SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

General Physics 1
Quarter 1 – Module 2
Motion in One Dimension
General Physics 1 – Grade 12
Quarter 1 – Module 2: Motion in One Direction
2nd Edition, 2021

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Development Team of the Module

Compilers/Writers:
MRS. ROWENA M. OLOFERNES – Master Teacher I, CCDCAGMNHS
MR. JUNHREY A. VIBAR – Teacher III, CCNSHS

Content Editors:
MS. CELIA C. GEPITULAN – Principal I, Regino Mercado Night HS
Reviewers:
MR. BONNIE JAMES A. SACLOLO – Teacher III, CCNSHS
DR. REY A. KIMILAT – Head Teacher V, Abellana National School
MRS. JOCELYN C. BUTANAS – Master Teacher 1, Talamban National HS
Language Editor:
MRS. ROQUESA B. SABEJON – PSDS, North District VII
Management Team:
DR. RHEA MAR A. ANGTUD – Schools Division Superintendent
DR. BERNADETTE A. SUSVILLA – Asst. Schools Division Superintendent
MRS. GRECIA F. BATALUNA – CID Chief
MRS. VANESSA L. HARAYO – EPS, LRMS
DR. RAYLENE S. MANAWATAO – EPS, Science

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What I Need To Know

2
 This module was designed and written with you in mind. It is here to help
you master about Motion in One Dimension. The scope of this module permits it to
be used in many different learning situations. The language used recognizes the
diverse vocabulary levels of students. The lessons are arranged to follow the
standard sequence of the course. But the order in which you read them can be
changed to correspond with the textbook you are now using.
This module is divided into three lessons, namely:
• Lesson 1 – Position, Time, Distance, Displacement, Speed, Average Velocity,
Instantaneous Velocity
• Lesson 2 – Position vs. Time, Velocity vs. Time and Acceleration vs. Time
Graphs
• Lesson 3 – One-Dimensional Acceleration Problems
After going through this module, you are expected to:
• Convert a verbal description of a physical situation involving uniform
acceleration in one dimension into a mathematical description;
• Interpret displacement and velocity, respectively, as areas under velocity vs. time
and acceleration vs. time curves;
• Interpret velocity and acceleration, respectively, as slopes of position vs. time
and velocity vs. time curves;
• Construct velocity vs. time and acceleration vs. time graphs, respectively,
corresponding to a given position vs. time-graph and velocity vs. time graph and
vice versa;
• Solve for unknown quantities in equations involving one dimensional uniformly
accelerated motion, including free fall motion; and
• Solve problems involving one-dimensional motion with constant acceleration in
contexts such as, but not limited to, the “tail-gating phenomenon”, pursuit,
rocket launch, and free- fall problems.

What I Know
Instructions: Write the letter of the correct answer on a separate sheet of
paper.
1. Jonathan competes in the 400-meter dash and finishes with a time of 64
seconds. If the track is a perfect oval, with the starting line and finish line at the
same point, and the runner's average speed was 6.25 meters/second, what was
the total distance travelled by Jonathan?
A. 0 m B. 200 m C. 400 m D. 800 m
2. What is the acceleration of an object that moves from rest to a velocity of 22 m/s
covering a distance of 20 m?
A. 4.8 m/s2 B. 7.2 m/s2 C. 9.6 m/s2 D. 12.1 m/s2
3. What is being measured by the speedometer of a car?
A. acceleration C. average velocity
B. average speed D. instantaneous speed
4. A cheetah named Sarah has shattered the world record for the standing 100-
meter dash, clocking a time of 5.95 seconds. It beats the Olympian Usain Bolt's
world record of 9.58 seconds (Roof 2012). What is the speed of Sarah?
A. 16.67 m/s B. 16.69 m/s C. 16.80 m/s D. 16.94 m/s
5. An object was dropped from a height of 100 m, how long was it in the air before
it hit the ground?

3
 A. 1.8 s B. 4.5 s C. 5.8 s D. 22.7 s
6. An object accelerates from rest with a constant acceleration of 7.4 m/s 2, what
will be its velocity after 5.4s?
A. 24.1 m/s B. 25.94 m/s C. 36.1 m/s D. 39.96 m/s
7. Starting from rest, a horse runs and reaches a final velocity of 9.6 meters per
second in 2.0 seconds. What is its average acceleration?
A. 4.8 m/s2 B. 7.2 m/s2 C. 9.6 m/s2 D. 12.0 m/s2
For questions 8-10, refer to the displacement vs. time graph of a cart:

8. Which section of the graph shows a period when the cart’s instantaneous
velocity is equal to its average velocity?
A. b-c B. c-d C. d-e D. none
9. Which section of the graph shows a period when the cart is accelerating?
A. a-b B. b-c C. c-d D. e-f
10.Which section of the graph shows a period when the cart is not
moving?
A. b-c B. c-d C. d-e D. e-f
11.Which of the following graphs represent an object having zero
acceleration?
A. B. C. D.

