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2020/21 Academic Year Physics Lesson Note for Grade 9

Free fall
Free fall is a kind of motion where the acceleration of an object is the acceleration due to gravity.
According to Galileo Galilei, ignoring air resistance, the acceleration of falling objects (heavy and
light) can be considered as uniform, (g = 9.81m/s2).
In free fall the initial velocity is zero.
u=0
Downward motion
V= u +gt =gt
h

Examples
1. A stone is released from a 45m tall tree. How long the stone take to strike the ground?

⇒t = = = 3 sec.

Upward motion V=0

V = u –gt
h
u

Examples
1. If a marble is thrown vertically upward with a velocity of 60m/s,
a. What will be the velocity of the stone at 4 seconds?
V= u – gt = 60m/s – (10m/s2 x 4sec) = 20m/s
b. How many seconds will it take to reach its maximum height?

= 6sec.

c. For how long will it stay in air? tT = 6sec + 6sec =12sec

2. A ball is thrown vertically upward from the top of a 100m tall building with a velocity of
40m/s. How high is the ball from the ground?(Ans. H = 180m)

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Physics Lesson Note for Grade 9

Relative velocity in one dimension
Motion and position are relative. They depend on frame of reference. The frame of reference can
be stationary or moving at constant velocity.
The most common frame of reference is the earth.
 The relative velocity between two moving bodies is given by the difference of their
velocities.
a. When two bodies A and B are moving with velocities VA and VB in the same direction,
- The velocity of body A relative to body B is given by:
VAB = VA - VB
- The velocity of body B relative to body A is given by:
VBA = VB - VA
b. When two bodies A and B are moving with velocities VA and VB in opposite direction,
- The velocity of body A relative to body B is given by:
VAB = VA + VB
- The velocity of body B relative to body A is given by:
VBA = VA + VB
Examples
1. A car driver observes a motorcycle is moving at 20km/hr relative to him. If the velocity of the
motorcycle relative to the ground is 64km/hr, what is the velocity of the car relative to the
ground?
Given: Vmc = 20km/hr and Vm = 64km/hr
Vmc = Vm – Vc
20km/hr = 64km/hr - Vc
Vc = 44km/hr
2. A motorcycle policeman traveling at 90km/hr north overtakes a car traveling at 40km/hr
north.
a. What is the velocity of the policeman relative to the car?
Vpc = Vp – Vc = 90km/hr – 40km/hr = 50km/hr north.
b. What is the velocity of the policeman relative to the car?
Vcp = Vc – Vp = 40km/hr – 90km/hr = -50km/hr northor 50km/hr south.
3. Two cars are approaching each other. Car A is moving at 45km/hr east and car B at 70km/hr
west.
a. What is the velocity of car A relative to the car B?

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Physics Lesson Note for Grade 9

 VAB = VA – VB = 45km/hr east + 70km/he east = 115km/hr east.
b. What is the velocity of car B relative to the car A?
VBA = VB – VA = 70km/hr west + 45km/he west = 115km/hrwest.

UNIT - 3
Force and Newton’s laws of motion
Force in nature
Force is a push or a pull that is exerted on a body.
A force has – magnitude
- direction and
- point of application
There are different types of forces. Some of them are gravitational force, electrostatic force,
friction force, buoyant force, tension, drag force, magnetic force.

Contact and non-contact forces

a. Contact force is the force exerted by a body on another body when they are in contact.
Examples:
- frictional force - up thrust(buoyant) force
- drag force( air and water resistance) - tension
b. Non–contact force is a force exerted by a body on another body at a distance.
Examples: - Gravitational force
- Electromagnetic force
- Magnetic force

Effects of a force
A force has the following effects.
i. It causes an object to move, to speed up or slow down.
ii. It causes a moving object to stop.
iii. It causes to change the direction of motion.
iv. It changes the shape and size of an object. This is called deformation.
Force is measured by an instrument called Newton-meter or spring balance or force meter.

Newton’s laws of motion

1. Newton’s first law
This law explains what effects forces have on objects.

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Physics Lesson Note for Grade 9

Newton’s first law states that “An object will remain at rest or traveling at a constant velocity
unless acted upon by an external force”.
Newton’s first law means that a force is always make an object to:
- speed up
- slow down
- change the direction of motion
If the object is not doing one of these, there is no resultant (net) force acting on it. So it might be at
rest or moving with constant velocity.
Mass and inertia
Inertia is the property of a body to remain at rest or moving at steady (constant) speed in a
straight line in the absence of external force. The inertia of a body depends on the mass of the
body.
The greater the mass of the body, the higher its inertia is.
Hooke’s law
Robert Hooke investigated the effects of a force on a spring.
According to Hooke’s law “The force applied on aspring is
directly proportional to the extension(Δx) of the spring up to
Δx
the elastic limit of the spring”.
F constant(k)

