Chapter 2:

Particle Kinematics

In this chapter we study the most

basic type of motion-Particle
Kinematics.
 Introduction
• The world around us is made up of things
that are constantly moving. Some of
these are living (or animate) bodies (e.g.
insects, animals), whilst others are
inanimate.
• In the study of motion in physics, we are
concerned with only the physical motion.
Thus the study of motion concerns mainly
the motion of inanimate objects.
• Examples of such objects are the motor
car, the train, the aircraft, the bicycle, the
ceiling fan, and the to-and-fro movement
of a mass hanging in the vertical plane at
the end of a string – the simple pendulum.
 Motion
• Motion can be defined as the continual
change of position of a body. This means
that the body is in one position at a given
time, and at another after an interval of
time.
• Motion comes in many forms
• One type of motion is described as
translational motion, in which the body
moves from one geometric point in space
to another, over an interval of time.
• Example: A car moving between two
points on the road performs this kind of
motion.
 Motion
• Another motion is rotational (or
angular) motion, in which the body
spins about an axis while remaining
at a fixed point.
• Yet another kind of motion is
oscillatory motion, performed by the
simple pendulum.
• In this initial chapter on motion, we
study translational motion
 Motion
• The study of motion is divided into
two branches
– Dynamics, which is the study of motion
and the forces responsible for the
motion, and
– Kinematics, in which we study the
motion alone, making no reference to
the forces producing the motion.
 Kinematics
• We assume that the moving object
can be represented by a geometrical
point, or particle – hence the
description Particle Kinematics.
• Initially, we consider motion in only
one dimension, and later expand the
ideas to cover motion in two
dimensions.
 QUANTITIES OF MOTION
• Distance and Displacement
– The most easily observable property of
motion is that of distance from some
fixed or starting point.
– A moving object continually changes its
distance from the reference point as
time goes on.
– Distance measurement by itself does
not tell us where the moving object is,
until we can tell the direction in which
the body is moving.
– We include the directional property by
using the term displacement.
 Displacement
• Displacement is distance travelled in a
specified direction.
• Displacement is a vector quantity, with
magnitude equal to the distance along the
straight path between the two points of
the motion, and direction that points from
the initial position to the end point of the
motion.
• The S.I. unit of displacement is m;
multiples and submultiples (e.g. km, cm),
are sometimes used.
 QUANTITIES OF MOTION
• Speed, Velocity, and Acceleration
– Speed
• The average speed vave of a moving object
over a period of time is defined by the
equation
total distance travelled
vave 
total time taken
• The instantaneous speed of a moving
object is the speed that the object has at
an instant of time.
• To find the instantaneous speed, we find
the distance covered in a short interval of
time, the shorter the time interval, the
more accurate the value. ms
-1
• The S.I. unit of speed is m/s, or .
 QUANTITIES OF MOTION
• Velocity
– velocity is the distance travelled in a specified
direction in unit time, or the rate of change of
displacement with time.
– Like speed, we can talk of the average, and
instantaneous velocities.
– The velocity of a moving object is said to be
constant if the body moves with a steady speed
in a straight line (i.e. equal distances are covered
in equal intervals of time, in a straight line).
– The velocity is not uniform if the body covers
different distances in equal intervals of time in a
straight path, or if the body is moving along a
curved path, thereby constantly changing
direction.
– Velocity is a vector, having magnitude
equal to the speed and direction the same
as the displacement vector.
 QUANTITIES OF MOTION
• Velocity
– Mathematically, the instantaneous velocity, v is defined
using the calculus notation, by the expression,
s ds
v  Lim 
t  0 t dt
– Where s is the distance (or displacement) over an
infinitesimally small interval of time t. This is the
differential notation.

– Thus, the instantaneous velocity at a point is the average

rate of change of displacement of the moving object with
time over an infinitesimal small distance centred on the
point of interest.