12.If a stone is dropped from a building with a height of 41 m, how many

seconds will it take to hit the ground? Neglect air resistance.
A. 2.68 s B. 2.79s C. 2.89 s D. 2.98 s
13.What is the shortest distance needed for an airplane to land safely if it
touches the runway with a velocity of 360 km/h and decelerates at -10
m/s2?
A. 330 m B. 420 m C. 500 m D. 648 m
14.Which of the following shows the graph of a car that is moving with
decreasing velocity?
A. B. C. D.

4
15.Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. Constant speed means the velocity is also constant.
B. Velocity is a scalar quantity while speed is a vector quantity.
C. An object accelerates only when there is a change in direction.
D. It is possible for an object to accelerate even at a constant speed.

Position, Time, Distance, Displacement, Speed,

Lesson
Average Velocity, Instantaneous Velocity
1

What’s In

”
Hi I’m teacher Isaac. Inspired by Sir Isaac Newton. I’m a
Physics enthusiast and I will guide you in this module.
Shall we begin? Let’s start with a review on the
similarities and differences of scalar and vector quantities.

Instructions: Draw the Venn Diagram on a separate sheet of paper. Compare scalar
and vector quantities using the keywords from the box on the side.
SCALAR VECTORS

Speed Displacement
Force Velocity
Direction Temperature
Magnitude Acceleration
Physical Quantity with Units
Distance Time

What’s New
Sinulog festival is an annual religious and cultural festival in Cebu.
Study the procession route of the celebration last 2012 shown. Answer
the questions shown below.

If you participated in the said

procession, what is the
5 (a) total distance covered?
_________________________
(b) displacement?
_________________________
 Figure 1: Sinulog 2012 Procession Route

What Is It
Mechanics is a branch of physics that is concerned with the motion of
bodies under the action of forces, including the special case in which a
body remains at rest (Goodstein 2015).

Static Kinematics Kinetics

deals with forces acting describes the possible attempts to explain or
on and in a body at rest motions of a body or predict the motion that will
system of bodies occur in a given situation
Kinematics is the study of motion. To describe the motion of an object, we must
always specify the location of the object. Position refers to the location of an object
relative to the origin.
Observe the motion of the boy running in a park as shown below:
where,
A = starting positing
ti = 0s tf = 5s B = final position
di = initial distance
df = final distance
Δd = displacement
ti = initial time
tf = final time
A B
To0 get the2 boy’s displacement, get 8the difference Δt = time
between theinterval
final and initial
4 6 10
distance,
d i Δd = df – di. The
Δd time interval is equal
d f to the final time minus the initial
time, Δt = tf – ti.

SPEED AND VELOCITY

Speed is a scalar quantity which is defined as distance divided by time.

𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑
𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 =
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑛
Velocity denotes change in displacement6over change in time.
𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡
𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 =
𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
Example: A car travels with uniform motion from a position of 2.0km, North to a
position of 20 km, South in 0.50 hours. Solve for the following: (Santos 2017)
(a) distance traveled by the car; (c) displacement covered; and
(b) speed of the car; (d) velocity of the car.

Solution
North
(a) distance traveled by the car = 2.0 km (a)
+ 20 km (b) 2km
a 0 Image 2

distance = 22 km
(b) speed = 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 = 22km = 44 km/h
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 0.5 h 5km
(c) displacement covered:
d1 = +2.0 km (+ sign for North)
10km time=0.50 hours
d2 = -20 km (- sign for South)
∆𝑑 = df – di b
∆𝑑 = (-20 km) – (+2.0 km)
15km
∆𝑑 = - 22 km or 22 km, South
(d) velocity = 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 = -22 km
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 0.5 h 20km
velocity = -44 km/h or 44 km/h, South
South

If the velocity frequently changes, it is useful to calculate the average velocity in a

given time interval (Santos 2017).

Average Speed
is calculated as the ratio between the total distance and the time
interval (Santos 2017).
Average Velocity
is calculated as the ratio between the displacement and the time
interval during the displacement (Bacabac 2016).

