Lecture 3

Kinematics in One Dimension

Displacement, velocity, acceleration

Graphs
A special case: constant acceleration
Bodies in free fall

Serway and Jewett Chapter 2

 Motion (1D)

Review: The kinematic Equations for constant Acceleration:

v f = vi + a t v = v0 + a t

x f = xi + v i t + 1
2 at 2
x = x0 + v 0t + 12 a t 2

v 2f − vi2 = 2 a ( x f − xi ) v − v = 2 a ( x − x0 )
2 2
0

x f = xi + vt x = x0 + vt

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 Summary: x – t graphs

• Positive slope → positive

velocity
• Negative slope → negative
velocity
• Constant slope → constant
velocity
• Slope = 0 → object at rest
• Steep slope → high
velocity
© 2016 Pearson Education Inc. • Shallow slope → low
velocity

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 Summary: Velocity and Acceleration
• Acceleration = slope of
velocity-time curve
– rate of change of velocity
with respect to time
• Acceleration and velocity do
not necessarily reach max
value at same time
• Acceleration can be in
opposite direction to
velocity → velocity will
decrease during time
interval of interest
• speeding up → +v and +a
or –v and –a
• slowing down → +v and –a Note: “slowing down” means that v
or –v and +a and a have opposite signs, not
that a is negative.
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 Motion Graphs – Class exercise
Draw velocity and acceleration from position-time graph:

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 Extra Quiz
A runner completes the first half of the distance at
an average speed of 2v0. At what average speed
must he run the second half to have an average
speed v0 for the entire distance?

a) ½ v0
b) 2/3 v0
c) ¾ v0
d) zero

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 Free fall
• Any objects moving freely under the influence of gravity alone,
regardless of its initial motion, is called free fall.

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 Example: Free Fall.

(“Free fall” means the only force is gravity; the motion can be
in any direction).

All objects in free fall move with constant downward acceleration,

𝑎 = 𝑔 ≈ 9.80 m/s 2 [downwards]

This was demonstrated by Galileo around 1600 A.D.

“g” is called the “acceleration due to gravity” or the “gravitational

field of the Earth”.

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 Free fall
In free fall acceleration is always directed downward.
a → −g g = 9.8 m s 2

So, in kinematics equations, replace “a” with “– g”.

v = v0 + at → v = v0 − gt

x = x0 + v0 t + 12 a t 2 → y = y0 + v0 t − 12 g t 2

v 2 − v02 = 2 a ( x − x0 ) → v 2 − v02 = − 2 g ( x − x0 )

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 Note:
The free-fall acceleration is the same for all objects; size
and composition don’t matter.

But:
• g varies slightly with location and height, about 0.03
m/s2 over the surface of the Earth, and up to a few
kilometers above
• if air resistance is significant, we don’t really have
“free fall”.

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 Kinematics – Q1
• If you drop an object in the absence of air resistance, it
accelerates downward at 9.8 m/s2. If, instead, you
throw it downward, what is its downward acceleration
after release?

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 Kinematics – Q2
• You are throwing a ball straight up in the air. What are
ball’s velocity and acceleration at the highest point?

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 Tossing a ball
Draw position, velocity and acceleration graphs of a chalk thrown into air.

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 Quiz
A block is dropped from rest. It takes a time t1 to fall the
first third of the distance. How long does it take to fall
the entire distance?

a) 3 t1
b) 3 t1
c) 6 𝑡1
d) 9 t1
e) None of the above

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 Acceleration on an inclined plane
Imagine a frictionless inclined plane. What is the acceleration
of an object sliding on the plane?

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McMaster Physics 1D03 – Module 1 – Lecture 3

 Quiz
You throw a set of keys up to a window 4.9 m above
you. If the keys just make it to your friend on a balcony
1.0 s later, what was their initial velocity ?

y = v0t − 12 gt 2
a) 40 m/s
b) 14.7 m/s
c) 9.8 m/s
d) 4.9 m/s
e) 4.5 m/s

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 Example:
• A particle’s position is given by the function x = – t 3+4t.
– What are the particle’s position, velocity and
acceleration at t = 3 s?
𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑣
𝑥(𝑡) = −𝑡 3 + 4𝑡 𝑣= 𝑎=
𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝑡

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