MOTION IN ONE DIMENSION

Position, Displacement and Distance

Distance(x): The taken way between any two points, (x1=1, x2=3, x3=4). Distance is a scalar
quantity.

Position(x): An object’s distance with direction relative to a reference point is called the
position of the object. Position is a vector quantity.
xB=-4 xA=+3

The position of A is xA=+3

The position of B is xB=-4 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 x
(+ and – signs to indicate vector direction)

Displacement(x): The change in position of an object is called displacement. Displacement is

also a vector quantity.( The shortest way between two points AB The shortest distance from the
initial position to the final position of the body is called displacement. )
Displacement=Final Position-Initial Position

Displacement: Vector
x =xf - xi A
B
Distance: Scalar
Example 1 :
a) An object moves from x=2 to x=5. Find its displacement.
b) An object moves from x=-3 to x=-1. Find its displacement.

Example 2 : A boy walks 8m due right then 10m due left. What are the distance taken and the
displacement during this motion?

Example 3 : A girl walks to the east 40m, to the south 70m and then to the west 40m. What is
the distance and displacement of the girl?

Example 4 : A man walked 10 steps toward east then 10 steps toward south. What is the
magnitude and direction of the total displacement of the man?

Speed and Velocity

speed is defined as the distance per unit time. Speed is a scalar quantity.

Distance d
Speed =  V=
Time t

Velocity is defined as the displacement per unit time. Velocity is a vector quantity. (Speed in
a given direction is called velocity)
ΔX X  Xi
V   f
Δt t f  ti
Both speed and velocity are measured in m/s or km/h.
1
Prepared By: Eng.Khwaja Yousuf “SEDIQI”
How are velocity and speed different?
1) The cars have the same speed but their velocities are different, because they are travelling
in opposite direction

33 33

2) The speed of this car might be constant, but its velocity is not constant, because the
direction of motion is always changing.

200 m

Example 5 : If the athlete ran the 200 m in 25 s,

what was his speed and velocity?

50 m

Average speed and velocity

Average speed is defined as the total distance travelled divided by the total time taken.
𝒕𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅
𝑨𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒅 =
𝒕𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏

Average velocity is defined as the displacement divided by the total time interval.

𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 X Xf – Xi
𝑨𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚 = 𝒕𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏 Vav = =
t tf – ti

Example 6 : An athlete runs 200m in 20s then he turns back and runs 120m in 20s. Find his
average speed and average velocity.

Example 7 : A man first walks 2s at 2m/s toward worth then 3s at 1m/s towards west. Find his
average velocity during the travel?

2
Prepared By: Eng.Khwaja Yousuf “SEDIQI”
 Example 8 : A car travels at 60 km/h for 2 h, then at 90 km/h for 2.5 h, then at 120 km/h for 30
min, all in the same direction. Find vav=? (take x0=0)

Example 9 : Convert 72 km/h into m/s .

Motion with Constant Velocity (Uniform Motion)

An object travels equal displacements in equal times, if its velocity is constant.

33 33

X(m)
Rule1: slope of x∙t graph gives velocity.
60
X Xf – X i
tan = (constant) = V = =
t tf – ti 40 X

X 20
If Xi=0 at t=0  V=
t t
 t(s)
0 1 2 3
X1=

X2= Velocity is constant means: slope of x-t graph is

constant

X3= V(m/s)

Rule2: Area under v∙t graph gives displacement.

V0
X AREA = X = V0.t
t(s)
t

Example 10 : Find the velocity and draw vt graph. x (m)

15

t(s)
3
3
Prepared By: Eng.Khwaja Yousuf “SEDIQI”
Example 11 : a) find ∆ ×=? b)Draw xt graph V(m/s)

t(s)
4

X(m)
Position as a function of time
60
How can we find ?let ‘s show…
X= X0 +V.t
40

20
t(s)
0 1 2

33

example 12 : Which car is faster A or B?

x(m)
A
B

t(s)
0

Example 13 : Draw V-t graph.

X (m)

12

t (s)
0 2 4 5

4
Prepared By: Eng.Khwaja Yousuf “SEDIQI”
Example 15: Two cars A and B have respective velocities 20 m/s and 15m/s in the same
direction at the beginning, A is 40m behind B. How far does B move until A over takes it?

Example 16:Two cars move in opposite directions to each other with constant speed of 25m/s
and 20m/s. if the initial distance between the cars is 180km, how many second later do they
meet?

Note :

ACCELERATION
If an objects change its velocity, the object accelerates. Acceleration is defined as change in
velocity per unit time. Acceleration is a vector quantity. The unit of acceleration is m/s2 .

V Vf – Vi V
a = = If Vi=0 at ti=0 & Vf=V at  a=
t tf – ti t
tf=t
Motion with Constant Acceleration
If acceleration of an object is constant its velocity changes uniformly

3 3 3

The a always will be positive if an object is speeding up and negative if the object is slowing
down negative a is also called deceleration.

Example 17 : According to figure below, which car has acceleration, A or B, A and B?

VA=20m/s
VB=10m/s VB=30m/s
VA=20m/s t=2s
t=1s t=2s
t=1s

5
Prepared By: Eng.Khwaja Yousuf “SEDIQI”
Example 18 : A train starts from rest and speed up to 240 m/s in 10min. find the acceleration.