Example 1
Calculate the average velocity using positions on a number line, with recorded
arrival time and covered distance as p1, p2, p3, p4 and p5 (Bacabac 2016).

p1 p2 p3 p4 p5

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 m
19position
20
2s 10s 30s 50s time
300s
Find the average velocity between (a) p1 and p2, (b) p3 to p5 and (c) p1 to p4.
Solution
To calculate for the average velocity, use the equation below:
displacement
v=
time interval
(a) The average velocity between p1 and p2 is
∆ d df −di 5 m−3 m 2 m m
vaverage = = = = =0.25
∆ t tf −ti 10 s−2 s 8 s s
(b) The average velocity between p3 and p5 is
∆ d df −di 20 m−8 m 12m m
vaverage = = = = =0.04
∆ t tf −ti 300 s−30 s 7270 s s
(c) The average velocity between p1 and p4 is
∆ d df −di 11m−3 m 8 m m
vaverage = = = = =0.17
∆ t tf −ti 50 s−2 s 48 s s
Example 2
A track and field runner warming up runs along a track. He runs 50 m, North, and
then runs 30 m back toward the starting point before stopping to talk to the coach.
If the total running time is 20 s, determine the runner’s (a) average speed and (b)
average velocity (Santos 2017).
(a) Solving the average speed: North
Since he ran 50 m in one direction and then 30 m
back toward his starting point, he ran a total distance
of 80 m.
total distance 50 m+30 m 80 m m
saverage = = = =4.0 30 m
time interval 20 s−0 s 20 s s 50 m
The runner’s average speed is 4.0 m/s. Take note that
the magnitude of the average velocity and average
speed are different. Starting
(b) Solving the average velocity: End Point Point
vaverage =
displacement ∆ d d f −d i 20 m−0 m 20 m m
= = = = =1.0
timeinterval ∆ t t f −t i 20 s−0 s 20 s s
The runner’s average velocity is 1.0 m/s going in the
Instantaneous speed is speed reading at a specific period
of time.

Instantaneous velocity is the velocity reading (how fast

of slow you are going) at a point in time.

The reading of a speedometer of a car gives the value of the instantaneous speed.
When direction is added, it refers to the instantaneous velocity.
When plotted in a position vs. time graph, the instantaneous velocity of an object is
the slope of the tangential line at a given point. Mathematically, this is the
derivative of x with respect to t.
∆ d dx
Instantaneous velocity = lim = (Bacabac 2016)
∆ t →0 ∆ t dt

tangent line

specific time

8
The position vs. time graph above shows the motion of an object with changing
velocities. The slope of the tangent line at a specific period represents the
instantaneous velocity of the object. The examples in computing the instantaneous
speed and velocity will be presented in Lesson 2 as we interpret position vs. time
graphs.

What’s More
NOW IT’S YOUR TURN!
Activity 1
A. Look at the street scene below and answer the questions that follow. Set the
reference point to be the Mall. Write your answer on a separate sheet.

South Reference Point

Questions:
*You exited the Mall after you bought school supplies.
(a) What is your position?
*You rode a taxi and arrived at the church.
(b) What is you new position?
(c) What is your displacement?
(d) What is the total distance you have traveled?
(e) What is the speed of the taxi in km per hour if you were able to reach
the church after 14 minutes?
(f) What is the velocity of the taxi?
*After the mass, you walked to a fast-food restaurant.
(g) What is your new position?
(h) What is your total displacement?
(i) What is the total distance you have traveled?
(j) What is your speed in km per hour if you reach the fast food restaurant
in 10 minutes?

B. Solve the following. Show your solutions on a separate sheet of

paper.
1.Usain Bolt of Jamaica is the fastest runner in the world when he ran 100
meters in a world record time of 9.58 seconds (SportyTell 2020). What was
his average speed in m/s?
2.A plane travels 380 km, East of South in 5 hours. What was the plane’s
average velocity in km/h?
3.A cyclist travels 16km in 70 minutes. Calculate the speed of the cyclist in
m/s (Homer and Bowen-Jones 2014)?
Position vs. Time, Velocity vs. Time and
Lesson Acceleration vs. Time Graphs

9
 2
What’s In
Welcome to Lesson 2! I will continue to guide you in learning
the second lesson of this module about graphs. On a separate
sheet of paper, copy and complete the table below to check
your understanding about the topics in Lesson 1.

