Cambridge AS Levels Mechanics 1 (Paper 4)

• identify the forces acting in a given situation;

• understand the vector nature of force, and find and use components and resultants;

• use the principle that, when a particle is in equilibrium, the vector sum of the forces acting is zero, or equivalently, that the sum of the components in any direction is zero;

• understand that a contact force between two surfaces can be represented by two components, the normal component and the frictional component;

• use the model of a ‘smooth’ contact, and understand the limitations of this model;

• understand the concepts of limiting friction and limiting equilibrium; recall the definition of coefficient of friction, and use the relationship F = μR or F ≤ μR, as appropriate;

• use Newton’s third law.

• understand the concepts of distance and speed as scalar quantities, and of displacement, velocity and acceleration as vector quantities (in one dimension only);
• sketch and interpret displacement-time graphs and velocity-time graphs, and in particular appreciate that
  • the area under a velocity-time graph represents displacement,
  • the gradient of a displacement-time graph represents velocity,
  • the gradient of a velocity-time graph represents acceleration;
• use differentiation and integration with respect to time to solve simple problems concerning displacement, velocity and acceleration (restricted to calculus within the scope of unit P1);
• use appropriate formulae for motion with constant acceleration in a straight line.

• use the definition of linear momentum and show understanding of its vector nature
• use conservation of linear momentum to solve problems that may be modelled as the direct impact of two bodies.

• apply Newton’s laws of motion to the linear motion of a particle of constant mass moving under the action of constant forces, which may include friction;
• use the relationship between mass and weight;
• solve simple problems which may be modelled as the motion of a particle moving vertically or on an inclined plane with constant acceleration;
• solve simple problems which may be modelled as the motion of two particles, connected by a light inextensible string which may pass over a fixed smooth peg or light pulley.

• understand the concept of the work done by a force, and calculate the work done by a constant force when its point of application undergoes a displacement not necessarily parallel to the force (use of the scalar product is not required);
• understand the concepts of gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy, and use appropriate formulae;
• understand and use the relationship between the change in energy of a system and the work done by the external forces, and use in appropriate cases the principle of conservation of energy;
• use the definition of power as the rate at which a force does work, and use the relationship between power, force and velocity for a force acting in the direction of motion;
• solve problems involving, for example, the instantaneous acceleration of a car moving on a hill with resistance.