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NWHSPhysics
EquationsPage
Thisisalistingofallequationsthatweareusing(updatedaswego)fromthetextandclassdiscussions.Feelfreetoprintouta
copyandupdateaswegoinclass.Itwillalsohelptohaveifequationsarepermittedontests!

What it is and when to use

it...

Equation

Thisissimplyhowwedefineadurationoftime.The
quantitiest1andt2representtwoevents(with1being
first).Thedifferenceinthetwotimemeasurements
representsadurationoftime.Typically,thisis
measuredinseconds,butalwaysinunitsoftime.
Thisissimplyhowwedefineadisplacementinthex
direction.Thequantitiesx1andx2representtwo
positions(with1beingthestartinglocation,and2being
theendinglocation).Thedifferenceinthetwoposition
measurements(measuredfromsomecommonreference
pointusuallytheoriginpoint,orzero)representsa
changeinposition.Typically,thisismeasuredin
meters,butalwaysinunitsofdistance.Thesignofthe
valuedesignatesadirection(positiveornegativex).
Thisisjustagenericversionoftheaboveequation,
usingthevariabledtorepresentsomedisplacementin
normal,threedimensionalspace.Thisisalsomeasured
inunitsofdistance.Thesignofthisnumbersimply
denoteswhetherthedisplacementwasawayfrom
(positive)ortoward(negative)theoriginof
measurement.
Averagevelocity,measuredinunitsofdistanceperunit
time(typically,meterspersecond),istheaverage
distancetraveledduringsometimeinterval.Ifthe
objectmoveswithaconstantvelocity,itwillhavethe
sameaveragevelocityduringalltimedurations.
Whenexamininganobject'sdisplacementtimegraph,
theslopeofalineisequaltotheaveragevelocityofthe
object.Iftheobject'sdisplacementtimegraphisa
straightlineitself,thentheobjectistravelingwitha
constantvelocity.Ifthegraphisnotastraightline(i.e.,
acurve)thentheslopeofthatcurve'stangentlineat
somespecifictimeisequaltotheobject'sinstantaneous
velocity.
Thisisjustanequationrelatingthethreemainways
averageaccelerationisexpressedinequations.
Rememberthatiftheobjecthasaconstantacceleration,
itsaverageaccelerationistheexactsamevalue.
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Averageacceleration,measuredinunitsofdistanceper
timesquared(typically,meterspersecondpersecond),
istheaveragerateatwhichanobject'svelocitychanges
overagiventimeinterval.Thistellsushowquicklythe
objectspeedsup,slowsdown,orchangesdirection
only.Thisequationisboththedefinitionofaverage
accelerationandthefactthatitistheslopeofavelocity
timegraph.Likevelocity,ifthegraphisnotastraight
linethentheaccelerationisnotconstant.
Thisisasimplerewriteofthedefinitionof
acceleration.Itisusefulwhensolvingforthefinal
velocityofanobjectwithaknowninitialvelocityand
constantaccelerationoversometimeinterval.
Ifanobjectgoesfromaninitialvelocitytoafinal
velocity,undergoingconstantacceleration,youcan
simply"average"thetwovelocitiesthisway.Thisis
particularlyhelpfulandeasytouseifyouknowthatit
startswithzerovelocity(justdividethefinalvelocityin
half).
Thisisasimplerewriteoftheolddistanceequalsrate
timestimeformulawithaveragevelocitydefinedas
above.
Thisisaveryimportantformulaforlateruse.Itcanbe
usedtocalculateanobject'sdisplacementusinginitial
velocity,constantacceleration,andtime.Thisisoften
timesusedtocalculatehowfaranobjectmoves
verticallyundertheinfluenceofgravity(agravity=g=
9.81m/s2).
Thoughabitmorecomplexlooking,thisequationis
reallyanexcellentwaytofindfinalvelocityknowing
onlyinitialvelocity,averageacceleration,and
displacement.Don'tforgettotakethesquarerootto
finishsolvingforvf.
Thisequationisthedefinitionofavector(inthiscase,
thevectorA)throughitsverticalandhorizontal
components.Recallthatxishorizontalandyisvertical.
Thisequationrelatesthelengthsofthevectorandits
components.ItistakendirectlyfromthePythagorean
theoremrelatingthesidelengthsofarighttriangle.
