Paper 1 Topics Flashcards
State two conditions for any object to be in equilibrium
Resultant force zero
Resultant moment about any point zero
State three vector quantities
Any 3 of the following:
Velocity
Acceleration
Force
Displacement
Weight
Momentum
State three scalar quantities
Any 3 of the following:
Speed
Distance
Mass
Energy
Power
Temperature
How can force vectors be arranged to show that an object has constant velocity?
- Vectors make a closed shape when rearranged (by scale drawing)
- Or resolve into components and show
- Total up forces = Total Down forces
- Total left forces = Total right forces
What is the difference between a vector quantity and a scalar quantity?
Vector has a direction
Scalar does not
What is meant by centre of mass?
The point in a body where the weight of the object appears to act
Also the resultant moment about this point = 0
Define the moment of a force
Product of the force and the perpendicular distance from the line of action of the force to the point
State the principle of moments
Sum of the clockwise moments about a point is equal to the sum of the anticlockwise moments for a system in equilibrium
Resolve F into its vertical and horizontal components…
FH = FcosØ
Fv = FsinØ
What mistake has been made in rearranging the vectors for a scale drawing?
6N vector has been translated (moved) but also rotated
Should be:
What are the steps in working out the resultant force using a tip-tail scale drawing?
- Set a scale
- Draw the horizontal or vertical vector first (if there is one)
- Move each vector in turn to the end of the previous one (DO NOT ROTATE THE VECTORS)
- Resultant vector goes from the very start to the very end
How is the balancing force different from the resultant force?
The balancing force brings the object into equilibrium so makes the resultant force = 0
For a scale drawing, it is the vector that closes the shape
If vectors are parallel they can be resolved by…
Adding or subtracting the values
If vectors are perpendicular they can be resolved by…
Making a right angled triangle and using trigonometry and pythagoras
What is wrong with this?
Vectors of different types can’t be combined
(Here, force and velocity cannot be combined)
How do you solve this if the object is in equilibrium?
(3 vectors with 2 unknown sizes)
- The vectors must form a closed shape
- Start as you would with a scale drawing
- But draw the third vector meeting for where it connects to the start of the first
- Draws vectors as dotted lines
(x=2.54N, y=3.89N)
The box is in equilibrium with no external forces applied
Label the forces acting on the box
Notice the angle between weight and perpendicular is also Ø
How do you calculate the resultant moment? (2 ways)
- Multiply perpendicular component of force by distance
- Multiply perpendicular component of distance by force
(First method is shown)
What’s wrong with this?
Weight must form the hypotenuse of the triangle
What is a couple?
A pair of equal and opposite coplanar forces which do not act along the same line of action
What does it mean if an object is uniform?
It has an constant density so its centre of mass acts from the physical centre point of the object
(Weight vector starts from middle of object)
When should you use moments?
Any situation that has two unknown forces acting on an object
Take moments about one of the unknown forces to find the other
Then use total up force = total down force to find the other
If this box is in equilibrium how would you go about calculating the frictional force and the reaction force?
What is displacement and how is it different to distance?
Displacement is a measure of the line connecting the starting point to the finishing point.
Distance is a measure of the total length of the path travelled.
Also distance is a scalar and displacement is a vector.
What does a straight line on a distance-time graph represent?
A constant speed.
How is acceleration defined?
Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity.
How is speed different to velocity?
Speed is the rate of change of distance.
Velocity is the rate of change of displacement.
Describe the motion of this ball
Ball is moving to the right and speeding up.
Decribe the motion of this ball.
Ball is moving to the left and speeding up.
Describe the motion of this ball.
Ball is moving to the right and slowing down.
Describe the motion of this ball.
Ball is moving to the left but slowing down.
Is the ball moving to the right?
Only if the velocity vector is also acting to the right.
What does a straight line on a displacement-time graph represent?
A constant velocity.
What does a curve with an increasing gradient represent on a displacement-time graph?
An increasing velocity (acceleration)
What does a curve with a decreasing gradient represent on a displacement-time graph?
A decreasing velocity (decceleration)
What does a negative gradient on a displacement-time graph represent?
A negative velocity (travelling back to where it started)
What does a straight line on a velocity-time graph represent?
A constant acceleration.
What does a curve with an increasing gradient represent on a velocity-time graph?
An increasing acceleration.
What does a curve with a decreasing gradient represent on a velocity-time graph?
A decreasing acceleration.
What does a negative gradient on a velocity-time graph represent?
A negative acceleration.
What does this graph show?
A ball bouncing off a surface
(Dotted lines represent the bounce)
(Red lines represent the ball accelerating towards the ground)
What does the acceleration time graph of a ball in freefall look like?
Constant acceleration of 9.81ms-2
What does the area of a speed-time graph represent?
How about a velocity-time graph?
What’s wrong with this?
Displacement takes direction into account.
It should be…
When can you use this equation?
When the acceleration = 0 (constant velocity)
Or to work out an average speed
When can you use SUVATs?
