PMT Courses: Mechanics A-Level As Er Crash Course

PMT Courses
Mechanics A-level
as er Crash Course
or oo
www.pmt.education
Contents
Session 1
– Concept of a Force and Resolving Forces

– Vectors
– Constant Acceleration in 1D
– Motion with Variable Acceleration Page 1
Session 2
– Newton’s second law and its Applications

– Pulleys and Connected Particles Page 26
Session 3
– Projectiles Page
Session 4
– Friction and its Applications

– Forces in Equilibrium Page 6
Session 5
– Moments Page 6
https://bit.ly/pmt-edu
Session
Quantities in Mechanics
“Mechanics is a branch of physical

science that is concerned with the
state of rest or motion of bodies
that are subjected to the action of
forces”
1
Recap of Assumptions
Model Practical Meaning Implication Modelling Assumption
Rotation of the body is ignored.
Effects of air resistance are
ignored.
No size, but does
Particle Body is of negligible dimensions.
have mass.
All forces act through the same
point.
Mass of object always acts
downwards from its centre.
Air Resistance to motion caused by Modelled as
Ignore air resistance.
Resistance an object moving in air. negligible.
No friction between
Smooth Surface provides no resistance to
the surface and any μ (coefficient of friction) = 0.
Surface motion.
object on it.
Use equation
Object experiences
frictional force if
When object is moving or on
moving or acted on
the verge of moving
Rough Surface provides some resistance by a force.
Surface to motion. Magnitude of friction
If then friction is not
dependent on
limiting, and a smaller force is
surface and Reaction
sufficient to prevent motion
force.
and maintain static equilibrium.
Inextensible A string that does not stretch Acceleration is the same in objects connected by a taut
String under load. inextensble string.
Smooth/Light Tensions in the string on either side of the pulley (or peg)
“Smooth” (see above).
will be equal*.
Pulley (or Ignore the weight of the pulley
“Light”. Weightless.
peg) in any calculations.
Tension in the string will be
Light String Weightless.
constant along its length*.
No deformation
Idealised body composed of large (bending or buckling)
number of particles which remain under applied forces
Rigid body at a fixed distance from each – shape and
Rod remains at constant length.
other. dimensions remain

fixed at all times.
Material is evenly distributed
Uniform across the length of the rod.
Weight acts at the mid-point.
Material is unevenly distributed

Non-uniform across the length of the rod.
Weight does not necessarily act at the mid-point.
* In pulley/peg questions, we can model the tension being the same throughout the string for
two reasons:
1) The pulley is SMOOTH. Otherwise, friction would cause the tension in the string closer to
the pulley to be greater than the tension further away.
2) The string is LIGHT. If the string was not light then the tension would vary along the length
of the string – as you move downwards along the string then more of its weight is being
pulled downwards from above.
2
Recap of Force Diagrams
Tips for drawing an effective Diagram, use DRESS:
- Draw a LARGE diagram, large enough to fit all the forces and information on the
question on it.
- Resolve all forces parallel (And perpendicular) to the direction of motion.
- Equations: Write out all relevant equations you may need to use to answer the
question, rearrange them if necessary.
- Substitute in your values.
- Show your working and answer to 3sf unless otherwise instructed by the
question.
Example 1: Which of these diagrams is the most appropriate and why?
A car is moving at a constant velocity of 10ms-1 due North. It has a driving force of D
and experiences resistive forces totalling 600N. The weight of the car is 14kN. Find D.
3
Diagram Issue(s)
Forces you need to know:
Name of Force: Behaviour/Direction of Action
Weight
Normal Reaction
Friction Force
Tension
Thrust/Compression
Buoyancy
Air Resistance
4
Resolving Parallel & Perpendicular
When a force acts at an angle to either the x or y direction (Horizontal/vertical) we need
to split the force up into it’s x and y components. This is called resolving.
10N 5N
30
y-direction: 10sin(30 ) N = 5N 8.66N
x-direction: 10cos(30 ) N = 8.66N
The above example shows how trigonometric functions are used to find the components
of the force.
Resolving is not only applicable to forces but can be used with any vector quantity.
Resolve the following quantities into their x and y components:
7N
1 2
3ms-1
45 22
47N
15
3 4
54 5kgms-1
5
Système International Units (SI)
Other Units include Imperial (or English) units and Centimetre, Gram, Second (CGS) units.
At the human-sized level, SI measures well most things that we work with. (The main
exception is volume, where m3 is often too much for common use).
In SI, the units all work together, so if you use some quantities in SI units, other quantities
that you calculate from them will also be in SI units.
Example 2: List 4 different Système International units
Unit Conversion
A velocity may be expressed in ft/s, miles/h, cm/yr, or any other ratio of a length unit to
a time unit. The numerical value of the velocity depends on the units chosen.
When converting from one unit to another it is useful to use conversion factors.
Conversion factors are fractions that equal 1 because the numerator (top) equals the
denominator (bottom), but they use different units. In algebra you learned that
multiplying any quantity by 1 does not change the quantity’s value, so we can use
conversion factors to change the units of a measurement without changing the value of
a measurement.
To convert a quantity expressed in terms of one unit to its equivalent in terms of another
unit, multiply the given quantity by the conversion factor (new unit/old unit)
For example, 36 cm in mm is found by: Conversion factor
6
Sometimes you may need to do several conversions.
Perform the following unit conversions. You may have to use more than one conversion
factor.
1) 23 km into cm
3) 8.5 m/s into km/hr
Vector & Scalar Quantities

