PHY 1010

LINEAR MOTION

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 OVERVIEW
• Displacement

• Velocity

• Acceleration

• Equations of motion

• Graphical description of motion

• Motion due to gravity

 OBJECTIVES
1. To calculate displacement in one dimension
2. To calculate average speed and velocity of an object
3. To calculation and interpretation of instantaneous velocity
4. To calculate an objects average acceleration
5. To calculate and interprete instantaneous acceleration
6. To analyse an objects motion using motion diagrams
7. To apply the equations of motion to freely falling objects
 MOTION IN ONE DIMENSION
INTRODUCTION
Linear Motion is motion in a straight line in one dimension.
• The description of motion involves quantities such as displacement,
velocity, and acceleration in dimensions such as length and time.
 DEFINITIONS
• Distance is the length of a path followed by a particle.

• The displacement of a particle is defined as the change in position in some time

interval.

• The average speed of a particle is defined as the total distance travelled divided
by the total time interval required to travel that distance

• Velocity is the rate of change of displacement.

 DEFINITIONS
• Instantaneous velocity is the average velocity evaluated for a time
interval that approaches zero

• The instantaneous speed of a particle is defined as the magnitude of its

instantaneous velocity

• Acceleration is the rate of change of an object's velocity.

• Instantaneous acceleration is the limit of the average acceleration as the time

interval approaches zero.
 DISPLACEMENT
• The displacement ∆𝑥 of a particle is defined as its change in position in some
time interval. As the particle moves from an initial position 𝑥𝑖 to a final position
𝑥𝑓 , its displacement is given by

∆𝑥 = 𝑥𝑓 − 𝑥𝑖

• Displacement is the shortest distance between two points, A and B.

• The S.I unit is Metre (m).
• Displacement is a vector quantity because it has both magnitude (size) and
direction.
 Example 1
A car moves from point A to point F as shown below in the diagram.
Calculate the displacement between
(i) point A and point B.
(ii) point C and F
 SOLUTION TO EXAMPLE 1
• Displacement is

(i) ∆𝑥 = 𝑥𝑓 − 𝑥𝑖
∆𝑥 = 52𝑚 − 30𝑚
∆𝑥 = +22𝑚

(ii) ∆𝑥 = 𝑥𝑓 − 𝑥𝑖
∆𝑥 = −53𝑚 − 38𝑚
∆𝑥 = −91𝑚
 AVERAGE SPEED
• The average speed of a particle, a scalar quantity, is defined as the total distance
travelled divided by the total time interval to travel that distance:
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒
𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 =
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒

𝑥
𝑣ҧ =
𝑡

• The total distance is the length travelled

• The S. I unit is meter per second (m/s)
 AVERAGE VELOCITY
• The average velocity 𝑣 of a particle is defined as the particle’s
displacement 𝑠റ divided by the time interval ∆t during which that
displacement occurs
Displacement
Velocity =
time

𝑠റ
𝑣റ =
𝑡

• The S.I unit is metre per second (m/s)

 EXAMPLE 2
A car travelling over a curved path covered a distance of 120km in 3 hours. At
the end of the journey it was found to be 60 km west of the starting point and
the journey would have taken half an hour using the direct path.

(a) What was its average speed?

(b) What was its average velocity?
 SOLUTION TO EXAMPLE 2

(a) Average speed

120
𝑣ҧ = = 40 𝑘𝑚/ℎ
3
(b) Average velocity

60
𝑣= = 120 𝑘𝑚/ℎ
0.5
 EXAMPLE 3
Find the displacement, average velocity, and average speed of the car in the

diagram below between positions A and F.

