Chapter 2 One Dimensional
Kinematics
Learning Objectives
• Position, Distance, and Displacement
• Average Speed and Velocity
• Instantaneous Velocity
• Acceleration
• Motion with Constant Acceleration
• Applications of the Equations of Motion
• Freely Falling Objects
PowerPoint presentations are compiled from Walker 3rd Edition Instructor CD-ROM
and Dr. Daniel Bullock’s own resources
Position, Distance, and
Displacement
• Coordinate system defines position
• Distance total length of travel
– (SI unit = meter, m)
– Scalar quantity
• Displacement change in position
– Change in position = final pos. – initial pos.
x = xf – xi
– Vector quantity
Position, Distance, and
Displacement
Before describing motion, you
must set up a coordinate system –
define an origin and a positive
direction.
The distance is the total
length of travel; if you
drive from your house to
the grocery store and
back, what is the total
distance you traveled?
Displacement is the change in position. If you drive from your house to the
grocery store and then to your friend’s house, what is your total distance? What
is your displacement?
Average speed and velocity
• Average speed distance traveled divided by the
total elapsed time
distance
Average speed
elapsed time
– SI units, meters/second (m/s)
– Scalar quantity
– Always positive
Average speed and velocity
• Is the average speed of the red car:
A. 40 mi/h
B. More than 40 mi/h
C. Less than 40 mi/h
Average speed and velocity
• Average velocity displacement divided by the
total elapsed time
displacement
Average velocity
elapsed time
x x f xi
vav
t t f ti
– SI units of m/s
– Vector quantity
– Can de positive or negative
Average speed and velocity
• Average velocity = displacement /
elapsed time
What’s your average
velocity if you return to
your starting point?
What if the runner
sprints 50 m in 8 s?
What if he walks back to
the starting line in 40 s?
Can you calculate: What is his average sprint velocity? His average walking
velocity? And his average velocity for the entire trip?
Graphical Interpretation of Average
• The same motion,
Velocity
plotted one-
dimensionally and as
an position vs. time (x-t)
graph:
Position vs time graphs give us information about:
• average velocity slope of a line on a x-t plot is
equal to the average velocity over that interval
rise y2 y1
slope
run x2 x1
Graphical Interpretation of average
velocity
What’s the average velocity between the intervals t = 0 s t = 3 s? Is the particle
moving to the left or right?
What’s the average velocity between the intervals t = 2 s t = 3 s? Is the particle
moving to the left or right?
Instantaneous Velocity
• Instantaneous velocity
• This means that we evaluate the average
velocity over a shorter and shorter period
of time; as that time becomes
infinitesimally small, we have the
instantaneous velocity.
• Magnitude of the instantaneous velocity is
known as the instantaneous speed
Instantaneous Velocity
• As t smaller,
the ratio x/t
becomes constant
• Consider the
simple case of an
object with constant
velocity
• In this case as t gets smaller the ratio
remains constant
Instantaneous velocity
• If we have a more complex motion
• This plot shows the
average velocity
being measured over
shorter and shorter
intervals. The
instantaneous
velocity is tangent to
the curve.
Instantaneous velocity
Is the instantaneous
velocity at t = 0.5 s
A. Greater than
B. Less than
C. Or equal to the
instantaneous
velocity at t = 1.0 s
Instantaneous velocity
Graphical Interpretation of Average and
Instantaneous Velocity
Average velocity is the slope of the straight line connecting two points corresponding to
a given time interval
Instantaneous velocity is the slope of the tangent line at a given instant of time
Acceleration
• Average acceleration the change in
velocity divided by the time it took to
change the velocity
– SI units meters/(second · second), m/s2
– Vector quantity
– Can be positive or negative
– Accelerations give rise to force
Acceleration
• What does it mean to
have an acceleration
of 10 m/s2 ?
Time (s) Velocity (m/s)
0 0
1 10
2 20
3 30
Acceleration
• Instantaneous acceleration - This means that
we evaluate the average acceleration over a
shorter and shorter period of time; as that time
becomes infinitesimally small, we have the
instantaneous acceleration.
v
a lim
t 0 t
• When acceleration is constant, the
instantaneous and average accelerations are
equal
Graphical interpretation of
Acceleration
• Velocity vs time (v-t) graphs give us information
about: average acceleration, instantaneous
acceleration
• average velocity slope of a line on a x-t plot is
equal to the average velocity over that interval
• the “+” 0.25 m/s2
means the particle’s
speed is increasing by
0.25 m/s every second
• What does the “-” 0.5
m/s2 mean?
Graphical interpretation of
Acceleration
Acceleration
• Acceleration (increasing speed) and deceleration
(decreasing speed) should not be confused with the
directions of velocity and acceleration:
• In 1-D velocities & accelerations can be “+” or “-”
depending on whether they point in the “+” or “-” direction
of the coordinate system
• Leads to two conclusion
– When the velocity & acceleration have the same sign
the speed of the object increases (in this case the
velocity & acceleration point in the same direction)
– When the velocity & acceleration have opposite signs,
the speed of the object decreases (in this case the
velocity & acceleration point in opposite directions
Acceleration
Under which scenarios does the car’s speed
increase? Decrease?
Motion with constant acceleration
• If the acceleration is constant, the velocity changes
linearly:
• Average velocity:
• v0 = initial velocity
• a = acceleration
• t = time
• Can you show that
this equation is dimen-
sionally correct?
• vt
Motion with constant acceleration
• Average velocity:
• Position as a function of time:
• Velocity as a function of position:
Motion with constant acceleration
• The relationship between position and
time follows a characteristic curve.
• x t2
• If the time doubles what happens to the position?
Motion with Constant Acceleration
Can you derive these equations?
Motion with constant acceleration
A park ranger driving on a back country road suddenly sees a deer
“frozen” in the headlights. The ranger who is driving at 11.4 m/s,
immediately applies the brakes and slows with an acceleration of 3.8
m/s2. If the deer is 20 m from the ranger’s vehicle when the brakes are
applied, how close does the ranger come to hitting the deer? How
much time is needed for the ranger’s vehicle to stop?
Motion with constant acceleration
Does the velocity
vary uniformly
with distance?
Motion with constant acceleration
Free fall is the motion of an object subject only to
the influence of gravity. The acceleration due to
gravity is a constant, g.
Motion with constant acceleration
An object falling in air is subject to air resistance
(and therefore is not freely falling).
• Free fall is the motion of an object subject only to the
influences of gravity
• An object is in free fall as soon as it is released
Free falling objects
Free fall from rest
Trajectory of a projectile
Chapter 2 summary
• Distance: total length of travel
• Displacement: change in position
• Average speed: distance / time
• Average velocity: displacement / time
• Instantaneous velocity: average velocity
measured over an infinitesimally small
time
Chapter 2 summary
• Instantaneous acceleration: average acceleration
measured over an infinitesimally small time
• Average acceleration: change in velocity divided by
change in time
• Deceleration: velocity and acceleration have
opposite signs
• Constant acceleration: equations of motion relate
position, velocity, acceleration, and time
• Freely falling objects: constant acceleration
g = 9.81 m/s2