• A VECTOR quantity has both magnitude (size) & direction
• A SCALAR quantity has ONLY magnitude (size)
Example 3: Identify the vector and scalar quantities. In what instance could two of these
scalar quantities become a vector quantity?
• Force
• Mass
• Speed
• Weight
• Temperature
• Time
• Momentum
• Volume
Example 4: Some textbooks state that “Distance is the magnitude of the displacement
vector”. This statement is incomplete. Briefly explain why.
7
i and j notation
We can consider all motion in a 2D plane to be composed of two principal vectors, i and j.
These are underlined in written text and emboldened when word-processed (typed). i
describes the horizontal component. j describes the vertical component.
Any vector can be described in this notation. Since i and j are perpendicular, you can use
Pythagoras’ Theorem to find the magnitude of the vector. So, when you are asked to find
the speed, distance, or magnitude of acceleration you will have to use this knowledge.
Vectors are additive. These means you can add them together without having to do any
manipulation first. Using column vectors to perform calculations is highly recommended
as it is visually less compact and reduces the likelihood of mixing up i and j when written
by hand. Whatever you do be sure to leave your answers in the form given in the question.
You will lose a mark if you do not do this!
Example 5: Find the magnitude of the vector 4i+8j
Graphs of Motion in a Straight Line

Mark Schemes are looking for the following features where appropriate.
1. Noticeably different gradients (steepness of lines) to illustrate different

acceleration
2. Key figures on y-axis e.g., final speed of acceleration period
3. Key figures on the x-axis i.e. using unknown values in the way it has been defined
in the question.
Sketches do not need to be to scale.
8
Example 6: A train starts from station X and moves with constant acceleration of 0.6
for 20 s. the velocity it has reached after 20 s is then maintained for T seconds. The
train then decelerates from this velocity to rest in a further 40 s, stopping at a station T.
Sketch a velocity-time graph to illustrate the motion of the train.
Example 7: A motorcyclist M leaves a road junction at t=0s. She accelerates from rest at a
rate of 3ms-1 for 8s and then maintains the velocity she has reaches. A car C leaves the
same road junction as M at time t=0s. The car accelerates from rest to 30ms-1 in 20s and
then maintains the velocity of ms-1. C passes M as they both pass a pedestrian.
9
Displacement-time graphs
Now we’ll look at Displacement and Velocity-time graphs.
Displacement uses the symbol ______.
Both displacement and distance have dimensions of length. However, they are not the
same. Distance is a _____________ quantity and so only has magnitude.
Displacement is a _____________ quantity and so it has both magnitude AND direction. We

signify the latter by assigning directions of motion as either _____________ or ________________.
In displacement-time graphs, displacement is always on the _____________ axis and time on

the _______________ axis. Therefore, any point on such a graph has coordinates (t,s), in which
s is the displacement after a time t.
Example 8: Describe the motion of each object.
The steepness of a displacement-time- graph is the velocity. Therefore, velocity is the

_______ of ________ displacement (i.e. the gradient of a displacement-time graph).
In words,
Average Velocity =
Average Speed =
The area under a displacement-time graph is meaningless.
10
When reading from these graphs, pay attention to the units and divisions.
When sketching these graphs:
1. Label your axes.

2. Interpret details from the questions so you can appropriately represent the
steepness of the graph during each section of travel.
3. Include the initial and/or final velocities.
Example 9: A bus travels along a straight road for 600 m. It travels at a constant velocity
for the whole journey, which takes 90 s. Sketch the displacement-time graph. What was
the velocity of the bus?
Example 10: A snooker ball moves in a straight line with a constant velocity of . It
hits the cushion directly after a time and rebounds along the same path with a
constant velocity of . Sketch the displacement-time graph. (Assume
)
11
Velocity-time graph
By convention, velocity uses the symbol _____.
Both velocity and speed have dimensions of length per unit time. However, they are not
the same. Speed is a _____________ quantity and so only has magnitude.
Velocity is a _____________ quantity and so it has both magnitude AND direction. We signify
the latter by assigning directions of motion as either positive or negative.
In velocity-time graphs, velocity is always on the _____________ axis and time on the
_______________ axis. Therefore, any point on such a graph will have coordinates (t,v), in
which v is the velocity after a time t.
Describe the motion of each object:
The total area between a velocity-time graph and the x-axis gives the distance travelled. If
you want to find the displacement, then you need to break the journey into sections and
assign them as positive or negative. Summing these sections will give you the total
displacement for the journey.
The steepness of a velocity-time graph is the acceleration. Therefore, acceleration is the

