Velocity and Acceleration
Motion
Velocity
Velocity is speed, but with a direction
Vector
EG: 5 m/s North
𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑠
𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 = 𝑜𝑟 𝑣 =
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡
Note how they both average speed and average
velocity use v? v is commonly used for both velocity
and displacement, whilst “s” is used for displacement
Example
Question : Gary the Mechanic traveled 12 meters north in 3 seconds, what is his
velocity?
𝑠
𝑣=
𝑡
12
𝑣=
3
𝑚
𝑣=4 𝑁𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ
𝑠
You try
Q1) Mary traveled 9 meters left over 2 seconds, what is her Velocity? What is her speed?
Velocity Speed
𝑠 9 𝑚 v= = m/s
𝑣= =
𝑡 2 𝑠
𝑚 v = 4. 5 𝑚/𝑠
𝑣 = 4. 5 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡
𝑠
Q2) How long did it take a cat to travel a displacement of 7 meters south if it was travelling at velocity of 2 m/s
south
Displacement:
𝑠
𝑣=
𝑡
7
2=
𝑡
2𝑡 = 7
7
𝑡=
2
𝑡 = 3.5 𝑠
Challenging Question
Q3) A small ant travels 4m east, 6m north and then 4m west over a time interval of 8s.
What is the ants average velocity?
4m West Velocity:
𝑠 6
6m North 𝑣= =
6m North 𝑡 8
𝑚
displacement 𝑣 = 0.75 𝑁𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ
𝑠
4m East
Q4) What is the ants average speed?
Speed:
v= =
v = 1.75
Acceleration
Acceleration is a change in speed
When an object speeds up, it has accelerated
When an object slows down it has accelerated
(or “decelerated”)
Vector quantity - has magnitude and direction
We are constantly accelerating towards the
Earth at 9.8 m/s 2
Average Acceleration
𝑎 = 𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑣 = 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑢 = 𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦
𝑡 = 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 (𝑠)
Example 1
A car travelling at 5 m/s north accelerated to 15 m/s north over 5 seconds, what is its acceleration?
𝑎= = =2 𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ
Example 2
A car rolling backwards down a hill at 4m/s accelerates to 12m/s over 4 seconds, what is its acceleration?
( )
𝑎= = = =4
A different form
We can rearrange: 𝑎 =
𝑣 = 𝑢 + 𝑎𝑡
Very useful if we know
acceleration, but not final
velocity
Terminal Velocity
Terminal velocity is the
highest velocity attainable by an object as it
falls through a fluid (including air)
This is due to the objects acceleration being
resisted by the fluid’s (air) resistance
Example D
Displacement (m)
B
C
A F
Time (s)
Points Displacement Distance Average Speed Average Velocity
A-B 2 m North 2m 2/2 = 1 m/s 2/2 = 1 m/s North
A-C 2 m North 2m 2/4 = 0.5 m/s 2/4 = 0.5 m/s North
A-D 4 m North 4m 4/5 = 0.8 m/s 4/5 = 0.8 m/s North
A-E 3 m South 11 m 11/8 = 1.375 m/s 3/8 = 0.375 m/s South
A-F No displacement 14 m 14/10 = 1.4 m/s 0/10 = 0 m/s
C-D 2 m North 2m 2/1 = 2 m/s 2/1 = 2 m/s North
Questions
Pearson Places Chapter Review 9.2 All questions