An Introduction to Motion
Distance
Distance is the total path covered by the object in the given interval of time.
Displacement is the shortest path covered by the moving object in the given interval of time.
Distance=Speed × Time.
Unit of distance is generally measured in units of length like metres, kilometers etc.
Introduction to Motion
An object is said to be in motion if it changes its position with respect to time. For example,
A car moving on a road.
An object is said to be at rest if the object does not change its position with time. For
example, A person standing on the ground.
Basics of Standard Units
Units and their standardization
The standard unit of distance is in metres.
The standard unit of time is in seconds (s).
The standard unit of speed is in metres per second (m/s).
Basics of Motion and Its Types
Types of Motion
The motion of all the objects are not of the same type. There are four different types of
motion shown by the different objects.
1. Rectilinear motion: The motion possessed by the body moving along a straight
line path, is called rectilinear motion,
e.g. the motion of a train on a straight bridge.
2. Circular motion: The motion possessed by a body when it moves along a circular
path, is called circular motion,
e.g. the motion of a child in a merry-go-round, motion of the earth around the sun
in a circular orbit.
3. Rotational motion: The motion possessed by a body when it spins about a fixed
axis, is called rotational motion, e.g. the motion of the earth about its axis, spinning
top, the motion of blades of a fan.
4. Periodic motion: The motion which repeats itself after regular intervals of time, is
called periodic motion,
e.g. the motion of the swing, to and fro motion of a simple pendulum.
Periodic or Oscillatory Motion
Periodic or oscillatory motion is the motion in which a body repeats its motion after fixed
intervals of time.
For example, the To and fro motion of a simple pendulum, the Motion of a car in a circular
path, Motion of planets around the sun.
Simple Pendulum
A simple pendulum consists of a small metal ball called bob which is suspended by a
long thread from rigid support such that bob is free to swing back and forth. The to and
fro motion of a simple pendulum is an example of periodic or oscillatory motion. Galileo
was the first person to study the motion of a pendulum.
Speed
The distance travelled by an object per unit time (either in one hour, in one minute or in
one second) is known as speed of the object. A slow moving object is said to have a low
speed and a fast moving object is said to have high speed. So, if we know the distance
covered by two buses in one hour, then we can answer which one is slower. Therefore,
the formula for calculating the speed of an object can be given by.
Speed = Distance travelled/Time taken
e.g. If a car travels a distance of 100 km in 2 h, then the speed of this car is given
by.
Speed = 100km2h = 50 km/h
It shows that the car will travel a distance of 50 km in 1 h. It does not matter if a
car seldom moves with a constant speed for one hour as it starts moving slowly
and then picks up speed. So, when we say that the car is moving with a speed of
50 km/h, then we do not bother whether the car has been moving with a constant
speed or not during that hour. Therefore, the speed calculated here is the
average speed of the car.
Uniform and Non-Uniform Motion
1. Uniform motion: When an object moving along a straight line moves with a constant
speed, then the object is said to be in uniform motion.
For example, a car moving in a straight line with a constant speed.
2. Non-uniform motion: When an object moving along a straight line changes its
speed with respect to time, then the object is said to be in uniform motion.
For example, the motion of a train.
Measurement of Time
The unit of time is generally measured in seconds, minutes, and hours.
The time period is the total time taken by an object to complete one oscillation.
Units of Time
The unit of time is generally measured in seconds, minutes, and hours.
Units of Speed
Speed = Distance travelled in the total time interval.
The unit of speed is generally measured in metres per second (m/s) and km/h (kilometer per
hour).
Speedometer and Odometer
The speedometer records the speed of the vehicle directly in kilometers per hour (km/h).
An odometer measures the distance moved by the vehicle directly in kilometers (km).
Visualizing Motion
Distance-time graph
A distance-time graph is a graph plotted between the distance (in the y-axis) and time (in the
x-axis).
The slope of a distance-time graph gives the speed of an object.