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Motion
Displacement Distance
Positiondistance from a fixed origin
Velocityrate of change of position Speedmagnitude of velocity
Accelerationrate of change of velocity
Time
displacement total distance travelled
Average velocity = time taken
Average speed = total time taken
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Mechanics 1Useful Formulae
I Every object continues in a state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line unless it is acted upon by
a resultant external force.
III When one object exerts a force on another there is always a reaction which is equal, and opposite in
direction, to the acting force.
General Motion
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Mechanics 1Useful Formulae
Reaction forces between two objects (such as tension forces in joining rods or strings) are equal and opposite.
When connected object are moving along a line, the equations of motion can be obtained for each one
separately or for a system containing more than one object. The number of independent equations is equal
to the number of separate objects.
Vectors
When two or more vectors are added, the resultant is obtained. Vector addition may be done graphically or
algebraically.
p1 q1 p1 + q1
p+q= + = p + q = (p1 + q1 ) i + (p2 + q2 ) j
p2 q2 p2 + q2
a1 na1
Multiplication by a scalar: n (a1 i + a2 j) = na1 i + na2 j n =
a2 na2
The position vector of a point P is OP , its displacement from a fixed origin.
When A and B have position vectors a and b, AB = b a.
Equal vectors have equal magnitude in the same direction. p1 i + p2 j = p1 i + p2 j = p1 = q1 and p2 = q2 .
p1 p2
When p1 i + p2 j and q1 i + q2 j are parallel, q1
= q2
.
a1 a2
The unit vector in the direction of a1 i + a2 j is i+ j.
a1 2 +a2 2 a1 2 +a2 2
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Mechanics 1Useful Formulae
The forces acting on a particle can be combined to form a resultant force using scale drawing or by resolving
into components. When the resultant R is zero, the forces are in equilibrium.
If a body is in equilibrium under three non-parallel forces, their lines of action are concurrent and they can
be represented by a triangle.
When the resultant R is not zero there is an acceleration a and R = ma.
When a particle is on a slope, it is usually helpful to resolve in directions parallel and perpendicular to the
slope.
Projectiles
vx = u cos x = ut cos
vy = u sin gt y = ut sin 12 gt2