“
𝑣⃗𝑎𝑣𝑒 ∆𝑑⃗ ∆𝑡
50 km/h, East 4.5 hours
354.2 m, North 5.8 s
35 m/s, South 5200 m, South

What’s New
Study the velocity vs. time graph
of the police car and the
speeding car below. Did the
policemen catch the speeding
car? If yes, at what time? If no,
why?

‘
What’ s In
Graphs are visual representations that can be used to analyze motion. They
include numerical information and show relationships between physical quantities.
They are considered as an efficient way of visually representing a great deal of
information about the motion of an object in a conveniently small space. Graphs
are plotted in a cartesian plane where its horizontal axis represents the
independent variable and vertical axis as the dependent variable.
Look at the position vs. time graph as shown below:
y
Position
(m)

time (s) x

10
Getting the slope of the graph, we identify two points in the line as shown below.

The line reveals a constant

To solve
slope. Thefor the of
slope slope,
this
risetime
position vs. y f −is:
∆ ygraph yi
Slope = = =
run ∆ x x f −xi
20 m−(−20 m)
Slope =
5.0 s−1.0 s
40 m m
Slope = =10
4.0 s s

The line reveals a constant slope. The slope of this position vs. time graph is:
rise ∆ y change∈ position displacement
slope = = = = =velocity
run ∆ x change∈time change∈time
Therefore, the slope of the position vs. time graph is equivalent to the velocity of the
object. In the graph shown above, the slope is 10 m/s. Hence, the velocity of the
object is 10m/s.

Consider the graphs as shown below where d represents the position or

displacement, and t represents the time.
Graphs

line diagonal line diagonal line curve curve

Slope zero constant constant increasing decreasing
(positive) (negative)
Meaning The object is The object is The object is The object is The object is
at rest. moving at a moving at a moving in moving in
constant constant increasing decreasing
velocity velocity velocity velocity (fast
away from towards the (slow to fast). to slow). It is
the reference reference It is decelerating.
point. point. accelerating.

Example 1. Examine the graph below and answer the following questions.
(a) What is the velocity of car 1?
(b) What is the velocity of car 2?

11
 (c) Which of the two cars run faster?

Solution:
Image 8
(a) Velocity of car 1
∆ y yf − yi
vcar1 = =
∆ x x f −xi
60 m−(0 m) 60 m
vcar1 = =
6.0 s−0 s 6.0 s
m
vcar1 = 10
s
(b) Velocity of car 2
Image 9 ∆ y yf − yi
vcar2 = =
∆ x x f −xi
30 m−( 0 m ) 30 m
vcar2 ¿ =
5.0 s−0 s 5.0 s

Recall in lesson 1, instantaneous velocity is the slope of the tangential line at a

given point. Mathematically, this is the derivative of x with respect to t.

∆ d dx
instantaneous velocity = lim =
∆ t →0 ∆ t dt

Consider the motion of a car shown through a graph below. How do we find the
instantaneous velocity or the velocity of the car at a point or specific time?

The steps are shown below:

12
 Step 4:
Calculate the slope
∆𝑦 𝑦𝑓 −𝑦𝑖
slope =𝑣 = ∆𝑥 = 𝑥 −𝑥
𝑓 𝑖
15𝑚 −3𝑚
𝑣= 4.0𝑠−2.0𝑠
12 𝑚
𝑣= 2.0 𝑠
𝑚
𝑣= 6𝑠
Therefore, the instantaneous
𝑚
velocity is 6𝑠 at t=3 s.

Look at the velocity vs. time graph of a bus that accelerates after loading
passengers as shown
below.

Getting the slope of the graph, we identify two points in the line as shown below.

13
 To solve for the slope,
rise ∆ y y f − y i
slope = = =
run ∆ x x f −xi
m m m
25 −5 20
slope = s s = s
5.0 s−1.0 s 4.0 s
m
slope = 5 2
s

The line reveals a constant slope. The slope of this velocity vs. time graph is:
rise ∆ y change∈ velocity
slope = = = =acceleration
run ∆ x change ∈time
Therefore, the slope of the velocity vs. time graph is equivalent to the acceleration
of
the object. In the graph shown above, the slope is 5 m/s 2. Hence, the acceleration
of the bus is 5 m/s2. The graph would show that velocity increases in step-like
fashion
by 5 m/s for every second of elapsed time.

(Motion Graphs n.d.)

