Class 9 Physics
Motion — Notes
1. What is Motion?
We observe motion all around us in everyday life — birds flying, the blades of a fan turning, vehicles moving. All of
these are examples of different types of motion.
Definition: If a body changes its position with respect to time and its surroundings, it is
said to be in motion.
Reference Point
We describe the location of an object by specifying a reference point.
For example, if a friend asks how far your school is, you might say “my school is 2 km from my house.” Here, “house”
has been taken as the reference point.
Therefore, to describe the position of an object we need to specify a reference point, called the origin.
2. Scalar and Vector Quantities
Imagine you are playing a game of hide-and-seek with your friends. You want to tell your friends how far you are from
the hiding spot and in which direction.
Scalar Quantity
A scalar quantity tells you only the amount, size, or magnitude of something, without any information about direction.
Example: If you say “I am 10 steps away from the hiding spot,” you are only giving the distance — the scalar quantity. It
does not matter which direction you went, just how far you are.
Vector Quantity
A vector quantity tells you both the magnitude and the direction of something.
Example: If you say “I am 10 steps away from the hiding spot, towards the big tree,” you are giving both distance and
direction. The number of steps together with the specific direction makes it a vector quantity.
In simple terms: scalar quantities are like giving someone a number without any specific direction, while vector
quantities are like giving someone a number along with a specific direction.
3. Distance and Displacement
Imagine you start moving from point A and travel along a zig-zag path through B, C, D, E, F, G, H and finally reach
point I, covering these segments: AB = 2 cm, BC = 2 cm, CD = 2 cm, DE = 2 cm, EF = 2.5 cm, FG = 2.5 cm, GH = 2
cm, HI = 4 cm.
Distance
Distance is the total path covered from the starting point to the end point. It doesn’t matter which direction you moved —
distance only considers the length of the path travelled.
Distance = AB + BC + CD + DE + EF + FG + GH + HI = 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2.5 + 2.5 + 2 + 4
= 19 cm
Distance is a scalar quantity, and its SI unit is the metre (m).
Displacement
Displacement is the shortest straight-line distance from the starting point to the end point. It takes into account both the
distance and the direction.
Displacement = AI (the straight line joining start point A and end point I)
Displacement is a vector quantity.
Q1. An object has moved through a distance. Can it have zero displacement? If yes, support your answer with an
example.
Answer: Yes. An object which has moved through a distance can have zero displacement if it comes back to its
initial position. Example: If a person jogs once around a circular park, their initial and final positions are the same, so
the displacement is zero even though the distance covered is not.
Q2. Which of the following is true for displacement? (a) It cannot be zero. (b) Its magnitude is greater than the
distance travelled by the object.
Answer: (a) False (b) False
4. Uniform and Non-Uniform Motion
Imagine you're riding your bicycle in a park.
Uniform Motion
Uniform motion is when an object covers equal distances in equal intervals of time. This means the speed at which the
object is moving remains constant throughout its journey.
Example: If you ride your bicycle on a straight road at a steady speed of 10 km/h, you're covering the same distance
every hour (10 km per hour) — this is uniform motion.
Non-Uniform Motion
Non-uniform motion is when an object covers unequal distances in equal intervals of time. This means the speed of the
object keeps changing during its journey.
Example: If you ride your bicycle on a road with hills and valleys, your speed decreases going uphill and increases going
downhill — this is non-uniform motion, since the distance covered each hour varies.
5. Rate of Motion
Different objects take different amounts of time to cover a distance — some move fast, some move slowly, and some
move at the same rate. To find this ‘rate’ of motion, we study Speed, Velocity and Acceleration.
Speed
Speed is the distance travelled by an object per unit time.
Average speed = total distance travelled / total time taken
If an object travels a distance s in time t, then its speed v is:
v=s/t
Speed is a scalar quantity, and its SI unit is metre per second (m/s).