 SOLUTION TO EXAMPLE 3

∆𝑥 = 𝑥𝐹 − 𝑥𝐴 = −53m − 30m = −83m

∆𝑥 𝑥𝑓 − 𝑥𝑖 𝑥𝐹 − 𝑥𝐴
𝑣𝑥 = = =
∆𝑡 𝑡𝑓 − 𝑡𝑖 𝑡𝐹 − 𝑡𝐴

−53𝑚 − 30𝑚 −83𝑚

= =
50𝑠 − 0𝑠 50𝑠
𝑚
= −1.7
𝑠

127𝑚
𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 = = 2.5 m/s
50𝑠
 INSTANTANEOUS VELOCITY
Instantaneous velocity is the average velocity evaluated for a time interval that
approaches zero. Thus, if an object undergoes a displacement ∆𝑥 in a time ∆𝑡, then for
that object, the instantaneous velocity is

→
→  x
V = lim
 t → 0  t
 ACCELERATION
Acceleration is the changing of an objects velocity with time. Acceleration
measures the rate of change of velocity
change in velocity
Acceleration =
time
𝑣−𝑢
𝑎=
𝑡
where;
𝑣= final velocity
𝑢= initial velocity

The S.I unit is meter per second per second (m/s2 )

 EXAMPLE 4
A car starts from rest and accelerates uniformly to a velocity of 4 𝑚𝑠 −1 in 8 s as it
travels east. Find its acceleration.

𝑣−𝑢 4−0
𝑎= = = 0.5 𝑚𝑠 −2
𝑡 8
 INSTANTANEOUS ACCELERATION
Instantaneous acceleration is the limit of the average acceleration evaluated for a time
interval that approaches zero.

∆𝑣 𝑑𝑣
𝑎 = lim =
∆𝑡→0 ∆𝑡 𝑑𝑡
 EQUATIONS OF MOTION
The equations of motion for one dimensional motion with constant acceleration.
𝑠 = 𝑣𝑡ҧ
𝑣 = 𝑢 + 𝑎𝑡 velocity as a function of time
1
𝑠 = 𝑢+𝑣 𝑡
2
1 2
𝑠 = 𝑢𝑡 + 𝑎𝑡 Displacement as a function of time
2
1 2 General Displacement as a function of time
𝑥𝑓 = 𝑥𝑖 + 𝑢𝑡 + 𝑎𝑡
2

𝑣 2 = 𝑢2 + 2𝑎𝑠 velocity as a function of displacement

 EXAMPLE 5
A body moves with initial velocity 5 m/s along the positive x- direction and

accelerates uniformly at the rate of 0.6 m/s2.

(a) Find the displacement in the first three seconds.

(b) How much time does it take to reach the velocity 10 m/s?

(c) How much distance will it cover in reaching the velocity of 10 m/s?
 SOLUTION TO EXAMPLE 5
(a) Displacement in the first three seconds.

1 2 1
𝑠 = 𝑢𝑡 + 𝑎𝑡 = (5 × 3) + × 0.6 × 32 = 17.7 m
2 2

(b) Time taken to reach the velocity 10 m/s

𝑣−𝑢 10−5
𝑡= = = 8.33 s
𝑎 0.6

(c) Distance covered in reaching the velocity of 10m/s

1 1
𝑠 = 𝑣 + 𝑢 𝑡 = 10 + 5 × 8.33 = 62.48 𝑚
2 2
 EXAMPLE 6
1.A jogger runs down a straight stretch of road with an average velocity of 4.00 m/s for 2.00 min.
What is his final position, taking his initial position to be zero?

[Link] airplane lands with an initial velocity of 70.0 m/s and then decelerates at 1.50 𝑚/𝑠 2 for 40.0
s. What is its final velocity?
 EXAMPLE 7
3. A cycler achieves an average acceleration of 26.0 𝑚/𝑠 2 from rest at this rate for 5.56 s.

(a) How far does it travel in this time?

(b) Calculate the final Velocity of the Cycler

 MOTION GRAPHS

Motion graphs are a plot of a graph of the object’s position over time that
helps to understand the movements of an object whilst on a journey.

DISPLACEMENT-TIME GRAPH
A displacement-time graph is a graph showing the positions visited on a
journey with displacement on the 𝑦 − 𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑠 and the time on the 𝑥 − 𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑠.
A displacement-time graph could have parts of it in the negative portions of
the 𝑦 − 𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑠 if the movement went in the opposite direction at some point
in time.
 DISPLACEMENT-TIME GRAPH
The gradient of a displacement-time graph gives the velocity.
𝑦 − 𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑠 1. Constant Velocity
2. Stationary (zero velocity)
2
150 m
3. Moving backwards to
1 3
origin

0 40 s 𝑥 − 𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑠 4. Moving backwards away

5s 15 s 20 s

6 from origin
4

120 m
5. Stationary
5
6. Moving backwards
towards origin. ( slowing
down)
 EXAMPLE 8
An athlete is training by jogging in a straight line. The displacement-time graph below
shows the displacement of the athlete from her starting point throughout her motion.

