N4 Dynamics & Space – revision checklist

Speed and acceleration

  1. Calculations involving the relationship between speed, distance, and time.
  2. Determination of average and instantaneous speed.
  3. Interpretation of speed-time graphs to describe motion including calculation of distance (for objects which are speeding up, slowing down, stationary and moving with constant speed.) Motion in one direction only.
  4. Use of relationship of acceleration, change in speed and time.

Relationship between forces, motion and energy

  1. The use of Newton’s first law and balanced forces to explain constant speed, making reference to frictional forces.
  2. The use of Newton’s second law to explain the movement of objects in situations involving constant acceleration.
  3. Calculations using the relationship between force, mass and acceleration in situations where only one force is acting.
  4. Calculations using the relationship between weight, mass and gravitational field strength within our solar system.
  5. Risks and benefits associated with space exploration including challenges of re-entry to a planet’s atmosphere. The use of thermal protection systems to protect spacecraft on re-entry

.

Satellites

  1. The range of heights and functions of satellites in orbit around the earth, including geostationary and natural satellites. Range of applications of satellite including telecommunications; weather monitoring; the use of satellites in environmental monitoring. The use of satellites in developing our understanding of the global impact of mankind’s actions.
  2. The dependence of period of orbit on height.
  3. The use of parabolic reflectors to send and receive signals.
  4. Use of the relationship between distance, speed and time applied to satellite communication.

Cosmology

  1. Description of planet, moon, star, solar systems, exo-planet, galaxy and universe
  2. Scale of the solar system and universe measured in light years.
  3. Space exploration and its impact on our understanding of the universe and planet Earth.
  4. Conditions required for an exo-planet to sustain life.

KINEMATICS

Speed, distance, time

Average Speed

Average speed is a measure of the distance travelled in a unit of time.Average speed is calculated by using this formula:

Units of speed

Speed can be measured in many different units.Usually the unit is metres per second, m/s or ms-1. This means the distance must bemeasured in metres and the time taken in seconds.Note: these notes will use the solidus for multiple units, e.g. m/s. However, you can use thenegative index, e.g. ms-1, if you prefer.

Measurement of average Speed

To measure an average speed, you must:

  • measure the distance travelled with a measuring tape or metre stick
  • measure the time taken with a stop clock
  • calculate the speed by dividing the distance by the time

Calculations involving distance, time and average speed

Note: care must be taken to use the correct units for time and distance.

Example

Calculate the average speed in metres per second of a runner who runs 1500 m in 5 minutes.

s =1500m

t = 5 minutes = 5 x 60seconds = 300 s

Instantaneous speed

The instantaneous speed of a vehicle at a given point can be measured by finding the average

speed during a very short time as the vehicle passes that point.

Average speed and instantaneous speed are often very different e.g. the average speed of arunner during arace will be less than the instantaneous speed as the winning line is crossed.

Measuring instantaneousspeeds

To measure instantaneous speeds it is necessary to be able to measure very short times. With an ordinary stopclock, human reaction time introduces large errors. These can be avoided by using electronic timers. The most usual is a light gate connected to an electronic timer.

Alight gate consists of a light source aimed at a photocell. The photocell is connected to anelectronic timer or computer.The timer measures how long an object takes to pass through the light beam.The distance travelled is the length of the object which passes through the beam.Often a card is attached so that the card passes through the beam. The length of the card iseasy to measure.The instantaneous speed as the vehicle passes through the light gate is then calculated using:

Example

A vehicle moves through a light gate as shown in the diagram. Using the data from thediagram, calculate the instantaneous speed of the vehicle as it passes the light gate.


Acceleration

Most vehicles do not travel at the same speed all the time. If they speed up, they are said toaccelerate. If they slow down, they decelerate. Acceleration describes how quickly speedchanges.Acceleration is a vector quantity. However, only the acceleration of vehicles travelling instraight lines will be considered.

Acceleration is the change in speed in unit time.

