MECHANICS

OUTLINES
Scalar and Vector quantities
Concept of motion and frame of reference
Equations of motion
Displacement, velocity, acceleration
Newton’s laws of motion
Concept of mass and force
Motion in two dimention : projectile motion
Work, Energy and Power
work energy theorem
Scalar and vector quantities
Quantity: A quantity is a property or characteristic that can be measured or quantified. It can represent various
attributes such as length, mass, time, temperature, or volume, and can be expressed using numerical values and
units. Quantities can be classified into two main types: scalar quantities and vector quantities.
Scalar quantity: Physical quantities that have only magnitude are referred to as scalar quantities. They are
completely defined by a numerical value and do not include any directional component. In other words, a scalar
represents a measure of a quantity. For instance, if I say a tower has a height of 20 meters, that height is a scalar
quantity since it is defined solely by its magnitude. Similarly, if a task takes 3 hours to complete, the time is also
a scalar quantity because it is described only by the numerical value of 3 hours.
Other examples of scalar quantities are mass, speed, distance, time, energy, density, volume, temperature, work
and so on.
Vector quantity: Physical quantities that have both magnitude and direction are called vector quantities. For
instance, if a boy is riding a bike at a velocity of 30 km/hr toward the northeast, defining this velocity requires
both its magnitude and direction. Thus, it is classified as a vector quantity.
Other examples of vector quantities are displacement, acceleration, force, momentum, weight, the velocity of
light, a gravitational field, current, and so on.
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Q. Write down about different kinds of Special Vector

▪ Unit Vector
▪ Position vector
▪ Null vector
▪ Displacement vector
▪ Resultant vector
Q. What is the geometrical addidtion of vector? Write the process.
Q. What is parallelogram addition?
Concept of motion and frame of reference
A frame of reference is a set of coordinates that can be used to determine positions and velocities of objects
in that frame.
If we ask A what velocity of B is, he will say it is at rest. But if we ask the same question to C, he will say
B is moving with a velocity v in the positive X direction. So we can see before specifying the velocity we
have to specify in which frame we are or in simple terms, we need to define a frame of reference.
Types of Frame of Reference
Once we have chosen our reference they can be of two types:
•Inertial Frame of Reference
•Non-inertial Frame of Reference

Inertial Frame of Reference

An inertial frame of reference is a frame where Newton’s law holds true. That means if no external force is acting
on a body it will stay at rest or remain in uniform motion. Suppose a body is kept on the surface of the earth, for a
person on earth it is at rest while for a person on the moon it is in motion so which is my inertial frame here?
Actually, the term inertial frame is relative i.e. first we assume a reference frame to be the inertial frame of
reference. So a more general definition of an inertial frame would be: Inertial frame is at rest or moves with
constant velocity with respect to my assumed inertial reference frame.

Non-inertial Frame of Reference

Now we can define a non-inertial frame as a frame that is accelerated with respect to the assumed inertial frame of
reference. Newton’s law will not hold true in these frames. So in the above example if I assume earth to be an
inertial reference frame the moon becomes a non-inertial reference frame as it is in accelerated motion with respect
to earth. But if we want to make Newton’s law hold here we need to take some mysterious forces also known as
pseudo forces.
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In physics, equations of motion are equations that describe the behavior of a physical system
in terms of its motion as a function of time. More specifically, the equations of motion
describe the behavior of a physical system as a set of mathematical functions in terms of
dynamic variables.
Displacement, velocity, acceleration 8

Displacement: Displacement is defined as the change in position of an object.

It is a vector quantity and has a direction and magnitude. It is represented as an
arrow that points from the starting position to the final position. For example- If
an object moves from A position to B, then the object's position changes.

Velocity: Velocity is defined as a vector measurement of the rate and direction

of motion. Put simply, velocity is the speed at which something moves in one
direction.

Acceleration: In mechanics, acceleration is the rate of change of the velocity of

an object with respect to time. Acceleration is one of several components of
kinematics, the study of motion. Accelerations are vector quantities.
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Newton’s laws of motion
Newton's laws of motion are three physical laws that describe the relationship
between the motion of an object and the forces acting on it. These laws, which
provide the basis for Newtonian mechanics, can be paraphrased as follows:
1st Law: A body remains at rest, or in motion at a constant speed in a straight line,
except insofar as it is acted upon by a force.
2nd Law: At any instant of time, the net force on a body is equal to the
body's acceleration multiplied by its mass or, equivalently, the rate at which the
body's momentum is changing with time.
3rd Law: If two bodies exert forces on each other, these forces have the same
magnitude but opposite directions.
Concept of mass and force 10

