A Course of Physics

Introduction

Course Information
• Course of Physics for engineering
students (General Physics or University
Physics) consists of three parts:
 Physics I: Mechanics
 Physics II: Electromagnetics & Thermal
Physics
 Physics III: Optics & Quantum Physics
• Course has several components:
 Lectures
 Discussion sections (tutorials, problem
solving, quizzes)
 Homework
 Labs: (group exploration of physical
phenomena)
• Exams and grading:
 Scores on the components: homework,
lab works and mid-semester exams are
counted up with the weight 0.4
 Scores on the final exam are counted with
the weight 0.6
 Why study physics?
 Physics is one of the most
fundamental of the sciences:
Scientists of all disciplines
(chemists, biologists,
engineers,…)
must have knowledge about
principles and laws of physics.
For example:
• what is matter consists of ?
(molecules, atoms, nuclears)
• why there are different chemical
elements in the nature,
 • what are processes inside plants, animals,…
• what are the nature and properties of electricity,
light, X-ray,
• laser, and many, many things,…
 The study of physics gives you the sense
of beauty as well as intelligence:
• You can share some of the excitement of new
discoveries of Galileo, Newton, Maxwell,
Einstein…
• You have a satisfaction of finding answers to the
questions: why the sky is blue, how radio waves
can travel through empty space, how a satellite
can stay in orbit,…
 Fundamental Units
• How we measure things!
• All things in classical mechanics can be
expressed in terms of the fundamental units:
– Length L
– Mass M
– Time T
• For example:
– Speed has units of L / T (i.e. miles per hour)
– Force has units of ML / T2 etc... (as you will
learn)
 Units...
• SI (Système International) Units:
– mks: L = meters (m), M = kilograms (kg), T =
seconds (s)
– cgs: L = centimeters (cm), M = grams (gm),
T = seconds (s)

• British Units:
– Inches, feet, miles, pounds,...
We will use mostly SI units, but you may run
across some problems using British units. You
should know how to convert back & forth.
 Converting
between different systems of units
• Useful Conversion factors:
– 1 inch= 2.54 cm
– 1 m = 3.28 ft
– 1 mile= 5280 ft
– 1 mile = 1.61 km
– 1 pound = 0.454 kg
• Example: convert miles per hour to meters
per second:
mi mi ft 1 m 1 hr m
1  1  5280    0.447
hr hr mi 3.28 ft 3600 s s
 Dimensional Analysis
• This is a very important tool to check your work
by using unite consistency, that is a equation
must always be dimensionally consistent

• Example:
Doing a problem you get the answer distance
d = vt 2 (velocity x time2)
Units on left side = L
Units on right side = L / T x T2 = L x T
Left units and right units don’t match, so
answer must be wrong!!
• Another example:

The period P of a swinging pendulum depends

only on the length of the pendulum d and the
acceleration of gravity g.
Which of the following formulas for P could
be correct ?
d d
(a) P = 2 (dg)2 (b) P  2  (c) P  2 
g g

Given: d has units of length (L) and g has

units of (L / T 2)
 2 4
 L L
Try the first equation (a) L  2   4  T
 T  T
P = 2 (d.g)2
Not Right !!
L 2
Try the second equation (b) L  T  T
d
P  2 T 2
Not Right !!
g
L
Try the third equation (c)  T T
2

d
L
P  2 2
g T
This has the correct units!!
 CHAPTER I

Kinematics of Material Point

§1. Motion in one dimension

§2. Motion in two and three dimensions
§3. Circular motion
 We are beginning our study of physics with
mechanics

Kinematics
Mechanics
Dynamics

• Kinematics: general methods for describing

motion (velocity, acceleration, trajectory,…)
• Dynamics: the relation of motion to its causes
(forces)
Classical mechanics:

• Not too fast (v << c)

( if v can be compared with c
relativistic mechanics)

• Not too small (d >> the size of

atom)
(if d is about (or less) the size of
atom
quantum mechanics)
§1. Motion in One Dimension
(1D-kinematics):

• In 1-D, we usually write position as x(t).

• Since it’s in 1-D, all we need to indicate
direction is + or .