Units of Acceleration

The units of acceleration are the units of velocity divided by the units of time (seconds).If the velocity is in m/s, acceleration is in m/s2 (metres per second squared).An acceleration of 2m/s2 means that every second, the velocity increases by 2m/s.

Formula for Acceleration

a = acceleration in m/s2

u = initial speed in m/s

v = final speed in m/s

t - time taken in s

Note: If a vehicle is slowing down, the final velocity will be smaller than the initial velocity,and so the acceleration will be negative. A negative acceleration is a deceleration.

The equation for acceleration can be rearranged to give an alternative version:

Example

A car is moving at 15 m/s, when it starts to accelerate at 2 m/s2. What will be its speed after

accelerating at this rate for 4 seconds?

u =15 m/s v=u+at

a = 2m/s2=15+(2x4)

t=4s =23

The car will reach a speed of 23 m/s

Speed-time graphs

A velocity-time graph is a useful way to describe the motion of a vehicle. Time is always plotted along the x-axis, and velocity is plotted along the y-axis.

The shape of the graph indicates whether the vehicle is accelerating, decelerating or moving

at a constant speed.

constantspeedincreasing speeddecreasing speed

= acceleration= deceleration

The slope (or gradient) of the line on a speed-time graph indicates the acceleration.While the slope is steady, the acceleration is constant. If the line gets steeper, the acceleration(or deceleration) gets greater.Acceleration can be calculated using data from the graph and the formula.The area vertically below a section of the graph is equal to the distance during that time.

Example

The graph describes the motion of a car during 35 seconds.

a) What was the initial acceleration of the car?

b) What was the deceleration?

c) How far did the car travel in the 35 seconds?

d) Calculate the average distance

  1. Initial acceleration lasts from 0 -10s: u = 0, v = 20m/s, t = 10s
  1. Deceleration was from 30-35s:u = 20m/s, v = 0, t= 5s
  1. Distance travelled = area under the graph:

Divide into sections of rectangles and triangles: X + Y + Z: use scale for sizes.

Area X = ½ x base X height= ½ x 10 x 20=100m

Area Y = length x breadth= 20 x 20=400m

Area Z = ½ x base x height= ½ x 5 x20=50m

Distance travelled = total area = 550m.

DYNAMICS

Forces

Effects offorces

Forces can only be detected by their effects.

They can change: • the shape of an object (stretch it, squeeze it etc)

• the speed of an object

• the direction of movement of an object

Measurement of Forces

Forces are measured in units called newtons (N), (see later for definition). Forces can be measured with a newton balance. This instrument depends on the effect of aforce on the shape (length) of a spring.

Mass and Weight

Weight is a force caused by gravity acting on an object's mass. On Earth, it measures thepull of the Earth on the object. It is measured innewtons.Weight always acts vertically downwards. Its size does not just depend on the mass of theobject, but on the strength ofgravity at that place.Mass measures the amount of matter in an object. It is measured in kilograms (kg).The value of mass does not change from place to place.The strength of gravity in a particular place is called the gravitational field strength and tells you the weight (or force) per unit mass. Its symbol is g and its unit is N/kg. On Earth, g = 9.8 N/kg; this means that every 1kg will be subjected to a weight(force) of 9.8N.

Mass and weight are connected by the following formula:-

Weight in NW = mg gravitational field strength in N/kg

Mass in kg

Example

a) What is the weight of a 50 kg girl on Earth?

b) What would she weigh on the moonwhere the gravitational field strength is 1.6 N/kg?

a) W=mg=50x9.8=490N

b) W=mg=50x1.6=80N

The Force of Friction

Friction is a resistive force, which opposes the motion of an object. This means that it acts inthe opposite direction to motion.

Friction acts between any two surfaces in contact. Whenone surface moves over another, the force of friction acts between the surfaces and the size ofthe force depends on the surfaces, e.g. a rough surface will give a lot of friction.

Air friction is usually called air resistance. It depends mainly on two factors:

  • the shape and size of the object
  • the speed of the moving object.

Air resistance increases as the speed of movement increases.

Increasing and Decreasing Friction

Where friction is making movement difficult, friction should be reduced.

This can be achieved by:

  • lubricating the surfaces with oil or grease
  • separating the surfaces with air, e.g. a hovercraft or airtrack
  • making the surfaces roll instead of slide, e.g. use ball bearings
  • streamlining to reduce air resistance.

Where friction is used to slow an object down, it should be increased.

This can be achieved by:

  • choosing surfaces which cause high friction e.g. sections of road before traffic
  • lights have higher friction than normal roads
  • increasing surface area and choosing shape to increase air friction, e.g. parachute.

Newton's First Law

When the forces on an object are balanced (or when there are no forces at all), then neitherthe speed nor direction of movement will change.Balanced forces mean constant speed or the object is stationary.E.g a spacecraft will continue at a constant speed through space because no forces act on it.

Newton's Second Law of Motion

This law deals with the situation when there is an unbalanced force acting on an object.The velocity cannot remain constant, and the acceleration produced will depend on the massof the object and the value of the unbalanced force.As the unbalanced force acting on an object increases, the acceleration increases also.As the accelerated mass increases, the acceleration decreases for a given force.The newton is defined as the force which makes a mass of 1 kg accelerate at1m/s2.These facts can be summarised in an equation:


Example

A car of mass 1000 kg has an unbalanced force of 1600 N acting on it.

What will be its acceleration?

m= 1000kg F = 1600N

Resultant Forces

When several forces act on one object, they can be replaced by one force which has the same

effect. This single force is called the resultant or unbalanced force.

Combining forces in a straight line

Draw a diagram of the object and mark in all the forces acting, using an arrow to represent

each force. (Do not forget weight, which is often not specifically mentioned in the question).

Use arithmetic to find the resultant:

  • add together forces which act in the same direction
  • subtract forces which act in the opposite direction.

A diagram like this is called a free body diagram.

Example

A short time after take off a rocket of mass 10000 kg has a thrust of 350000 N andexperiences air resistance of 30000 N. Draw a free body diagram and find the resultant force

acting on the rocket.

Total upward force =350000N

Total downward force =100000N + 30000N=130000N

Resultant force upwards =350000 – 130000=220000N

Calculations using F = ma for more than one force

Draw a free body diagram and mark in all the known forces. Use this to calculate theresultant force (F in the equation) before using the equation.

Example: A car of mass 1000 kg experiences friction equal to 500 N. If the engine force is 1300 N,

what will be the cars acceleration?

Resultant force = 1300 - 500 =800N

Acceleration due to gravity and gravitational field strength

Weight is the force which causes an object to accelerate downwards and has the value mg,where g is the gravitational field strength, see page 5.The value of the acceleration caused by weight can be calculated from Newton's second law, using the equation F = ma where F is now the weight W, and W = mg.

The numerical values of the acceleration due to gravity and gravitational field strength areequal.Their units, N/kg and m/s2 are also equivalent. This means that on earth a falling object will accelerate at 9.8m/s2 (in the absence of air resistance).

Principle of Conservation of energy

The total amount of energy remains constant during energy transfers. Energy cannot becreated or destroyed but simply transformed to one of its many forms.

When a rocket comes in to land the kinetic energy is changed to heat due to friction between its surface and the air. The side of the rocket in contact with the air is protected with heat proof insulating panels.

Heat Insulators / Heat Conductors

Space Exploration

Our Universe

Most astronomers believe that the universe began in a big bang about 14 billion years ago. Matter, time and space all began with the big bang. In a fraction of a second, the Universe grew from smaller than a single atom to bigger than a galaxy. And it kept on growing at a fantastic rate. It is still expanding today.

  • The universe consists of many galaxies separated by empty space.
  • A galaxy is a large cluster of stars (e.g. the Milky Way).
  • A star is a large ball of matter that is undergoing nuclear fusion and emitting light. The sun is a star. The sun and many other stars have a solar system.
  • A solar system consists of a central star orbited by planets.
  • A planet is a large ball of matter that orbits a star (e.g. Earth or Jupiter). Planets do not emit light themselves. Many planets have moons.
  • A moon is a lump of matter that orbits a planet (e.g. the Moon orbits the Earth or Deimos and Phobos orbit Mars)

Our Solar System

Our solar system consists of the Sun, the eight official planets and at least three "dwarf planets" (Pluto was downgraded to a dwarf planet in 2008). The planets orbit the sun and in turn other smaller satellites or moons orbit the planets.

Exploring Space

Rockets

A simple rocket is shown in the diagram. The two liquids mix and burn in the combustion chamber, where the hot gases produced expand rapidly and are forced out through the nozzle. These hot gases are pushed downwards and exert an upwards force on the rocket.

Interplanetary Flight

During interplanetary flight there is no need for the engines to be kept on. Since space is a vacuum there is no friction acting on the space vehicle. With no unbalanced forces acting on the vehicle it will continue to move at a steady speed (Newton’s First Law of Motion). If acceleration or deceleration is required, then the only force acting on the space vehicle is its engine thrust.

Space Craft Re-entry

When a spacecraft re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere it experiences friction with the atmosphere. This results in kinetic energy being changed into heat energy. For this reason spacecraft have to be covered with heat shielding to prevent them from burning up on re-entry.

Cosmology

Light-years

Since distances in space are so enormous, it is useful to think about how long it takes light to reach us from an object. For example:

Object / Time for light to reach Earth
Sun / 8 minutes
Proxima Centauri (nearest star) / 4.3 years
Edge of galaxy / 100,000 years

A useful measurement of distances in space is the light-year. A light-year is the distance travelled by light in one year. 1 light-year = 9,460,730,472,580,800 m (9.46 x 1015 m).

This means that when we look at things in space we see them as they were many years ago. It is not possible to see anything as it is now. Even someone walking past you – you see them where they were a fraction of a second ago not where they are at the moment you look!

Satellites

We have learned to make use of space in many ways, but most of the benefits affecting people on Earth are brought about by unmanned satellites.

  • Communication Satellites: A company called Intelsat owns the majority of communication satellites which relay TV and telephone signals. Each one is about the size of a house.
  • Science Satellites: These have varying purposes including the study of the Van Allen radiation belts around the Earth, the density, pressure and chemical composition of the upper atmosphere, the magnetic field around the Earth and even to monitor meteorites approaching the Earth.
  • Astronomy and Solar Satellites: One of the problems of observing the Sun, planets and distant galaxies from Earth is the absorption and bending of light and other radiations by the atmosphere. By putting a telescope on a satellite, a much clearer view of the Universe is obtained.
  • Military Satellites: Spy satellites orbit the Earth taking pictures of shipyards, research stations, rocket bases and other military locations. Some spy satellites are used to intercept telephone calls, and radio signals.
  • Navigation Satellites: Cars, planes and ships can receive signals from navigation satellites. The user has a receiver computer which locks on to the signals from the satellites and uses this to calculate position and speed. The United States' Global Positioning System (GPS) consists of up to 32 medium Earth orbit satellites in six different orbital planes. GPS is currently the world's most utilised satellite navigation system.
  • Weather Satellites: Scanners on the satellites build up visible light and infrared pictures of the Earth, which are transmitted back to weather stations. This information can be used to make more accurate short-term weather forecasts.
  • Earth Resource Satellite: These can be used to analyse the health of crops (using infrared), monitoring pollution, looking for forest fires and even locating natural resources such as oil.
  • Geostationary Satellites: These stay above the same point on the Earth’s surface (above the equator) and have an orbital period of 24 hours.