Chapter 2 - Accelerated Motion
Presentation by: Clarabella, Chery, Kimberly, Nargis
Acceleration Accelerating means speeding up, so any
object whose speed is changing or which
is changing its direction has acceleration
As acceleration is linked to velocity, it
follows the vector quantity.
Or,
Examples of objects accelerating a = Δv/Δt
Units of acceleration
The unit of acceleration is ms^−2 (metres per
second squared
Deducing acceleration
The gradient of a velocity–time graph tells
us whether the object’s velocity has been
changing at a high rate or a low rate, or not
at all
acceleration = gradient of velocity–time
graph
Deducing displacement
We can find the displacement of a moving
object from its velocity–time graph. This is
given by the area under the graph.
Displacement = area under velocity–time
graph
It is easy to confuse displacement–time
graphs and velocity–time graphs. Check
by looking at the quantity marked on the
vertical axis.
A micro-mechanical
acceleration sensor
(tiny accelerometer) is used to
detect sudden accelerations
and decelerations in a vehicle.
This electron microscope
image shows the device
magnified about 1000 times.
Measuring velocity and acceleration
Laboratory measurementsMeasurements using a ticker timer
of acceleration
Measurements using light gates
Measurements using a motion sensor
The equations of motion
Deriving equations of acceleration
These equations arise from the definition of
velocity and acceleration.
We can find the first two equations from the
velocity-time graph shown on the right hand
side. The graph represents the motion of
the object with u as its initial velocity and v
as its final velocity.
Equation 1
Equation 2
The graph on the figure shown earlier is a The shaded area under the velocity-time graph
straight line, therefore the acceleration of the is the object’s displacement.
object a is constant. Acceleration is defined
as -
Which is the gradient of the line. Rearranging
this gives the first equation of -
The object’s average velocity is calculated by -
Displacement=average velocity x time taken
Equation 3 Equation 4
From the 1st and 2nd equation we can We can also derive the 4th equation from
derive the 3rd equation. the 1st and 2nd equation (on the left
Substituting v from the 1st equation
hand), however substituting the t from the
gives the equation -
1st equation gives the equation -
Rearranged into -
In simpler forms -
In simple forms -
Uniform and Non-uniform Acceleration
The velocity-time graph shows a non-uniform
acceleration as it has a decreasing gradient.
The gradient of the velocity-time graph
gives the acceleration at any instant in
time. The triangle on the graph shows
how to find the acceleration at t=20s
Done by -
Marking a point on the graph
Drawing a tangent to the curve at that In the case for a uniform acceleration, the
point velocity-time graph is a straight line graph
Make a large right angled triangle to find
inclining towards the time axis. If the object
the gradient.
has positive constant acceleration, the graph
slopes upward. In case the object has
negative constant acceleration, the velocity-
time graph will slope downward.
Determining g Acceleration caused by
gravity
If we measure the acceleration of a
This diagram of a falling
freely falling object on the surface of
ball, based on a multiflash
the Earth, we find a value of about
photo, clearly shows that
9.81ms−2. This is known as the the ball’s velocity
acceleration of free fall, and is given the increases as it falls.
symbol g
the ball’s velocity
increases as it falls
acceleration of free fall, g = 9.81ms−2 because the spaces
between the images
of the ball increase
by timing a falling object, we can determine g. steadily. The ball is
accelerating.
Measuring g using an electronic timer
When the ball begins to fall the
electronic timer starts. This will tells
us the time taken for the ball to fall
from rest through the distance h
between the bottom of the ball and the
trapdoor.
The timer records the time for the ball to fall through the distance h.
Measuring g using a ticker-timer
As the weight falls, it pulls a
tape through a ticker-timer. The spacing of the dots on the tape
increases steadily, showing that the weight is accelerating. You can
analyse the tape to find the acceleration
Measuring g using a light gate
A falling weight pulls a tape through a ticker-timer.
The weight can be dropped from different
heights above the light gate. This allows
you to find out whether its acceleration is
the same at different points in its fall
The weight accelerates as it falls. The upper section of the card
falls more quickly through the light gate.
Motion in 2D - Projectiles
A curved trajectory Components of a vector
A bouncing ball is an example of a The figure below shows components of a
projectile. This multiflash photograph velocity. The component due north is vN =
shows details of its motion which vcosθ and the component due east is vE =
would escape the eye of an observer. vsinθ.
Understanding
Projectiles
Up and down
We will take the upwards movement as positive,
and the downwards as negative. So the stone’s
initial velocity is positive, but its acceleration g is
negative.
At its highest point, the stone’s velocity is zero and
when the stone returns to the point from which it
was thrown, its displacement s is zero.
On edge of cliff, a stone is thrown upwards
Thank you