Displacement in a time Δt = t2 - t1 is
Δx = x(t2) - x(t1) = x2 - x1
 x

x2 A function x(t)
x in 1-D
(it is not
x1 the trajectory path)

t1 t2 t
t
1.1 Velocity
• Velocity v is the “rate of change of position”
• Average velocity vav in the time t = t2 - t1
is: x( t 2 )  x( t1 ) x
v av  
x t 2  t1 t
x2
x
Vav = inclination of line
x1
connecting x1 and x2.

t1 t2 t
t
Consider limit t1 → t2
Instantaneous velocity v is defined as:
dx ( t )
v( t ) 
dt

so v(t2) = x
inclination x2
of line x
tangent to x1
the graph
x(t) at t2 t1 t2 t
t
1.2 Acceleration
• Acceleration a is the “rate of change of
velocity”
• Average acceleration aav in the time t = t2
- t1 is:
v ( t 2 )  v ( t1 ) v
aav  
t 2  t1 t

• And instantaneous acceleration a is defined

as: dv ( t ) d 2 x ( t )
a( t )  
dt dt 2
dx ( t )
using v ( t ) 
dt
• If the position x is known as a function of
time, then we can find both velocity v and
acceleration a as a function of time!
x
x  x(t )
dx v
t
v 
dt
2
dv d x t
a   a
dt dt 2
t
• We saw that v = dx / dt
• In “calculus” language we would write dx
= v dt, which we can integrate to obtain:
t2
x ( t 2 )  x ( t1 )   v ( t )dt
t1

• Graphically, this is adding up lots of

small rectangles:

v(t) + +...+
= displacement
t
 Example 1: 1-D Motion with constant
acceleration
n 1 n 1
• We know that:  t dt  t  const
n 1
dv
• Also recall that a
dt
• If a is constant, we can integrate this using
the above rule to find:

v   a dt  a  dt  at  v 0
 dx
• Similarly, since v 
dt

we can integrate again to get:

1 2
x   v dt   ( at  v 0 )dt  at  v 0 t  x 0
2
• For constant acceleration we found:
1 2
x  x 0  v 0 t  at
2
v  v 0  at x

a  const
t
v
• From which we derived:
2 2
v  v0  2a(x  x0 ) t
a
1
vav  (v0  v)
2 t
• Motion on a inclined plane:
1 2
x  x 0  v 0 t  at
2

12
22
32

42
 Example 2: 1-D Free-Fall
 This is a nice example of constant acceleration
(gravity):
 In this case, acceleration is y
caused by the force of gravity:
- Usually pick y-axis “upward”
- Acceleration of gravity is “down”: t
v
ay  g v y = v 0y - gt
t
1
y  y0  v0 y t  g t2
2
a
y
t
ay =  g
§2. Motion in Two and Three
Dimensions (2D- and 3D-kinematics)
• In 1 dimension, we could specify direction
with a + or - sign.
For example, in the previous problem ay = -g
etc.

• In 2 or 3 dimensions, we need more than a

sign to specify the direction of something:
* Several kinds of motion take place in two
dimensions only, that is, in a plane (x,y) we
need two components of coordinates, of
velocity and of acceleration
* The most general case of motion of
material point is motion in any curve in
the three-dimensional space
ï we need three components of
coordinates, of velocity and of acceleration

ï In 2D- and 3D- kinematics:

positions, velocities, accelerations
must be vectors
2.1 Position and velocity vectors:
2.1.1 Position vector r
a/ In 2D:
r = (rx ,ry ) = (x,y) rx = x = r cos
r= xi+yj ry = y = r sin
y (x,y)
where r = |r | r
arctan( y / x )
j 

i x
i, j are unite vectors
• The magnitude (length) of r is found
using the Pythagorean theorem:

r 2 2
y r  r  x y

x
• As you have seen, one can use
coordinates (r , instead of coordinates
(x,y). Coordinates (r , are called polar
coordinates
b/ In 3D:
y
r = (rx ,ry ,rz ) = (x,y,z) xi
zk

r= xi+yj+zk r yj
j
i
r r  x y z
2 2 2
k
x
z
2.1.2 Velocity vector:

* Average velocity vector vav in
the time interval t = t2 - t1 is:
  
 r2  r1 r
v av  
t 2  t1 t ds
   
where r1 , r 2 are r2 r
position vectors of
material point at t1 , t2, 
respectively. r1

* v av has the same
direction as  r
* The direction and the magnitude of

v av depend on  t
* In the limit t  0 average velocity
vector changes and tends to the
instantanous velocity vector
ï Instantanous velocity vector (or velocity
vector, briefly):
 
 r dr
v  lim 
t  0  t dt
The vector equation means:

* The magnitude of the vector at any instant

is the speed v of the particle at that instant

r ds
v  lim 
t  0  t dt


* The direction of v is
tangent to the path at
every point along the
path
 
* The components of the vector v in
the Cartesian coordinates
 d r dx  dy  dz 
v   i  j  k
dt dt dt dt
   
v  vxi  v y j  vzk

dx dy dz
vx  ,vy  , vz 
dt dt dt

| v | v  v x2  v y2  v z2
* In 2D:
y

vy v
v  v v
2 2
x y

vy 
tan   vx
vx

O x
2.2 Acceleration vector:
2.2.1 Definitions:

• The average acceleration vector a av
in the time interval t = t2 - t1 is:
  
 v 2  v1  v
aav   
t 2  t1 t v2
  P2
 
where v 1 , v 2 are v1 v
 
velocity vectors of aav v1
material point at P1 
v2
t1 , t2, respectively.
 
• The instantaneous acceleration vector a
at point P1 is the limit of the average
acceleration vector when point P2
approaches to point P1
 
  v dv
a  lim a av  lim 
P2  P1 t  0  t dt

v1

P1

a
 * The direction of the instantaneous
acceleration vector is toward the concave side
of path – that is, toward the inside of any turn
that the particle is making

v 1

convex side
concave side
P1

a
* When a particle is moving in a curve path, it
always has nonzero acceleration,even when it
move with constant speed
* The components of the acceleration vector in
the Cartesian coordinates:

 dv dv x  dv y  dv z 
a   i  j k
dt dt dt dt
 d 2x  d 2 y  d 2z 
a  2
i  2
j 2
k
dt dt dt
    2
a  a xi  a y j  a zk ax 
dv x

d x
2
,
dt dt
dv y d2y
ay   2
,
dt dt
dv z d 2z
az  
dt dt 2
2.2.2 Parallel and perpendicular components
of acceleration:

• In general case, the acceleration vector a
can be represented as a vector sum of two
components parallel and perpendicular to the
velocity vector at each point

v
ï We will analyze two

a //
special
 cases:  
a/ a parallel to v a

b/ a perpendicular 
 a
to v
  
a/ a parallel to v when the
particle moves in a straight line:  
Δv
 a
* a has the same direction
 
as v if the speed is increasing v1 
v2
 
* a has the opposite direction
  v1
to v if the speed is decreasing a 
v
* In this case the effect of 
v2
is to change the dv
magnitude of v a
dt
   
b/ a perpendicular to v when v changes the
direction, but not its magnitude: (particle
moves along a curved path)
 
In a small time interval t , if | v1 || v 2 |
 
the change  v is nearly perpendicular to v 1
(the base of an isosceles triangle), so in the

limit t  0 it becomes perpendicular to v 1 .

  a
v 1 v

v2
 
• You can view the v
direction of the
acceleration vector 
in three different a
situations constant speed

v 
v

a

a
increasing speed decreasing speed
2.2.3 Projectile motion:

* A projectile is any body that is given an initial

velocity and then follows a path determined
entirely by the effects of gravitational
acceleration and air resistance
* The motion is two-dimensional
* The motion can be analyzed as a combination
of horizontal motion with constant velocity and
vertical motion with constant acceleration (the
air resistance is ignored)
 y
 
v v vx
 
v  vy v
vy  a 
a a

O v
 x  x
a a 
v
• For x-component: ax  0
v x  v0 x x  x0  v0xt
• For y-component: ay  g
1 2
vy  v0 y  gt y  y0  v0 yt  gt
2
§3. Motion in a circle:

We will consider the case of the curve path

of moving particle is a circle:
* The motion is two-dimensional
* When the speed of particle is constant the
motion is called uniform circular motion
* If the speed varies, the motion is called non-
uniform circular motion
3.1 Uniform circular motion (UCM)
* The parallel (tangent) component of the
acceleration vector is equal to zero
* The acceleration vector at each point in the
circle is directed toward the center of the circle

3.1.1 Description of UCM:

In general, one coordinate system is as good
as any other:
Cartesian: Polar:
(x,y) [position] (R, θ) [position]
(vx ,vy ) [velocity] (vR ,ω) [velocity]
 In UCM:
 R is constant (hence vR = 0).
 ω (angular velocity) is constant.
Polar coordinates are a natural way to describe
UCM! y
 The arc length s
v
(distance along the
(x,y)
circumference) is
related to the angle R s

in a simple way: x
s = R.θ, where θ is the
angular displacement.
• Units of θ are called radians.
• For one complete revolution (θc):
2πR = Rθc ï θc = 2π ï θ has period
2π
• You can’t distinguish θ and θ + 2nπ
(where n is integer)