(a)Calculate the velocity of the athlete during the first 2 seconds.

(b)Describe the motion of the athlete between the times of 2 seconds and 5 seconds
(c)Calculate the velocity of the athlete at 10 seconds
(d)Find the total distance travelled by the athlete during the 14 seconds.
 SOLUTION TO EXAMPLE 8
5 𝑚
(a) 𝑉𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 = 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡 = = 2.5
2 𝑠

(b) 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑦
∆𝑠 0−11 −11
(c) 𝑉𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 = = = = −1.83 𝑚/𝑠
∆𝑡 14−8 6

(d) 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 = 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠 + 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠

𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 = 11 𝑚 + 11 𝑚 = 22 𝑚
 VELOCITY-TIME GRAPH
The area under a velocity-time graph is equal to displacement
 EXAMPLE 9
The velocity-time graph of a car moving on a straight road is shown in the figure.
𝑦 − 𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑠

20 m/s

10 m/s

0 𝑥 − 𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑠
5s 15 s 20 s

• Describe the motion of the car and find the distance covered.
1 1
𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 = × 5 × 20 × 10 × 20 × × 5 × 20
2 2

𝐴𝑛𝑠 = 300𝑚
 MOTION DUE TO GRAVITY
• A freely falling object is any object moving freely under the influence of gravity alone
regardless of its initial motion.

• Objects thrown upward or downward and those released from rest are all considered freely
falling. The constant acceleration in the equations of motion for a straight line is replaced by 'g'.
g=9.8m/s2
v = u + gt
• Hence
1 2
∆𝑦 = 𝑢𝑡 + 𝑔𝑡
2

𝑣 2 = 𝑢2 + 2𝑔∆𝑦
 EXAMPLE 10
A boy drops a stone in a well and hears the sound of the stone hitting

water surface after 3.0 s. How deep is the well?

1 2 1
𝑦 = 𝑔𝑡 = × 9.81 × 32 = 44.15 𝑚
2 2
 EXAMPLE 10
A basketball player jumped straight up to grab a rebound. If she was in

the air for 0.80 seconds, how high did she jump?
 SOLUTION TO EXAMPLE 10
𝑣 = 𝑢 + 𝑔𝑡

𝑚
𝑢 = 0 − −9.81 2 × 0.40𝑠
𝑠

𝑢 = 3.92 𝑚/𝑠

1 2
∆𝑦 = 𝑢𝑡 + 𝑔𝑡
2
𝑚 1 𝑚 2
∆𝑦 = 3.92 × 0.40𝑠 + −9.81 2 0.40𝑠
𝑠 2 𝑠

∆𝑦 = 0.78 𝑚
 EXAMPLE 11
If a ball is thrown straight upward with speed of 15m/s and then falls and is
caught by the person that threw it.

(a) How high does the ball go?

(b) How long does it take to reach maximum height?

(c) How fast is it going the instant before it is caught?

(d) How long is it in the air?
 SOLUTION TO EXAMPLE
(a)
2 (b) 𝑣 = 𝑢 + 𝑔𝑡
2 𝑚
2
𝑣 −𝑢 2 0 − 15 𝑣 = 0, 𝑔 = −9.81
y= = 𝑠 = 11.47 𝑚
2𝑔 2 × (−9.81) 𝑢 = 𝑔𝑡

ℎ = 11.47𝑚 𝑢 15𝑚/𝑠
𝑡= = 2
= 1.53 𝑠
𝑔 9.81𝑚/𝑠

(c) 𝑣 = 𝑢 + 𝑔𝑡
𝑢 = 0, 𝑔 = 9.81 (d) 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 = 2𝑡 = 2 × 1.53 = 3.06𝑠
𝑣 = 𝑔𝑡 = 9.81 × 1.53 = 15.0093