Thelengthofavector'shorizontalcomponentcanbe
foundbyknowingthelengthofthevectorandtheangle
itmakeswiththepositivexaxis(inthiscase,theGreek
lettertheta).
Thelengthofavector'sverticalcomponentcanbefound
byknowingthelengthofthevectorandtheangleit
makeswiththepositivexaxis(inthiscase,theGreek
lettertheta).
Becausethecomponentsofavectorareperpendicularto
eachother,andtheyformarighttrianglewiththevector
asthehypotenuse,thetangentofthevector'sanglewith
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thepositivexaxisisequaltotheratioofthevertical
componentlengthtothehorizontalcomponentlength.
Thisisusefulforcalculatingtheanglethatavectoris
pointedwhenonlythecomponentsareknown.
ThisisNewton'sSecondLaw,writtenasadefinitionof
theterm"force".Simplyput,aforceiswhatisrequired
tocauseamasstoaccelerate.Forcesaremeasuredin
Newtons(N),whicharedefinedintermsofkilograms
(kg)ofmassandmeterspersecondsquared(m/s2)of
acceleration.
ThisissimplyareworkingofNewton's2ndLawtostate
thatthe"weight"ofanobjectisreallytheforcethat
gravity(seeouroldfriendg=9.81m/s2)pullsitdown
with.Since'g'isalreadyanegativevalue,wedon'thave
tomessaroundwithputtinganegativetoshowdirection
(downisnegativeinourxyreferenceframe).
Throughexperimentation,physicistscametolearnthat
thefrictionalforcebetweentwosurfacesdependson
twothings:thetypeofmaterialthatthesurfacesare
madeofandhowstrongaforceitisacting
perpendicularlybetweenthem.Thesetwofactorsare
seenhereinthisequation:theGreekletter'mu'isthe
coefficientoffriction(alwayspositive)andthenormal
force(normalliterallymeansperpendicular).Sinceboth
arepositive,wemustincludeanegativetoaccountfor
friction'soppositionalnature(alwaysgoesagainst
motion).
AnotherwaytointerpretNewton's2ndLawistosay
thatthenet(sumtotal)forceonanobjectiswhatcauses
itsacceleration.Hence,theremaybeanynumberof
forcesactingonanobject,butitistheresultantofallof
themthatactuallycausesanyacceleration.Remember,
however,thattheseareforcevectors,notjustnumbers.
Wemustaddthemjustaswewouldaddvectors.
Asimpleifthenstatementthatholdstruedueto
Newton's2ndLaw.Ifthemassisnotaccelerated
(meaning:spedup,sloweddown,orchangeddirection),
thentheremustbenonetforceactingonit.Thisisnot
tosaythatthereisnoforceactingonit,justthatthesum
totalofalltheforcesactingonitisequaltozeroall
theforces"cancelout".
Sinceforceisavector,Icansimplyfocusonits
componentswhenIwish.So,ifIhaveaseriesofforces
actingonamass,thesumoftheirxcomponentsmustbe
equaltothexcomponentofthenetforceonthemass.
And,byNewton's2ndLaw,thismustbeequaltothe
masstimesthexcomponentoftheacceleration(since
masshasnodirection,andaccelerationisalsoavector).
Similarlyasabove,ifIhaveaseriesofforcesactingon
amass,thesumoftheirycomponentsmustbeequalto
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theycomponentofthenetforceonthemass.And,by
Newton's2ndLaw,thismustbeequaltothemasstimes
theycomponentoftheacceleration(sincemasshasno
direction,andaccelerationisalsoavector).
Ifwecalculate(orjustknow)thexandycomponents
ofthenetforceactingonanobject,itisasnaptofind
thetotalnetforce.Aswithanyvector,itismerelythe
sumofitscomponents(addedtogetherlikearight
triangle,ofcourse).Thisequationbecomesridiculously
easytouseifeitheroneofthecomponentsiszero.
Thedefinitionofmomentumissimplymasstimes
velocity.Takenotethatanobjectcanhavedifferent
velocitiesmeasuredfromdifferentreferenceframes.
Newton's2ndLawrewrittenasanexpressionof
momentumchange.ThisisactuallyhowNewtonfirst
thoughtofhislaw.
TheImpulseMomentumTheoremisjustanalgebraic
manipulationofNewton's2ndLaw.Itallowsusto
thinkofmomentumchangeas"impulse"(forceover
sometime),andapplythelawinamuchsimpler
fashion.
