President Ramon Magsaysay State University

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Phys 1a: PHYSICS FOR ENGINEERS I
1st Semester of A.Y. 2020-2021
MODULE NO. 02

I. Introduction

The study of motion, and the related concepts of force and mass, is called mechanics.
We begin our investigation into motion by examining kinematics, the branch of
mechanics that deals with the characteristics of motion.

II. Rationale

You will need to understand kinematics to understand the rest of discussion. Motion
permeates all of physics, and an understanding of kinematics is needed to understand
how force and mass effect motion.

III. Intended Learning Outcomes

The students should be able to understand the concepts of displacement, velocity,

speed & acceleration and its application on kinematics, statics and dynamics.

IV. Activity

For additional references you may visit the following sites:

 Homemade Math (youtube.com)

 ilectureonline (yotube.com)

V. Discussion

These are the following topics:

 Displacement, Velocity & Speed

 Acceleration
 Motion with constant Acceleration
 Integration

(You may refer to succeeding pages for detailed discussions)

VI. Exercise

(You may refer to succeeding pages for sample problems)

VII. Assessment

(You may refer to succeeding pages for practice problems) Deadline/ submission will be
determined later.
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VIII. Reflection

Motion in one dimension is motion along a straight line like that of a car on a straight
road. You encounter stoplights and different speed limits on your commute along a
straight highway to school. How can you estimate your arrival time?

IX. Resources and Additional Resources

Cutnell John D. and Kenneth W. Watson, (2012). Physics 9th Edition. John Wiley & Sons,
Inc.

Additional Resources:

 Physics 2nd edition (Giambattista, Richardson & Richardson)

 University Physics with Modern Physics 11th edition (Young & Freedman)
 Physics for Scientists and Engineers 6th edition (Tipler & Mosca)
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MOTION IN ONE DIMENSION

The study of motion, and the related concepts of force and mass, is called mechanics. We begin our
investigation into motion by examining kinematics, the branch of mechanics that deals with the characteristics of
motion. You will need to understand kinematics to understand the rest of this book. Motion permeates all of
physics, and an understanding of kinematics is needed to understand how force and mass effect motion.

DISPLACEMENT, VELOCITY, AND SPEED

We can often describe the motion of an object by describing the motion of a single point of the object. For
example, as a car moves in a straight line along a road, you could describe the motion of the car by examining the
motion of a single point on the side of the car. An object that can be represented in this idealized manner is called a
particle.

POSITION AND DISPLACEMENT

A student on a bicycle is moving in a straight line. A

coordinate axis consists of a line along the path of the bicycle.
A point on this line is chosen to be the origin O. Other points
on it are assigned a number x, the value of x being proportional
to its distance from O. The numbers assigned to points to the
right of O are positive as shown, and those assigned to points
to the left of O are negative. When the bicycle travels from
point xi to point xf, its displacement is Δx = xf – xi.

AVERAGE VELOCITY AND SPEED

The average speed of a particle is the total distance traveled by the particle divided by the total time from start
to finish:

A more useful quantity is one that describes both how fast and in what direction an object moves. The term
used to describe this quantity is velocity. The average velocity, of a particle is defined as the ratio of the
displacement Δx to the time interval Δt:

Graph of x versus t for a particle moving in one

dimension. Each point on the curve represents the
position x at a particular time t. We have drawn a
straight line through points (𝒙𝟏 , 𝒕𝟏 ) and (𝒙𝟐 , 𝒕𝟐 ). The
displacement Δx = 𝒙𝟐 − 𝒙𝟏 and the time interval Δt =
𝒕𝟐 − 𝒕𝟏 between these points are indicated. The straight
line between 𝑷𝟏 and 𝑷𝟐 is the hypotenuse of the triangle
having sides Δx and Δt, and the ratio Δx/Δt is its slope.
In geometric terms, the slope is a measure of the line’s
steepness.
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INSTANTANEOUS VELOCITY AND SPEED

Graph of x versus t. Note the sequence of
successively smaller time intervals,
∆𝒕𝟑, ∆𝒕𝟐, ∆𝒕𝟏, … … . The average velocity of each
interval is the slope of the straight line for that
interval. As the time intervals become smaller,
these slopes approach the slope of the tangent to the
curve at point 𝒕𝒑 . The slope of this tangent line is

defined as the instantaneous velocity at time 𝒕𝒑 .

The instantaneous velocity is a vector, and the magnitude of the instantaneous velocity is the instantaneous
speed.

ACCELERATION
An object whose velocity changes is said to be accelerating. Acceleration is the rate of change of
velocity with respect to time.

Instantaneous acceleration is the limit of the ratio ∆𝒗𝒙 /∆𝒕 as ∆𝒕 approaches zero. On a plot of velocity versus
time, the instantaneous acceleration at time t is the slope of the line tangent to the curve at that time:

MOTION WITH CONSTANT ACCELERATION

The motion of a particle that has nearly constant acceleration is found in nature. For example, near
Earth’s surface all unsupported objects fall vertically with nearly constant acceleration (provided air
resistance is negligible). Other examples of near constant acceleration might include a plane accelerating
along a runway for takeoff, and the motion of a car braking for a red light or speeding up at a green light.

DERIVING THE CONSTANT-ACCELERATION KINEMATIC EQUATIONS

CONSTANT ACCELERATION (velocity) : 𝒗𝒙 (t)

CONSTANT ACCELERATION (displacement as a function of time): x(t)

CONSTANT ACCELERATION (𝒗𝟐 𝒙 as a function of Δx): 𝒗𝒙 (x)

CONSTANT ACCELERATION (average velocity): 𝒗𝒂𝒗 𝒙 AND 𝒗𝒙

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INTEGRALS

ALTERNATIVE DEFINITION OF AVERAGE VELOCITY

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SAMPLE PROBLEMS
1. You are playing a game of catch with a dog. The dog is initially standing near your feet. Then he jogs 20
feet in a straight line to retrieve a stick, and carries the stick 15 feet back toward you before lying on the
ground to chew on the stick. (a) What is the total distance the dog travels? (b) What is the net
displacement of the dog? (c) Show that the net displacement for the trip is the sum of the sequential
displacements that make up the trip.