When acceleration is constant
Or if object has stages of constant acceleration
Why can’t you use SUVAT’s when working with this graph?
Because the acceleration (gradient) is changing
What does it mean if an object is in freefall?
Only weight is acting on the object
It has a constant acceleration of 9.81ms-2 acting downawards (on Earth)
If one ball is dropped as another is projected horizontally which hits the ground first?
They both hit the ground at the same time…
Both in freefall so accelerate at 9.81ms-2
Vertical motion independent of horizontal motion
What’s wrong with this labelling?
Initial velocity and final velocity are not 0
In projectile motion when is the vertical component of the velocity 0?
At the peak of a parabola
Not at the start or end
How do you start a question involving angled projectile motion?
Resolve the velocity into vertical and horizontal components and fill out the corresponding SUVATs
What is wrong here?
The acceleration is only 9.81ms-2 if the object is in freefall
What is Newton’s 1st Law of Motion?
If no resultant force acts on a body, then it will either remain at rest, or continue moving with constant velocity (no acceleration)
What is Newton’s 2nd Law of Motion?
The rate of change of momentum (acceleration) of a body is directly proportional to the resultant force acting on it
Fres ∝ a
What is Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion?
When two objects interact, they exert an equal and opposite force on each other and the forces are of the same type
If the forces acting on an object are balanced what can you say about its motion?
There is no resultant force so it will continue moving at a constant velocity. It won’t accelerate.
What’s wrong with this?
In F=ma, F must be the resultant force!!!
How does an object reach terminal velocity?
As it speeds up, air resistance increases, decreasing the resultant force.
Eventually air resistance = driving force, Fres=0 so a=0.
What two things are the case for tension?
- Tension always acts away from the contact points
- Tension is constant throughout the rope/wire/ cable
Why are objects never truly in freefall?
There will always be air resistance opposing the weight
(Apart from when v=0)
What is the condition for terminal velocity?
The drag force = driving force (or weight) so Fres=0 and so a=0
What factors the drag force on an object?
- Fluid density
- Shape of object
- Cross sectional area of object
- Velocity of object
Why does air resistance increase with velocity?
The object is colliding with more air molecules per second
What does the velocity time graph of an object reaching terminal velocity look like?
What’s wrong with this?
The acceleration is not constant so you cannot use SUVATs
Instead use area under graph
How is momentum calculated?
What’s wrong with this?
Direction must be taken into account (as momentum is a vector)
What two things is impulse equal to?
- Rate of change of momentum
- Impact force x impact time
What are the units of impulse and momentum?
What does the area under a force-time graph represent?
The change of momentum or impulse
What is the conservation of momentum?
For a system of interacting objects, the total momentum remains constant…
…provided no external resultant force acts
In any interaction, what is conserved?
Total momentum is always conserved
Total energy is always conserved
Kinetic energy is only conserved if collision is elastic
What is an elastic collision?
A collision where kinetic energy is conserved
(as well as momentum)
What is wrong here?
You have to calculate kinetic energies separately for each object
In physics terms what is an explosion?
The total momentum = 0
How do you answer flow rate questions? (momentum of a flowing liquid)
Consider the cylinder made by a liquid’s flow after 1 second
Where the length of the cylinder = velocity of the fluid
And use density equation to get volume of cylinder
How do you work out the area of a curved graph?
- Split into boxes
- Count the boxes (pairing up incomplete boxes)
- Multiply number of boxes by area of each box
What is the principle of conservation of energy?
Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred from one type to another.
How does an object gain energy from a force?
When the force does work on the object (same direction as movement)
How does an object lose energy?
By doing work against a force (usually frictional)
What’s wrong here?
In W=Fs you multiply the parallel components
When using W=Fs what must be the case?
The components must be parallel
What is the work done by the weight of this block?
0 because the weight is perpendicular to the movement
So there is no parallel component to displacement
If two objects are dropped from the same height and air resistance is negligible, which hits the ground first?
Both hit at the same time because they both accelerate at 9.81ms-2
How do you calculate the velocity the object hits the ground using GPE and KE (assuming no air resistance)
Energy equivalency (only works when air resistance = 0)
What is power?
The rate of transfer of energy
or
The rate at which work is done
(Measured in Watts [W])
What is wrong here?
For P=Fv, F is not the resultant force
How do you calculate efficiency?
If the system is not 100% efficient would this be correct?
No, because some GPE is converted to thermal and kinetic energy of the snow (working against friction)
How is density defined?
The mass per unit volume. [kgm-3]
How do you convert 2,3,4 etc… units to SI units?
(eg 5cm3 to m3)
Whatever you do to the unit, you do the same to the prefix
(eg 5cm3 = 5x(10-2)3m3 = 5x10-6m3)
How do you measure the density of an irregular solid?
- Read off the volume from the beaker or measuring cylinder without and with the object submerged in water
- The difference in volumes is the volume of the solid
- Measure the mass using a balance
Calculate density using ρ=M/V
How do you calculate the average density of an alloy?