Inaclosed,isolatedsystem,thetotalmomentumofall
theobjectsdoesnotchange.Since"closed"means
nothingcominginorgoingout,wecanimagineallour
applicationstalkingaboutafixedsetofobjects.Since
"isolated"meansnointeractionswithanythingoutside
thesystem,wemustimagineallourapplicationsinvolve
nothingbutthoseobjectsandforcesthatweconsider.
Thesearetoughpricestopay,buttheresultisan
INCREDIBLYpowerfultooltotalmomentumbefore
aninteractionisequaltototalmomentumafterward.
Intwodimensions,thelawstillholdswejustpay
attentiontothecomponentsofthetotalmomentum.
Here,a'referstoobjectaafterthecollision.
Thisequationshowstherelationshipbetweenarclength
(s),radius(r),andangle(thetameasuredinradians).It
isusefulforfindingthedistancearoundanycircular
path(orportionthereof)atagivenradialdistance.
Thisequationshowstherelationshipbetweentheperiod
ofapendulumanditslength.Itwasfirstdiscoveredby
Galileothatthearcofapendulumsswingandthemass
attheendofapendulumdonotfactornoticeablyinto
theamountoftimeeachswingtakes.Onlythelengthof
thependulummatters.
Thetangentialvelocityofanobjectinuniform
(unchanging)circularmotionishowfastitismoving
tangenttothecircle.Literallythedistancearoundthe
circledividedbytheperiodofrotation(timeforonefull
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rotation).
Thecentripetalaccelerationofanobjectinuniform
circularmotionishowmuchitsvelocity(becauseof
direction,notspeed)changestowardthecenterofthe
circleinorderforittocontinuemovinginacircle.
Theforcethatisrequiredtokeepanobjectmovingina
circularpathisthecentripetalforceactingontheobject.
Thisforce,directedtowardsthecenterofthecircle,is
reallyjustaderivativeofNewton's2ndLawusing
centripetalacceleration.
Theworkdoneonanobjectisfoundbymultiplying
forceanddistance,butthereisacatch.Theforceand
distancemustbeparalleltoeachother.Onlythe
componentoftheforceinthesamedirectionasthe
distancetraveleddoesanywork.Hence,ifaforce
appliedisperpendiculartothedistancetraveled,no
workisdone.Theequationbecomesforcetimes
distancetimesthecosineoftheanglebetweenthem.
Workismeasuredinunitsofnewtonstimesmeters,or
joules(J).
Powerisaphysicalquantityequaltotherateatwhich
workisdone.Themoretimeittakestodothesame
work,thesmallerthepowergenerated,andviceversa.
Powerismeasuredinunitsofjoulespersecond,orwatts
(W).
Kineticenergyissimplytheenergyofmotionthemore
somethingismoving(orthemorethereistothat
something),themorekineticenergyitpossesses.
Kineticenergy,likeallformsofenergy,ismeasuredin
unitsofjoules(J).
Sinceworkandenergyhavethesameunits,itstandsto
reasonthattheyarerelated.Well,theyare.Energyis
reallydefinedastheabilitytodomechanicalwork.
Therefore,ifpositiveworkisdoneonanobject,that
objectgainskineticenergy(itgetsmoved).
Thisisjustadifferentversionoftheaboveequation.It
iscommonlyreferredtoastheWorkEnergyTheorem.
Gravityisaconstantforcealwaysthereandalwaysthe
same.Sincethisisthecase,wecansaythatasanobject
gainsheight(nearthesurfaceoftheEarth),itgains
somepotentialtodowork(wheniteventuallyfalls).
Thispotentialenergyisstoredenergythatcanbeturned
intokineticlater.
Thetotalmechanical(motionrelated)energyofan
objectisfoundbyaddingthekineticplusthepotential
energiesforthatobjectenergyduetohowfastitis
currentlygoingandduetohowfastitcouldgobecause
ofitsposition.
Thisisasimplifiedmathematicalrestatementofthelaw
ofenergyconservation.Ifwehaveaclosedandisolated
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system,thetotalmechanicalenergydoesnotchange.
Anotherwayofexpressingmechanicalenergy
conservation,thisformulasaysthatthetotalbefore
energy(PE+KE)mustequalthetotalafterenergy(PE
+KE).