_______ of ________ (i.e. the gradient of a velocity-time graph).
12
Example 11: Figure 1 and Figure 2 illustrate the motion for a tennis ball which is thrown
vertically up in the air from a player’s hand and then falls to the ground. Each section of
the journey has been labelled on both graphs. Assess both graphs and fill in the blank
boxes with as much information as possible from both graphs.
You will encounter problems where you need to find the area under a velocity-time graph.
You can break the total journey into squares and triangles, but it is easier and less messy
to use the Area of a Trapezium. (You will also come across other numerical techniques for
integration, namely Trapezium Rule (Year 2 A-Level) and Simpson’s Rule (Further Pure 1)).
13
Figure 3 shows the velocity-time graph for a moped, which travelled between two sets of
traffic lights on a straight road.
(a) What is the moped’s acceleration in each of the time intervals OX, XY and YZ?
(b) Use area of a trapezium to determine the total distance between the two sets of traffic
lights?
14
Constant Acceleration Formulae Part 1 & 2
The constant acceleration formulae are otherwise known by the acronym SUVAT
formulae. Each of the letters in the acronym stands for different quantity.
: displacement
: initial velocity
: final velocity
: acceleration
: time
Here are some important notes about SUVAT formulae:
• Because we derive the SUVAT formulae on the basis that acceleration is constant
(see below) it means we can only use them to model cases where we assume
constant acceleration.
• It’s important you recognise these equations are for a specific interval of time
where the acceleration is the same throughout. So, the time is the duration of the
period we’re considering, not necessarily the time since the object was moving.
• Each “SUVAT” equation we will see involves 4 of the 5 quantities. Typically, in a

problem we’ll know 3 of the quantities and we wish to find an unknown 4th quantity.
We therefore select the appropriate equation.
You are expected to be able to derive and use all 5 formulae.
15
Derivation
This graph represents an object moving under constant acceleration. The initial velocity is
u, the final velocity is v, the distance travelled s, the time taken t and the acceleration is
a. You are going to derive the constant acceleration formulae by examining this graph.
Write a formula for the acceleration.
This the first SUVAT formula but you will likely see it written as:
Using the area of a trapezium, write a formula for the area under the graph.
These are the first two SUVAT formulae. The others can be derived using these.
Formula 3 – Eliminating “t” & making “ ” the subject:
Formula 4 – Eliminating “v” & making “ ” the subject:
Formula 5 – Eliminating “u” & making “ ” the subject:
16
How to use SUVAT (Constant Acceleration) Formula:
1. Draw a CLEAR diagram to illustrate the problem (indicating which direction is
positive and any other of the 5 quantities you have been told).
2. Write “SUVAT” down the left-hand side of the page (use subscripts as necessary).
3. State what values you have and indicate the value you want using a question mark
“?”.
4. Be very cautious of the signs you are using and their meaning! Make sure it is
consistent with what you have drawn in your diagram.
5. Select the appropriate equation, ensure the units are appropriate and then solve
the equation for the unknown variable. (Choose the formula that uses values given
in the question! If you use a value you have calculated and it is wrong, then you
propagate your error – not good! There is only one exception to this described in
the next point)
6. When you have two or more time intervals with DIFFERENT accelerations you need
to perform your SUVAT calculations in sections. Linking the section will be extremely
important e.g. the final velocity of the first section will be the initial velocity for the
second section – there no way around this. Be sure to carry additional decimal
places.
7. If an object is slowing down and the question asks you to find the deceleration,
make sure you state a positive value. (If you state a negative value then you are
saying the object has negative deceleration which means it is accelerating)
Important Conditions – Horizontal Motion

Consider the case when a particle travels along a horizontal path with constant acceleration (and we
have left to right as positive):
Scenario Condition
When an object is decelerating, what is
the condition for the instant the object
changes direction (and moves right to
left)?
If an object begins its motion from and

returns to after seconds, what is the
17
condition (involving time) that describes
the time taken for the object to change
direction?
If the ball starts at and decelerates to
This is because the motion when plotted
the point where it is to the left of , what
on a s-t graph is a parabola. Parabolas
can we say about the sign of the
are symmetrical!
displacement?
Problem Solving using SUVAT