F = k Δx where, F – force
Δx – extension or compression (in meter) F
k – Spring or stiffness constant (in N /m)
F(N)
Graphically,

ΔX (m)

The gradient (slope) of the graph is equal

M) to the spring constant (k).
Elastic limit is a point up to which a spring stretches elastically.
Different springs have different elastic limits.
Elastic deformation is the deformation where the force
F(N) plastic region
applied is directly proportional to the extension and where
the spring (object) will return to its original length when the
force is removed. Elastic limit
Plastic deformation is the deformation where the force applied
Elastic region
is not directly proportional to the extension and where the

Δx(m)
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Physics Lesson Note for Grade 9

spring (object) will not return to its original length when the
force is removed.
Examples
1. A spring is stretched by 9cm when a 36N force is applied to it. What is the force constant of the
spring?

2. What force is required to stretch a spring by 15cm if the force constant of the spring is
800N/m?

3. A 15kg is suspended on a vertical spring of stiffness constant 600N/m. By how much does
the spring stretch?

Exercise F(N)
The force constants of three springs A, B and C are shown in the figure. A

a. Which one has the greatest spring constant? B

b. Which one has the least spring constant?
C

Δx(m)
2. Newton’s second law
Newton’s second law states that “The acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the
net or resultant force acting on it and inversely proportional to the mass of the object”.

The direction of the acceleration is in the direction of the resultant (net) force.
What is the difference between balanced and unbalanced forces?
Equilibrant force is a force that is always equal in magnitude to the resultant (net) force but it
acts in the opposite direction.
Fequilibrant = -Fresultant
Examples
1. How much is the acceleration of a 15kg block when a 27N force acts on it?
1.8m/s2
2. What force is required to accelerate a 20kg object at a rate of 3m/s2?

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Physics Lesson Note for Grade 9

3. A 1N force is needed to move a 400g stone on a horizontal level. What is the acceleration of
the stone?
= 2.5m/s2

4. Look at the figure.

670N 40kg 750N
a. Are the forces balanced or unbalanced?
Fnet = 750N – 670N = 80N, east. The forces are unbalanced.
b. What is the magnitude and direction of the acceleration?
= 2m/s2

c. What is the equilibrant force?

Fequilibrant = 80N, west
5. A tennis ball contacts with the racquet for much less than one second. High speed
photographs show that the speed of the ball changes from -30m/s to 30m/s in 0.006seconds.
If the mass of the ball is 0.5kg, how much force is applied by the racquet?
6. A 20kg block is under the action of two perpendicular forces. Look at the figure.
Find the magnitude and direction of the acceleration.
60N

80N
37
20kg
2
= 5m/s , 37 above the x- axis

Mass and weight

Mass- measures the quantity of matter.

- Constant everywhere

Weight-is gravitational pull of the earth on objects.

- varies from place to place.

The weight of an object with a mass (m) is given by W = mg.

gmoon = gearth

Examples
1. Find the weight of the following masses. (g = 10m/s2)

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Physics Lesson Note for Grade 9

a.18kg b. 600gram

2. What is the weight of the following masses on the Moon? (g = m/s2).

a. 18kg b. 600gram
3. The weight of an object on the earth is found to be 720N.
a. what is the mass of the object?

b. how much is the weight of the object on the moon?

Wmoon

True and apparent weightlessness

True weightlessness
- In deep space (far from planets and stars) acceleration due to gravity is zero and the weight of an
object becomes zero. This is called true weightlessness.
Apparent weightlessness
- Apparent weightlessness occurs when the force acting on an object is gravity. It is a phenomenon
that we feel like our weight has increased or decreased.
Assume you are in a lift or an elevator,
i. When the lift accelerates upward, you feel like your weight has increased. This is called apparent
weight.
FN – mg = ma
The apparent weight is, FN = mg +ma
ii. When the lift accelerates downward, you feel like your weight has decreased.
mg - FN =ma
The apparent weight is, FN = mg - ma
iii. When the lift upward or downward with constant velocity, a = 0.
FN – mg = ma
The apparent weight is, FN = mg
iv. When the lift cable breaks suddenly it falls freely, FN=0
a=g
Examples
1. Sara has a mass of 46kg. She is in a lift. Calculate:
a. her weight when the lift moves up or down with constant velocity.
W = mg =
b. her apparent weight when the lift accelerates up ward at 3m/s2.