Consider the graphs shown below where v represents the velocity and t represents
the time.
Graphs

line diagonal line diagonal line curve curve

Slope zero constant constant increasing decreasing
(positive) (negative)
Meaning The object is The object is The object is The object is The object is

14
 not moving at a moving at a accelerating. decelerating.
accelerating. constant constant It is moving It is moving
It is moving positive negative in increasing in
at constant acceleration. acceleration. acceleration. decreasing
velocity. acceleration.

Displacement from Area under the graph of velocity vs. time

The area between the graph and the horizontal axis is the displacement of the
object from its point of origin. Look at the graph below to find the displacement
covered by the object.

Height = 30 m/s

Base = 6.0 s
To solve for
Example 2:the displacement, we use the equation:
Look at athe velocity vs. time graph of Δ= 1
Area of triangle Area ( base ) (height )
the police car and the speeding car at 2
the right and answer the following
Calculate the displacement,
questions:
AreaΔ=
1
2 ( ) m
( 6.0 s ) 30 = 90m
s
(a)What is the acceleration of the
police car?
(b)What is the acceleration of the
speeding car?
(c)Did the policemen catch the
speeding car? If yes, at what
time? If no, why?

Solution: time (s)

15
(a)The graph shows that from t=0 to t=4 s, the police car has constant acceleration
as reflected in the slope of the graph. To find the acceleration, we will get the
slope of the graph.
m m 40 m
rise ∆ y y f − y i 40 −0
slope = = = = s s = s m
run ∆ x x f −xi =10 2 =acceleration
4.0 s−0 s 4.0 s s
From t=4s onwards, the graph is a straight horizontal line which means that the
car is not accelerating.
(b)The graph of the speeding car shows a straight horizontal line which means that
the car is moving in constant velocity. Thus, it is not accelerating.
(c) To know if the policemen caught the speeding car, one must compute for the
displacement covered by each vehicle.

Note:

The displacement of both vehicles at t=3s (left) and t=8s (right).

Speeder Police Car

Arearectangle = (base) (height) At t=4.0 s,
Arearectangle = (8.0 s) (30 m/s) Areatriangle =1/2 (base) (height)
Arearectangle = 240 m Areatriangle =1/2 (4.0 s) (40 m/s) = 80 m

From t= 4.0 s to t= 8.0 s,

Arearectangle = (base) (height)
Arearectangle = (4.0 s) (40 m/s)
Arearectangle = 160 m

Total displacement = 240 m Total displacement = 80 m + 160 m = 240 m

At t=8.0s, the area under the graph of the speeder is the same as the area under
the graph of the police car. This means that both vehicles covered the same
distance after 8.0 s. Therefore, the speeder was caught by the policemen.

16
Change in velocity from Area under the graph of acceleration vs. time

The area under an acceleration vs. time graph represents the change in velocity. In
other words, the area under the acceleration vs. time graph for a certain time
interval is equal to the change in velocity during that time interval.
Consider the graph below which shows a constant acceleration of 4 m/s2 for t= 9 s.

Height
𝑚
4 𝑠2

base = 9s
When we derived the formula of acceleration,
∆𝑣
𝑎= ∆𝑡
; we get ∆𝑣 = 𝑎∆𝑡
Substitute the values of a and t to find the value of Δv.
m m
Δv = aΔt = (4 ¿ ( 9 s )=36
s
2
s
Based on the graph, the area under the horizontal line is the area of a rectangle.
m m
Arearectangle = (base) (height) = (4 ¿ ( 9 s )=36
s
2
s
m
The area under the graph is 36 . Hence, the change in velocity is equivalent to
s
m
36 . Note that the area beneath the x-axis has a negative value while the are
s
above the x-axis has a positive value.
Example 3. A race car was cruising at
a constant velocity of 20 m/s. As it
neared the finish line, it started to
accelerate. The graph shown at the
right gives the acceleration of the race
car as it starts to speed up. Assume
the race car had a velocity of 20 m/s at
height
time t=0s. What is the velocity of the
race car after the 8 seconds of
acceleration shown in the graph?

