Chapter 2
Motion along a straight line
Lecture by Dr. Hebin Li
Goals for Chapter 2
Ø To describe straight-line motion in terms of velocity and
acceleration
Ø To distinguish between average and instantaneous velocity and
average and instantaneous acceleration
Ø To interpret graphs of position versus time, velocity versus
time, and acceleration versus time for straight-line motion
Ø To understand straight-line motion with constant acceleration
Ø To examine freely falling bodies
Ø To analyze straight-line motion when the acceleration is not
constant
PHY 2048, Dr. Hebin Li
Describe motion along a straight line
Where? Position (Distance, Displacement)
When? Time (Time interval)
Velocity (Speed, Average velocity, Instantaneous velocity)
What?
Acceleration (Average acceleration, Instantaneous acceleration)
PHY 2048, Dr. Hebin Li
Describe motion along a straight line
Where? Position (Distance, Displacement)
When? Time (Time interval)
Velocity (Speed, Average velocity, Instantaneous velocity)
What?
Acceleration (Average acceleration, Instantaneous acceleration)
How are they defined and what is the relation between them?
PHY 2048, Dr. Hebin Li
Displacement, Time, Average Velocity
"! ""
!
!! !"
Displacement
x-component of the displacement ∆" = "! − ""
Time interval ∆% = %! − %"
"⃗! − "⃗"
Average velocity '⃗ =
%! − %"
∆" "! − ""
Average x-velocity '= =
∆% %! − %"
PHY 2048, Dr. Hebin Li
Displacement, Time, Average Velocity
Example
PHY 2048, Dr. Hebin Li
x-t graph
Ø A position-time graph (x-t graph) shows the particle’s position x as a
function of time t.
Ø Figure 2.3 shows how the average x-velocity is related to the slope of an x-t
graph.
Position The average x-velocity is the slope of the
line connecting two corresponding points
on the graph.
"!
∆$ $! − $"
(= =
∆' '! − '" ∆$ = $! − $"
∆' = '! − '"
""
%" %! Time
PHY 2048, Dr. Hebin Li
Instantaneous Velocity
Ø The instantaneous velocity is the velocity at a specific instant
of time or specific point along the path and is given by
∆' )'
!! = lim =
∆#→% ∆( )(
Ø The instantaneous speed is the magnitude of instantaneous
velocity.
Ø The average speed is not the magnitude of the average
velocity!
PHY 2048, Dr. Hebin Li
Finding instantaneous velocity on an x-t graph
Position
"!
""
%" %! Time
PHY 2048, Dr. Hebin Li
Finding instantaneous velocity on an x-t graph
Position
"!
""
%" %! Time
PHY 2048, Dr. Hebin Li
Finding instantaneous velocity on an x-t graph
Position
Time
The instantaneous x-velocity at a given point is the slope
of the tangent to the x-t curve at that point (the derivative
of the x-t function at that point)
PHY 2048, Dr. Hebin Li
Slope at a point gives velocity
slope is zero
x-velocity is zero
slope is positive
x-velocity is positive
slope is negative
x-velocity is negative
slope is zero
x-velocity is zero
PHY 2048, Dr. Hebin Li
Average acceleration
Ø Acceleration describes the rate of change of velocity
with time.
"! ""
!
#!# #"#
Ø The average x-acceleration is given by
!)! − !*! ∆!!
*&'(! = =
() − (* ∆(
PHY 2048, Dr. Hebin Li
Instantaneous acceleration
Ø Instantaneous acceleration is the acceleration at an
instant or at a position
"! * =? ""
!
#!# #"#
Ø The instantaneous acceleration is given by
∆'! )'
!! = lim =
∆#→% ∆( )(
The derivative of velocity, or the second derivative of position.
PHY 2048, Dr. Hebin Li
Finding acceleration on a v-t graph
• A ux-t graph may be used to find the instantaneous
acceleration and the average acceleration.
Velocity
Not position
PHY 2048, Dr. Hebin Li
What an x-t graph can tell you
An x-t graph fully describes the motion of an object
(position, velocity, acceleration).
PHY 2048, Dr. Hebin Li
Example:
1. During a space walk, an astronaut is moving toward the right at 16.0 m/s.10 seconds later, he is moving toward
the left at 4.5 m/s. What is the average acceleration?