Example 19 : A car starts from rest and speed up to 108km/h in 6s. find the acceleration.

Example 20 : A train slows from 20 m/s to zero in 8 s. Find a.

Example 21 : The initial speed of an object is Vi=12,7m/s. Find its speed 4 s later if it
a) accelerates uniformly at 3 m/s2

6
Prepared By: Eng.Khwaja Yousuf “SEDIQI”
 7
Prepared By: Eng.Khwaja Yousuf “SEDIQI”
 8
Prepared By: Eng.Khwaja Yousuf “SEDIQI”
 9
Prepared By: Eng.Khwaja Yousuf “SEDIQI”
 10
Prepared By: Eng.Khwaja Yousuf “SEDIQI”
 11
Prepared By: Eng.Khwaja Yousuf “SEDIQI”
 12
Prepared By: Eng.Khwaja Yousuf “SEDIQI”
 13
Prepared By: Eng.Khwaja Yousuf “SEDIQI”
 14
Prepared By: Eng.Khwaja Yousuf “SEDIQI”
 15
Prepared By: Eng.Khwaja Yousuf “SEDIQI”
 V(m/s)

Equation of motion with constant acceleration

V

A truck changes its velocity from vo to v in a time internal of t. V0

Rule1: slope of v-t graph gives acceleration. t(s)
0
V Vf – Vi V – V0 t
a= =  a = V= V0 + at
t tf – ti t

Rule2: area under v-t graph gives displacement.

AREA =X X = + ½( V+ V0 ) t

If we substitute V=V0+at in this equality, then;

X = X - X0 = ½ ( V0 + V0 + at ) t X - X0 = V0t + ½ at2

Finally we can obtain an expression that doesn’t contain the time;

V= V0 + at t=(v-v0)/2

( V-V0 ) V2 - V0 2 V2 = V02 + 2a ( X - X0 )
X = ½ ( V + V0 ). =
a 2a
Note: 1. All these formulas we can use only if a=const.
2. x, v and a are vectors; look at the directions.
3. Generally t is written in place of t

Example 22 : A car starts from rest with a constant acceleration of 6 m/s. find
a) The velocity after 10 s. b) the displacement in 10 s.

16
Prepared By: Eng.Khwaja Yousuf “SEDIQI”
Example 23 : A car moving with a velocity of 10 m/s accelerates for 5 s. it covers a distance of
100 m during this time interval. Find a) the a. b) the v at the end of 5 s.

Example 24 : A car starts from rest and accelerates at 5 m/s2 through a distance of 22,5m.
a) Vf =?
b) How long did it take to cover 22,5 m ?

Example 25 : A car uniformly speeds up from V0 = 10 m/s to V= 20 m/s in 4 s. Find the average
velocity.

17
Prepared By: Eng.Khwaja Yousuf “SEDIQI”
M.O.D with constant acceleration graph
a(m/s2)
Rule 3 : Area under a-t graph gives velocity change.

AREA=V
t(s)
t

Example 26 : Find velocity at t= 4 s if the initial velocity is 7 m/s.

a(m/s2)

AREA=V
t(s)
4

18
Prepared By: Eng.Khwaja Yousuf “SEDIQI”
 FREE FALL
The motion of an object in a vertical line (rising as well as falling) with a constant a of g in the
absence of air resistance is called Free Fall.

Downward Upward
t=0 v=0 t=3s v=0

t=1s v=10 m/s v=v0+gt t=2s

v=10 m/s

y=v0t+1/2gt2
v=20 m/s
t=2s v=20 m/s y=(v2-v02)/2g t=1s

v2=v02+2gy

t=3s v=30 m/s t=0 v=30 m/s

Problem solving strategy:

1) First choose (+) and (-) directions. Generally direction of initial velocity is taken as plus.
2) Choose zero level
3) We can use all the old formulas, only replacing a by g.

Example 27 : A stone is dropped from 200 m above the ground; find its velocity and height 5 s
later.

19
Prepared By: Eng.Khwaja Yousuf “SEDIQI”
Example 28 : An object is dropped from top of a building 20m high.
a) When does the object strike the ground
b) What is the final speed?

Example 29 : An object related from rest high above the ground reached the ground with
35m/s. Find initial height of the object.

Note 1 : The Formula finds the displacement, not the distance.

Note 2 : We don’t use two formulas for going up and down, because the acceleration does
not change along the whole motion.

20
Prepared By: Eng.Khwaja Yousuf “SEDIQI”
Example 30 : Find a general formula for the maximum height and time of flight.

Example 31 : An object is thrown upwards with an initial velocity of 20 m/s. Find its velocity.
a) One second later b) Three seconds later
c) Find its position in one second later. d) Find its position in Three seconds later.

Example 32 : An object is thrown upwards with an initial velocity of 30 m/s. In what height does
its velocity decrease to 15 m/s?

21
Prepared By: Eng.Khwaja Yousuf “SEDIQI”
Example 33 : A ball thrown vertically upward is caught by the thrower after 8 s. Find
a) The initial velocity of the ball
b) The maximum height it reaches.

22
Prepared By: Eng.Khwaja Yousuf “SEDIQI”