Ch 2: One-dimensional
Motion
• How do we measure the velocity of
something?
• Sampling rate
• Coordinate system
• Position vs time: {ti , xi(ti)} – Table/Graph
• Displacement in time interval: ∆x in ∆t
depends only on end points, not path
• Average velocity: ∆x
v=
∆t
• Example: Schenectady to NYC (150 mi) in
2.5 h
•Total distance traveled
•Average speed vs average velocity
Am I moving?
• What’s my speed?
– Earth is rotating:
• v1 ~ 500 m/s or ~ 1000 miles/h
– Earth orbits the sun:
• v2 ~ 5 km/s or ~ 3 miles/s or 11,000 miles/h
– Earth rotates around Milky Way Galaxy:
• v3 ~ 200 km/s or ~ 120 miles/s or
400,000 miles/h
– Milky Way Galaxy itself moving:
• v4 ~ 600 km/s or ~360 miles/s or
1,200,000 miles/h
• This is about 0.2% of c = 3 x 108 m/s
Motion of glider
Zoom-in of motion
0.8
Position (m)
0.6
tangent line to curve
at (1 s, +0.567 m)
0.4
0.75 1 1.25
Time (s)
Instantaneous velocity
• As ∆t approaches zero, ∆x also does, but the
ratio approaches a finite value:
∆x dx
= =
v x lim ∆t → 0
∆t dt
• On a graph of x(t) vs t, dx/dt is the slope at a
point on the graph
• Larger slope → faster
• Smaller slope → slower
• Positive slope → moving toward +x
• Negative slope → moving toward –x
• “slopemeter” can be used to move along the
curve and measure velocity
Slopemeter velocity vs time
1.5
position
1
Velocity (m/s)
0.5
a b c d e f g
0
0 1 2 3 4
-0.5
-1
-1.5
velocity
-2
Time (s)
More on position/velocity vs time
• If v = constant, then v vs t is a horizontal
line and x vs t is linear, with
constant slope = v
dx ∆x
• In this case we have that x dt= ∆t
=
v
so that x f = x i + v x ∆t
• Then the area under the v vs t graph is the
displacement Area =v x ∆t =x f − x i =∆x
• If v is not constant then we need to
introduce acceleration
Changes in velocity – acceleration
∆v
• Average acceleration: a=
∆t
• If v vs t graph is linear, then average acceleration is a
constant
• If not, then use slopemeter idea to define
instantaneous acceleration: ∆v dv
= =
a lim ∆t → 0
∆t dt
dx dv x d 2 x
• Since vx = we can write =a =
dt dt 2
dt
• So, a is the slope of a velocity vs time graph at a
point
• Examples:
o Draw possible v vs t graph for a = constant >0
o Draw possible x vs t for that situation
Slopemeter to find accel. vs time
10
8 velocity
6
4
Acceleration (m/s2)
0
0 1 2 3 4
-2
-4
-6 acceleration
-8
-10
Time (s)
Are the velocity and acceleration
greater, less than or = 0?
A
velocity
{0,0}
B
C
D
time
Forces in Nature
1. Gravity – near the earth’s surface F = constant,
but in general force between any two masses is:
Gm1m2
F= (don’t worry
about this now) r2
where G = universal gravitational constant, m’s
are masses, and r is separation distance
2. Electromagnetic – all other forces that we
experience including all pushes, pulls, friction,
contact forces, electricity, magnetism, all of
chemistry
1 and 2 are long-range forces – “action at a
distance”
Nuclear forces:
3. Strong – holds nucleus together. Only acts
within the nucleus.
4. Weak – responsible for radioactivity and the
instability of larger nuclei.
How to understand action at a
distance
• Two particles interact by exchanging “virtual” particles
• Each of the 4 basic forces (interactions) has its own
“exchange” particle
• For electromagnetism it is the photon; for gravity, the
graviton, for nuclear forces the gluon or the W and Z
bosons; these travel at the speed of light and carry
energy
• Fields – each type of interaction establishes a field in
space with an associated property; gravity has mass;
electromagnetism has electric charge
Newton’s First Law
• Constant velocity doesn't require an explanation
(cause), but acceleration does.
• Friction tricks our intuition here
• Newton’s First Law: in inertial reference frames,
objects traveling at constant velocity will
maintain that velocity unless acted upon by an
outside force; as a special case, objects at rest
will remain at rest unless an outside force acts.
Inertia is tendency to stay at rest unless an
outside force acts
• inertial reference frames: examples of inertial
and non-inertial reference frames
Forces I
• Contact vs field (action at a distance)
forces
• How can we measure force?
stretched spring
unstretched spring force of the spring on the body,
up
force of the Earth on the body,
down
Forces II
• Use springs to measure a push or pull
force. Stretch of spring is proportional to
force
• Can replace the net force on an object by
a single calibrated stretched spring – a big
stiff one for a large force, a small flexible
one for a small force.
Mass and Acceleration
• Inertial mass m
• We can find the relative masses of two objects
by exerting the same force on them (check with
our springs) and measuring their accelerations:
m2 a1
≡
m1 a2
• This, with a 1 kg standard, defines inertial mass
(different from weight, a force – later)
Newton’s Second Law
• in an inertial frame of reference, the acceleration
of a body of mass m, undergoing rigid
translation, is given by
Fnet on m
a= ,
m
where Fnet is the net external force acting on
the body (that is, the sum of all forces due to all
bodies other than the mass m that push and pull
on m).
• This is more usually written as F = ma
• Units for mass (kilograms kg), force (newtons N)
• Note that if Fnet=0, then a = 0 and v = constant,
giving Newton’s First Law
Weight
• Weight is the force of gravity acting on a mass
Fg=mg where g = GMe/Re2 (with numerical value
g = 9.8 m/s2)- Note: the mass does not have to
be accelerating to have weight !!
• Gravitational mass = inertial mass
• Mass and weight are different: on the moon you
would have your same mass, but a weight that is
much less, about 1/6 that on earth, due to the
weaker pull of the moon
• Also, you weigh a bit less on a tall mountain since
the earth pulls on you with a weaker force – this
is responsible for the lower boiling point of water
at high altitudes
Newton’s Third Law
• An acceleration requires an external force – what is that
for a runner or bicyclist or flying bird or swimming fish?
• What you push against is very important – forces are
interactions between objects
• When one body exerts a force on a second body, the
second exerts a force in the opposite direction and of
equal magnitude on the first; that is,
F2 on 1 = − F1 on 2
• These are sometimes called action-reaction pairs
Third Law Examples
• Identify the interaction pairs of forces. In
each case draw a free-body diagram:
– A book resting on a table
– A book resting on a table with a second book
on top of it
– A cart being pulled by a horse along a level
road
– A heavy picture being pushed horizontally
against the wall
Diffusion
• Why is diffusion important??
• Examples of diffusion = Brownian motion =
thermal motion
• Random walk in one dimension
• Mean square displacement definition in 1
dim
< ∆x >= 2 Dt
2
• In 2 or 3 dim: 2Dt → 4Dt → 6Dt
Diffusion Problem
• Example 2.9 The diffusion coefficient for
sucrose in blood at 37oC is 9.6 x 10-11
m2/s. a) Find the average (root mean
square) distance that a typical sucrose
molecule moves (in three-dimensions) in
one hour. b) Now find how long it takes
for a typical sucrose molecule to diffuse
from the center to the outer edge of a
blood capillary of diameter 8 µm.