– The difference between the average velocity and the

instantaneous velocity is that we tend to obtain the
instantaneous velocity when the object is timed over a
small distance.
 QUANTITIES OF MOTION
• Acceleration
– When the velocity of a body changes, we say
the body accelerates.
– Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity
with time.
– A constant (or uniform) acceleration implies
that the velocity changes by the same amount
in equal intervals of time.
– The S.I. unit of acceleration is m/s2, or ms–2 .
– define average acceleration as the average
rate of change of velocity with time.
– The instantaneous acceleration a is given by a
mathematical definition similar to that for
instantaneous velocity.
v dv
a  Lim 
t  0 t dt
 QUANTITIES OF MOTION
• Acceleration
– A constant acceleration means the moving object
changes its velocity by equal amounts in equal
intervals of time.
– We note the following:
• Both the velocity and acceleration of a uniformly
accelerated motion along a straight line can be
either positive or negative, depending on which
direction we choose as positive.
• Negative acceleration does not necessarily mean
slowing down. A negative acceleration could
indicate either speeding up or slowing down. To find
out whether the object is speeding up or slowing
down, we must know the signs of both the velocity
and acceleration. An object is speeding up if the
velocity and acceleration have the same sign - i.e.
the vectors point in the same direction. Different
signs for velocity and acceleration mean slowing
down.
 GRAPHICAL PRESENTATIONS
OF MOTION
• Displacement-time (or distance-
time) graphs
– A displacement-time graph is a plot of the
variation of the displacement of a moving
body, from a given point, with respect to
time.
– Usually the starting point is the point of
reference.
– A linear graph indicates the body is moving
with constant (or uniform) velocity, while for
non-uniform velocity, the graph is non-linear.
 GRAPHICAL PRESENTATIONS
OF MOTION

(a) uniform velocity, and (b) non-uniform velocity.

In both examples, note that the initial displacement is not

Necessarily zero at t = 0. From the displacement-time graph, we
can determine:
(i) the displacement (or distance covered) over a given time
interval - from a direct reading of the graph,
(ii) the velocity at any instant – from the slope of the tangent
to the curve at that point. For a linear graph, this is the
slope of the line representing the motion.
 GRAPHICAL PRESENTATIONS
OF MOTION
• Velocity-time graphs
– A velocity-time graph is a plot of the velocity
of the moving object against elapsed time.
– Like the displacement-time graph, this can
be either linear or non-linear.
– From such a graph, we can find:
• the instantaneous velocity, from a direct
reading on the graph,
• the acceleration of the body at any instant,
from the slope of the tangent to the curve at
that point. If the graph is linear, the slope is
constant, and the body is said to be moving
with constant or uniform acceleration.
• the displacement in a given time interval -
from the area under the graph over the time
interval.
 Examples
A spaceship ferrying workers to Moon Base I takes
A straight-line path from the earth to the moon, a
distance of about 400,000 km. Suppose it
accelerates at 15.0 m/s2 for the first 10.0 minutes
of the trip, travels at constant speed until the last
10.0 minutes, then it decelerates at 15.0 m/s2,
just coming to rest as it reaches the moon.
Calculate:
(i) the maximum speed attained,
(ii) the fraction of the total distance that is
travelled at constant speed
(iii) the time required for the entire trip.
 Solution

(i) Let the maximum speed attained be V, as shown in

the diagram. By definition, the acceleration during the
first 10.0 minutes is the slope of the line OA; and the
acceleration during the last 10.0 minutes is the slope of
the line BC. Let t be the time taken while travelling at
constant speed. V
From the diagram 600 s 15.0m/s2 ,

V 600 s 15 ms-2 9000

or m/s.
 Solution
(ii) The distance travelled while accelerating is equal to
the areas of OAE and DBC.
Area of OAE = 1 2
 600 s  9000 m/s = 2700 km.
By symmetry, area of DBC = 2700 km.
Total distance travelled while accelerating = 5400 km.
Total distance travelled at constant speed,
= 400,000- 5,400 = 394,600 km.

