Contents

1 Mechanics 2
1.1 Newton’s Laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Concept of Derivative and Integrals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 Rules of Vector Addition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.4 Other operations on Vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.4.1 Multiplication of a vector by a scalar . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.4.2 Dot Product of Vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.5 Resolution of Vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.6 Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.7 Work - Energy Theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.8 Conservative Forces and Potential Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.9 Conservation of Mechanical Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

2 Formulae 17

3 References 19
Mechanics

1.1 Newton’s Laws

Newton’s First Law

“Every body continues to be in its state of rest or of uniform motion in a straight
line unless compelled by some external force to act otherwise.”

Natural state of a body is either rest or uniform motion. Only a force can change
the natural state of a body.

The first law introduces the property of ‘inertia’ for all material bodies which is the
‘tendency’ to remain in either of the two states of motion
1. of rest or
2. of uniform velocity, unless compelled by an ‘external unbalanced’ force.

We can deduce existence of the force of friction which is responsible for bringing all
moving bodies to rest.

Newton’s Second law

“The rate of change of momentum of a body is directly proportional to the applied
force and takes place in the direction in which the force acts.”

A force can change an object’s speed as well as it’s direction. Hence we use the
term acceleration which encompasses both. Thus a force can cause acceleration of
a body. However we know that the effect of the same force on different bodies is
not the same. Some bodies provide more resistance to acceleration. (If you push

2
CHAPTER 1. MECHANICS Prepared by: Linn Abraham

with the same force on both a heavy and a light object the acceleration is different
in both cases)
Thus if mass is defined as the measure of an object’s resistance to acceleration, the
body which has greater acceleration (for the same force) is said to have a lower
mass and vice versa.
Second law gives a relation between the force acting on a body and its acceleration.

dp
F = = ma ,if mass is not changing
dt

Newton’s Third Law

“Forces always occur in pairs. Force on a body A by B is equal and opposite to the
force on the body B by A.”

Forces never occur singly in nature. Force is the mutual interaction between two
bodies.

1.2 Concept of Derivative and Integrals

Velocity
Velocity is defined as the rate of change of the displacement of a body. However we
can define different types of rates. Ordinarily we denote velocity by,

x2 − x1
v=
t2 − t1

Velocity is more precisely the instantaneous rate of change. We use notations from
calculus to denote such rates.

dx ∆x
v= ≡ limx→0
dt ∆t

What is the difference between the two definitions? The equation of a straight line
CHAPTER 1. MECHANICS Prepared by: Linn Abraham

is mathematically given by,

y = mx + c

Where m is called the slope of the line. By taking changes on both sides,

∆y y2 − y1
m= =
∆x x 2 − x1

If this definition is applied to a curve instead of a straight line, what we get is

the slope of the secant line passing through the two points y1 , y2 . However in the
limit that denominator tends to 0. We get the slope of the tangent to the curve at
particular point on the x-axis. These two definitions are equvivalent in the case of
a straight line.
dx
Thus the physical interpretation of dt
is that it is the slope of the tangent to the
curve (of displacement versus time) at a particular instant in time.
Thus the slope of the x-t (distance-time) graph at each point gives the velocity of
the body at a particular instant in time.1
Acceleration
How can we define acceleration? Acceleration is the instantaneous rate of change
of velocity.
dv ∆v
= lim
dt v→0 ∆t

ie, Acceleration is the slope at an instant of the v-t (speed-time) graph. For the
case of uniform acceleration the shape of the v-t graph will be a straight line. Then
we can apply the following definition.

v−u
a=
t
1
What does the area under the same graph give us?
(http://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/1xcs45/area_under_a_position_time_
graph_is_it_meaningless/)
CHAPTER 1. MECHANICS Prepared by: Linn Abraham

or v = u + at (1.1)

Look at the graph of v versus t for uniform acceleration. The velocity-time graph
of a body with acceleration 0 (Uniform velocity or rest) will be parallel to the t-
axis. Geometrically the area in this case will be a product of time and velocity.
The area under the graph gives distance (magnitude of the displacement). Calculate
the area under the curve and obtain the formula for distance covered.
we obtain

1
x = ut + at2 (1.2)
2

Integration is a mathematical technique for obtaining the area under a curve. For
simple figures w,e can do without it but by using the rules of integration we can
obtain the area under the curve of any given function, simple or complicated.
dx
Since we have v = dt
, we can write

dx = vdt
Z Z
dx = vdt
Z
x = vdt

Thus distance is the area under the curve of v versus t.