Example 12: A particle is moving in a straight line from to with constant acceleration.
The particle moves from with velocity 3 . It reaches point with velocity 5 t
seconds later.
One second after the first particle leaves point A, a second particle also starts to move in a
straight line from to with constant acceleration. Its velocity at point is 4 and
reaches point with velocity 8 at the same time as the first particle.
Find:
a) the value of t
b) the distance between and
Example 13: Two particles and are moving along the same straight horizontal line with
constant accelerations 2 and 3.6 respectively. At time , passes through a
point A with speed 4 . One second later passes through with speed 3 , moving
in the same direction as .
a) Write down expressions for the displacements of and from , in terms of , where
seconds is the time after has passed through
b) Find the value of where the particles meet
18
Vertical Motion under Gravity
The only additional idea in this section is that the acceleration of an object moving
vertically is towards the centre of the Earth.
If you modelled upwards as positive, then the acceleration of the object would be a
CONSTANT .
If you modelled downwards as positive, then the acceleration of the object would be a
CONSTANT .
When air resistance is ignored, all objects fall to Earth with this CONSTANT acceleration.
To understand why, read “Falling objects” sub-section.
In Mechanics questions you will always take the magnitude of the acceleration due to
gravity as 9.8 unless a question specifies otherwise. If a different value is specified (e.g.
or ) the degree of accuracy in your answer should be chosen to be
consistent with this value.
Explanation
Imagine you have a bag of 100 marbles. If you drop each one individually from the tower,
you would be surprised if each one didn't fall at the same rate. So, if you put them all in a
bag, why would you expect the bag to fall any faster?
So, now imagine that your mass is like that bag of marbles composed of many billions of
protons and neutrons and electrons. Each tiny mass is equally accelerated by gravity, no
matter how many you have assembled together. There is only one gravity field to
accelerate each tiny mass, so each falls at the same rate, as does the bag. The acceleration
is not additive. All objects fall to the Earth at the same rate if air resistance is negligible.
19
Important Conditions – Vertical Motion
You saw this in the previous section on horizontal motion. Apply your knowledge to fill in
the boxes below.
Consider the case when a particle has been projected vertically upwards (and we have
taken upwards as positive):
Scenario Condition
What condition ALWAYS describes the
highest point?
If the particle is released from and

returns to after time seconds, what is
the condition (involving time) that
describes the time taken to get to the
highest point?
What condition describes an object

returning to height which it started?*
This is because the motion when plotted
on a
graph is a parabola. Parabolas are
symmetrical!
If the ball starts at higher than ground
level but falls to the ground, what can we
say about the sign of the displacement?
What condition describes an object

starting metres above the ground,
falling to the ground? (this is otherwise
known as the time of flight – “the time it
takes a particle to move from the point of
projection to the point it strikes horizontal
ground)
Time an object is above a certain height.
*You are probably tempted to say . (Don’t make this mistake!).
20
Example 14: Find the greatest height above ground and time of flight.
A ball is projected vertically upwards, from a point which is 7m above the ground, with
-1
speed 21 ms . Find
(a) the greatest height above the ground reached by the ball,
(b) the time of flight of the ball
Example 15: A ball is projected vertically upwards from ground level at a speed of 20 ms-
1
. Determine the amount of time the ball is at least 10m above ground level.
21
Example 16: A particle is projected vertically upwards from a point with speed 12
. One second after has been projected from , another particle is projected
vertically upwards from with speed 20 . Find:
a) The time between the instant that is projected from and the instant when
and collide
b) The distance of the point where and collide from .
22
Example 17: A ball is projected vertically upwards with speed 10 from point ,
which is 50m above the ground. seconds after the first ball is projected upwards, a
second ball is dropped from . Initially the second ball is at rest. The balls collide 25m
above ground. Find the value of .
23
Variable Acceleration in 1D
Edexcel M2 June 2013 Q3a,b
24
Edexcel M2 June 2015 Q6
25
ession
Newton’s Laws
Critical Ideas
Always draw a diagram. Drawing diagrams will not only help you understand the questions
more they may also be a requirement of the question, so get good at them. You need to
be able to interpret the information given in a question and draw a suitable diagram.
Newton's Laws of motion are critical for your Mechanics studies. These laws are
summarised below. You won’t need to quote them but having an understanding of what
they mean and how they are used will be vital to your success.
Newton’s First Law of motion:

An object at rest will stay at rest or remain at constant velocity unless acted on by an
external force.
Constant v.
F F
Newton’s Second Law of motion:
States that the resultant force acting on an objecy is directly porportional to the product
of the mass and the acceleration of the object i.e. F=ma.
Constant a.
F1 F2
Newton’s Third Law of motion is best stated as “if object 1 exerts a force on object 2,
then object 2 exerts a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction on object 1”.
Reaction Force
Weight
26
Question: Why don’t the forces just cancel?
Answer: Because they are acting on DIFFERENT objects. This is the key to this law!
1. We must always specify what direction we are resolving in.