Velocity (Speed with Direction)
Direction is needed too — remember, direction is captured in displacement. So, velocity of an object is defined as the
displacement of an object per unit time.
Velocity = total displacement / total time taken
Average Velocity = (initial velocity + final velocity) / 2
Note: When an object travels in a straight line and its speed is variable, we calculate its average velocity using the
formula above.
If u is the initial velocity and v is the final velocity, then average velocity v(avg) is:
v(avg) = (v + u) / 2
Q1. Abdul, while driving to school, computes the average speed for his trip to be 20 km/hr. On his return along the
same route, there is less traffic and the average speed is 30 km/hr. What is the average speed for Abdul’s trip?
Answer: Let the distance between school and home be ‘d’. Time to reach school, t1 = d/20 (since speed =
distance/time, 20 = d/t1) Time to reach home, t2 = d/30 (since 30 = d/t2) Total distance = d1 + d2 = 2d; Total time =
t1 + t2 Average speed = total distance / total time = 2d / (d/20 + d/30) = 120/5 = 24 km/hr.
Q2. Joseph jogs from one end A to the other end B of a straight 300 m road in 2 minutes 30 seconds, then turns
around and jogs 100 m back to point C in another 1 minute. Find Joseph’s average speed and velocity (A) from A to
B and (B) from A to C.
Answer: (A) From A to B: Displacement = Distance = 300 m. Time = 2 min 30 s = (2×60) + 30 = 150 s. Velocity =
displacement/time = 300/150 = 2 m/s Speed = distance/time = 300/150 = 2 m/s (B) From A to C: Displacement =
300 − 100 = 200 m. Distance = 300 + 100 = 400 m. Time = 3 min 30 s = (3×60) + 30 = 210 s. Velocity =
displacement/time = 400/210 = 1.90 m/s Speed = distance/time = 200/210 = 0.95 m/s
Speed vs Velocity
Speed Velocity
Speed is the distance travelled by an object in a given Velocity is the displacement shown by an object in a
interval of time. given interval of time.
Speed = Distance / Time Velocity = Displacement / Time
Speed is a scalar quantity and has only magnitude. Velocity is a vector quantity and has both magnitude
and direction.
Q1. Under what condition(s) is the magnitude of average velocity of an object equal to its average speed?
Answer: Average speed is distance/time and average velocity is displacement/time. For both to be equal, distance
must equal displacement — which only happens if the object moves in a straight line.
Q2. What does the odometer of an automobile measure?
Answer: The odometer of an automobile measures the distance travelled by a vehicle.
Q3. What does the path of an object look like when it is in uniform motion?
Answer: In uniform motion, the path of an object can be a straight line, a curved line, or a circle — it can have any
shape. This is because in uniform motion, speed is constant, but the direction of motion may change.
Q4. During an experiment, a signal from a spaceship reached the ground station in five minutes. What was the
distance of the spaceship from the ground station? (The signal travels at the speed of light, 3 × 10^8 m/s.)
Answer: Speed = 3 × 10^8 m/s; Time = 5 min = 5 × 60 = 300 s. Distance = Speed × Time = (3 × 10^8) × 300 = 9 ×
10^10 m.
6. Rate of Change of Velocity: Acceleration
During uniform motion, velocity remains constant throughout — the initial and final velocities are the same, so the
change in velocity in uniform motion is zero.
But in non-uniform motion, velocity varies with time and has different values at different instants. The change in
velocity during any time interval is not zero. To measure the rate of change of velocity, we use acceleration.
Acceleration = Change in Velocity / Total time taken
If the velocity of an object changes from an initial value u to a final value v in time t, the acceleration a is:
a = (v − u) / t
• SI unit of acceleration is m/s²
• Acceleration is positive (+ve) if it is in the direction of velocity.
• Acceleration is negative (−ve) if it is opposite to the direction of velocity.
• Acceleration is zero when the object moves with constant velocity.