Using above two equations for v and x we can arrive at the third equation.

v 2 − u2 = 2ax (1.3)

These are called the kinematic equations for uniformly accelerated motion.
CHAPTER 1. MECHANICS Prepared by: Linn Abraham

1.3 Rules of Vector Addition

Vector Quantities
Many of the quantities we have encountered so far like force, displacement, velocity,
acceleration etc. are vector quantities. Unlike scalar quantities like mass, distance,
time etc which have just a magnitude associated with them and a dimension, vec-
tors have both a magnitude and direction associated with them along with the
dimension. These vector quantities are also seen to combine according to certain
specified rules.
The Parallelogram Law
There are two equivalent graphical methods for the addition of vectors. These are
the triangle method and the parallelogram method. These are equivalent since both
methods yield the same result.
Ref. [1] Fig.4.10
Let OP and OQ represent the two vectors A and B making an angle θ . Then, using
the parallelogram method of vector addition, OS represents the resultant vector R.

R=A+B

SN is normal to OP and PM is normal to OS. From the geometry of the figure,

OS 2 = ON 2 + SN 2

but ON = OP + P N = A + Bcosθ and SN = Bsinθ.

Therefore, OS 2 = (A + Bcosθ)2 + (Bsinθ)2

or, R2 = A2 + B 2 + 2ABcosθ
CHAPTER 1. MECHANICS Prepared by: Linn Abraham

√
R= A2 + B 2 + 2ABcosθ (Law of Cosines)

We can also prove the Law of sines.

R A B
= =
sinθ sinβ sinα

Note that since sin(180−θ) = sinθ this can also be written using the angle opposite
to R as is usually done in the law of sines.

1.4 Other operations on Vectors

1.4.1 Multiplication of a vector by a scalar

Consider our force equation,

#»
F = m #»
a

Here we recogonise that on the right hand side a vector is multiplied by a scalar,
resulting in a vector. We note that

• The magnitude of the vector gets multiplied by the magnitude of the scalar.

• The direction can either remain the same or get reversed.

Thus the effect of scalar multiplication is to stretch the vector or rotate it by 180
degrees only.

Now a vector such as #»

a can be written as

#»
a = | #»
a | × â

where â is a vector with unit magnitude and direction same as that of #»

a which is
CHAPTER 1. MECHANICS Prepared by: Linn Abraham

also called a unit vector in the direction of #»

a

1.4.2 Dot Product of Vectors

The dot product of two vectors is defined by,

#» #» #» #»
A · B = | A||B| cos θ
#» #» #»
= magnitude of A × the ‘projection’ of B on A
#» #» #»
= magnitude of B × the ‘projection’ of A on B

Where θ is the angle between vectors A and B.

Why is such a definition necessary? Consider a physical quantity like the flux
of a fluid which is a measure of the rate of flow. Imagine water in a stream
flowing through a pipe which is inserted in the flow. On what factors will the
flow rate depend? The velocity of the river, the diameter of the pipe and the
angle between the two. Thus we have

#»
f lux = #»
v · ds

Since the orientation of the area element is important area can be treated as
a vector.

1.5 Resolution of Vectors

The concept of the dot product of two vectors can be used to find two orthogonal
components for any vector.

• A vector A can be written as a sum of any number of vectors, say n. These

n vectors can be called the components of A.
CHAPTER 1. MECHANICS Prepared by: Linn Abraham

• Let A be any vector in a plane and a and b be two other vectors. Then
A can be expressed as a sum of the two vectors a and b – one obtained by
multiplying a by a real number and the other obtained by multiplying b by
another real number.

• In particular a and b could be the unit vectors in the x and y direction. Then
these are called the orthogonal components of A.

Using simple trigonometry, we can express Ax and Ay in terms of the magnitude of

A and the angle θ it makes with the x-axis :
Ax = A cos θ and Ay = A cos(90 − θ) = A sin θ
Thus we see that the components of the vector A is equal to the dot product of A
with the unit vectors in the x and y directions respectively.
Thus a component of a vector can be positive, negative or zero depending on the
value of θ. Now, we have two ways to specify a vector A in a plane. It can be
specified by :
(i) its magnitude A and the direction θ it makes with the x-axis; or
(ii) its components Ax and Ay along with two unit vectors.

If A and θ are given, Ax and Ay can be obtained using above eqns. If Ax and Ay
are given, A and θ can be obtained as follows :

A2x + A2y = Acos2 θ + Asin2 θ

q
A = A2x + A2y
Ay
tan θ =
Ax

Thus the definition of the dot product enables us to calculate the the magnitude and
direction of the given vector from its components using the above two equations.
How can we extend this to three dimensions?
CHAPTER 1. MECHANICS Prepared by: Linn Abraham

1.6 Work

For work to be done in physics, a force must be exerted and there must be motion
or displacement in the direction of the force.
Work is defined as the scalar product 1.4.2 (or dot product) of applied force and
the displacement of the body.