Fraction of the total distance for which the space

ship was travelling at constant speed is found by
dividing the above distance by the total distance.
Distance travelled at constant speed 394,600
0.986 or (98.6%)
Total distance 400,000
=
 Solution
(iii) The area of the rectangle ABDE represents
the total distance travelled at constant
speed.
Hence AE  ED = 394,600 km.
Since AE = V and ED = t, then
V  t = 3.946  108 m.
But V = 9000 m/s. Hence,

3.946 108 m 4
t=  4.4 10 s 730.7
min
9000 m/s

Total time for the trip = (730.7 + 20) minutes

= 750.7 minutes = 12.5 hours.
EQUATIONS OF UNIFORM LINEAR
MOTION
• In the analysis of motions we tend to use
algebraic methods through equations most
of the time.
• We start here with the simple class of linear
motion in which the acceleration remains
constant throughout the timing period.
• This means a constant velocity direction,
and the same velocity change over equal
intervals of time. We derive below the
equations used to analyse this class of
motion.
• A body moving with uniform acceleration a
would have its velocity change from an
initial value u to a final value v in an
interval of time t.
EQUATIONS OF UNIFORM LINEAR
MOTION
• Since acceleration is the rate of
change of velocity with time, we
write
velocity change v  u v u  at
a  or
time taken t

• For a body in continuous motion with

uniform acceleration, the average
velocity is half the sum of the initial
and final velocities
1
average velocity  u  v
2
EQUATIONS OF UNIFORM LINEAR
MOTION
Bearing in mind that
total displacement, s 1
average velocity   u  v
total time taken t 2
Substituting for v from the equation, and
rearranging, we get 1 2
s ut  at
2
where s is the distance covered (or displacement)
over the given time period t.
Finally, by eliminating t from both equations, and
rearranging, we get
v2 u2  2as
For these equations to apply to any segment of
motion, the acceleration must be the same in
magnitude and direction over that segment.
 Example
A, B, and C are three successive points
on a straight line. AB = 6.0 m, and
BC = 10.0 m. A small object moving
along this line from rest with uniform
acceleration, passes B and C, 2.0 s and
4.0 s, respectively, after passing A.
Calculate:
(i) the acceleration of the body,
(ii) the velocity of the body at A, B and C,
(iii)the distance covered and the time
taken in getting to C.
 Solution
The diagram below shows the three
points as given in the data (not
drawn to scale).

Let O represent the origin, from where

the motion started from rest.
(i) Let the velocity of the body at A be u, and the
constant acceleration be a. Since it takes 2 s
and 4 s respectively to reach B and C (after
passing A), we can use equation below to find
the velocities at B and C.
Velocity at B = u  2a
Velocity at C = u  4a
The distances travelled from A is found
in terms of u and a,
6.0 2u  1 a 22 2u  2afor segment AB, and
2
16.0  4u  1 a 42  4u  8afor segment AC. Solving
2
The two equations simultaneously, we get the
acceleration a = 1.0 m/s2 .
(ii) The velocities at the three points A, B,
and C are hence as follows:
The velocity at A = u = 2.0 m/s.
The velocity at B = = 2.0 + 2  1.0 = 4.0 m/s.
The velocity at C = = 2.0 + 4  1.0 = 6.0 m/s.