Thisisthedefinitionthatlinkstherelationshipbetween
frequency(measuredinHzorcyclespersecond)and
period(measuredinunitsoftimesecondspercycle).
Theinverserelationshipbetweenthetwoisimportantin
relatingwavespeedwithwavelength.
Thespeedofawaveisduetoonlytwofeatures,the
frequencyofthewavepatternandthewavelength(how
farapartthewavesareinspace).Itisimportanttonote
thatthereisnodependenceontheamplitudeofthewave
forcalculatingthefrequency.Thisequationisderived
fromthesimple,constantspeedequationdistance=
ratextime.
Theenergycarriedbyawaveisproportionaltothe
squareoftheamplitudeofthewave(andhasnothingto
dowithwavespeed).Therefore,ifIweretodoublethe
amplitudeofawave(likedoublingtheintensityofa
sound)Iamactuallyquadruplingtheenergythatit
carries.
Thisequationshowstherelationshipbetweenthree
variablesofastringattachedattwoendsandthe
velocityofatransversewavethatwouldtravelbetween
them.ThevariableFisthetensionforceinthestring
thevariablemisthemassofthestringandthevariable
Listhelengthofthestring.Therefore,inordertomake
awavetravelfasterinastring(likeaguitarstring),Ican
doanyoneofthreethingswhilekeepingtheothers
constant:increasethetension,decreasethemassofthe
string,orincreasethelengthofthestring.The
denominator(m/L)issometimeswrittenastheGreek
lettermu,andreferredtoasthe"lineardensity"ofthe
string.
Soundwaves(oranyotherformofthreedimensional
emanation)canberankedbytheirintensityan
objectivemeasureoftheamountofenergytheycarry.
Atsomedistance,r,fromapointsourceofsoundwith
poweroutput,P,theintensitycanbecalculatedinWatts
persquaremeter.Thisisamuchmoreobjectiveview
of"loudness"thanismeasuredbythedecibelscale,in
whichthefrequenciesofthesoundmatterdueto
limitationsonthehumanrangeofhearing(20Hzto20
kHz).
TheDopplerEffectcanbedetectedwheneverawave
sourceandobserverareinrelativemotion.Iftheyare
movingtowardseachother,thenthefrequencyis
observedtobehigherthanwhatisactuallyemitted,and
viceversa.Inthisequation,thetopsign(+inthe
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numerator,inthedenominator)isusedifthesource(s)
andobserver()aremovingtowardseachother.
Otherwise,thebottomsignisusedineithercase.The
entirefactorinparenthesesisactuallyaunitless
quantitythatactsasamultiplierfortheemitted
frequency,f.
Foreitheranopenendedresonatororastingattachedat
bothends,thisequationallowsyoutocalculatethe
frequencyofastandingwavewiththeinteger,n,
numberofantinodes(orloops).Youmustknowthe
lengthofthetubeorstring,thenumberofantinodes,and
thevelocityofthewaveinthetubeoralongthestring.
Ifn=1,theresultingvaluewillbethe1stresonating
frequency(orfundamentalharmonic).
Incorporatingthesimplewavespeedequationalong
withthepreviousequation,thisallowsustocalculate
thewavelengthofanyresonatingfrequencyknowing
onlythenumberofantinodes(therefore,theharmonic
number)andthelengthoftheopentubeorstring.With
it,youcouldpredictthefundamentalfrequencythat
wouldbeplayedbyastringofanylength(howfretsare
placedonaguitar).
Foreitheraclosedendedresonator(likeblowingacross
thetopofapopbottle),thisequationallowsyouto
calculatethefrequencyofastandingwavewiththe
integer,n,numberofantinodes(orloops).Youmust
knowthelengthofthetube,thenumberofantinodes,
andthevelocityofthewaveinthetube.Ifn=1,the
resultingvaluewillbethe1stresonatingfrequency(or
fundamentalharmonic).Importanttonotethatclosed
resonatorsareabletoachievethesameresonant
frequency,butatonehalfthelength.
Incorporatingthesimplewavespeedequationalong
withthepreviousequation,thisallowsustocalculate
thewavelengthofanyresonatingfrequencyknowing
onlythenumberofantinodes(therefore,theharmonic
number)andthelengthoftheclosedtube.Withit,you
couldpredictthefundamentalfrequencythatwouldbe
playedbyapopbottlewithanylevelofwaterwithinit
(therefore,ofanylength).

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