Chapter 1 Concepts of Motion
Pickup PSE3e
Photo from page 2, snowboarder jump.
Chapter Goal: To introduce the fundamental
concepts of motion.
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Chapter 1 Preview
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Chapter 1 Preview
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Four basic types of motion
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Making a Motion Diagram
Consider a movie of a
moving object.
A movie camera takes
photographs at a fixed
rate (i.e., 30 photographs
every second).
Each separate photo is
called a frame.
The car is in a different
position in each frame.
Shown are four frames in
a filmstrip.
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Making a Motion Diagram
Cut individual frames of the filmstrip apart.
Stack them on top of each other.
This composite photo shows an object’s position at
several equally spaced instants of time.
This is called a motion diagram.
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Examples of Motion Diagrams
An object that has a single position in a motion
diagram is at rest.
Example: A stationary ball on the ground.
An object with images that are equally spaced is
moving with constant speed.
Example: A skateboarder rolling down the sidewalk.
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Examples of Motion Diagrams
An object with images that have increasing distance
between them is speeding up.
Example: A sprinter starting the 100 meter dash.
An object with images that have decreasing distance
between them is slowing down.
Example: A car stopping for a red light.
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Examples of Motion Diagrams
A motion diagram can show more complex motion in
two dimensions.
Example: A jump shot from center court.
In this case the ball is
slowing down as it rises,
and speeding up as it falls.
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The Particle Model
Often motion of the object as a whole is not influenced by
details of the object’s size and shape.
We only need to keep track of a single point on the
object.
So we can treat the object as if all its mass were
concentrated into a single point.
A mass at a single point in space is called a particle.
Particles have no size, no shape and no top, bottom,
front or back.
Below is a motion diagram of a car stopping, using the
particle model.
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The Particle Model
Motion Diagram in which the object is
represented as a particle
Motion diagram of a rocket launch
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Position and Time
In a motion diagram it is useful
to add numbers to specify where
the object is and when the object
was at that position.
Shown is the motion diagram of
a basketball, with 0.5 s intervals
between frames.
A coordinate system has been
added to show (x, y).
The frame at t = 0 is frame 0, when the ball is at the origin.
The ball’s position in frame 4 can be specified with
coordinates (x4, y4) = (12 m, 9 m) at time t4 = 2.0 s.
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Position as a Vector
Another way to locate the ball is to draw an arrow from the
origin to the point representing the ball.
You can then specify the length and direction of the arrow.
This arrow is called the position
vector of the object.
The position vector is
an alternative form of
specifying position.
It does not tell us
anything different than
the coordinates (x, y).
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Tactics: Vector Addition
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Vector Addition Example: Displacement
Sam is standing 50 ft east of the corner of 12th Street and
Vine. He then walks northeast for 100 ft to a second
point. What is Sam’s change of position?
Sam’s initial position is the
vector .
Vector is his position after
he finishes walking.
Sam has changed position,
and a change in position is
called a displacement.
His displacement is the
vector labeled .
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Definition of Displacement
The displacement of an object as it moves from
an initial position to a final position is
The definition of involves vector subtraction.
With numbers, subtraction The negative of a vector.
is the same as the addition
of a negative number.
Similarly, with vectors
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Tactics: Vector Subtraction
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Time Interval
It’s useful to consider a
change in time.
An object may move from an
initial position at time ti to a
final position at time tf.
A stopwatch is used to measure a time
interval.
Different observers may choose different coordinate
systems and different clocks, however, all
observers find the same values for the
displacement ∆ and the time interval ∆t.
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Average Speed, Average Velocity
To quantify an object’s fastness
or slowness, we define a ratio:
Average speed does not
include information about
direction of motion.
The average velocity of an
object during a time interval ∆t,
The victory goes to the runner with
in which the object undergoes
the highest average speed.
a displacement ∆ , is the
vector:
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Motion Diagrams with Velocity Vectors
The velocity vector is in the same direction as the
displacement ∆ .
The length of is directly proportional to the length of ∆ .
Consequently, we may label the vectors connecting the
dots on a motion diagram as velocity vectors .
Below is a motion diagram for a tortoise racing a hare.
The arrows are average velocity vectors.
The length of each arrow represents the average speed.
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EXAMPLE 1.2 Accelerating Up a Hill
Motion diagram of a car accelerating up a hill.
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Acceleration
Sometimes an object’s velocity is constant as it moves.
More often, an object’s velocity changes as it moves.
Acceleration describes a change in velocity.
Consider an object whose velocity changes from to
during the time interval ∆t.
The quantity is the change in velocity.
The rate of change of velocity is called the average
acceleration:
The Audi TT accelerates from 0 to 60
mph in 6 s.
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Tactics: Finding the Acceleration Vector
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Tactics: Finding the Acceleration Vector
Notice that the acceleration vectors goes beside the
dots, not beside the velocity vectors.
That is because each acceleration vector is the
difference between two velocity vectors on either side
of a dot.
