PHYSICS

Lesson 2: Kinematics

1. Kinematics is the quantitative description of motion used to determine some unknown property of the motion,
such as an object’s acceleration or its location or velocity at some future time.
 Displacement is a vector quantity pointing from the initial position to the final position
 Distance measures the length of the path that an object takes without regard for the starting or ending
place, or the direction of its travel.
 Velocity is the displacement of an object during a certain time divided by that time
 Acceleration is the change in an object’s velocity divided by the time required for that change.
 Speed is the scalar magnitude of the velocity.

2. Rectilinear Motion is another name for straight-line motion. If the position of an object changes with respect to
time and its surroundings, the body is said to be in motion. Mathematically, motion can be described with
displacement, velocity, and acceleration in a particular frame of reference.

The motion of a particle can be classified on the basis of its trajectory, the simplest being motion along a
straight line namely rectilinear motion. The displacement, velocity, and acceleration vectors are restricted to one
dimension. Rectilinear motion has three types: uniform motion (zero acceleration), uniformly accelerated motion
(non-zero constant acceleration), and motion with non-uniform acceleration.

Uniform Motion a motion with constant speed or velocity

𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡
Equations of Linear Motion with Constant Acceleration
𝑉=
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒

i. 𝑉𝑓 = 𝑉𝑜 ± 𝑎 𝑡
where;
1
ii. 𝑠 = 𝑉𝑜 (𝑡) ± 𝑎 𝑡2 𝑉𝑓 = 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 (𝑚/𝑠)
2
𝑉𝑜 = 𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 (𝑚/𝑠)
iii. 𝑉𝑓 2 = 𝑉𝑜 2 ± 2𝑎𝑠 𝑠 = 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡/𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑(𝑚)
𝑉𝑜 +𝑉𝑓 𝑎 = 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 (𝑚/𝑠2 )
iv. 𝑠=( )(𝑡) 𝑡 = 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 (𝑠)
2
Note:
a) s & v = object’s position and velocity at later time t.’
a = object’s constant acceleration
use (+) when the body is accelerating, (𝑽𝒇 > 𝑽𝒐 )
use (-) when the body is decelerating, (𝑽𝒇 < 𝑽𝒐 )
b) These equations can be used to calculate an object’s acceleration if its changing position and velocity at
different times are known. If the acceleration is known, the equations can be used to calculate the future
position and velocity of the object.

Free Falling Body: The vertical motion of objects moving freely in the air comes close to being linear motion
with constant acceleration. If we ignore the effects of wind and air resistance, objects experience constant
acceleration caused by the earth’s gravitational force. The acceleration is directed toward the center of the earth
and has a magnitude ‘’
Gravitational acceleration g = 9.8 m/s2 = 32 ft/s2
where;
i. 𝑉𝑓 = 𝑉𝑜 ± 𝑔 𝑡
𝑉𝑓 = 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 (𝑚/𝑠)
1 2 𝑉𝑜 = 𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 (𝑚/𝑠)
ii. ℎ = 𝑉𝑜 (𝑡) ± 2 𝑔 𝑡
’ ℎ = ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡
iii. 𝑉𝑓 2 = 𝑉𝑜 2 ± 2𝑔ℎ 𝑔 = 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 (𝑚/𝑠2 )
𝑡 = 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 (𝑠)
 Note;
g is (+) when an object is going down
g is (-) when an object is going up (against the gravity)
𝑉𝑜 = 0 (when is dropped, and the one that drops is not moving; this must also be the case for free fall)
g = 9.8 m/s2 = 32 ft/s2

Applying Free Fall Concepts to Problem-Solving

There are a few conceptual characteristics of free fall motion that will be of value when using the equations to analyze free
fall motion. These concepts are described as follows:

