NEWTONIAN MECHANICS

Mechanics is a branch of physics concerned with motion or change in position

of physical objects. It is sometimes further subdivided into:

1. Kinematics, is concerned with the geometry of the motion.

2. Dynamics, is concerned with the physical causes of the motion.
3. Statics, is concerned with conditions under which no motion is apparent

SPACE, TIME AND MATTER

From everyday experience, we all have some idea as to the meaning of each
of the following terms or concepts.

1. Space: This is closely related to concept of point, position, direction and

displacement. Measurement in space involves the concepts of length or
distance. Units of length are feet, meters, miles.
2. Time: This concept is derived from our experience of having one event
taking place after, before or simultaneous with another event.
Measurement of time is achieved, for, by use of clocks. Units of time are
seconds, hours, years.
3. Matter: Physical objects are composed of “small bits of matter” such as
atoms and molecules. A measure of the “quantity of matter” associated
with a particle is called its mass. Units of mass are grams, kilograms.

Length, mass and time are often called dimensions from which other physical
quantities are constructed.

1
SCALARS AND VECTORS

Scalars are physical quantities that has only magnitude. Examples are mass,
length, time and temperature.

Vectors are quantities that has both magnitude and direction. Examples are
displacement, velocity, acceleration and force.

A vector is represented analytically by a bold faced letter such A in fig.1-1.

Geometrically it is represented by a line with an arrow on it. Eg. Line PQ
where P is called the initial point and Q is called the terminal point. The
magnitude or length of the vector is then denoted by |A| or A.

Fig. 1-1 Fig.1-2

Fig.1-3

VECTOR ALGEBRA

Mathematical operations like addition, subtraction and multiplication can also

be applied to algebra of vectors.

The following definitions are fundamental.

1. Two vectors A and B are equal if they have the same magnitude and
direction regardless of their initial points. Thus A=B in fig.1-2 above.
2. A vector having direction opposite to that of vector A but with the same
length is denoted by ‒A as in Fig.1-3 above.
3. The sum or resultant of vectors A and B of Fig. 1-4(a) below is vector C
formed by placing the initial point of B on the terminal point of A and
joining the initial point of A to the terminal point of B in Fig. 1-4(b)
2
 below. We write C = A + B. This definition is equivalent to the
parallelogram law for vector addition as indicated in Fig. 1-4(c) below.

Fig. 1.4

Extension to sum of more than two vectors are immediate. For example,
Fig. 1-5 below shows how to obtain the sum or resultant E of the vectors
A, B, C and D

4. The difference of vectors A and B, represented by A-B, is that vector C

which when added to B gives A. Equivalently, A ‒ B may be defined as A
+ (‒B). If a magnitude of zero but its direction is not defined.
5. The product of a vector A by a scalar p is a vector pA or Ap with
magnitude |p| times the magnitude of A and direction the same as or
opposite to that of A according as p is positive or negative. If p = 0,
pA =0 , the null vector.

3
 LAWS OF VECTORS ALGEBRA
Note that in these laws only multiplication of a vector by one or more scalars is
defined.

UNIT VECTORS
Vectors having unit length are called unit vectors. If A is a vector with length
A > 0, then A/A =a is a unit vector having the same direction as A and A = Aa.
Formula
Unit Vector is represented by the symbol ‘^’, which is called a cap or hat, such
̂=a/|a|
as: 𝑎̂. It is given by 𝒂
Where |a| is magnitude of vector a. Unit vector has magnitude of one.

4
 RECTANGULAR UNIT VECTOR
The rectangular unit vectors I, j and k are mutually perpendicular unit
vectors having directions of the positive x, y and z axes respectively of a
rectangular coordinate system.

COMPONENTS OF A VECTOR
Any vector A in 3 dimensions can be represented with initial point at the origin
O of a rectangular coordinate system [see Fig. 1-8 above]. Let (𝐴1 , 𝐴2 , 𝐴3 ) be
the rectangular coordinates of the terminal point of vector A with initial point at
O. The vectors 𝐴1 i, 𝐴2 𝒋, and 𝐴3 𝒌 are called the rectangular component vectors,
or simply component vectors, of A in the x, y and z directions respectively.
The sum or resultant of 𝑨𝟏 𝒊, 𝑨𝟐 𝒋 and 𝑨𝟑 𝒌 is the vector A, so that we can write

5
In particular, the position vector of radius r from O to the point (x, y, z) is
written as
And has magnitude as

EXAMPLE
1. A = 4x + 3y + z

|A| = √𝟒𝟐 + 𝟑𝟐 + 𝟏𝟐 = √𝟐𝟔

DOT OR SCALAR PRODUCT

The dot or scalar product of two vectors A and B, denoted by A • B
(read A dot B)
Is defined as the product of the magnitudes of A and B and the cosine of the
angle between them. In symbols,

Note that A • B is a scalar and not a vector.

6
7
CROSS OR VECTOR PRODUCT
The cross or vector product of A and B is a vector C = A × B (read A cross B).
The magnitude of A × B is defined as the products of magnitudes of A and B
and the sine of angle between them. The direction of the vector C = A × B is
perpendicular to the plane of A and B and such that A, B and C form a right-
handed system. In symbols,

8
Where u is a unit vector indicating the direction of A × B.
If A = B or if A is parallel to B, then sinɵ = 0 and we define
A×B=0

9
10
11
12
The usual rules of differentiation familiar in the calculus can be extended to
vectors, although order of factors in products may be important. For example
if ɸ(u) is a scalar function while A(u) and B(u) are vector functions, then

13
14
VELOCITY
Suppose that a particle moves along a path or curve C [Fig. 1-9 below]. Let the
position vector of point P at time t be r(t) while the position vector of point Q
at time t +∆t is

15
16
17
18
a.

19
GRADIENT, DIVERGENCE AND CURL
If to each point (x, y, z) of a rectangular coordinate system there corresponds a
vector A, we say that A = A(x, y, z) is a vector function of x, y, z. We also call
A(x, y, z ) a vector field. Similarly we call the (scalar) function ɸ(x,y,z) a
scalar field.

It is convenient to consider a vector differential operator called del given by

20
21
22
23
24