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The Complete Motion Diagram
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Example 1.5 Skiing Through the Woods
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Example 1.5 Skiing Through the Woods
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Speeding Up or Slowing Down?
When an object is speeding up, the acceleration and
velocity vectors point in the same direction.
When an object is slowing down, the acceleration
and velocity vectors point in opposite directions.
An object’s velocity is constant if and only if its
acceleration is zero.
In the motion diagrams
to the right, one object
is speeding up and the
other is slowing down,
but they both have
acceleration vectors
toward the right.
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Tactics: Determining the Sign of the Position,
Velocity, and Acceleration
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Tactics: Determining the Sign of the Position,
Velocity, and Acceleration
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Tactics: Determining the Sign of the Position,
Velocity, and Acceleration
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Position-versus-Time Graphs
Below is a motion diagram, made at 1 frame per minute,
of a student walking to school.
A motion diagram is one way to represent the student’s
motion.
Another way is to make a graph of x versus t for the
student:
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Example 1.7 Interpreting a Position Graph
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Example 1.7 Interpreting a Position Graph
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Solving Problems in Physics
Physics problems are often presented
using words, which can be imprecise
or ambiguous.
Part of problem-solving involves
using symbols and drawings to
create a representation, which
is clear and precise.
A new building requires careful planning. The
architect’s visualization and drawings have to be
A verbal representation is a problem complete before the detailed procedures of
construction get under way. The same is true for
statement or re-statement using words. solving problems in physics.
A pictorial representation includes motion
diagrams, coordinate systems, simple drawings, and symbols.
A graphical representation uses graphs when appropriate.
A mathematical representation uses specific equations which must
be solved.
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Tactics: Drawing a Pictorial Representation
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Tactics: Drawing a Pictorial Representation
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General Problem-Solving Strategy
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Example 1.9 Launching a Weather Rocket
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Example 1.9 Launching a Weather Rocket
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Example 1.9 Launching a Weather Rocket
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Example 1.9 Launching a Weather Rocket
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Units
Science is based on experimental measurements,
and measurements require units.
The system of units in science is called le Système
Internationale d’unités or SI units.
The SI unit of time is the
second, abbreviated s.
1 s is defined as the time
required for 9,192,631,770
oscillations of the radio wave An atomic clock at the National Institute of
absorbed by a cesium-133 atom. Standards and Technology is the primary
standard of time.
The SI unit of length is the meter, abbreviated m.
1 m is defined as the distance traveled by light in a
vacuum during 1/299,292,458 of a second.
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Units
The SI unit of mass is the
kilogram, abbreviated kg.
1 kg is defined as the mass of
the international standard
kilogram, a polished platinum-
iridium cylinder stored in Paris.
Many lengths, times, and
masses are either much less or
much greater than the
standards of 1 m, 1 s, and 1 kg.
We use prefixes to denote
various powers of 10, which
make it easier to talk about
quantities.
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Unit Conversions
It is important to be able to
convert back and forth between
SI units and other units.
One effective method is
to write the conversion
factor as a ratio equal to one.
Because multiplying by 1 does
not change a value, these ratios
are easily used for unit conversions.
For example, to convert the length 2.00 feet to
meters, use the ratio:
So that:
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Assessment
When problem solving, it is important to decide whether or
not your final answer “makes sense.”
For example, if you are working a
problem about automobile speeds
and reach an answer of
35 m/s, is this a realistic speed?
The table shows some approximate
conversion factors that can be used
to assess answers.
Using 1 m/s ≈ 2 mph, you find that 35 m/s is roughly 20 mph,
a reasonable speed for a car.
If you reached an answer of 350 m/s, this would correspond
to an unreasonable 700 mph, indicating that perhaps you
made a calculation error.
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Significant Figures
It’s important in science and engineering to state clearly what
you know about a situation—no less, and no more.
For example, if you report a length as 6.2 m, you imply that the
actual value is between 6.15 m and 6.25 m and has been
rounded to 6.2.
The number 6.2 has two significant figures.
More precise measurement could give more significant figures.
The appropriate number of significant figures is determined
by the data provided.
Calculations follow the “weakest link” rule: The input value
with the smallest number of significant figures determines
the number of significant figures to use in reporting the
output value.
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Determining significant figures.
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Tactics: Using Significant Figures
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EXAMPLE 1.10 Using significant figures
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Orders of Magnitude and Estimating
Some approximate lengths and masses
In many cases a very
Distance you can drive in 1 hour ~105 m rough estimate of a
Distance across a college campus ~1000 m number is sufficient.
Length of your arm ~1 m A one-significant-figure
Length of your little fingernail ~0.01 m estimate or calculation
Thickness of a sheet of paper ~10–4 m
is called an order-of-
magnitude estimate.
Small car ~1000 kg
An order-of-magnitude
Large human ~100 kg
estimate is indicated by
Science textbook ~1 kg
the symbol ~, which
Apple ~0.1 kg indicates even less
Raisin ~10–3 kg precision than ≈.
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Chapter 1 Summary Slides
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General Strategy
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General Strategy
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Important Concepts
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Important Concepts
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