2. The typical exam questions from this chapter have ALWAYS followed the SAME initial
steps. There is absolutely no reason why you should not be able to access the intial
marks at the very least!
3. We will begin to link in ideas from last chapter so you can get a feel for the types of
questions you will start to encounter.
27
Edexcel M1 Jan 2012 Q3
28
Newton’s Second Law and its Applications
These ideas build on Newton's first law. In the case where there is an unbalanced force
acting on an object of constant mass, the object will accelerate in the same direction in
which the unbalanced force is applied, F=ma.
When forces are involved in the question, I recommend that you assign the positive
direction as the direction in which the particle is (initially) moving in. This makes the most
sense, reduces your use of negative numbers and is what is typically done.
Edexcel M1 May 2012 Q5 (abridged)
29
Now we’ll extend our work to 2-Dimensions.
In Chapter 8 we saw that many physical quantities could have both direction and
magnitude, and therefore could be represented as a vector.
This naturally means that F = ma works with vectors too.
Example 26
Let represent East and North. A resultant force of N acts upon a particle of
mass 0.5 kg.
(a) Find the acceleration of the particle in the form ms-2.
(b) Find the magnitude and bearing of the acceleration of the particle.
30
Example 27
A boat is modelled as a particle of mass 60 kg being acted on by three forces.
Given that the boat is accelerating at a rate of ms-2, find the values of and .
Example 28
Two forces and , act on particle P. The resultant of the two forces is R.
Given that R acts in a direction which is parallel to the vector , show that
(4 marks)
31
Connected Particles – same direction – stacked objects & trailers
Newton’s Third Law of motion is best stated as “if object 1 exerts a force on object 2,
then object 2 simultaneously exerts a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction
on object 1”.
Example 29: Let’s say you have mass 85 kg and are standing in a lift which is accelerating
downwards at 0.45 ms−2.
Draw a diagram to show the forces acting on you

Calculate the force you exert on the floor of the lift.
At what value of downwards acceleration would this person begin to feel
weightless?
32
Let’s look at all the scenarios and relate these to our lived experiences. We will say there
is a person of mass kg standing in a lift of mass kg. In lift questions you are asked to
find the tension in the cable and/or the reaction force of the person in the lift. We will do
this in each case below and discuss the real-life implications of our workings.
Diagram of forces on
Scenario Equations of motion on lift/object
lift/object.
Equilibrium
(at rest or
constant
non-zero
velocity)
Accelerating
Upwards
33
Diagram of forces on
Scenario Equations of motion on lift/object
lift/object.
Accelerating
Downwards
Edexcel M1 May 2013 Q2
34
35
icles in the form of vehicles e.g. truck and
trailer or carriages and engines of a train.
To begin we will start with the following question:
Example 30:
Particle R of mass 8 kg is pulled by a horizontal force of 40 N along a rough horizontal

plane. The frictional force against this movement is 16 N
a) Draw a suitable diagram in the space provided below

b) Find the acceleration of Particle R
We will now break this Particle R into two connected masses – Particle P and Q.
Though I have split the forces arbitrarily you should notice that:
• The total mass of Particle P and Q equals Particle R.

• The resultant force on Particle P and Q is equal the resultant force on Particle R.
• Particle Q and R have individual reaction forces denoted with subscript P and Q
• And perhaps most notably, the accelerations in both scenarios are identical
What assumptions MUST we make in order to break Particle R into two connected
particles that are still accelerating at ?
36
Key Point 1: Only when particles remain in contact/connected by an inextensible
string and move in the same direction can they be considered as a single particle.
Key Point 2: By initially, considering the system as a single particle you do not
need to find the tension in the string.
Note: In some cases, you may have to consider them separately and set up two
simultaneous equations.
Key Point 3: The tension in a given piece of string is the same in any part of the
string (at a given time). The tension acts AWAY from each particle in the same
line as the string.
37
38
39
Connected Particles – pulleys
Pulleys are your "God sent" questions because the way you approach them is always the
same more so than any other type of question. More challenging problems will link SUVAT
problems, but these should be a relatively simple addition based on our previous work.
Examiners often check your use of assumptions when you are asked a question involving
connected particles and so make sure you know them and can state them appropriately.
Example 31
Particles and , of masses and , are attached to the ends of a light inextensible
string. The string passes over a small smooth fixed pulley and the masses hang with the
string taut. The system is released from rest.
(a) Draw a diagram to represent the scenario described

(b) Describe how the system will behave once the particles are released?
(c) Write down
i. an equation of motion for .
ii. an equation of motion for .
(d) Find the acceleration of each mass.
(e) Find the tension in the string.
(f) Find the force exerted on the pulley by the string.
(g) Find the distance moved by in the first 4 s, assuming that does not reach the
pulley.
(h) State how you have used the fact that the
i. pulley is smooth
ii. string is light and inextensible
40
41
The typical pulley question will include one of the particles becoming a projectile. Be very
careful about the time periods. When both particles are moving, the system accelerates
with a certain acceleration. When a particle hits the floor, the acceleration of the moving
particle will change.
Fill in the table to explain how it will change in the two different scenarios.
Scenario Sketch What will be the new acceleration of A as

it travels upwards after B hits the floor,
Both
particles
hang from
either side
of the
pulley.
Describe why the acceleration of A will

change. Will it increase or decrease now
that B has hit the floor?
One particle
hangs
(vertical)
and the
other is on
a horizontal
surface
42
43
44
ession
Projectile Motion
In this chapter we will model problems involving projectiles. A projectile is an object upon
which the only force acting is gravity. Remember that in this course, we take gravity as
causing a constant acceleration downwards of 9.8 ms-2 (unless told otherwise in the
question).
We have previously covered projectile motion where the particle is dropped straight down
or thrown straight up and then falls straight down (air resistance is considered negligible).
Now we will extend our knowledge base to model problems where the projectile is thrown
at an angle and so there is movement in both x- and y-planes.
Constant Acceleration formulae (SUVAT formulae) are given in the formula booklet that
you will receive in your exam. They are also listed here:
By definition, a projectile has a single force that acts upon it - the force of gravity. If there
were any other force acting upon an object, then that object would not be a projectile.
Thus, the free-body diagram of a projectile would show a single force acting downwards,
as shown in the diagram below.
The key to solving these problems is to separately consider the motion in the vertical and
horizontal directions:
In VERTICAL direction, acceleration downwards is

Use suvat equations as before.
In HORIZONTAL direction, acceleration is 0

Constant velocity in this direction, so can use bog standard
45
Example 18: A particle is projected horizontally at from a point 78.4 metres
above a horizontal surface. Find:
(a) the time taken by the particle to reach the surface

(b) the horizontal distance travelled in that time.
(c) the distance of the impact point from the original point.
(d) the distance of the particle from the point of projection after 3 seconds
46
Angles of Projection – Horizontal & Vertical Components
You need to understand how to resolve initial projection velocities that are given at an
angle (usually relative to a horizontal plane).
Just as we split forces into its horizontal and vertical components, in order to consider
forces in the horizontal and vertical directions respectively, we can do the same with
velocity!
When a particle is projected with initial speed ,

at an angle to the horizontal, it moves along a
symmetrical curve.
The speed is known as the speed of projection.
The angle is known as the angle of projection

(or angle of elevation) of the particle.
The initial projection speed can be resolved into

two components as shown to the right.
NOTE: Any particle projected at an angle will have initial horizontal and vertical velocities,
which you will usually need to resolve separately. When is equal to 0 there is no vertical
component and . In this case the problems become Horizonal Projection problems
which we covered in the last section.
Projection at any angle

We need to understand terminology and features of projectiles.
Distance from the point of projection to point it strikes the horizontal plane is called the:
Time the particle takes to move from point of projection to the point it strikes the
horizontal plane is called the:
47
Example 19: A particle is projected from a point on a horizontal plane with speed 28
-1
ms and with angle of elevation . After projection, the particle moves freely under
gravity until it strikes the plane at a point . Find:
(a) the greatest height above the plane reached by

(b) the time of flight of
(c) the range of
48
49
Edexcel M2 (Old) May 2012 Q7
50
Edexcel A Level Summer 2019 Q5
51
Deriving Projectile Motion Formulae
Exam Note: You may be asked to derive the projectile motion formulae. But do not attempt
to memorise them or use them to solve exam problems – instead use the techniques from
earlier in the chapter.
All previous assumptions apply but note that these are for the special case when the
particle is projected at an angle from a point on a horizontal plane and that moves freely
under gravity.
Example 20:
A particle is projected from a point on a horizontal plane with an initial velocity at an angle
above the horizontal and moves freely under gravity until it hits the plane at point .
Given that that acceleration due to gravity is , find expressions for:
(a) the time of flight,
(b) the range, , on the horizontal plane.
Example 21:
A particle is projected from a point with speed at an angle of elevation and moves freely
under gravity. When the particle has moved a horizontal distance , its height above the point of
projection is .
(a) Show that
A particle is projected from a point on a horizontal plane, with speed 28 ms-1 at an angle of
elevation . The particle passes through a point , which is at a horizontal distance of 32m from
and at a height of 8m above the plane.
(b) Find the two possible values of , giving your answers to the nearest degree.
52
Motion in 2D Using Vectors
Position vector of particle:
Where is initial position and is velocity.
This gives the (final) position of a particle that starts from initial position r0 and moves with
constant velocity v after t seconds.
Simpler still, think of it as adding the displacement you travel vt to your starting position
r0. This will give your final position.
Example 22: A particle starts from the position vector m and moves with constant
-1
velocity ms .
(a) Find the position vector of the particle 4 seconds later.

(b) Find the time at which the particle is due east of the origin.
53
Edexcel M1(Old) May 2013(R) Q6
54
So far we have only covered constant acceleration formulae in 1-Dimension, i.e. movement
right(+)/left(-) or up(+)/down(-). In Year 2 Chapter 6 (Projectiles), we looked at motion in
two planes, but we worked with horizontal and vertical motion entirely separately.
We can extend the use of vectors to our much-loved SUVAT formula. There are two
important points to note:
1. By convention, we use r instead of s for displacement in 2D/3D
2. We cannot use (because you cannot multiply a vector by another

vector using normal multiplication rules. To use this formula successfully you would
have to use the “dot product” (sometimes referred to as the “Scalar product”)
which is a method only Further Mathematicians will encounter in their Core
Mathematics studies).
In the space below, write the remaining 2D/3D SUVAT formula:
1.
2.
3.
4.
55
Example 23: An ice skater is skating on a large flat ice rink. At time the skater is at a
-1
fixed point and is travelling with velocity ms .
-1
At time s the skater is travelling with velocity ms .
Relative to , the skater has position vector at time seconds.
Modelling the ice skater as a particle with constant acceleration, find:
(a) The acceleration of the ice skater

(b) An expression for in terms of
(c) The time at which the skater is directly north-east of .
A second skater travels so that she has position vector m relative to at time
.
56
Vector Methods with Projectiles
Previously, we analysed projectile motion by considering the horizontal and vertical
components of velocity separately (i.e. we used the initial speed of the projectile and the
angle of projection). This is shown in the diagram below.
But we could also use a velocity vector to represent the initial projection (vectors have
both direction and magnitude) and subsequent motion. To do this, we will use the diagram
on the right since it is already resolved into its vector components.
We go through our normal problem-solving approach, remembering that in our projectile

model:
• the horizontal component of velocity is constant

• acceleration due to gravity accelerates the particle downwards
• we will take upwards as being positive
Therefore, the velocity vector that describes the horizontal motion of the ball is:
The velocity vector that describes the vertical motion of the ball is:
(This is from )
Combining the two gives us the overall velocity vector:
It is much clearer to use column vectors:
If you were asked for the speed of the ball at a certain time, you would input the value for
t and then use Pythagoras to find the magnitude of the velocity. You should see this as a
very small development to what you have already covered in Chapter 6. In this section,
you are simply finding the horizontal and vertical components for position, velocity or
acceleration separately before bringing them together in one vector.
57
Example 24: A ball is struck by a racket from a point which has position vector m
-1
relative to a fixed origin . Immediately after being struck, the ball has velocity ms ,
where and are unit vectors horizontally and vertically respectively. After being struck, the
ball travels freely under gravity until it strikes the ground at point .
(a) Find the speed of the ball 1.5 seconds after being struck.
(b) Find an expression for the position vector, , of the ball relative to at time seconds.
[Don’t forget the starting position of the ball, how does this affect your equations?]
(c) Hence determine the distance .
58
Differentiating Vectors
Note: Dot notation is a shorthand for differentiation with respect to time:
Example 25: A particle of mass 0.8kg is acted on by a single force N. Relative to a

fixed origin , the position vector of at time seconds is metres, where:
Find:
(a) the speed of when

(b) the acceleration of as a vector when
(c) when .
59
60
Integrating Vectors
61
62
ession
Friction and its Applications

You can extend this process to particles on an inclined plane.
Horizontal Inclined Plane
Reaction Reaction
Force Driving
Force
Force
Driving
Force
Friction
Friction
Weight
Weight
Gap Fill:
We resolve _______________for the driving We resolve _______________ to the plane for

force and friction. the driving force and friction.
We resolve ___________ for the weight and We resolve ___________ to the plane for the
reaction force. weight and reaction force.
The weight acts _____________ The weight still acts _____________
Any movement will be parallel to the plane (and we always then consider the direction
which is perpendicular to any movement).
However, gravity will always work in a vertical direction (as shown in the diagram) and so
the objects weight must be split (resolved) into parallel and perpendicular components.
From your life experience, you know that when an object is tilted on a plane there is an
angle at which the force of friction is overcome, and the object slides down the plane. This
is because the component of the weight acting against friction increases and the friction
force decreases with an increase in angle.
i.e. the weight of the object becomes increasingly important as the plane tilts.
This is why standing on a treadmill as the incline is increased becomes more and more
difficult and also (partly) why running uphill is more difficult than on flat ground.
63
Component of Weight Acting against Expression
As part of the mathematical modelling process we have applied one of two

simplifications. Either we have modelled the planes to be smooth or we have used a
constant friction force irrespective of the tension pulling the particle. As a result we have
dealt with constant friction forces when an object is being pulled or pushed.
In fact, frictionless planes do not exist and we know there can be significant energy
losses through friction therefore this simplification must be refined to closer model the
real-world problems.
To refine our model, we are interested in the following three scenarios:
64
The maximum friction between two surfaces:
Where is the coefficient of friction and is the normal reaction between two surfaces.
This ‘maximum friction’ depends on two things:
How rough the surface is (i.e. the rougher the surface, the more force required before
the block starts moving).
How hard the block is pressing against the surface (and more formally, by application
of Newton’s 3rd Law, how large the reaction force is).
Edexcel M1 J
65
66
Edexcel M1 January 2004 Q4
67
ession
Moments
For moments, we replace the particle Movement is only up

with a straight rod (often called a or down. No rotation.
lamina)
Imagine the rod had a fixed ‘pivot

point’
6N
If a force acts on the rod through the ROTATION
pivot point, what will the rotational
effect be?
_______________________________
6N
If the force is moved to the side
however, the rod will rotate around
the pivot point ROTATION
_______________________________
The turning motion caused by a force

is dependent on: 20N
ROTATION
The magnitude of the force:
A bigger force causes “more turn”
The distance the force is from the

pivot point: 6N
A larger distance causes “more turn”
68
5 Quickfire Questions: In each case, find the moment of the force about point P.
69
70
When a rigid body is on the point of tilting about a pivot, the reaction at any other suppor
(or tension in any other wire/string) is _________.
Assumption: You might think that these rods would bend/flex (like a plank of wood might)
but don’t forget we have modelled these rods as being rigid bodies. This means there is no
deformation (bending or buckling) under applied forces – shape and dimensions remain
fixed at all times.
Edexcel M1(Old) May 2013 Q6
71
72
Static Rigid Bodies
Recall from the chapter on moments that for rigid body in static equilibrium:
• The body is stationary
• The resultant force in any direction is 0 N.
• The resultant moment about any point is 0 Nm.
Additional Key Points:
(d) Reaction forces ALWAYS act perpendicular to the surface.

(e) The direction of the frictional force is ALWAYS opposite to the direction in which
the body would move if the frictional force were absent.
(f) Friction and Reaction forces are ALWAYS perpendicular to each other!
(g)
(h) Forces act through an infinite line
Edexcel M2- Equilibrium problems (PhysicsAndMathsTutor.com) Q10
73
74
75
76
77
78
79

PMT Courses: Mechanics A-Level As Er Crash Course

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

PMT Courses: Mechanics A-Level As Er Crash Course

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

PMT Courses: Mechanics A-Level As Er Crash Course

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

PMT Courses

– Concept of a Force and Resolving Forces

– Newton’s second law and its Applications

– Friction and its Applications

“Mechanics is a branch of physical

other. dimensions remain

Material is unevenly distributed

- Resolve all forces parallel (And perpendicular) to the direction of motion.

- Substitute in your values.

Example 1: Which of these diagrams is the most appropriate and why?

Forces you need to know:

Name of Force: Behaviour/Direction of Action

Resolve the following quantities into their x and y components:

Example 2: List 4 different Système International units

For example, 36 cm in mm is found by: Conversion factor

3) 8.5 m/s into km/hr

Vector & Scalar Quantities

Example 5: Find the magnitude of the vector 4i+8j

Graphs of Motion in a Straight Line

1. Noticeably different gradients (steepness of lines) to illustrate different

Sketches do not need to be to scale.

Sketch a velocity-time graph to illustrate the motion of the train.

Displacement uses the symbol ______.

Displacement is a _____________ quantity and so it has both magnitude AND direction. We

In displacement-time graphs, displacement is always on the _____________ axis and time on

Example 8: Describe the motion of each object.

The steepness of a displacement-time- graph is the velocity. Therefore, velocity is the

The area under a displacement-time graph is meaningless.

When sketching these graphs:

1. Label your axes.

By convention, velocity uses the symbol _____.

Describe the motion of each object:

The steepness of a velocity-time graph is the acceleration. Therefore, acceleration is the

Here are some important notes about SUVAT formulae:

• Each “SUVAT” equation we will see involves 4 of the 5 quantities. Typically, in a

You are expected to be able to derive and use all 5 formulae.

Write a formula for the acceleration.

Formula 3 – Eliminating “t” & making “ ” the subject:

Formula 4 – Eliminating “v” & making “ ” the subject:

Formula 5 – Eliminating “u” & making “ ” the subject:

Important Conditions – Horizontal Motion

If an object begins its motion from and

Problem Solving using SUVAT

b) Find the value of where the particles meet

If the particle is released from and

What condition describes an object

What condition describes an object

Time an object is above a certain height.

*You are probably tempted to say . (Don’t make this mistake!).

b) The distance of the point where and collide from .

Newton’s First Law of motion:

Newton’s Second Law of motion:

1. We must always specify what direction we are resolving in.

Edexcel M1 May 2012 Q5 (abridged)

This naturally means that F = ma works with vectors too.

A boat is modelled as a particle of mass 60 kg being acted on by three forces.

Draw a diagram to show the forces acting on you

Edexcel M1 May 2013 Q2

To begin we will start with the following question:

We resolve _for the driving We resolve _ to the plane for

The weight acts _ The weight still acts _