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Physics Lesson Note for Grade 9

FN = mg +ma =
c. her apparent weight when the lift accelerates downward at 3m/s2.
FN = mg – ma =
Frictional force
Frictional force is a force exerted between two bodies when one body moves over another body.
Frictional force is caused by tiny bumps between surfaces.
It is always opposite to the motion of a body. FN

Frictional force depends up on: F

i. the normal force(FN) f

ii. coefficient of friction (µ) means the roughness of a surface. w

f = µ FNwhere, f- friction force
FN – normal force
µ - coefficient of friction
In horizontal surface,FN = mg
Types of frictional force
a. Static friction is the force of friction between two bodies when one body tries to move over
another body but not yet moving.
b. Limiting friction is the maximum value of static friction.
c. Kinetic (dynamic) friction is the force of friction between two bodies when one body
moves over another.
→ Frictional force does NOT depend on the contact area of the interacting surfaces.
Examples
1. A 9kg block is moving along a leveled surface with a constant speed. The coefficient of
friction between the block and the surface is 0.4. What is the force of friction?
f = µ FNFN = mg = 9kg x 10m/s2 = 90N
f = (0.4) x (90N) = 36N
2. A 50kg wooden block is placed on a horizontal surface. The maximum coefficient of
friction is 0.3. What force should be applied to move the block?
f = µFN = (0.3) x (50kg) x (10m/s2) =150N
Fapplied = fmaximum = 150N
3. Look at the figure. A block of mass 60kg moves over a leveled surface where the coefficient
of friction is 0.15. What is the acceleration of the block?
f = µ FN = µFN =µmg = (0.15) x (60kg x 10m/s2) = 90N
f 60kg 144N
Fnet = F – f = 144N – 90N = 54N

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Physics Lesson Note for Grade 9

 0.9 m/s2

4. As shown in the figure below, a girl pulls a 4kg concrete using a rope making 37°to the
horizontal by applying 50N force on the rope.The coefficient of friction is 0.8.
Calculate the acceleration of the concrete. (sin37 = 0.6, cos37 = 0.8)
The x- component of the force acceleratesthe concrete.
Fx = F = 50N x 0.8= 40N 50N
Fy =F = 50N x 0.6 = 30N
FN + Fy = mg 37

f 4kg
FN = mg – Fy = 40N – 30N = 10N
f = µ FN = (0.8) (10N) = 8N
Fnet = Fx – f = 40N – 8N = 32N

= 8m/s2

Frictional force on an inclined plan

FN= mg FN
f
f= FN = mg
i. If the block accelerates downward without friction,
the acceleration of the block is given by: mgsin
mgcos
Fnet = mg –f
ma = mg
a=g
ii. If there is a force of friction,
Fnet = mg –f
ma = mg –
a=g(
Examples
1. Look at the figure. A 30kg block is on an inclined plane at an angle of 37 .
(sin37° = 0.6 and cos37° = 0.8) f
a. How much is the normal force?
FN = mg = (30kg) (10m/s2) = 300 x 0.8 = 240N
b. What is the value of the friction force between the block
and the inclined plane if ?
f= FN = (0.4) x 240N = 96N

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Physics Lesson Note for Grade 9

 c. Neglecting friction if the block is sliding down, what will be the acceleration of the
block?
a=g = 10m/s2x = 10m/s2 x 0.6 = 6m/s2
d. If the block is sliding down with friction ( , what will be the acceleration of the
block?
a=g( = 10(0.6 – (0.4) x (0.8) = 2.8m/s2
Methods of reducing friction
It is impossible to avoid frictional force from a surface but we can reduce it by:
- polishing the surface
- lubrication
- using rolling instead of sliding.
Advantages and disadvantages of friction
→Some of the advantages are: →Some of the disadvantages are:
- to walk, - causes clothes and shoes to wear out.
- to write, - causes to wastage of energy.
- a car to move, - produce sound in machines.
- a moving car to stop .

3.Newton’s third law

Newton’s third law states that “To every action there is always an equal but opposite
reaction”.
FA = -FR
If a body A exerts a force on body B, body B will also exerts an equal but opposite force on
body A.
Action and reaction forces have the following characteristics.
• equal in magnitude
• same type
• act on different bodies
• exert in pair
• do not cancel to each other
Application of Newton’s third law
Some of the applications are:
- launching a rocket
- firing a bullet
- walking, jumping

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Physics Lesson Note for Grade 9

 - moving the tires of a car.

The first condition of equilibrium

A body is said to be in the first condition of equilibrium, the vector sum of all forces acting
on the body is zero.It means that the body is at rest or moving with constant velocity.
∑Fnet = 0 that is ∑Fx =0 and ∑Fy = 0

Start/end
a. b. start
end

It is in equilibrium becauseFnet = 0 It is not in equilibrium becauseFnet 0

Exercise
1. Look at the figure below. The mass attached with the two strings is in equilibrium.
Find the tensions in the strings. (T1 and T2)

60kg

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Physics Lesson Note for Grade 9

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“ፈጣሪ የምንወዳቸውን ልጆቻችንን፣ ህዝባችንን እና ሀገራችንን ይጠብቅልን!”

Physics Lesson Note for Grade 9