The red dots represent the dog’s position at different

times.

(The subscripts indicate the time intervals, where

𝑠01 is the distance traveled during the interval from
time 0 to time 1, and so forth.)

where ∆𝑥01 is the

displacement during the
interval from time 0 to time 2.

we obtain

2. The dog that you were playing catch with in Example 1 jogged 20.0 ft away from you in 1.0 s to retrieve
the stick and ambled back 15.0 ft in 1.5 s. Calculate (a) the dog’s average speed, and (b) the dog’s average
velocity for the total trip.

(a) The dog’s average speed equals the total distance divided by the total time

(b) The dog’s average velocity is the ratio of the net displacement Δx to the time
interval Δt:
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3. The position of a stone dropped from a cliff is described

approximately by x = 5𝑡 2 , where x is in meters and t is in seconds. The +x
direction is downwards and the origin is at the top of the cliff. Find the
velocity of the stone during its fall as a function of time t.

4. A cheetah can accelerate from 0 to 96 km/h (60 mi/h) in 2.0 s, whereas a Corvette requires 4.5 s. Compute
the average accelerations for the cheetah and Corvette and compare them with the free-fall acceleration, g
= 9.81 m/𝑠 2 .

5. In a crash test that you are performing, a car traveling 100 km/h (about 62 mi/h) hits an immovable
concrete wall. What is the acceleration of the car during the crash?
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6. A Shelter Island ferryboat moves with constant velocity 𝑣0𝑥 = 8.0 m/s for 60 s. It then shuts off its
engines and coasts. Its coasting velocity is given by 𝑣𝑥 = 𝑣0𝑥 𝑡12 /𝑡 2 , where 𝑡1 = 60𝑠. What is the
displacement of the boat for the interval 0 < t < ∞?

7. A car is speeding at a constant 25 m/s (= 90 km/h ≈56 mi/h) in a school zone. A police car starts
from rest just as the speeder passes by it and accelerates at a constant rate of 5.0 m/𝑠 2 . (a) When does
the police car catch the speeding car? (b) How fast is the police car traveling when it catches up with
the speeder?
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PRACTICE PROBLEMS
1. A runner runs 2.5 km, in a straight line, in 9.0 min and then takes 30 min to walk back to the starting
point. (a) What is the runner’s average velocity for the first 9.0 min? (b) What is the average velocity for
the time spent walking? (c) What is the average velocity for the whole trip? (d) What is the average speed
for the whole trip?

2. A car travels in a straight line with an average velocity of 80 km/h for 2.5 h and then with an average
velocity of 40 km/h for 1.5 h. (a) What is the total displacement for the 4.0-h trip? (b) What is the average
velocity for the total trip?

3. The position of a certain particle depends on time according to the equation 𝑥(𝑡) = 𝑡 2 − 5.0𝑡 + 1.0, where
x is in meters if t is in seconds. (a) Find the displacement and average velocity for the interval 3.0s ≤ t ≤
4.0s. (b) Find the general formula for the displacement for the time interval from t to t + Δt. (c) Use the
limiting process to obtain the instantaneous velocity for any time t.

4. The position of an object as a function of time is given by x = 𝐴𝑡 2 − 𝐵𝑡 + 𝐶, where A = 8.0 m/𝑠 2 , B = 6.0
m/s, and C = 4.0 m. Find the instantaneous velocity and acceleration as functions of time.

5. An object traveling along the x axis at constant acceleration has a velocity of +10 m/s when it is at x = 6.0
m and of +15 m/s when it is at x = 10.0 m. What is its acceleration?

6. The speed of an object traveling along the x axis increases at the constant rate of +4.0 m/s each second. At
t = 0.0 s, its velocity is +1.0 m/s and its position is +7.0 m. How fast is it moving when its position is +8.0
m, and how much time has elapsed from the start at t = 0.0 s?

7. A load of bricks is lifted by a crane at a steady velocity of 5.0 m/s when one brick falls off 6.0 m above the
ground. (a) Sketch the position of the brick y(t) versus time, from the moment it leaves the pallet until it
hits the ground. (b) What is the greatest height the brick reaches above the ground? (c) How long does it
take to reach the ground? (d) What is its speed just before it hits the ground?

8. A bolt comes loose from underneath an elevator that is moving upward at a constant speed of 6.0 m/s.
The bolt reaches the bottom of the elevator shaft in 3.0 s. (a) How high above the bottom of the shaft was
the elevator when the bolt came loose? (b) What is the speed of the bolt when it hits the bottom of the
shaft?

9. A speeder traveling at a constant speed of 125 km/h races past a billboard. A patrol car pursues from rest
with constant acceleration of (8.0 km/h)/s until it reaches its maximum speed of 190 km/h, which it
maintains until it catches up with the speeder. (a) How long does it take the patrol car to catch the speeder
if it starts moving just as the speeder passes? (b) How far does each car travel? (c) Sketch x(t) for each car.

10. The velocity of a particle is given by 𝑣𝑥 (t) = (6.0 m/𝑠 2 )t + (3.0 m/s). (a) Sketch v versus t and find the area
under the curve for the interval t = 0 to t = 5.0 s. (b) Find the position function x(t). Use it to calculate the
displacement during the interval t = 0 to t = 5.0 s.