#» #»
W =F·d
#» #»
= | F || d | cos θ

Thus work equals magnitude of force times the displacement of body in the direction
of the force or displacement times the force in the direction of displacement. Thus

work is a scalar quantity. It can be positive, negative or zero. When does the work
done by a force become zero?

1. When the displacement is zero.

Consider the case of a man pushing hard on a wall. In this case the work
done by the man on the wall becomes zero. A weight lifter holding a heavy
weight on his shoulder also does no work on the load.

2. The force is zero. A block moving on a frictionless table with uniform velocity
experiences no net force although there is displacement.

3. When force and displacement are non zero but are mututally perpendicular.
In the above case gravity applies a force mg on the block in the downward
direction however the displacement of the body is in the horizontal direction.
Gravity does no work on the block in this case.

The sign of the work done is important to understand. The work done by a person
to lift the block of mass to a height h above the table surface will be positive
since the force and displacement are in the same direction. However at the same
CHAPTER 1. MECHANICS Prepared by: Linn Abraham

time gravity is doing negative work on the body as here the force of gravity and
displacement of the body are anti parallel.

In one dimension the work done is graphically the area between the force and the
displacement axis. Similarly in 2 dimensions, Work done is the area under the curve
of F cosθ vs. displacement.

1.7 Work - Energy Theorem

Kinetic Energy
Let us consider our block of mass lying on the table. When work is done on the
block what happens to the block? The block accelerates as the result of the force
and hence its velocity changes. Also we know that a moving mass has an energy
associated with it. This is called as its kinetic energy. This energy can be used
to do work. The moving wind has the capacity to grind corn or generate electricy.
This is what is happening in windmills. Also the moving water has the capacity
to rotate turbines and generate hydel electricity. This is what happens in a dam.
Thus we can say that when work is done on a system, energy is transferred into the
system.
The work energy theorem talks about the connection between work and energy. It
gives us an expression for the kinetic energy of an object.
We have the following relation for rectilinear motion under a constant acceleration.

v 2 − u2 = 2as

where u and v are the initial and final speeds and s the distance traversed. Multi-
plying both sides by m/2, we have

1 2 1
mv − mu2 = mas = F s
2 2
CHAPTER 1. MECHANICS Prepared by: Linn Abraham

where the last step follows from Newton’s Second Law. We can generalise to three
dimension by using vectors.

1 2 1 #» #»
mv − mu2 = F · d
2 2

Thus on the left hand side we have a change in the quantity 12 mv 2 . Which is defined
as the (translational) kinetic energy of the body. The kinetic energy of an object is
a measure of the work an object can do by the virtue of its motion.

Theorem. The change in kinetic energy of a particle is equal to the work done on
it by the net force or the net work done.

1.8 Conservative Forces and Potential Energy

A conservative force is one for which the work done by or against it depends only
on the starting and ending points of a motion and not on the path taken. We can
define a potential energy (PE) for any such conservative force.

The work done against a conservative force gets stored as the PE of the system. If
work is done by a conservative there is a decrease in the PE of the system. The PE
function for a conservative force thus depends only on the intial and final positions
of the body or in other words its a function of the displacement of the body alone,
say V (x).
The (conservative) force acting on the body at each point can then be derived from
this PE function.

dV
F =−
dx

The corollary of this statement is also true. i.e, if a force is derivable from a position
dependent function alone then the work done by the force is independent of the path
CHAPTER 1. MECHANICS Prepared by: Linn Abraham

taken and is hence a conservative force.

Z xf Z vi
F (x)dx = − dV = Vi − Vf
xi vf

“Potential energy is the ‘stored energy’ by virtue of the position or configuration

of a body.” When external constraints are removed, it manifests itself as kinetic
energy.
The gravitational force and spring force are examples of conservative forces.
Gravitational Potential Energy
As an illustration of the fact that gravity is a conservative force, we can see that the
velocity of a ball falling down a frictionless inclined plane is given by the formula
√
2gh (using v 2 − u2 = 2as) where h is the displacement. It does not depend on the
angle of inclination. As a result the change in the KE of the body and hence the
work done is also independent of the path but depends only on the displacement of
the body. If you carry a heavy load up a flight of stairs or directly lift the load up
or by using a pulley. In both the cases you are doing the same amount of work.

Let us calculate the work done in lifting an object of mass m through a height h. If
the object is lifted straight up at constant speed, then the force needed to lift it is
equal to its weight mg. The work done (by an external force) on the mass is then
W = F d = mgh . We define this to be the gravitational potential energy (P Eg ) put
into (or gained by) the object-Earth system. This energy is associated with the state
of separation between two objects that attract each other by the gravitational force.
CHAPTER 1. MECHANICS Prepared by: Linn Abraham

For convenience, we refer to this as the PE gained by the object, recognizing

that this is energy stored in the gravitational field of Earth. Why do we use
the word “system”? Potential energy is a property of a system rather than
of a single object—due to its physical position. An object’s gravitational
potential is due to its position relative to the surroundings within the Earth-
object system. The force applied to the object is an external force, from
outside the system. When it does positive work it increases the gravitational
potential energy of the system.

Because gravitational potential energy depends on relative position, we need a ref-

erence level at which to set the potential energy equal to 0. We usually choose this
point to be Earth’s surface, but this point is arbitrary; what is important is the
difference in gravitational potential energy, because this difference is what relates
to the work done.

1.9 Conservation of Mechanical Energy

Conservative forces are important in mechanics because they ‘conserve’ the total
mechanical energy of the system. The sum of the P.E and K.E of a body is called
the mechanical energy of the body. For an isolated system, the total mechanical
energy of the ’system’ does not change with respect to time if the only forces acting
are conservative in nature. This law is called the law of conservation of mechanical
energy.
If only conservative forces act on a body and let Wc be the total work done by all
conservative forces. Then, by the work energy theorem

Wc = ∆KE

Now, if the conservative force does work, the system loses potential energy. That
CHAPTER 1. MECHANICS Prepared by: Linn Abraham

is, Wc = −∆P E . Therefore,

−∆P E = ∆KE

∆KE + ∆P E = 0

∆(KE + P E) = 0

KE + P E = constant

KEi + P Ei = KEf + P Ef

Potential energy of a spring

When you wind up a toy or an old timepiece, work done by you is converted into
the potential energy of the spring-mass system in the device.
Consider a spring-mass system lying horizontally on a frictionless surface. When no
other forces acting on this system are balanced the mass is at rest and the position
of the mass can be called as the equilibrium (or mean) position. The restoring force
of a spring is propotional to the extension (or compression) it has suffered relative
to the mean position.
Mathematically,
Fs = −kx

The constant k is called the spring constant. The spring is said to be stiff if k is
large and soft if k is small
Draw a graph of Fs versus x for this system. We get a straight line passing through
the origin. For a constant force like the gravitational force, the graph was a straight
line with slope 0. ie, parallel to the x axis.
Lets find the work done by an external force in compressing or extending the spring.
Which is the area under the graph of fe versus x. Since the force is a variable one,
we use integration to find the area under the curve and hence the work done. If the
CHAPTER 1. MECHANICS Prepared by: Linn Abraham

spring is extended by a distance xm

xm
kx2m
Z
W = Fe dx =
0 2

Thus the potential energy function can be written as,

kx2m
V (x) =
2

What is the potential energy when the spring is compressed to a distance −xm ?
Graph the PE and KE curve of the spring (Hint: Use the principle of conservation
of energy).
Formulae

1. Definition of work,
W = F~ · ~x

2. For a variable force,

Z
W = ~
F~ · dr

3. Work-Energy theorem,
∆KE = Wtotal

4. Potential energy for a conservative force,

P Ec = −Wc

5. Gravitational potential energy,

P Eg = mgh

6. Potential energy of a spring,

kx2
P Es =
2

17
CHAPTER 2. FORMULAE Prepared by: Linn Abraham

7. Law of conservation of energy,

KEi + P Ef = KEf + P Ef
References

[1] NCERT Class XI Textbook

[2] OpenStax College, College Physics. OpenStax College. 21 June 2012. http:
//cnx.org/content/col11406/latest/

[3] Hecht, E., 2006. There Is No Really Good Definition of Mass. The Physics
Teacher 44, 40–45. doi:10.1119/1.2150758

[4] 11th Class Physics :Mechanics, Heat, Oscillations and Waves By Prof. V. Bal-
akrishnan, YouTube. URL http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLq-
Gm0yRYwThKeMSP_ii5klqDYvta4HQI (accessed 10.23.17).

[5] Chapter-6 NCERT Class XI Work, Energy and Power, YouTube. URL http://
www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYVDsiuOZP5ryR8_Za6rBbEUEmjeNANbx
(accessed 10.23.17).

[6] https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/category/physics

[7] http://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/I_toc.html

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