Engineering

Science
L E C T UR E # 1
BY
H YATT QUR E SH I

Scalar and Vector Quantities

Define scalar
Define vector
Define Speed and Distance
Define Velocity and Displacement
Explain the difference between Speed and Velocity
quantities
State the advantages of vector over scalar

Scalar and Vector Quantities

Scalar A physical quantity that has magnitude (size)
only.
Examples of scalars are length, speed, mass, density,
energy, power, temperature, charge, potential Vector
Vector - these are quantities that have direction as well
as magnitude.
Examples of vectors are displacement, force, torque,
velocity, acceleration, momentum, electric current,
magnetic flux density, electric field

 Scalars may be added together by simple arithmetic but

when two or more vectors are added together their
direction must be taken into account as well.
A vector may be represented by a line, the length of the
line being the magnitude of the vector and the
direction of the line the direction of the vector.

Speed and Velocity

Speed
Distance
Velocity
Displacement

 VELOCITY of the object is the rate of change of its

displacement
(or the speed measured in a certain direction)
Displacement is measured in the same units as distance
and velocity has the same units as speed.
Displacement is given the symbol s, velocity the symbol v
and time the symbol t.

Velocity (v) = displacement (s)/time (t)

or
Displacement (s) = vt

Calculating Average Velocity or

Speed
If Sam was able to travel 5km north in 1 hour in his car,
what was his average velocity?

Solving for time

Ben is running at a constant velocity of 3m/s to the east.
How long will it take him to travel 720 meters?

Solving for Displacement

If Ali travels for 1 minute at 5m/s to the south, how
much he will be displaced?

Acceleration
The rate of change of velocity is called acceleration.
(or Change in velocity over time)
If the velocity is changing steadily the acceleration is given
by the simple formula:
Acceleration (a) = [Final velocity (v) Initial velocity
(u)]/Time taken (t)
a = [v u]/t
or
v = u + at
The units for acceleration are m/s 2 (or ms-2).

Uniform acceleration

Simple situations
1. A car accelerates steadily from 12 ms-1to 20 ms-1in 4
s.
(a) what is the average speed of the car?
(b) what is the acceleration of the car?

2. A lorry brakes with an acceleration of 2.5 ms-2from a

speed of
18 ms-1for 3s.
What is its velocity after the 3s of braking?

Equations of motion for uniform

acceleration
Equations of motion for uniform acceleration
average velocity = [v+u]/2
acceleration (a) = [v-u]/t
s = ut + at2
v2=u2+2as
where u is the initial velocity, v the final velocity, a the
acceleration, t the time taken and s the displacement.

 1. A dragster starts from rests and accelerates at 25 ms2for 4 s. Calculate:

(a) the final velocity
(b) the distance travelled

Newtons Laws of Motion

Sir Isaac Newton
Born - 25 December 1642
Woolsthorpe,Lincolnshire, England
Died - 20 March1726 (age 84)
Kensington,Middlesex, England
His bookPhilosophi Naturalis Principia
Mathematica("Mathematical Principles of Natural
Philosophy"), first published in 1687, laid the
foundations forclassical mechanics.

Law of Inertia (Galileo Galilei)

Newton's first law

A body remains at rest or in a state of uniform motion
unless the forces acting on it are unbalanced.
An object will stay still or carry on moving exactly the way
it was unless an unbalanced force acts on it.

Newton's second law of motion

If an unbalanced force acts on an object then its velocity
will change.
It will either speed up, slow down, and that includes
stopping, or the object will change direction.
An unbalanced or resultant force produces an
acceleration.
Force = mass x accelerationor
F = ma

Newton's Third Law

To Every action there is always an equal and opposite
reaction

Question