Solution: base

17
To find the change in velocity, we will calculate the area under the graph.
1
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 = (𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒)(ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡)
2
1 m m
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 = (8.0𝑠) (6 2 ) = 24
2 s s
m
The change in velocity (∆𝑣) is 24 .
s
To find the final velocity, we use the equation: ∆𝑣 = 𝑣𝑓 − 𝑣𝑖,
m
Since the initial velocity 𝑣𝑖 = 20 , then
s
m m m
vf = Δv + vi = 24 + 20 = 44
s s s
m
Therefore, the final velocity is 44 .
s
What’s More
Activity 2: NOW IT’S YOUR TURN!
Instructions: Find the values of the unknown and show your solutions. Use a
separate sheet of paper.
A. The velocity vs. time graph below shows how the speed of a bus changes during
part of a journey.

velocity
(m/s)

time (s)
Describe the motion of the bus during each segment of the journey: (accelerating
positively, accelerating negatively, constant velocity, at rest)
1) 0 – A: ______________ 2) A – B: ______________ 3) B – C:
______________
4) C – D: ______________ 5) D – E: ______________

B. The position vs. time graph below shows the motion of Albert, Bob and Charlie
during a 100-meter race.
position
(m )

18
 6) Who won the race?
7) Who stopped for a break?
8) Who is the fastest for the first 8s? time (s)
C. The velocity vs. time graph shown below was created by a toy train which starts
out moving

9) What was the displacement of the train after 10 seconds?

10)What is its acceleration in the last 5 seconds of its journey?

One Dimensional Acceleration

Lesson 3
Problems
What’s In

“
“Hooray! You made it to the last lesson of this module. I will
guide you until the end of the lesson. Let’s recall how to
solve word problems by looking at the steps on the next
page.
Polya’s Problem Solving Procedure
1. Understand the problem. Read the problem slowly, find the key ideas
and important information given. Give time to segregate important
information from the unimportant, irrelevant information.
2. Devise a plan to solve the problem. Draw a diagram, find a formula
and look for patterns.
3. Carry out the plan to solve the problem. Solve the problem, follow the
numbers, and create the equation.
What’s New
The picture below shows the “aha” moment of Sir Isaac Newton where he realizes
that the force of gravity brought the apple to fall and hit the ground. This time, let’s
focus on the motion of the apple and answer the questions below:

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 Questions:
( i) How do you describe the velocity of the
apple as it approaches the ground?
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
(ii) Does it accelerate? If yes, is it changing
or constant? If no, why ?
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
Figure 10. Sir Isaac Newton leans __________________________________________
on an apple tree

What Is It
In real journeys, instantaneous speeds and velocities change frequently.
Acceleration, a mathematical language, was developed to understand these
changes.

Acceleration is a vector quantity defined as:

𝑐 ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 ∆𝑣 𝑣𝑓 − 𝑣𝑖
a=
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡 ℎ 𝑒 𝑐 ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒
= ∆𝑡 = 𝑡𝑓 −𝑡𝑖

where :
a – resulting acceleration ∆𝑡 – change in time
∆𝑣 – change in velocity 𝑡𝑖 – initial time
𝑣𝑖 – initial velocity 𝑡𝑓 – final time
𝑣𝑓 – final velocity

Note that the unit for acceleration is meter/second/second, which can also be
written as m/s2. Instantaneous acceleration is a rate at which velocity changes at a
specific instant in time.

There are many ways on how the velocity of an object changes. Study the
illustration on the next page to have a better understanding of the idea of
acceleration.

20
 Change in
speed or the
magnitude of
velocity

Change in the
direction

Change in both
magnitude and
direction

The blue caris accelerating because it

is changing both speed and direction.

Image 11
If you’re not changing your speed and you’re not changing your direction, then you
simply cannot be accelerating—no matter how fast you’re going (Khan Academy
2015).

To describe the motion of an object traveling with constant acceleration along a

straight line, we will use the big four equations as shown in the table below:

Kinematics Equations
Equation Variables

𝑣𝑓⃗ ⃗𝑣𝑖 𝑎⃗ ∆𝑡 d
final initial acceleration elapsed displacement
velocity velocity time
𝑣𝑓 = 𝑣𝑖 + 𝑎 ∙ ∆𝑡 ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ -
vi + vf
d=( )∆ t ✓ ✓ - ✓ ✓
2
1 2
d= vit + a . ∆ t - ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
2
𝑣𝑓2 = 𝑣𝑖2 + 2𝑎 ∙ 𝑑 ✓ ✓ ✓ - ✓

21
Example 1: An airplane accelerates down a runway at 3.20 m/s 2 for 32.8 s until it
finally lifts off the ground. Determine the distance traveled before takeoff.

Solution:

Step 1: Understand the Problem.