PHY 2048, Dr. Hebin Li
Example
1. A bird is flying due west. It's distance from the nest is given by x(t) = 30.0 m + (11.2 m/s)t - (0.03 m/s3) t3.
(a) What is the instantaneous velocity of the bird when t = 10.0 s?
(b) What is the instantaneous acceleration of the bird when t = 10.0 s?
PHY 2048, Dr. Hebin Li
Motion with constant acceleration
For an object with constant acceleration, the velocity
changes at the same rate throughout the motion.
Motion
diagram
PHY 2048, Dr. Hebin Li
v-t graph describing motion with constant acceleration
Constant acceleration
Velocity Ø Constant slope
Ø A straight line
'* '* − ')*
)* =
')* %
% Time
The x-velocity at a given time ( is
'* = ')* + )* %
Initial velocity Constant acceleration PHY 2048, Dr. Hebin Li
v-t graph describing motion with constant acceleration
Constant acceleration
Velocity Ø Constant slope
Ø A straight line
'*
')*
∆% Time
The distance that the object moves during the time interval
∆( is given by
∆$ = !! ∆'
(This is the area of the rectangle!) PHY 2048, Dr. Hebin Li
v-t graph describing motion with constant acceleration
Constant acceleration
Velocity Ø Constant slope
Ø A straight line
'*
')*
∆% Time
Repeat this for the entire curve, and we have the total
distance.
PHY 2048, Dr. Hebin Li
v-t graph describing motion with constant acceleration
Constant acceleration
Velocity Ø Constant slope
Ø A straight line
')*
Time
∆( → 0, the distance is given by the area under the curve.
What is the area?
PHY 2048, Dr. Hebin Li
v-t graph describing motion with constant acceleration
PHY 2048, Dr. Hebin Li
v-t graph describing motion with constant acceleration
'+ = ')* + )* %
"
)* %
Area = )* % !
!
')*
+
')*
Area = ')* t ')*
0
% *
Total distance = Total area = !%! t + *! ( )
)
The position of the object on x-axis is given by
1
' = '% + !%! t + *! ( )
2
PHY 2048, Dr. Hebin Li
Equations of motion with constant acceleration
An object is accelerating along +x-axis with a constant x-
acceleration *! , its initial position is '%, and the initial x-velocity
is !%! . The equations of motion are given by
Derivation:
Derive the equations of motion.
PHY 2048, Dr. Hebin Li
Example:
1. Clear the runway. A plane accelerates from rest at a constant acceleration of 10.0 m/s2 along a runway that is 2000
m long. The plane reaches the take-off velocity at the end of the runway.
a) what is the time needed to take off?
b) what is the take-off speed?
c) what is the distance travelled in the last second before taking off?
d) what is the speed when the plane reached the midpoint of the runway?
PHY 2048, Dr. Hebin Li
Freely falling bodies
Free fall is the motion of an object under the
influence of only gravity.
Galileo Galilei
(1564 – 1642)
PHY 2048, Dr. Hebin Li
Freely falling bodies
Free fall is the motion of an object under the
influence of only gravity.
Ø If there is no air resistance (or negligible), the acceleration of
a freely falling object is (approximately) a constant, which is
called the acceleration due to gravity (or simply “g”)
Ø Near the earth’s surface
, = 9.8 m/2 !
Ø This is an approximate value. The exact value varies with
location.
PHY 2048, Dr. Hebin Li
Motion in free fall – falling from rest
Example:
!% = 0 0
Ø At a time t after the object is
dropped, what are its position and
velocity?
! =? Ø How long does it take to hit the
4 =? ground? What’s the velocity right
before it hits the ground? Assume
the height of the tower is h.
! =?
( =? PHY 2048, Dr. Hebin Li
Motion in free fall – thrown with a velocity
You throw a ball vertically upward from the roof of a tall building. The ball leaves your hand at a point even with the roof
railing with an upward speed of 15.0 m/s; the ball is then in free fall. On its way back down, it just misses the railing. Find
(a) the ball’s position and velocity 1.00 s and 4.00 s after leaving your hand;
(b) the ball’s velocity when it is 5.00 m above the railing;
(c) the maximum height reached;
(d) the ball’s acceleration when it is at its maximum height.
PHY 2048, Dr. Hebin Li
Velocity and position by integration
• The acceleration of a car is not always constant.
• The motion may be integrated over many small time intervals to
give
t t
vx = vox + ò axdt and x = x0 + ò vxdt.
0 0
PHY 2048, Dr. Hebin Li