The concepts of mass and force are foundational in Newtonian mechanics, which describes the motion of
objects under the influence of forces.
Mass : Mass is a measure of the amount of matter in an object. It is often measured in kilograms (kg) in the
SI system. It quantifies an object’s resistance to acceleration when a force is applied (inertia).
Inertia: The tendency of an object to remain at rest or in uniform motion unless acted upon by an external
force is called an inertia. More massive objects require greater forces to achieve the same acceleration as less
massive objects.
Types of Mass:
Inertial Mass: This is measured by how much an object resists acceleration when a force is applied.
Gravitational Mass: This determines the strength of the gravitational attraction between two objects. It
is the same as inertial mass in classical mechanics, leading to the equivalence principle.
Mass vs. Weight:
Weight is the force exerted on an object due to gravity and is calculated as 𝑊 = 𝑚𝑔, where g is the
acceleration due to gravity (approximately 9.8ms-2 , near Earth’s surface). Mass is a scalar quantity, while
weight is a vector quantity (it has both magnitude and direction).
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H.W:
Derive the equations of Motion in two dimention : projectile motion
Force: Force is an interaction that causes an object to change its velocity (i.e., to accelerate). It is a
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vector quantity, with both magnitude and direction. The SI unit of force is the Newton (N), defined as
the force required to accelerate a 1 kg mass by 1 m/s².
Types of Forces:
Contact Forces: Forces that occur through direct contact between objects (e.g., friction, tension, normal force).
Non-contact Forces: Forces that act at a distance (e.g., gravitational force, electromagnetic force).
Net Force and Equilibrium:
The net force is the vector sum of all forces acting on an object. It determines the object’s acceleration.
An object is in equilibrium when the net force acting on it is zero, resulting in no acceleration (either at rest or
moving with constant velocity).

Mass is a measure of an object's matter and resistance to motion, while force is the interaction that
causes changes in that motion. Together, they form the basis for analyzing and predicting the
movement of objects in our physical world.
Work, energy and power 13
Work: Work is done when a force causes an object to move in the direction of the force. It is calculated as
the product of the force and the distance over which it acts, taking into account the direction of the force.
The mathematical expression for work is:
𝑊 = 𝐹𝑑 cos 𝜃
where,
W = work done (in joules, J)
F = magnitude of the force applied (in newtons, N)
d = distance moved by the object in the direction of the force (in meters, m)
θ = angle between the force and the direction of motion
Units: The SI unit of work is the joule (J), where, 1J = 1𝑁 × 1𝑚
Positive and Negative Work: Work can be positive, negative, or zero:
Positive Work: When the force and displacement are in the same direction (0° ≤ 𝜃 < 90°)
Negative Work: When the force and displacement are in opposite directions (90° < 𝜃 ≤ 180°)
Zero Work: When the force is perpendicular to the direction of motion (𝜃 = 90°)), e.g., carrying
an object horizontally while gravity acts downward.
Energy: The ability of doing work of a body is called energy. Energy is the capacity to do work. It 14
exists in various forms, such as kinetic energy, potential energy, thermal energy, and more.

1.Types of Energy:
1. Kinetic Energy (KE): The energy of an object due to its motion.
1
𝐾𝐸 = 𝑚𝑣 2
2
Where,
m = mass (in kg)
v = velocity (in m/s)
1. Potential Energy (PE): The stored energy of an object due to its position or configuration.
Common forms include gravitational potential energy and elastic potential energy.
Gravitational Potential Energy:
PE= mgh
where:
h = height above a reference point (in meters)
g = acceleration due to gravity
Power: Power is defined as the rate at which work is done or energy is transferred over time. It 15
measures how quickly energy is converted from one form to another or how fast work is performed.
o Power is the rate at which work is done or energy is transferred. It quantifies how quickly
work is performed.
o The formula for power is:
𝑊
o 𝑃= 𝑡
where:
P = power (in watts, W)
W = work done (in joules, J)
t = time taken (in seconds, s)
2. Units: The SI unit of power is the watt (W), where 1 W=1 𝐽/1𝑠
• Other common units include horsepower (1 HP ≈ 746 W).
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Work energy theorem
Statement: The work-energy theorem states that the net work done by the forces on an object equals the
change in its kinetic energy.
𝑊 = ∆𝐾𝐸
Where:
W is the work done on the object (in joules, J).
ΔKE is the change in kinetic energy of the object, calculated as:
∆𝐾𝐸 = 𝐾𝐸𝑓 − 𝐾𝐸𝑖
here, 𝐾𝐸𝑓 is the final kinetic energy.
𝐾𝐸𝑖 ​ is the initial kinetic energy, given by:
1
𝐾𝐸 = 𝑚𝑣 2
2
where m is the mass of the object and v is its velocity.
THANK
YOU

Debosre Roy Dristy

Lecturer, CSE dept.,
Southeast University, Tejgao.