P2 = 0
Therefore,

P1 P2

Dividing by t

P
P2

t
t

0r

F2 = - F1

This implies Newton's third law of motion, which states that `To every action there is an
equal and opposite reaction.
Applications:
In a collision, an object experiences a force for a given amount of time which results in
its mass undergoing a change in velocity which results in a momentum change.
There are four physical quantities mentioned in the above statement - force, time, mass,
and velocity change. The force multiplied by the time is known as the impulse and the
mass multiplied by the velocity change is known as the change in momentum. The
impulse experienced by an object is always equal to the change in its momentum. In
terms of equations, this is

This is known as the impulse-momentum change theorem.

Observe that the greater the time over which the collision occurs, the smaller the force
acting upon the object. Thus, to minimize the effect of the force on an object involved in
a collision, the time must be increased; and to maximize the effect of the force on an
object involved in a collision, the time must be decreased.
1. Consider the Radioactive Decay:
An particle (the nucleus of a helium atom) is emitted from a uranium-238 nucleus,
originally at rest, with a speed of 1.4107 meters/sec and a kinetic energy of 4.1 Mev.
Find the recoil speed of the residual nucleus (thorium-234).
We think of the system (thorium + -particle) as initially bound and forming the uranium
nucleus. The system then fragments into two separate parts. The momentum of the
system before fragmentation is zero. In the absence of external forces, the momentum
after fragmentation is also zero. Hence
initial momentum = final momentum,
0 = M v + MTHvTH,

vTH

M
v
M TH

The ratio of the - particle mass to the thorium nucleus mass, M /MTH is 4/234 and v =
1.4107 meters/sec. Hence,
vth = - (4/234)(1.4107 meters/sec) = -2.4105 meters/sec
The minus sign indicates that the residual thorium nucleus recoils in a direction exactly
opposite to the motion of the -particle, so as to give a resultant vector momentum of
zero.
Ex: Consider now two blocks A and B, of masses mA and mB, coupled by a spring and
resting on a horizontal frictionless table. Let us pull the blocks apart and stretch the
spring, as in fig. and then release the blocks. Describe the susequent motion.

If the system consists of the two blocks and spring, then after releasing the blocks there is
no net external force acting on the system. we can therefore apply the conservation of
linear momentum to the motion. The momentum of the system before the blocks were
released was zero in the reference frame shown attached to the table, so the momentum
must remain zero thereafter. The total momentum can be zero even though the blocks
move because momentum is a vector quantity. One block will have positive momentum
(A moves in the +x direction) and the other block will have negative momentum (B
moves in the x direction). From the conservation of momentum we have
initial momentum = final momentum
0 mB v B m A v A

Therefore
or

m B v B m A v A

vA

mB
vB
mA

Rotational Motion
Angular Velocity:

Suppose that a particle moves from A to P along the arc AXP at a constant speed in a time
interval t. The angular velocity , of the particle is given by

where = the angular distance in radians and t = time.

Now if in time t the distance moved = arc length AP then its linear speed v is given by

i.e.
Therefore velocity v becomes:

v = r.

Angular momentum
Angular momentum of a particle about a given origin is defined as:
L=rp
where L = angular momentum of the particle, r = position vector and p = linear
momentum of the particle. This can also be written as:
L = rpsin = mvrsin (because, p = mv)

Because of the cross product, L is perpendicular to both the radial vector r and the
momentum vector p by the right-hand rule. Unit of angular momentum is newton metre
seconds (Nms or kgm2s-1) or joule seconds.
To Show that L = I
We know angular momentum L = r p = r m v sin where p = m v

Since for a circular orbit, r and p are perpendicular to each other so sin = 1 and we can
write
L = mvr ----- (i)
Eq (i) can be written as

But mr2 = I and = v/r

Therefore L =I
Torque: Torque is a kind of force that tends to rotate an object about an axis. If a force F
acts on a single particle at a point P whose position with respect to the origin O of the
inertial reference frame is given by the displacement vector r, the torque acting on the
particle is given by
=rF
Torque is a vector quantity. Its magnitude is given by
= r F sin
where = angle between r and F. It has the unit nt-meter or lb-ft.

Relation between Torque and Angular Momentum:

We have seen that

for a particle. Let us take the vector product of r with

both sides of this equation,

rF=
But r F is the torque . We then have
=
Again differentiating the angular momentum formula l = r p we have

or,
But dr = vector displacement of the particle,

= velocity of the particle and p = mv, so

that
--------- (d)
Now,
, because the vector product of two parallel vectors is zero. Therefore,
Eq. (d) becomes

which states that the time rate of change of the angular momentum of a particle is equal
to the torque acting on it.

Kinetic Energy
The total kinetic energy of the body is the sum of the kinetic energies of its particles. For
a rigid body, is the same for all particles. The radius r may be different for different
particles. Hence the total kinetic energy K of the rotating body is

K=
The term
is the sum of the products of the masses of the particles by the squares
of their respective distances from the axis of rotation. If we denote this quantity by I, then
I=
And K becomes equal to

is called the rotational inertia, or moment of inertia, of the body with respect to the
particular axis of rotation. It has the dimension of kg-m2.
Hence in terms of rotational inertia we can now define that the kinetic energy of a
rotating body is K =

Proof of
We know kinetic energy of a rotating body is
(where v = r)

Also as in linear motion dW = Fds, for circular motion work done dW = d

then the rate of work done is
------- (g)
Also the rate at which the kinetic energy of the rigid body is increasing is

But I is constant for a rigid body and the axis is fixed. Hence
d 1 2
1 d
1
d
2 I .2
I -------------------- (h)
I I
dt 2
2 dt
2
dt

where

d
is the rotational acceleration of the body.
dt

Now, we know rate of work done is equal to rate of change of kinetic energy. Therefore,
from eq (g) and (h)

i.e.

Angular Momentum of System of Particles: To calculate the total angular momentum

L of a system of particles about a given point, we must add vectorially the angular
momenta of all the individual particles of the system about this same point. For a system
containing n particles we have, then,
i n

L = l1 + l2 + l3 +--------+ ln =

l
i 1

in which the vector sum is taken over all particles in the system.
Probable Questions of this Lecture are:
1. Definition of (i) Linear momentum (ii) Angular Momentum (iii) Torque (iv)
Moment of Inertia (v) Principle of conservation of linear momentum.
2. Proof of Newtons first, 2nd and 3rd laws by applying conservation of linear
momentum principle.
3. To proof that for rotational motion v = r
4. To show that L = I
5. To show the Relation between Torque and Angular Momentum.
6. Explain Kinetic energy of a rotating body.
7. Proof that