Engineering Science N4
Summary
Module 1: Kinematics
Unit 1:1 Relative Velocity
Definitions
1) Scalars: A quantity that consists of magnitude only. Examples are time, mass, distance,
speed, energy, work done, etc.
2) Vectors: A quantity consisting of magnitude and direction. Displacement, weight, velocity,
momentum, acceleration, etc.
3) Mass: A quantity of matter. A scalar quantity because it has no direction
4) Weight: A force with which an object is attracted to the earth. Measured in Newtons.
5) Speed: Distance travelled during a time interval. Scalar because of no direction.
𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒(𝑠)
𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 = 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑝𝑠𝑒𝑑 (𝑡)
6) Velocity: Displacement per unit time or rate of displacement and is a vector (direction)
𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 (∆𝑠)
𝑉𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 (𝑣) =
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑝𝑠𝑒𝑑 (∆𝑡)