(iii) The time taken to get to C is obtained using

the equation, setting v = 6.0 m/s, and

a = 1.0 m/s2 .
Hence 6.0 = 0 + 1.0t, or t = 6.0 s. Total
distance covered
1 2 is given
s ut  at  0 
1
1.0by
62 18.0
2 2
m
 VERTICAL MOTION UNDER
GRAVITY
• A body that is freely falling under the
influence of gravity has an acceleration
known as the acceleration due to
gravity, normally represented by g.
• This acceleration has a positive value
when the object is moving downward, and
is negative when the body is moving
upward (i.e. against gravity).
• Its numerical value on the earth’s surface
is found to be 9.81 m/s2 at sea level along
the equator.
 VERTICAL MOTION UNDER
GRAVITY
• For this motion to take place, the body has to be
given an initial non-zero velocity, known as the
velocity of projection.
• First, the body goes upward with gradually
decreasing velocity (since acceleration is
negative) to a maximum height at which it is
momentarily at rest.
• Even though the speed is zero at this momentary
rest position, the body is still under the influence
of gravity, and hence has the downward
acceleration due to gravity.
• In the second part of the motion, the body returns
to the point of projection, starting from rest at the
maximum point A.
 VERTICAL MOTION UNDER
GRAVITY
• In this figure, the object is
projected from O, with an
initial upward velocity u, and
rises to a maximum height H
at A before returning to the
point of projection.
• Notice that the two velocities
are not the same, since the
directions are opposite.
• on arrival at O, the velocity of
the object is -u.
• Since acceleration is constant
over both segments, we use
the equations of motion for
the segments to determine
the parameters of the motion
 Equations of motion for the
segments to determine the
parameters of the motion.
• Maximum height attained
– In the upward motion from O to A, the
following quantities are known:
– Acceleration of particle = -g (since g
has a positive value downwards).
– Initial velocity at O = u; Final velocity
(at A) = 0
– Applying equation v2 u2  2as to the
upward motion, we get 02 u2  2gH
giving u2
H
2g
 Continuation
• Time to reach maximum height
– We apply the first equation of motion to the
upward motion from O to A
0 u  gt ,
– where t is the time to reach maximum
height u 2H
t 
g g

– The total time of flight T (i.e. time for

body to travel from O to A, and back to
O) is twice that given by equation
u 2H
T 2t 2 2
g g
 Example
A baseball is thrown vertically upward on
The moon with an initial speed of 35
m/s. If the acceleration due to gravity is
1.60 m/s2 on the moon, determine:
(i) the maximum height attained by the ball,
(ii) the time taken to reach maximum
height,
(iii) the velocity 30 s after it is thrown up,
(iv) the time when the ball’s height is 100
m.
 Solution
(i) Given:
initial velocity of projection,u = 35
m/s ; final velocity v = 0 m/s
Acceleration due to gravity on moon,
a = 1.6 m/s2
The maximum height H reached is
2 2
obtained using the relation v  u  2aH

Substitution gives
0 352  2 1.6 Hor H = 382.8 m.
 Solution
(ii) From v  u  at, we get 0  35  1.6,or
t
35
t 21.9 s.
1.6

(iii) Also, from v  u  atwhen t = 30 s ,

v = 35 – 1.6  30 = -13.0 m/s.
The negative sign shows that the ball is on its way
down, since the velocity has been taken as positive
when the ball is going upward.

(iv) The time the ball is at height H (=100 m)

can be found by using
1
s ut  at2
2
 Solution
Giving 1
100 35t  1.6 t2
2

or 0.8t2  35t  100  0

Using the standard quadratic solution,
We get the two roots satisfying the
equation as t = 3.1 s and t = 40.6 s.
Thus, at time t = 3.1 s the ball is at
100 m on the upward journey, and at
time t = 40.6 s, it is at the same
height but descending.
 RELATIVE MOTION
• The motion observed by an observer
who is already moving is known as
relative motion.
• A concept we use to describe the
motion of one object with reference
to another (moving) object is called
relative velocity, defined as
follows:
The velocity of a moving body A,
relative to another body B, is the vector
difference of the two velocities (i.e. the
sum of the velocity of A and the
reversed velocity of B).
 RELATIVE MOTION
• When the velocities are along the same
line, it is simpler to do the vector
subtraction than when the velocity vectors
are not along the same straight line.
• For example, A and B are moving in the
same direction with velocities v1 and v2
respectively, the velocity of A relative to B
is (v1 – v2), while the velocity B relative to
A is (v2 – v1).
• If they are moving in opposite directions
the relative velocity has magnitude (v1 +
v2).
 RELATIVE MOTION
• To find the velocity of A
relative to B when the
directions of A and B are
not in the same straight
line, the vector difference
of the velocities is found
by adding to B’s velocity a
velocity vector equal, but
in direction opposite to
that of A.
• For example, if a ship A
moves with velocity vA, in
direction NE, and another
ship B moves with velocity,
vB, in direction South, then
the velocity of ship A
relative to ship B is the
vector vA-vB,
 Example
A swimmer can swim at 1.20 m/s in
still water. She aims to cross a river
200 m wide that is flowing at 0.8 m/s.
If she ends up at a point directly
opposite where she started, find
(i) the angle to the bank at which she
must swim,
(ii) how long she takes to cross the
river.
 Solution
If the swimmer is to cross at a point
exactly opposite, she must set off on a
course along the relative velocity
vector as shown below:
 Solution
(i) The direction  is given by
1 velocity of water   1  0.8 m/s  o
  tan    tan   33.7
 vlocity of swimmer   1.2 m/s 