Given: acceleration (a) = +3.2 m/𝑠2 (Note: + = forward direction)
time ( t) = 32.8 s
initial velocity (𝑣𝑖 ) = 0 m/s
Asked : distance traveled before takeoff

Step 2. Devise a plan to solve the problem

Think of the appropriate kinematics equation to be used.
1
𝑑 = 𝑣𝑖 𝑡 + 2 𝑎 ∙ ∆𝑡 2 (Since a, t, v0 and d are present in this equation)

Step 3. Carry out the plan to solve the problem

Solution:
1
𝑑 = 𝑣𝑖 𝑡 + 2 𝑎 ∙ ∆𝑡 2
𝑚 1 𝑚
𝑑 = (0 𝑠 )(32.8𝑠) + 2
(3.2 𝑠 2 )(32.8𝑠)2 Substitute the given values.
𝑑 = 0 𝑚 + 52.48𝑚 Perform the indicated operations.
𝑑 = 52.48𝑚
Hence, the distance traveled before takeoff is 52.48 m.

Example 2: A feather is dropped on the moon from a height of 1.40 meters. The
acceleration of gravity on the moon is 1.67 m/s 2. Determine the time for the feather
to fall to the surface of the moon.

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 What’s More
Activity 3: NOW IT’S YOUR TURN!
Directions. Solve each problem on a separate sheet of paper and show your
solutions.
1) A racecar accelerates uniformly from 18.5 m/s to 46.1 m/s in 2.47 seconds.
Determine the acceleration of the car and the distance traveled.
2) An object is thrown straight down from the top of a building at a speed of 20
m/s. It hits the ground with a speed of 40 m/s.
a) How high is the building? b) How long was the object in the air?
3) A stone is dropped into a deep well and is heard to hit the water after 3.41 s.
Determine the depth of the well.
4) An object starts from a position of 20 meters to the left of the origin and with a
velocity of +10 m/s. An object accelerates to the right for 5 seconds at 4 m/s 2.
What is the position of the object at the end of 5 seconds?
5) An engineer is designing the runway for an airport. Of the planes that will use
the airport, the lowest acceleration rate is likely to be 3 m/s 2. The takeoff speed
for this plane will be 65 m/s. Assuming this minimum acceleration, what is the
minimum allowed length for the runway?

What I Have Learned

 Speed and average speed are scalar quantities while velocity and
average velocity are vector quantities.
distance travelled displacement
speed = ; velocity =
time taken time taken
total distance displacement
saverage = ; vaverage =
time interval timeinterval
 The slope of position vs. time graph is equivalent to the velocity of the
object.
 The slope of velocity vs. time graph is equivalent to the acceleration of
the object.
 The area under the graph of velocity vs. time represents the
displacement covered by the object.
 The area under the graph of acceleration vs. time represents the
change in velocity of the object.
 An object accelerates when there is a change in speed or magnitude
of velocity, direction, or both.
 An accelerating object can be described using the big four kinematics
equations:
𝑣𝑓 = 𝑣𝑖 + 𝑎 ∙ ∆𝑡

d= ( v +2v ) ∆ t
i f

1 2
d= vit + a.∆t
2

23
 What I Can Do

A. Directions: On a separate sheet of paper, copy and complete the table by

computing the unknown using the given data.
ANIMAL DISTANCE TIME SPEED
Cheetah 75 m (a) 25 m/s
Greyhound 160 m 10 s (b)
Gazelle 1 km (c) 100 km/h
Turtle (d) 30 s 1 cm/s

B. Directions: Using a separate graphing paper, draw the position vs. time graph of
a moving car. The car starts from the origin at position 0 m. Its velocity is
20m/s, North for 10 s. Then it stops for 5 seconds. Then it moves again at 20
m/s, North for another 10 s.

Position
(d)

Time
(t)
0
C. Directions: On a separate sheet of paper, solve the problem below.
A student drops a stone from rest at the
top of a well. She hears the stone splash
into the water at the bottom of the well 2.3
s after releasing the stone. Ignore the time
taken for the sound from the bottom of the
well to reach the student.
a. Calculate the depth of the well.
b. Calculate the speed at which the stone
hits the water surface.
c. Explain why the time taken for the sound
to reach the student can be ignored.
(Hint: speed of the sound = 343 m/s)