 An object in free fall experiences an acceleration of -9.8 m/s/s. (The - sign indicates a downward acceleration.) Whether
explicitly stated or not, the value of the acceleration in the kinematic equations is -9.8 m/s/s for any freely falling object.
 If an object is merely dropped (as opposed to being thrown) from an elevated height, then the initial velocity of the
object is 0 m/s.
 If an object is projected upwards in a perfectly vertical direction, then it will slow down as it rises upward. The instant
at which it reaches the peak of its trajectory, its velocity is 0 m/s. This value can be used as one of the motion parameters
in the kinematic equations; for example, the final velocity (vf) after traveling to the peak would be assigned a value of
0 m/s.
 If an object is projected upwards in a perfectly vertical direction, then the velocity at which it is projected is equal in
magnitude and opposite in sign to the velocity that it has when it returns to the same height. That is, a ball projected
vertically with an upward velocity of +30 m/s will have a downward velocity of -30 m/s when it returns to the same
height.

3. Rotational Motion / Angular Motion: A rotational motion, also known as rotatory motion, is a type of motion in
which all points of a rigid body maintain a constant distance from an imaginary axis and rotate in circular paths
about a common axis with a common velocity. The four main physical quantities: angular velocity, angular
acceleration, angular displacement, and time.
 Angular velocity (𝝊) is the rate of an object's change in angular displacement with respect to time. (𝒓𝒂𝒅/𝒔)
 Angular acceleration (∝) is an object's change in angular velocity with respect to time. (𝒓𝒂𝒅/𝒔𝟐 )
 Angular displacement (𝜽) is the difference between an initial and final angular position around a specified
axis. (𝒓𝒂𝒅)
(𝝊 ) = 𝑟 ∗ 𝜔 where;
‘

∆𝜃 𝜐 = 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦
𝜔= (𝑟𝑎𝑑/𝑠)
∆𝑡 𝜔 = 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦
∆𝜔 𝑟 = 𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑢𝑠
∝= (𝑟𝑎𝑑/𝑠2)
∆𝑡

i. 𝜔𝑓 = 𝜔𝑜 ± ∝ 𝑡 where;
‘

1 𝜔𝑜 = 𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 (𝑟𝑎𝑑/𝑠)

ii. 𝜃 = 𝜔𝑜 (𝑡) ± 2 ∝ 𝑡 2
𝜔𝑓 = 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 (𝑟𝑎𝑑/𝑠)
iii. 𝜔𝑓 2 = 𝜔𝑜 2 ± 2 ∝ 𝜃 𝜃 = 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 (𝑟𝑎𝑑)
𝜔𝑜 +𝜔𝑓 ∝= 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 (𝑟𝑎𝑑/𝑠2 )
iv. 𝜃=( )(𝑡) 𝑡 = 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 (𝑠)
2
 4. Projectile motion: Projectiles are objects moving both horizontally and vertically through the air. If we ignore the
resistive force of the air on the projectiles, then the horizontal and vertical components of their motion can be
described independently using two separate sets of equations, the acceleration is zero (ax = 0). For the vertical motion
equations, the acceleration is that caused by gravity (a x = -g), where, for the vertical component of motion, the y
axis points up.

Horizontal Component(x – direction) Vertical Component (y – direction)

𝒙 = 𝑽𝒐 𝒙 (𝒕) 1 2
𝑦 = 𝑉𝑜 𝑦 (𝑡 ) − 𝑔𝑡
𝑽𝒐 𝒙 = 𝑽𝒐 𝐜𝐨𝐬(𝜽) 2
𝑉𝑜 𝑦 = 𝑉𝑜 sin (𝜃)
𝑽𝒇 = 𝑽𝒐 𝒙
𝒙 𝑉𝑓 𝑦 2 = 𝑉𝑜 𝑦 2 − 2𝑔𝑦
‘
General Equation of Projectile (GEP): (use if no time given)

𝒈𝒙𝟐
± 𝒚 = 𝒙 𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝜽 − 𝟐
𝟐(𝑽𝒐 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝜽)