 It is the branch of physics which deals with motion, which is again

divided into two.

1. STATICS – deals with the study of object at rest, under the

effect of forces in equilibrium.

2. DYNAMICS – deals with the study of the causes of motion and

is based on the concept of force as the cause of motion.

 KINEMATICS - deals with the motion of objects without

considering the causes of motion. Motion in a straight line
includes in the branch kinematics.
 Motion is the change in physical position of an object with respect to
surroundings with time.

 There are mainly three types of motion :

1) Rectilinear or translatory motion

2) Circular or rotatory motion

3) Oscillatory or vibratory motion

 If the motion of an object is along a straight line ,it is
called a rectilinear motion or translatory motion.

 In this chapter our discussion is restricted to only

rectilinear motion.
 POSITION
In order to specify position, we need to use a reference point
and a set of axes. It is convenient to choose a rectangular
coordinate system consisting of three mutually perpendicular
axes, labelled X-, Y-, and Z- axes. The point of intersection
of these three axes is called origin (O) and serves as the
reference point. The coordinates (x, y. z) of an object
describe the position of the object with respect to this
coordinate system. To measure time, we position a clock in
this system. This coordinate system along with a clock
constitutes a frame of reference.
The path length of an object in motion in a given time interval
is the length of actual path traversed by the object in the given
time interval.
In the first case a car is travelling from
O to P, then the path length = OP = 50m.
In the second case, the car moves from O
To P and then moves back from P to Q.
Then, the path length = OP + PQ
= 50m + 25m = 75m
 Path length is only positive and is a scalar quantity ( a
quantity that has magnitude only and no direction.)
The shortest distance between the initial position and the final
position of any object is known as its displacement and is
directed in the direction of the moving object.
OR
Displacement of an object = (final position – initial position ) of
the object in the direction of its motion.

If 𝑥1 and 𝑥2 be the positions of an object at time 𝑡1 and 𝑡2 ,

then its displacement, denoted by ∆𝑥 in time ∆𝑡 = (𝑡2 - 𝑡1 ), is
given by ∆𝑥 = 𝑥2 - 𝑥1
 If 𝑥2 > 𝑥1 , ∆𝑥 is positive.
 If 𝑥2 < 𝑥1 , ∆𝑥 is negative.

Displacement has both magnitude and direction. Such

quantities are represented by vectors.

Here,
CASE 1 : the car is starting from O
and reaching at P, displacement = OP = +50m
CASE 2 : The car is starting from O , reaching at P and then
back to Q, then the displacement = OQ = OP – PQ
= +50m – 25m
= 25m
 The magnitude of displacement may or may not be
equal to the path length traversed by an object.

 If initial position and final position are same, then the

displacement = 0 but the path length ≠ 0.

 Displacement may be positive, negative or 0 but path

length be only positive.
 Motion of an object can be represented by a position-
time graph. Here time along the X axis and position along
the Y axis.

Position – time graph of a stationary object.

 Position – time graph of a car
AVERAGE SPEED
 Average speed is defined as total path length travelled divided
by the total time interval during which the motion has taken
place.
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ
Average speed =
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑛
 S I unit of average speed is m/s.
 It has no direction. That is it does not tells us in what
direction an object is moving. Therefore, average speed is a
scalar quantity.
 It is always positive.
AVERAGE VELOCITY
 Average velocity is defined as the change in position or
displacement (∆𝑥) divided by the time intervals (∆𝑡), in
which the displacement occurs :
𝑥2 − 𝑥1 ∆𝑥
𝑣𝑎𝑣𝑔 = =
𝑡2 − 𝑡1 ∆𝑡
where 𝑥2 and 𝑥1 are the positions of the object at time
𝑡2 and 𝑡1 , respectively.
 The SI unit for velocity is m/s or m 𝑠 −1 , although kmℎ−1 is
used in many everyday applications.
 Average velocity is a vector quantity.
 The direction of average velocity is same as displacement.
 The average velocity can be positive or negative depending
upon the sign of the displacement. It is zero if the
displacement is zero. The x-t graphs for an object, moving
with positive velocity, negative velocity and at rest are given
in the figure below.
 If the motion of an object is along a straight line and in the
same direction, the magnitude of displacement is equal
to the total path length. In that case, the magnitude of
average velocity is equal to the average speed. This is not
always the case, as you will see in the following example.

 Example 3.1 A car is moving along a straight line, say OP

in Fig. 3.1. It moves from O to P in 18 s and returns from P
to Q in 6.0 s. What are the average velocity and average
speed of the car in going (a) from O to P ? and (b) from O
to P and back to Q ?
 INSTANTANEOUS VELOCITY
 In order to know the velocity of an object moving along a
straight path at different instants of time, we introduce the
concept of instantaneous velocity.
 Instantaneous velocity is the velocity at a specific instant of
time or at a specific position on its path.
 It is defined as the limit of the average velocity as the time
interval ∆𝑡 becomes infinitesimally small.
∆𝑥
 That is, 𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡 = lim
∆𝑡→0 ∆𝑡
𝑑𝑥
=
𝑑𝑡
 Instantaneous velocity is the differential coefficient of 𝑥 with
respect to 𝑡 or first order derivative of displacement 𝑥.

INSTANTANEOUS SPEED
 It is the magnitude of instantaneous velocity that instant of
time or it is the distance travelled by a body at a particular
instant of time.
 Magnitude of instantaneous velocity is always equal to
instantaneous speed at that instant.
 UNIFORM VELOCITY
 Uniform velocity is the velocity of an object with which it
covers equal displacements in equal intervals of time, no matter
how small these intervals may be.
 Motion with uniform velocity is called uniform motion.
 In uniform motion average velocity is equal to instantaneous
velocity.
VARIABLE VELOCITY OR NON
UNIFORM VELOCITY
 When a body covers equal displacements in unequal
intervals of time or unequal displacements in equal
intervals of time, then the body is said to be in non uniform
motion or motion with variable velocity.
 VELOCITY - TIME GRAPH OF UNIFORM
MOTION

Consider a body moving with a constant velocity u in time interval

0 – T,
 The v - t time graph is a straight line parallel to the time axis
and the area under it between t = 0 and t = T is the area of the
rectangle of height u and base T. Therefore, area = u × T = uT
which is the displacement in this time interval.
 The area under the v – t graph represents the displacement
over a given time interval.
 POSITION – TIME GRAPH OF
UNIFORM MOTION
 Consider a particle moving with
uniform velocity v. During the
time interval 𝑡2 - 𝑡1 , the
displacement is 𝑥2 - 𝑥1 .
 The slope of the line AB gives the
velocity of the particle.
𝑸𝑹 𝑥2 − 𝑥1
 That is, tan θ = = = v
𝑷𝑹 𝑡2 − 𝑡1

 That is, the slope of position time

graph in uniform motion will give
the value of velocity.
Q) A train 100 m long moving with a speed of 60 km/h. In what
time shall it cross a bridge 1 km long ?
Answer
The distance to be covered = 1 km + 100 m = 1100 m
5 150
Speed = 60 km/h = 60 × m𝑠 ;1 = m𝑠 ;1
18 9
Therefore,
1100
Time = 150 s = 66 s
9

𝒗𝟏 : 𝒗𝟐
 Case 1 : if 𝒕𝟏 = 𝒕𝟐 then, 𝒗𝒂𝒗𝒈 =
𝟐
Q) A cyclist cycles for 10s at a speed of 3 m𝑠 ;1 and then for the
same time at a speed of 5 m𝑠 ;1 along a straight road. What is the
average speed of the cyclist ?
Answer
𝒗𝟏 : 𝒗𝟐
vavg =
𝟐
3:5
= = 4 m𝑠 ;1
2

Case 2 : if 𝒔𝟏 = 𝒔𝟐 , where 𝑠1 and 𝑠2 are the distances covered by

the body during the first half and second half
𝟐𝒗𝟏 𝒗𝟐
𝐯𝐚𝐯𝐠 =
𝒗𝟏 : 𝒗𝟐
 Q) A car covers the first half of the distance between two places at
a speed of 40 km/h and second half at 60 km/h. Calculate the
average speed of the car ?
Answer
𝟐𝒗𝟏 𝒗𝟐
𝐯𝐚𝐯𝐠 =
𝒗𝟏 : 𝒗𝟐

= 48 km/h
HW
Question 3.14. A man walks on a straight road from his home to a
market 2.5 km away with a speed of 5 km h-1 .Finding the market
closed, he instantly turns and walks back home with a speed of 7.5 km
h-1What is the (a)Magnitude of average velocity, and (b)Average speed
of the man over the interval of time (i) 0 to 30 min. (ii) 0 to 50 min. (iii)
0 to 40 min ?
 AVERAGE ACCELERATION

The average acceleration 𝑎𝑎𝑣𝑔 over a time interval is

defined as the change of velocity divided by the time interval.

𝑣2− 𝑣1 ∆𝑣
𝑎𝑎𝑣𝑔 = =
𝑡2 −𝑡1 ∆𝑡
where 𝑣2 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑣1 are the velocities at time 𝑡2 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡1 .

It is the rate of change of velocity.

The S.I unit of acceleration is 𝑚𝑠 −2

 UNIFORM ACCELERATION

If the acceleration remains constant throughout the motion, it

is called uniform acceleration.
That is, the velocity changes by equal amounts in equal
intervals of time.
The motion is called uniformly accelerated motion.
INSTANTANEOUS ACCELERATION
The acceleration at any instant is called instantaneous
acceleration.
∆𝑣 𝑑𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡
𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡 = lim =
∆𝑡→0 ∆𝑡 𝑑𝑡
𝑑 𝑑𝑥 𝑑2 𝑥
= ( ) =
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 2
Instantaneous acceleration is the slope of the tangent to
the v – t curve at that instant.
Since velocity is a quantity having both magnitude and
direction, a change in velocity may involve either or
both of these factors. Acceleration, therefore, may
result from a change in speed (magnitude), a change in
direction or changes in both. Like velocity, acceleration
can also be positive, negative or zero.
 POSITIVE ACCELERATION
If the velocity is increasing during motion, then the
acceleration is positive.

 NEGETIVE ACCELERATION
If the velocity is decreasing during motion, then the
acceleration is called negative acceleration, deceleration or
retardation.
 ZERO ACCELERATION
If the velocity remains constant throughout the motion, then
it is called motion with zero acceleration.

Now the motion is said to be uniform motion.

 VELOCITY – TIME GRAPH

• Positive acceleration
• Negative acceleration

• Zero acceleration
KINEMATIC EQUATIONS
FOR UNIFORMLY
ACCELERATED MOTION
 UNIFORMLY ACCELERATED MOTION

• Through out the motion of an object if acceleration

remains constant it is called uniformly accelerated
motion.

• For uniformly accelerated motion, we can derive

some simple equations that relate displacement
(x), time taken (t), initial velocity (𝑣0 ), final
velocity (v) and acceleration (a).
 VELOCITY - TIME RELATION
Let us consider a particle moving with constant
acceleration ‘a’ along the positive direction of x-axis. If
𝑣𝑜 and v be the velocities of the particle at times 𝑡0
and t respectively, then
𝑣 − 𝑣0
acceleration, a =
𝑡 − 𝑡0
𝑣 − 𝑣0 = a (𝑡 − 𝑡0 )
𝑣 = 𝑣0 + a (𝑡 − 𝑡0 ) (1)
that is, 𝒗 = 𝒖 + 𝒂𝒕 where, 𝑣0 = 𝑢(initial
velocity) and 𝑡0 = 0
 POSITION – TIME RELATION

• Let us consider, a particle moving with uniform

acceleration. Let its velocity changes uniformly
from 𝑣0 to 𝑣 within the time interval 𝑡0 𝑡𝑜 𝑡.
• Average velocity, 𝑣𝑎𝑣𝑔 is given by
𝑣0 +𝑣
𝑣𝑎𝑣𝑔 =
2
𝑥𝑡 − 𝑥0
also, 𝑣𝑎𝑣𝑔 = where 𝑥𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑥0 are
𝑡 − 𝑡0
position coordinates at 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡0
𝑥𝑡 − 𝑥0 = 𝑣𝑎𝑣𝑔 ( 𝑡 − 𝑡𝑜 )
𝑣0 +𝑣
= (𝑡 − 𝑡𝑜 ) (2)
2
[𝑣𝑜 + 𝑣0 +𝑎 (𝑡 − 𝑡𝑜 )]
= (𝑡 − 𝑡𝑜 )
2
1
= 𝑣𝑜 ( 𝑡 − 𝑡𝑜 ) + 𝑎 (𝑡 − 𝑡𝑜 ) 2
2
1
= 𝑣𝑜 t + 𝑎 𝑡 2
2
𝟏
s = 𝒖𝒕 + 𝒂 𝒕𝟐
𝟐
 VELOCITY – POSITION RELATION

• From equation (1)

𝑣 = 𝑣0 + a (𝑡 − 𝑡0 )
𝑣−𝑣0
𝑡 − 𝑡0 =
𝑎
From equation (2)
𝑣0 +𝑣
𝑥𝑡 − 𝑥0 = (𝑡 − 𝑡𝑜 )
2
Substitute for 𝑡 − 𝑡𝑜 from eqn (1)
 𝑣0 +𝑣 ( 𝑣−𝑣0 )
𝑥𝑡 − 𝑥0 = ( ) 𝑎
2
𝑣 2 - 𝑣0 2 = 2𝑎 (𝑥𝑡 − 𝑥0 )

That is, 𝒗𝟐 - 𝒖𝟐 = 𝟐𝒂𝒔

Distance covered by a body in 𝒏𝒕𝒉 second of its
motion

• Let, 𝑥𝑛 be the distance covered in 𝑛 second

𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑥𝑛−1 be the distance covered in 𝑛 − 1 second
1
Then, 𝑥𝑛 = 𝑢𝑛 + 𝑎𝑛2
2
1
𝑥𝑛−1 = 𝑢 𝑛 − 1 + 𝑎(𝑛 − 1)2
2
Therefore, the distance covered during 𝑛𝑡ℎ second of
motion is given by,
𝑥𝑛𝑡ℎ = 𝑥𝑛 - 𝑥𝑛−1
1 1
= (𝑢𝑛 + 𝑎𝑛2 ) – (𝑢 𝑛 − 1 + 𝑎(𝑛 − 1)2 )
2 2
 1 1
𝑥𝑛𝑡ℎ = 𝑢𝑛 + 𝑎𝑛2 - 𝑢𝑛 +𝑢 − 𝑎 𝑛2 + 1 − 2n
2 2
1
𝑥𝑛𝑡ℎ = 𝑢 − 𝑎 + 𝑎𝑛
2

𝒂
𝒙𝒏𝒕𝒉 = 𝒖 + ( 2n -1 )
𝟐
 FREE FALL
 When a body moves under the influence of gravity
alone it is called free fall. Here air resistance is
neglected.
 If the height through which the object falls is
small compared to the earth’s radius, g can be
taken to be constant, equal to 9.8 m 𝑠 −2 . Free fall
is thus a case of motion with uniform acceleration.
 We assume that the motion is in y- direction,
more correctly in –y direction because we choose
upward direction as positive. Since the
acceleration due to gravity is always down ward, it
is in the negative direction and we have
 a = -g = - 9.8 𝑚 𝑠 −2
 The object is released from rest at y = 0.
 Therefore,𝑣0 = 0 and the equations of motion
become:

v= 0-gt = −9.8 𝑡 m 𝑠 −1
1
y= 0- g 𝑡2 = −4.9 𝑡 2 m
2
𝑣 2 = 0−2𝑔𝑦 = −19.6 𝑦 𝑚2 𝑠 −2
GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATIONS

a) Variation of acceleration with time

b) Variation of velocity with time
c) Variation of distance with time
 STOPPING DISTANCE OF
VEHICLES
 When brakes are applied to a moving vehicle,
the distance it travels before stopping is called
stopping distance.
 It is an important factor for road safety and
depends on the initial velocity (𝑣0 ) and the
braking capacity, or deceleration, –a that
is caused by the braking.
 EXPRESSION FOR STOPPING
DISTANCE
Let the distance travelled by the vehicle
before it stops be 𝑑𝑠 .
Then, using equation of motion,
𝑣 2 = 𝑣0 2 − 2𝑎𝑥 and noting that v = 0, we have
the stopping distance
𝑣0 2
𝑑𝑠 = −
2𝑎
Thus, the stopping distance is proportional to
the square of the initial velocity.
 This is the velocity of an object relative to some other
object which might be stationary, moving slowly,
moving with same velocity, moving with
higher velocity or moving in opposite direction.

EXPRESSION FOR RELATIVE

VELOCITY
Consider two objects A and B moving
uniformly with average velocities 𝑣𝐴 and 𝑣𝐵 in
one dimension, say along x-axis.
 If 𝑥𝐴 (0) and 𝑥𝐵 (0) are positions of objects A and B,
respectively at time t = 0, their positions𝑥𝐴 (t) and
𝑥𝐵 (t) at time t are given by
1) A car travelling at 58 kmℎ−1 overtakes another car
travelling at 40 kmℎ−1 .assuming each car to be 5 m long,
calculate the time taken for overtaking.
Ans: 2 s

2) A train 110 m long is travelling at 60 kmℎ−1 . In what

time it will cross a cyclist moving at 6 kmℎ−1
a) In the same direction, b) in the opposite direction
Ans: 7.33 s, 6 s
MORE PROBLEMS
1. A ball is dropped from a height of 5 m on a plane.
On bouncing, it rises to a height of 1.8 m. Calculate
the fractional loss of velocity of ball. The value g is
not known.

ANS:- 𝑣1 = 2𝑔 × 5 m 𝑠 −1
𝑣2 = 2𝑔 × 1.8 m 𝑠 −1
𝑣1 5
=
𝑣2 3
𝑣1 − 𝑣2 𝑣2
fractional loss of velocity = =1 - = 0.4
𝑣1 𝑣1
2. A balloon is ascending at the rate 14 m 𝑠 −1 at a
height of 98 m above the ground when a packet is
dropped from the balloon. After how much time and
with what velocity does it reach the ground.
Ans:- t = 6.12 s v = - 46 m 𝑠 −1

3. A stone is dropped from the top of a tower 200 m

in height and at the same time, another stone is
projected upwards with a velocity of 50 m 𝑠 −1 .Find
where and when the two will meet.

Ans : 121.6 m from ground , after 4 second of throw