Week 2

One-Dimensional
Kinematics
 Kinematics
▪ It is the branch of mechanics
that describes the motion of
objects without necessarily
discussing what causes the
motion.
▪ 1-Dimensional Kinematics (or 1-Dimensional
motion) refers to motion in a straight line.
 Before describing motion, you
must set up a coordinate system –
define an origin and a positive
direction.

x0 x
 Distance
▪ The total length traveled by
an object.
▪ “How far have you walked?” is a
typical distance question.
▪ The SI unit of distance is the
meter (m).
The distance is the total length of
travel; if you drive from your house
to the grocery store and back, you
have covered a distance of 8.6 mi.
 Displacement (x)
▪ The change in the position of
a particle is called
displacement.
▪  is a Greek letter used to
represent the words “change
in”. x therefore means “change
in x”. It is always calculated by
final value minus initial value.
•“How far are you from home?”
is a typical displacement
question.
•The SI unit for displacement
is the meter.
•Calculation of displacement:

•Final position – initial position

 x = x − x0
 Displacement is the change in
position. If you drive from your
house to the grocery store and then
to your friendʼs house, your
displacement is 2.1 mi and the
distance you have traveled is 10.7 mi.
What reaction do you see from the owner of a
car when the driver hasn’t come back on time?
 Distance vs... Displacement
B 100 m

displacement
50 m

distance
A
▪ A picture can help you distinguish between
distance and displacement.
 Questions

▪ Does the odometer in your car measure distance or

displacement?
Practice Problem: Two tennis players approach the net to
congratulate one another after a game. a) Find the distance and
displacement of player A. b) Repeat for player B.

A B
5m 2m
Practice Problem: You are driving a car on a circular track of
diameter 40 meters. After you have driven around 2 ½ times,
how far have you driven, and what is your displacement?
C = 2r
d = 2r
 Average Speed
▪ Average speed describes how
fast a particle is moving. The
equation is: x
vav =
▪ where: t
vav = average speed Average speed is
d = distance always a positive
t = elapsed time number.
▪ The SI unit of speed is the m/s
 Average Velocity
▪ Average velocity describes
how fast the displacement is
changing. The equation is:
x
vave =
▪ where: t Average
vav = average velocity velocity is + or
x = displacement – depending on
t = elapsed time direction.
▪ The SI unit of velocity is the m/s.
If you return to your starting point, your
average velocity is zero.
 Graphical Interpretation of
Average Velocity
The same motion, plotted one-
dimensionally and as an x vs. t graph:
Practice Problem: How long will it take the sound of the starting
gun to reach the ears of the sprinters if the starter is stationed at
the finish line for a 100 m race? Assume that sound has a speed
of about 340 m/s.
 Graphical Problem
x B
vav = x/t
A x
t
t
Graphical Problem: Determine the average velocity
from the graph.
x (m)
 Graphical Problem
x

t
What kind of motion does this
graph represent?
 Graphical Problem
x A
x B vav = x/t
t

t
Can you determine average velocity from
the time at point A to the time at point B
from this graph?
Graphical Problem: Determine the average velocity
between 1 and 4 seconds.
 Instantaneous Velocity
▪ The velocity at a single instant in
time.
▪ If the velocity is uniform, or constant, the
instantaneous velocity is the same as the
average velocity.
▪ If the velocity is not constant, than the
instantaneous velocity is not the same as the
average velocity, and we must carefully
distinguish between the two.
Instantaneous Velocity
x vins = x/t
B x
t

t
Draw a tangent line to the
curve at B. The slope of this
line gives the instantaneous
velocity at that specific time.
This plot shows the average velocity
being measured over shorter and
shorter intervals. The instantaneous
velocity is tangent to the curve.
Practice Problem: Determine the instantaneous
velocity at 1.0 second.
 Acceleration (a)
▪ Any change in velocity over a
period of time is called
acceleration.
▪ The sign (+ or -) of acceleration indicates its
direction.
▪ Acceleration can be…
▪ speeding up
▪ slowing down
▪ turning
 Questions

▪ If acceleration is zero, what does this

mean about the motion of an object?

▪ Is it possible for a racecar circling a

track to have zero acceleration?
Uniform (Constant) Acceleration
▪ In Physics 1A, we will generally
assume that acceleration is constant.
▪ With this assumption we are free to use
this equation:
v v − v
a= = 0
t t
▪ The SI unit of acceleration is the m/s2.
 Acceleration in 1-D Motion
has a sign!

▪ If the sign of the velocity and the

sign of the acceleration is the same,
the object speeds up.
▪ If the sign of the velocity and the
sign of the acceleration are different,
the object slows down.
Cars accelerating
or decelerating
v-versus-t plots with
constant acceleration
 Qualitative Demonstrations
1) Demonstrate the motion of a particle that
has zero initial velocity and positive
acceleration.
2) Demonstrate the motion of a particle that
has zero initial velocity and negative
acceleration.
3) Demonstrate the motion of a particle that
has positive initial velocity and negative
acceleration.
4) Demonstrate the motion of a particle that
has negative initial velocity and positive
acceleration.
Practice Problem: A horse is running with an initial velocity of
11 m/s, and begins to accelerate at –1.81 m/s2. How long does it
take the horse to stop?
 Graphical Problem
v (m/s)
0.50

t (s)

Demonstrate the motion of this particle. Is it

accelerating?
 Graphical Problem
v

Demonstrate the motion of this particle. Is it

accelerating?
 Graphical Problem
v B
a = v/t
A v
t
t

What physical feature of the graph gives the acceleration?