(ii) The velocity v in the stream is

v 1.2cos33.7o 0.98
m/s
Thus the time t taken to cross river
is

width of stream 200 m

t
speed in water

0.998 m/s s
200.4
KINEMATICS IN TWO DIMENSIONS
• Motions of this sort are called planar
motions.
• An example is that of an airplane after
take-off.
• The displacement, velocity, and
acceleration each has two components
– a horizontal component, and a
vertical component.
• We apply the equations of motion by
treating the two components
independently.
 Variables and equations of
kinematics in two
dimensions
x-component Variable y-component
X Displacement y
ax Acceleration ay
ux Initial velocity uy
vx Final velocity vy
T Elapsed time t
vx ux  ax t vy uy  ayt
1
x 
1
2
ux  vx  t y
2
 
uy  vy t
1 1
x uxt  axt2 y uyt  ayt2
2 2

v2x u2x  2axx v2y u2y  2ayy

 KINEMATICS IN TWO
DIMENSIONS
• The direction of motion at any point
is given by the angle with the
horizontal.
• If this angle is denoted by , then
vertical velocity vy
tan  
horizontal velocity vx
 PROJECTILE MOTION
• A special kind of two-dimensional motion is that
of a body projected on the earth, at an angle 
(<90o) to the horizontal.

• The diagram above shows the trajectory of a

projectile that leaves the point of projection at an
angle  (< 90o) to the horizontal, rather than
vertically.
 PROJECTILE MOTION
• This motion has two components, as
follows:
(i) a horizontal component, for which
the acceleration ax= 0 (since gravity
acts only in the vertical direction).
The initial velocity, ux u cos
With no acceleration, the horizontal
velocity remains constant during the
motion.
(ii) a vertical component, for which
acceleration ay   g
uy  u sin
initial (vertical) velocity,
 PROJECTILE MOTION
(ii) The vertical velocity v y at any point
P(x,y) can be written as
2 2
vy  uy  2gy
t
usin 
g PROJECTILE MOTION
• At the maximum point A, the particle is
travelling horizontally; its vertical velocity
is hence zero. Thus, considering the
vertical motion from O to A, 0 usin  2  2gH

u2 sin2 
• from which H
2g

• The time t that the object takes to reach

the maximum point A is obtained by

• to the vertical component from O to A

0 u sin  gt
 PROJECTILE MOTION
usin 
t 
g
• The total time of flight T is twice the time
taken to reach maximum height, or
2usin 
T 2t 
g
• The horizontal component of the velocity
remains constant throughout the motion of
the projectile.
• Hence the horizontal distance travelled from
the point of projection can be obtained by
multiplying the initial horizontal velocity by
the time it takes to reach that point.
 PROJECTILE MOTION
• We determine the maximum
horizontal distance covered (or
Range) by multiplying the horizontal
velocity by the time of flight.
• Thus, the range R is
2usin  2u2 sin  cos 
R ucos .T ucos  
g g

