Auckland Sports College

"Moving Forward Together"

General Science - Mechanics

These are the mechanics topics covered in preparation for the Level 2 Physics "Mechanics" external distance, speed, acceleration Newton's Laws mass and weight Energy - kinetic Energy - Gravitational Potential mgh Conservation of Energy pressure Work Power	If you click on the resource booklet image a new window will open that shows you the formula sheet you will have in the exams
This is the textbook	We also use a number of other resources This old (from 2018) textbook is worth downloading The "no brain too small" website is always worth a look This you tube video from the www.video-tutor.net website

We start with the formulae used in Level 1 mechanics. The sheet is taken from the 'nobraintoosmall' website

Distance, Speed, Acceleration

The DrPhysicsA physics videos are very good. This one is about speed, velocity, and acceleration

Units are important. Answers should be in metres (m) and seconds (s)

distance is measured in metres, m
speed is measured in metres per second m/s or ms^-1
acceleration is measured in m/s² or ms^-2>

From Q1 in the 2011 exam

From Q3 in the 2016 exam

Speed-time Graphs

From Q1a in the 2019 exam

Q1b. Calculate the acceleration of the boat in the first 400 seconds.

Q1d. Show that the total distance travelled by the boat is 1,650m.
(Distance is the area under a speed-time graph)

Newton's Laws

The DrPhysicsA physics videos are very good. This one is about Newton's Laws

First Law: An object will remain at a constant velocity, which may be zero, until it is acted on by an unbalanced external force.

Second Law: F = ma

Third Law: For every force there is an equal and opposite force acting on a different object

Mass and Weight

Mass is the amount of matter in an object. Mass is measured in Newtons.

Weight is a force. It is the downward force due to gravity on an object.
On the surface of planet Earth the acceleration due to gravity is 9.8 ms^-2

So, the weight of a person with mass 80kg on the surface of the Earth is F_w = 80 x 9.81 = 780N (2sf)

From the 2020 exam