 Graphical Problem
v B
a = v/t
A v
t
t

What physical feature of the graph gives the acceleration?

 Graphical Problem
v B
A Area
t
Remember to break
area into shapes you
know

What physical feature of the graph gives the Displacement?

Practice Problem: Determine the acceleration from the
graph.
Practice Problem: Determine the displacement of the
object from 0 to 4 seconds.

How would you describe the motion of this particle?

Position vs.... Time Graphs
▪ Particles moving with no
acceleration (constant velocity)
have graphs of position vs.... time
with one slope. The velocity is not
changing since the slope is
constant.
▪ Position vs.... time graphs for
particles moving with constant
acceleration look parabolic. The
instantaneous slope is changing. In
this graph it is increasing, and the
particle is speeding up.
Uniformly Accelerating
Objects
▪ You see the car move
faster and faster. This
is a form of
acceleration.
▪ The position vs.... time
graph for the
accelerating car
reflects the bigger and
bigger x values.
▪ The velocity vs... time
graph reflects the
increasing velocity.
Describe the motion
▪ This object is moving in the
positive direction and
accelerating in the positive
direction (speeding up).
▪ This object is moving in the
negative direction and
accelerating in the negative
direction (speeding up).
▪ This object is moving in the
negative direction and
accelerating in the positive
direction (slowing down).
 Draw Graphs for
Stationary Particles

x v a

t t t

Position Velocity Acceleration

vs... vs... vs...
time time time
 Motion Plots for Stationary
Particles
Solution:
 Draw Graphs for
Constant Non-zero Velocity

x v a

t t t

Position Velocity Acceleration

vs... vs... vs...
time time time
 Motion Plots with constant, non-
zero, Velocity.
Solution:
 Draw Graphs for Constant
Non-zero Acceleration

x v a

t t t

Position Velocity Acceleration

vs... vs... vs...
time time time
Motion Plots with constant, non-
zero, acceleration.
Solution:
Kinematic Equations
v = vo + at
x = x + v t + at
1 2
o o 2

v = v + 2a(x)
2 2
0
x = x0 + 1 2 (v + v0 )t
x = x0 + v f t + 1
2 at 2
Practice Problem: A plane is flying in a northwest direction
when it lands, touching the end of the runway with a speed of
130 m/s. If the runway is 1.0 km long, what must the
acceleration of the plane be if it is to stop while leaving ¼ of the
runway remaining as a safety margin?
Practice Problem: On a ride called the Detonator at Worlds of
Fun in Kansas City, passengers accelerate straight downward
from 0 to 20 m/s in 1.0 second.
a) What is the average acceleration of the passengers on this
ride?

b) How fast would they be going if they accelerated for an

additional second at this rate?
Practice Problem -- continued
c) Sketch approximate x-vs.-t, v-vs.-t and a-vs.-t graphs for this
ride.
Practice Problem: Air bags are designed to deploy in 10 ms.
Estimate the acceleration of the front surface of the bag as it
expands. Express your answer in terms of the acceleration of
gravity g.
Practice Problem: You are driving through town at 12.0 m/s
when suddenly a ball rolls out in front of you. You apply the
brakes and decelerate at 3.5 m/s2.
a) How far do you travel before stopping?

b) When you have traveled only half the stopping distance, what is your
speed?
Practice Problem -- continued
c) How long does it take you to stop?

d) Draw x vs... t, v vs... t, and a vs... t graphs for this.

 Free Fall
▪ When an object is falling
under the influence of
gravity, with gravity being the
only force on the object.
▪ Gravity accelerates the object
toward the earth the entire
time it rises, and the entire time
it falls.
Free Fall cont’d…
▪ The acceleration due to
gravity near the surface of
the earth has a magnitude of
9.81 m/s2. The direction of
this acceleration is DOWN.
▪ Air resistance is ignored.
An object falling in air is subject
to air resistance (and therefore
is not freely falling).
 Free fall
from rest:
Practice Problem: You drop a ball from rest off a 120 m high
cliff. Assuming air resistance is negligible,
a) how long is the ball in the air?

b) what is the ballʼs speed and velocity when it strikes the ground at the
base of the cliff?

c) sketch approximate x-vs.-t, v-vs.-t, a-vs.-t graphs for this situation.

Practice Problem: You throw a ball straight upward into the air
with a velocity of 20.0 m/s, and you catch the ball some time later.
a) How long is the ball in the air?

b) How high does the ball go?

Practice Problem -- continued
c) What is the ballʼs velocity when you catch it?

d) Sketch approximate x-vs.-t, v-vs.-t, a-vs.-t graphs for this situation.

 Symmetry in Free Fall
▪ When something is thrown straight upward
under the influence of gravity, and then
returns to the thrower, this is very
symmetric.
▪ The object spends half its time traveling up;
half traveling down.
▪ Velocity when it returns to the ground is the
opposite of the velocity it was thrown
upward with.
▪ Acceleration is 9.8 m/s2 and directed DOWN
the entire time the object is in the air!
 Reflex Testing Lab

▪ Using a meter stick, determine your

reaction time.

Reaction Time
How fast does your brain send messages to
your body?
Reaction Time Plot
Solution