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Igcse Physics Notes

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29 views

Igcse Physics Notes

Uploaded by

kids.castle.pk
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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A stationary object remains stationary if the sum of the forces

acting upon it - resultant force - is zero. A moving object with a


zero resultant force keeps moving at the same speed and in the
same direction.

Acceleration depends on the force applied to an object and the


object's mass. Gravity is a force that attracts objects with mass
towards each other. The weight of an object is the force acting
on it due to gravity.

Resultant force

You should be able to use the idea of the resultant force on an object
to determine its movement.

An object may have several different forces acting on it, which can
have different strengths and directions. They can be added together to
give theresultant force. This is a single force that has the same effect
on the object as all the individual forces acting together.

When the resultant force is zero

When all the forces are balanced, the resultant force is zero. In this
case:
A stationary object remains stationary
A moving object keeps on moving at the same speed in the same direction
For example, in the diagram of the weightlifter, the resultant
force on the bar is zero, so the bar does not move. Its weight
acting downwards is balanced by the upward force provided by
the weightlifter.

The longer the arrow, the bigger the force. In this diagram, the
arrows are the same length, so we know they are the same
size.

When the resultant force is not zero

When all the forces are not balanced, the resultant force is not
zero. In this case:

• A stationary object begins to move in the direction


of the resultant force
• A moving object speeds up, slows down or changes
direction
depending on the direction of the resultant force
In this diagram of the weightlifter, the resultant force on the bar
is not zero. The upwards force is bigger than the downwards
force. The resultant force acts in the upwards direction, so the
bar moves upwards.

In this next diagram of the weightlifter, the resultant force on


the bar is also not zero. This time, the upwards force is smaller
than the downwards force. The resultant force acts in the
downwards direction, so the bar moves downwards.

This can be shown with numbers in a calculation. If the upwards


force was 3 N and the downward force 7 N then the resultant
force would be
4 N (the difference between the two forces). It would act in a downwards direction.

Resultant forces and motion

You should know that objects accelerate when the resultant


force is not zero, and understand the factors that affect the
size of
the acceleration.

Size of the force


An object will accelerate in the direction of the resultant
force. The bigger the force, the greater the acceleration.
*oubling the size of the (resultant) force doubles the
acceleration.

The mass
An object will accelerate in the direction of the resultant force.
A force on a large mass will accelerate it less than the same
force on a smaller mass.

*oubling the mass halves the acceleration.

+ere is an equation relating acceleration to force and mass:

Force $ mass % acceleration


• Force is measured in newtons, N
• Mass is measured in kilograms, kg
• Acceleration is measured in metres per second squared,
m/s/.

Falling objects

You should be able to describe the forces affecting a falling


object at different stages of its fall. 0sually, you need to think
about two forces:

1. The weight of the object. This is a force acting


downwards, caused by the object1s mass in the
2arth1s gravitational field.
2. Air resistance. This is a frictional force acting in the
opposite direction to the movement of the object.

Three stages of falling


When an object is dropped, we can identify three stages before
it hits the ground:

3. At the start, the object accelerates downwards because of


its weight. There is no air resistance. There is a resultant
force acting downwards.
/. As it gains speed, the object1s weight stays the same, but
the air resistance on it increases. There is a resultant force
acting downwards.
3. 2ventually, the object1s weight is balanced by the air
resistance. There is no resultant force and the object
reaches a steady speed, called the terminal velocity.

Terminal velocity
What happens if you drop a feather and a coin together4 The
feather and the coin have roughly the same surface area, so
when they begin to fall they have about the same air
resistance.

As the feather falls, its air resistance increases until it soon


balances the weight of the feather. The feather now falls at its
terminal velocity. 5ut the coin is much heavier, so it has to
travel quite fast before air resistance is large enough to
balance its weight. In fact, it probably hits the ground before it
reaches its terminal velocity.

&n the Moon


An astronaut on the Moon carried out a famous experiment.
+e dropped a hammer and a feather at the same time and
found that they landed together. The Moon1s gravity is too weak
for it to hold onto an atmosphere, so there is no air resistance.
When the hammer and feather were dropped, they fell together
with the same acceleration.

Circular Motion & Centripetal Force


From Newton’s first law of motion it is known that an object will
remain stationary, or keep moving at constant velocity in a
straight line unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. When an
object moves in a circular path its direction is changing all the
time therefore according to Newton’s first law there must be an
unbalanced force acting upon it all the time.

When an object moves in a circle although its speed is constant


the direction is continuously changing. Therefore its velocity is
continuously changing as velocity is speed in a particular
direction. The changing velocity in time means the object is
accelerating all the time.

The resultant force which causes this acceleration is the centri

The centripetal force always acts toward the centre of the circle.

The centripetal force is determined from the following e#uation:

If a ball is tied to the end of a strong string and swung in a circle,


the ball accelerates towards the centre of the circle. The
centripetal force which causes the inwards acceleration is from the
tension in the string caused by the person’s hand pulling the
string. If the string breaks there is no longer a resultant force
acting on the ball, so it will continue its motion in a straight line at
constant speed.
The centripetal force re#uired to make an object perform circular motion
increases in the following cases:

 If the mass of the object increases.


 If the velocity of the object increases.

 If the radius of the circle decreases.

The above points are evident when considering the e#uation for centripetal
force.

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