Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

physics paper 1 > mechanics > Flashcards

mechanics Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
Physics 101 flashcards AP® Physics flashcards
1
Q

when a object is in equilibrium, what are the forces doing?

A

all forces acting on it are balanced and cancel each other out. there is no resultant force acting on the object

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

how do you find a missing magnitude of a force when a particle is in equilibrium and three forces are acting (one vertical another horizontal, one diagonal)?

A

draw the forces tip to tail, then use Pythagorus to work out the missing length.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

how to resolve three forces at different angles for a body in equilibrium

A

sum of the vertical components = 0
sum of the horizontal components=0
work these out using trigonometry

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

what’s a good way of investigating equilibrium?

A

force boards- you can apply forces to an object in different directions and when at equilibrium, the object will be in the middle.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

what are the two main types of friction?

A

contact- between solid surfaces
fluid-liquid or gas

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

what are the three factors that effect fluid friction?

A

the thickness (viscosity) of the fluid
force increases as speed increases
the larger the area pushing against the fluid, the greater the resistive force

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

what do frictional forces convert kinetic energy into?

A

heat

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

what is lift force?

A

an upward force on an object moving through a fluid

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

when does a lift force occur?

A

when the shape of an object causes the fluid flowing over it to change direction

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

when does terminal speed occur?

A

when frictional forces equal the driving force
an object will reach it at some point if there’s a driving force that is constant and a resistive force that increases with speed

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

what will happen to the forces if a car speeds up with a constant driving force?

A

the air resistance on it will increase as speed increases until its equal to the driving force, it will then be travelling at maximum speed and terminal velocity

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

what are the two main ways of increasing a car’s maximum speed?

A

increase driving force eg. increase engine size
reduce frictional force eg. more streamlined

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

how could you investigate terminal speed in a fluid?

A

put elastic bands around the tube of viscous liquid at fixed distances using a ruler
drop a ball bearing into the tube
use a stopwatch to record the time it reaches each band
repeat this, use a strong magnet to remove the ball bearing from the tube
calculate and average time and use this and distance to work out average velocity

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

as soon as a skydiver leave the plane what happens and when do they reach terminal velocity?

A

they accelerate downwards until air resistance equals their weight
they will then travel at terminal velocity
this velocity is too large to land safely so just before hitting the ground open parachute
this immediately increases air resistance so its bigger then weight
this slows them down until weight equals air resistance again
then reaches a lower terminal velocity which is small enough to survive the landing

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

what’s newton’s first law of motion?

A

the velocity of an object will not change unless a resultant force acts against it

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

what’s newton’s second law?

A

the acceleration of an object is proportional to the resultant force acting on it
F=ma

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

what’s newton’s third law?

A

if object A exerts a force on object B, then object B will exert and equal and opposite force on object A

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

how can you find change in velocity from an acceleration time graph?

A

area under the graph

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

how do you find acceleration from a velocity time graph?

A

the gradient

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

how do you find displacement from a velocity time graph?

A

area under the line

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

whats an ultrasound position detector?

A

a type of data-logger that automatically records the distance from the sensor multiple times every second

22
Q

what are some advantages of using data loggers over traditional methods for drawing graphs?

A

more accurate data, eliminates human reaction time
much higher sampling rate then humans
you can see the data displayed in real time

23
Q

if an object is accelerating, what will the displacement-time graph look like?

A

curved line with an increasing gradient

24
Q

when is linear momentum conserved?

A

assuming there is no external forces, always

25
Q

what is conserved in an elastic collision?

A

momentum and KE

26
Q

during an inelastic collision, what happens to the KE and momentum?

A

some of the KE is transferred into other forms during the collision
linear momentum is conserved

27
Q

what is impulse?

A

the product of force and time, its equal to change in momentum

28
Q

how can you work out impulse from a force-time graph?

A

its the area underneath

29
Q

what do crumple zones on cars do?

A

the parts on the front and back of the car crumple up and deform plastically on impact. this causes the car to take longer to stop, increasing impact time and decreasing the force on passengers. some of the cars KE goes to charging shape of vehicle so less is transferred to passengers

30
Q

what do seat bents do?

A

stretch slightly, increasing the time taken for the wearer to stop which reduces the force acting on the chest

31
Q

what do air bags do?

A

slow down passengers more gradually and prevent them hitting hard surfaces in the car

32
Q

what’s the definition of a JOULE

A

one joule is the work done when a force of 1 newton moves an object through 1 metre

33
Q

what is power?

A

the rate of doing work, the amount of energy transferred from one form to another per second

34
Q

what’s the definition of a WATT

A

a rate of energy transfer equal to 1 joule per second

35
Q

what does the area under a force-displacement graph tell you?

A

the work done

36
Q

what is the principle of conservation of energy?

A

states that energy cannot be created or destroyed. energy can be transferred from one form to another but the total amount of energy in a closed system won’t change

37
Q

how do you work out elastic potential energy?

A

E=1/2(k)(extension)^2

where k= stiffness of object

38
Q

how can you investigate efficiency of an electric motor as it lifts a mass through a vertical distance?

A

as the mass is raised, use an ammeter to measure current. you can then find electrical energy using E=ItV. t is the time taken to move the mass, V is the power supply voltage. you can then find gpe.
efficiency= mgh/ItV

39
Q

what is the centre of mass?

A

single point where you can consider all of its weight to act

40
Q

experiment to find the centre of mass of a flat object

A

hand the object freely from a point eg. its corner
draw a vertical line downwards from point of suspension
hand the object at a different point and draw another vertical line down
centre of mass is where these two lines cross

41
Q

how can you find the resultant vector of two vectors?

A

draw a tip to tail diagram then measure the length and angle of the resultant

42
Q

what’s the gravitational field strength on the moon?

A

1.6

43
Q

what is moment?

A

the turning effect of a force around a turning point

44
Q

what is the principle of moments?

A

states that for a body to bee in equilibrium, the sum of clockwise moments about any point = the sum of anticlockwise moments

45
Q

what are couple forces?

A

a pair of forces of equal size which act parallel to each other but in opposite directions
produces a turning effect (moment)

46
Q

what is free fall?

A

when there’s gravity acting on an object and nothing else
-the motion of an object undergoing the acceleration of g

47
Q

what was Galileo’s free fall experiment

A

he believed that all objects fall at the same rate
he measured the time a ball took to roll down a smooth groove in an inclined plane
by rolling the ball along different fractions of the total length of the slope, he found that distance travelled was proportional to the square of the time taken

48
Q

why do all objects fall at the same rate?

A

the acceleration is independent of the mass so it makes no difference what the mass is

49
Q

how can you determine g using freefall? RP3

A

-drop a ball bearing onto a trap door using an electromagnet
-measure the height from the bottom of the ball bearing to the trapdoor
-flick the switch to simultaneously start the timer and disconnect the electromagnetic, releasing the ball bearing
-the ball bearing falls, knocking the trap door down and breaking the circuit which stops the timer
-repeat 3 times and find an average time then repeat but dropping the ball from different heights
-plot a graph h-t^2 to find g

50
Q

what’s the most significant source of error when determining g using freefall?

A

random error for the value taken for height. uncertainty of the ruler 1mm

and there’s a small systematic error if there’s a delay in the switch or timing mechanism

51
Q

A spherical particle Q is fired at a right angle to the surface of an identical block.
Q has the same mass as P and is travelling at the same speed as P when it strikes the surface of the block.
Q is made from a less dense material than P.
Compare the distance travelled by Q with that travelled by P as they are brought to rest.
(3 marks)

A

-Q has a larger volume (for the same mass and KE) /
-Q has a larger surface area (for the same mass and KE) ✔
-Q will experience a greater resistive force (at any given speed) / Q will displace more matter per unit distance✔
-Q will do more work per unit distance / Q will transfer more of its kinetic energy per unit distance / Q will experience a greater deceleration✔
Must have Q will travel a shorter distance for all 3 marks.

52
Q

average speed of humans walking

A

1-2m/s

physics paper 1 (7 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions