Ancient Timekeeping Methods
Before mechanical clocks, people measured time using natural phenomena or simple
devices — e.g. sundial (shadows of the Sun), water-clock (measuring flow of water),
hourglass (sand flow), or candle-clock (burning of candle).
Example: In older Indian time-keeping, a unit called ghati was used (1 ghati = 24
minutes), showing that people had ways to subdivide a day even before modern
clocks.
Modern Time Units & Clocks
In today’s system, the basic unit of time is the second (s) — the SI unit. Larger units:
60 seconds = 1 minute, 60 minutes = 1 hour.
Mechanical clocks (with gears, springs), pendulum clocks (using oscillations), and
modern quartz/atomic clocks (using vibrations/atomic transitions) have made our
measurement of time extremely accurate.
Motion
When an object changes its position with respect to time. The object is said to be in motion.
Slow and Fast Motion
If object ‘A’ covers a distance in less time and object ‘B’ covers the same distance in more
time. Object A is called a faster-moving object, and object B is called a slower-moving
object. In other words, object A has a faster motion and object B has a slower motion.
Types of Motion
Rectilinear Motion
The motion of an object along a straight line is known as rectilinear motion.
For example, Motion of a motorcycle on a straight bridge.
Curvilinear Motion
The motion of an object along a curved line is known as curvilinear motion.
For example, Motion of a car or any other moving object along a curved line.
Circular Motion
The motion of an object along a circle is known as circular motion.
For example, A cyclist motions around a circular park, a child on a merry-go-round.
Periodic Motion
If the motion of an object, repeats itself after regular intervals of time, the motion is said to be
periodic motion.
For example, Motion of a swing
Rotational Motion
The motion possessed by an object when it spins about a fixed axis, is called rotational
motion.
For example, Motion of a spinning top
Speed
Distance covered by an object in unit time is called speed.
Types of Speed
There are three types of speed: Uniform speed, Non-Uniform speed, and Average speed.
Uniform Speed
If an object covers an equal distance in an equal interval of time, the motion of the object is
said to be uniform and the speed with which the object is traveling will be uniform speed.
Non-uniform Speed
If an object does not cover an equal distance in an equal interval of time, the motion of the
object is said to be non-uniform motion and the speed with which the object is traveling will
be non-uniform speed.
Average Speed
Total distance covered divided by total time taken is known as average speed.
Speed is also known as VELOCITY.
Oscillatory Motion
The to-and-fro motion of an object about its mean position is known as oscillatory motion.
For example, Motion of a pendulum.
A device having a string suspended with a fixed point with a bob at bottom is called a
pendulum.
The motion of a pendulum starting from one extreme end to another extreme end and back to
the first extreme end is called one oscillation. Similarly, one oscillation is the motion of a
simple pendulum from its mean position to the extreme left and extreme right and back to the
mean position.
Time Period
Time taken to complete one oscillation by the pendulum is called time period.
Unit of Time
Time is measured in seconds. Thus, a unit of time is a second. Second is denoted by ‘s’.
60 second = 1 minute
60 minute = 1 hour
24 hour = 1 day
7 day = 1 week
365 days = 1 year
Unit of speed
Unit of speed is meter/second (m/s), metre/minute (m/min) or kilometer/hour (km/h).
1000 metre (m) = 1 kilometer (km)
Speedometer
A device used to measure the speed of a vehicle is called a speedometer.
Odometer
A device used to measure the distance covered by a vehicle is called an odometer.
Distance Time Graph
When distance covered by an object and the time taken to cover the distance is represented on
a graph, the graph is called a distance-time graph.
Slope of the distance-time graph gives of the speed of the object.
The steeper the slope of the graph, the more is the speed of the object.
Practice Questions on Motion and Time for Class 7
Q1. The distance between two stations is 240 km. A train takes 4 hours to cover this distance.
Calculate the speed of the train.
Solution: Distance = 240 km
Time taken = 4 hours
Speed = Distance covered/time taken = 240 km/4 h
= 60 km/h
Speed of train = 60 km/h
Q2. Salma takes 15 minutes from her house to reach her school on a bicycle. If the bicycle
has a speed of 2 m/min, calculate the distance between her house and the school.
Solution: Time taken =15 min
Speed = 2 m/min
Distance = speed x time = 2 x 15 = 30 m
Distance between Salma’s school and her house is 30 m.
Q3. Which of the following distance time graphs a truck moving with a speed which is not
constant?
Solution: (iii)
A curved line on the distance-time graph indicates that the truck is moving at a speed that is
not constant.
Q4. The odometer of a car reads 57321.0 km when the clock shows the time 08:30 AM. What
is the distance moved by car, if at 08:50 AM, the odometer reading has changed to 57336.0
km? Calculate the speed of the car in km/min during this time. Express the speed in km/h
also.
Solution: Distance = 57336.0 km – 57321 km =15 km
Speed in km/min =15km/20 min = 3/4 km/min
Speed in km/hr =15 km/1/3 hr
= (15 x 3) km/hr
=45 km/hr
Q5. A car moves with a speed of 40 km/h for 15 minutes and then with a speed of 60 km/h
for the next 15 minutes. The total distance covered by the car is:
(i) 100 km (ii) 25 km (iii) 15 km (iv) 10 km
Answer: (ii) 25 km