1 revolution = 2π radians

3.1.2 Velocity of UCM in Polar Coordinates:

 In Cartesian coordinates, we say velocity

dx/dt = v, and x = vt (if v is constant).
 In polar coordinates, angular velocity
dθ/dt = ω , θ = ω.t (if ω is constant)
• ω has units of radians/second.
y
 Displacement s = vt,
but s = R.θ = R.ω.t, v
so:
|v| = ω.R R
s
t
x
3.1.3 Period and Frequency of UCM:
Recall that 1 revolution = 2 radians
• frequency (f) = revolutions / second (a)
• angular velocity (ω) y
= radians / second (b) v
By combining (a) R
and (b) s
t
ï ω = 2 f x

• Realize that:
period (T) = seconds / revolution
So T = 1 / f = 2/ω ï ω = 2 / T = 2f
Resume of the formulas for UCM

x = R cos()= R cos(t)
y = R sin()= R sin(t) y
 = arctan (y/x) v

R
 = t s
s=vt t
x
s = R = Rt

v = R
3.1.4 Acceleration in UCM:
Even though the speed is constant, velocity
is not constant since the direction is changing:
If the velocity is changing, there must be some
acceleration!
Consider average acceleration in time Δt
ï aav =Δv / Δt v
v2
v1
R v2
v1
t
As t → 0, we have v / t → dv / dt = a

We see that a
a = dv / dt
R points in
the - R direction
(at t → 0, the
angle between v
v and v1 (or v2)
v
v1 tends to /2)
2
• This is called Centripetal Acceleration.
• Now let’s calculate the magnitude:
v R
Similar triangles: 
v R
v
But R = vt
v1
v2 for small t
v2
So:
R  v v t v v 2
R v1  
v R t R
2
v
a 
R
• UCM results in acceleration:
– Magnitude: a = v2 / R
– Direction: toward center
of circle
a
R

 Useful Equivalent:
v 2
We know that a  and v   R
R

Substituting for v we find that:   R 2

a
R

a = 2R
 An example:
• The Space Shuttle is in Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
about 300 km above the surface. The period
of the orbit is about 91 min.
• What is the acceleration of an astronaut in the
Shuttle in the reference frame of the Earth?
(The radius of the
Earth is 6.4 x 106 m.)

(a) 0 m/s2
(b) 8.9 m/s2
(c) 9.8 m/s2
• First calculate the angular frequency
: 1 rot 1 min rad
  x x 2  0 . 00115 s -1

91 min 60 s rot
• Realize that:
RO = RE + 300 km
= 6.4 x 106 m + 0.3 x 106 m
= 6.7 x 106 m RO

300 km
RE
• Now calculate the acceleration:

a = 2R

a = (0.00115 s-1)2 x 6.7 x 106 m

a = 8.9 m/s2
3.2 Non-unifom circular motion:

In a circular motion, if the speed

of particle varies, we have a
non- uniform circular motion.

 An example: a roller motobike coaster

(in circus) that slows down and speeds up
in moving around a vertical loop
  
• The perpendicular component a   a rad
  
The magnitude of arad v v
 
a  arad  
v2 a rad atan
a rad 
R 
 a
a rad
• The parallel component
    
a //  a tan 
a tan a a  a rad

a //  v
The magnitude v

d |v |
a tan 
dt
Caution !!
• For a motion in a curve path, two following
quantities  
d |v | dv
and
dt dt
are not the same:
- The first is the
 magnitude of the tangent
component a tan
- The second is the magnitude
 of the
acceleration vector a
• For a motion in a cicle, the notions: radial
acceleration, normal acceleration, centripental
acceleration are the same
 Review of Chapter I
For a motion of particle along a curve
in the space, you must know how can
define position, velocity and acceleration
vectors of particle at every moment
 The velocity vector:
 The direction is tangent to the path at
every point
The magnitude is the speed of motion
(fast or slow), and is calculated in terms
of the coordinate components of velocity
vector
 The acceleration vector:
It is convenient to decompose the
acceleration vector to the tangent and
perpendicular accelerations
The tangent acceleration: the direction is the
same or opposite to the velocity vector; the
magnitude is the rate of change of the
speed, and equal to the derivative of the
speed
 The perpendicular (normal) acceleration:
the dierection is perpendiclar to the velocity
vector and points toward the concave side
of the path; the magnitude for UCM can be
expressed in terms of the speed and the
radius of the circle
• Remember that a vector equation is equivalent
to:
 two component equations in 2D,
 three component equations in 3D.
For example: in 3-D 
 dr
 The vector equation v  is equivalent to
three following equations dt
dx dy dz
vx  ,vy  ,vz 
dt dt dt

 dv
The equation a  dt is equivalent to
dv x dv y dv z
ax  , ay  , az  .
dt dt dt