• On substituting trigonometric
identities, this gives
u2 sin2
R
g
 PROJECTILE MOTION
• For a given speed of projection, the
maximum range Rmax on the
horizontal plane occurs when the
angle of projection is 45o. Thus

u2 sin90o u2
Rmax  
g g
 PROJECTILE MOTION
• Note the following:
(i) The angle of projection  is the angle
between the tangent to the trajectory
and the horizontal at the starting point.
(ii) Since the horizontal velocity remains
constant during the motion, we only
need identify one horizontal velocity,
and use this value for the whole motion.
(iii) It is more beneficial to reason through
the above equations, and conditions
under which they apply, rather than try
to memorise the equations. Many
projectile motion problems do not
involve a straightforward application of
the equations
 Example
A projectile is fired upwards from the top of a
tower at an angle  with the horizontal. After
20.0 s the projectile hits the ground (assumed
horizontal) at a point which is 1800 m from the
foot of the tower. If the height of the tower is
160 m, and air resistance is negligible,
calculate
(i) the angle of projection,
(ii) the initial velocity of projection,
(iii) the maximum height attained above the
ground.
 Solution
Below is a schematic representation of
this motion

Let U be the velocity of projection.

The x- and y- components of this velocity
are
Ux  Ucos and Uy  Usin 
respectively.
 Solution
(i) The vertical motion of the projectile is
described by
1 2
y Usin   t  gt
2
With the zero level of y set at the level of
the tower, when the projectile reaches
ground level, the vertical distance (height
after 20s) is –160 m.

1
Thus -160 Usin   20  9.81 202
2

U sin   90
 Solution
The horizontal displacement at any time is
given by the equation x  Ucos  t
After 20 s, the horizontal distance is 1800 m.
With x = 1800 m, we get Ucos   90

90 m/s
Thus, tan   giving   45o
90 m/s

(ii) Therefore, we get

90
o
Usin45 90, or U  m/s
127.3
sin45o
 Solution
(iii) The vertical velocity vy at any point is
given by v y Uy  gt

At the maximum height, vy  0

Hence, U y  gt 0 or U sin   gt 0
Substituting for U and , we get
127.3 sin 45 - 9.81t = 0
giving
127.3sin 45o
t s
 9.18
9.81

where t is the time taken to reach A.

 Solution
The maximum height h above level of
projection is obtained using the relation
1 2
h  (U sin)t  gt
2
Thus
1 2
h 127.3 9.18 sin45  9.81 9.18
o
2
= 413.4 m

giving H = 573.4 m
 Summary
1. Motion is defined in terms of a change
in position coordinates of a body with
respect to time. There are many kinds
of motion – translational, rotational,
planar, rotational, and vibrational.
2. One dimensional translational motion
can be either uniform or non-uniform
3. We can represent the motion
parameters in graphical form in order
to study the motion.
 Summary
4. We have the following equations
representing uniform linear motion:
v  u  at
1 2
s  ut  at
2
v2  u2  2as
 Summary
5. Vertical motion under gravity is
analysed using these equations:

u2
Maximum height attained, H
2g

Time to reach u 2H
t 
maximum height, g g

2H
T 2
Total time of flight , g
 Summary
6. Two-dimensional motion is studied by
considering that the motion consists of a
combination of two uniform linear
motions. The direction of the motion at
any point is given in terms of the ratio of
the velocity components in the two
chosen directions.
7. Uniform projectile motion under gravity
consists of two kinds of motion:
a) a horizontal motion with constant velocity.
b) a vertical motion in which the velocity
changes, since there is a vertical
acceleration.
 Summary
8. For projectile motion between
starting and end points on the
horizontal plane, we have:
usin 
Time to reach maximum height, t  g

u2 sin2 
Maximum height attained, H
2g
The total time of flight,
2usin 
T 2t 
g
The range on the
horizontal plane, u2 sin2
R
g
 Summary
Continuation from (8),
u2
The maximum range, Rmax  g occurs
When the angle of projection is 45o