(Eg 200cm3 5kg rod of 60% copper (8960kgm-3) and 40% aluminum (2700kgm-3) by volume?)
- Work out the mass of each and the volume of each
- Add together to get the total mass and volume
- Then do the density calculation
Define Hooke’s Law
When a material is stretched, its extension is proportional to the force applied, up until the limit of proportionality
F=kx
Define the limit of proportionality
The point at which the material stops obeying Hooke’s law.
The graph is no longer a straight line.
Define the elastic limit
The point at which when stretched further the material no longer returns to its original length (there is a permanent extension)
What do the gradient and area of a force extension graph tell you for a spring.
Gradient → The spring constant (must be taken before limit of proportionality)
Area under line → The strain energy stored loading the spring or energy released unloading the spring
What equation calculates energy stored when a material is stretched?
E=½Fx
What is the difference between the elastic limit and the limit of proportionality?
Limit of proportionality is the point at which a stretched spring (or wire) stops obeying Hooke’s law.
The elastic limit is the point at which it doesn’t return to its original length when unloaded.
Will this spring return to its original length if it has been stretched to 35mm?
Yes, because it has not passed the elastic limit
What is a ductile material?
A material with a large plastic region.
What is a brittle material?
A material with a small plastic region.
What is the fracture point of a material?
The point at which a material breaks
How do you know the rubber hasn’t stretched passed its elastic limit?
It still returns to its original length when unloaded.
What is the formula for Young’s Modulus that you need to remember?
What does the gradient and area under a stress-strain graph give?
Gradient → Young’s modulus (before the limit of proportionality)
Area → strain energy per unit volume
What is a progressive wave?
Oscillations that have a resultant transfer of energy in one direction
How are mechanical and electromagnetic waves different?
Mechanical waves require a medium to oscillate through
Electromagnetic waves don’t require matter (oscillate through electric and magnetic fields)
What makes a wave transverse?
Oscillations are perpendicular to the transfer of energy
What makes a wave longitudinal?
Oscillations are parallel to the transfer of energy
What 2 properties do all electromagnetic waves possess?
- Always transverse
- Propagate with velocity of 3×108ms-1 through vacuum
Name 3 longitudinal waves
- Sound
- P-waves (Earthquakes)
- Water waves (beneath surface)
Name 3 transverse waves
- E-M waves (Light, X-rays, UV etc)
- Waves on string
- S-waves (Earthquakes)
- Water waves (surface)
List in order all waves on the E-M spectrum
How are displacement and amplitude of a wave different?
Displacement → Current distance of a point from the equilibrium position
Amplitude → Maximum distance a point reaches from equilibrium position
Why do all points on a progressive wave have the same amplitude?
All points have the same maximum displacement from equilibrium position
What is the time period of a wave?
Time taken for each particle to complete one full oscillation
(Return to same position)
How is frequency of a wave defined?
The number of complete oscillations per second
What is the wavelength of a wave?
Distance between two adjacent corresponding points on a wave
(Same displacement, no phase difference)
What is the phase difference between A and B on this progressive wave?
360° ∼ 0°
2π∼ 0π
What is the phase difference between A and B on this progressive wave?
180°
π ∼ Antiphase
What is the phase difference between points A and B on this progressive wave?
540° ∼ 180°
3π ∼ π ∼ antiphase
How is phase difference calculated in degrees?
How is phase difference calculated in radians?
How do you convert from degrees → radians?
What is the phase difference between A and B on this progressive wave?
420° ∼ 60°
14π/6 ∼ π/3
How are frequency and wavelength related?
What are the 2 key features of longitudinal waves?
Compressions and rarefactions
Why can’t sound waves be polarised?
Only transverse waves can be polarised
(Sound is longitudinal)
What is the final intensity?
- Light vertically polarised through first grating
- Vertically p[olarised light can’t pass through horizontal grating
- Final intensity = 0
What is the final intensity?
- Light vertically polarised through first grating (intensity halves)
- Vertically polarised light passes through second grating
- Final intensity = ½
How do sunglasses reduce glare?
- When sunlight reflects off surfaces it is polarised
- Sunglasses have filter to block polarised light
- Only unpolarised light passes through
What is the refractive index of a material?
Ratio of speed of light in a vacuum : speed light passes through material
(The greater n > the more light slows down)
How does θ2 compare to θ1?
θ2 > θ1
(Light speeds up and bends away from normal)
How does θ2 compare to θ1?
θ2 < θ1
(Light speeds up and bends towards normal)
Is the light refracting here?
Yes
It hasn’t bent towards or away from normal
But it has slowed down
How does refraction affect the frequency of a wave?
Frequency does not change
(But wavespeed and wavelength do)
What is dispersion?
Different wavelength refract by different amounts
So light passing through a prism separates into wavelengths
What is wrong here?
In Snell’s law θ1 is the angle between normal and incident ray
What are the 2 conditions for total internal reflection?
- θ1 > θc
- n2 < n1
How is the critical angle calculated?
How do you calculate the angle of incidence in the fibre?
Using basic geometry (angles in triangle add to 180°)