Uniform and Non-Uniform Acceleration
Uniform Acceleration: If an object travels in a straight line and its velocity increases or decreases by equal amounts in
equal intervals of time, its acceleration is said to be uniform. Example: a freely falling body.
Non-Uniform Acceleration: If the velocity of an object changes non-uniformly, its acceleration is said to be non-uniform.
Q. Starting from a stationary position, Rahul paddles his bicycle to attain a velocity of 6 m/s in 30 s. Then he applies
brakes such that the velocity comes down to 4 m/s in the next 5 s. Calculate the acceleration of the bicycle in both
cases.
Answer: Case 1: u = 0, v = 6 m/s, t = 30 s. a = (v − u)/t = (6 − 0)/30 = 0.2 m/s² Case 2: u = 6 m/s, v = 4 m/s, t = 5 s.
a = (4 − 6)/5 = −0.4 m/s² So the acceleration of the bicycle is 0.2 m/s² in the first case, and −0.4 m/s² (i.e.
deceleration) in the second case.
7. Graphical Representation of Motion
Graphs provide a convenient way to present basic information about a variety of events. To describe the motion of an
object, we can use line graphs — Distance-Time and Velocity-Time graphs, with distance/velocity on the y-axis and
time on the x-axis.
Distance-Time Graphs
Used to show change in position of an object with time. The slope of the distance-time graph is equal to the speed of the
object.
(i) For an object moving with uniform speed: distance travelled is directly proportional to time taken, so the graph is a
straight line. For two points A and B on the graph, if distance travelled = s2 − s1 and time taken = t2 − t1, then:
Speed = (s2 − s1) / (t2 − t1)
(ii) For an object moving with non-uniform speed: the distance-time graph is not a straight line — its nature shows the
non-linear variation of distance travelled with time (e.g. a curve that gets steeper for an accelerating car).
Velocity-Time Graphs
Sometimes also called speed-time graphs, since velocity and speed are used interchangeably here. The area enclosed by a
velocity-time graph and the time axis is equal to the magnitude of the displacement.
(i) For an object moving with uniform velocity: the height of the velocity-time graph does not change with time — it is a
straight line parallel to the x-axis. The distance ‘s’ moved by an object between times t1 and t2 is the area under the
graph (a rectangle):
s = area of rectangle ABCD = AC × CD = (40 km/hr) × (t2 − t1) hr = 40(t2 − t1) km
(ii) For an object moving with uniform acceleration: velocity changes by equal amounts in equal intervals of time, so the
velocity-time graph is a straight line (with a slope). The distance moved between t1 and t2 is the area under the graph,
made up of a rectangle plus a triangle:
s = area of ABCDE = (AB × BC) + ½(AD × DE)
(iii) For an object moving with non-uniform acceleration: the velocity-time graph can have any shape — e.g. a straight
line sloping downward (velocity decreasing with time) or an irregular curve (non-uniform variation of velocity with
time).
Q1. What is the nature of the distance-time graphs for uniform and non-uniform motion of an object?
Answer: When motion is uniform, the distance-time graph is a straight line with a slope. When motion is non-
uniform, the distance-time graph is not a straight line — it can be any kind of curve.
Q2. What can you say about the motion of an object whose distance-time graph is a straight line parallel to the time
axis?
Answer: When the distance-time graph is a straight line parallel to the time axis, the object stays at the same position
as time passes — meaning the object is at rest.
Q3. What can you say about the motion of an object if its speed-time graph is a straight line parallel to the time axis?
Answer: Since there is no change in the velocity of the object at any point in time, the object is said to be in uniform
motion.
Q4. What is the quantity measured by the area occupied below the velocity-time graph?
Answer: Displacement.
8. Equations of Motion
There are three equations of motion for objects moving with uniform acceleration:
v = u + at s = ut + ½ at² 2as = v² − u²
Here:
• u = initial velocity of the object
• v = final velocity of the object
• a = uniform acceleration of the object
• s = distance travelled by the object
• t = time taken