Assessment

24
 Instructions: Write the letter of the correct answer on a separate sheet
of paper.
1. From rest, a car accelerated at 8 m/s2 for 10 seconds. What is the final velocity
of the car?
A. 10 m/s B. 20 m/s C. 40 m/s D. 80 m/s
2. Diego, a runner, competes in the 800-meter dash and finishes with a time of 3
minutes and 10 seconds. What is Diego’s speed?
A. 4.0 m/s B. 4.1 m/s C. 4.2 m/s D. 4.3 m/s
3. What is the acceleration of an object that moves from rest to a velocity of 18 m/s
covering a distance of 15 m?
A. 10.8 m/s2 B. 10.9 m/s2 C. 11.0 m/s2 D. 11.1 m/s2
4. What device in a car measures the instantaneous speed?
A. accelerometer B. fuel gauge C. odometer D. speedometer
5. An object is dropped from a height of 500 m, how long is it in the air?
A. 10.0 s B. 10.1 s C. 25.0 s D. 25.5 s
6. An object accelerates from rest at a constant rate of 1.4 m/s 2, what will its
velocity be after 7.5s?
A. 9.5 m/s B. 10.0 m/s C. 10.5 m/s D. 11.0 m/s
For questions 7-10, refer to the velocity vs. time graph of a car:

7. In which section is the car accelerating from rest?

A. section A B. section B C. section C D. section D
8. In which period is the car’s acceleration negative?
A. 0-4 s B. 4-9 s C. 9-11 s D. 11-15 s
9. How far does the car travel during section B?
A. 30 m B. 60 m C. 108 m D. 120 m
10. What is the car’s acceleration in section D?
A. 1 m/𝑠2 B. 2 m/𝑠2 C. 3 m/𝑠2 D. 4 m/𝑠2

11. Which of the following graphs represent an object that is decelerating?

A. B. C. D.

25
12. To determine the height of a bridge above the water, a person drops a stone and
measures the time it takes for it to hit the water. If the height of the bridge is 65
m, how long will it take for the stone to hit the water? Neglect air resistance.
A. 3.3 s B. 3.4 s C. 3.5 s D. 3.6 s
13. What is the shortest distance needed for an airplane touching the runway with
a velocity of 360 km/h and an acceleration of -10 m/s2 to come to rest?
A. 330 m B. 420 m C. 500 m D. 648 m
14. Which of the following shows the graph of a car that is at rest?
A. B. C. D.

15. A boat is sailing in a straight line with a

velocity of 10 m/s. Then at time t=0, a
fairly strong wind blows causing the
sailboat to accelerate as seen in the
acceleration vs. time graph at the right.
What is the velocity of the sailboat after the
wind has blown for 9 seconds (Khan
Academy 2015)?
A. 27 m/s C. 29 m/s
B.28 m/s D. 30 m/s

26
References
Bacabac, Rommel G. et al. 2016. Teaching Guide for Senior High School General Physics 1.
Quezon City, June.

Hewitt, Paul G. 2005. Conceptual Physics tenth edition. San Francisco: Benjamin-
Cummings Pub Co.

Homer, David, and Michael Bowen-Jones. 2014. Physics 14th ed. United Kingdom: Oxford
University Press.

"What is Kinematics? - Studying the Motion of Objects." Study.com. March 6, 2014.

https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-kinematicsstudying-the-motion-of-
objects.html.
"What is Position in Physics? - Definition & Examples." Study.com. April 16, 2015.
https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-position-inphysics-definition-
examples.html.
"Instantaneous Velocity: Definition & Formula." Study.com. December 28, 2016.
https://study.com/academy/lesson/instantaneous-velocity-definitionformula.html.
2015. Khan Academy. Accessed August 12, 2020.
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/physics/one-dimensionalmotion/
acceleration-tutorial/a/what-are-acceleration-vs-time-graphs.

2015. Khan Academy. Accessed August 13, 2020.

https://www.khanacademy.org/science/physics/one-dimensionalmotion/
acceleration-tutorial/a/acceleration-article.

n.d. "Motion Graphs." Accessed August 12, 2020.

http://www.oswego.edu/~dristle/Motion_Graphs.pdf.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/8/120802-cheetahsarah-
cincinnati-zoo-fastest-record-science-usain-boltolympics/#:~:text=%22Polka
%2Ddotted%20missile%22%20rockets%2 0to%2061%20miles%20an
%20hour.&text=Sarah%20the%20cheetah% 20has%20shattered,loo.

2020. SportyTell. May 14. Accessed August 11, 2020.

https://sportytell.com/olympics/top-10-fastest-runners-in-theworld/.

Santos, Gil Nonato C. 2017. General Physics 1. Manila: Rex Printing Company, Inc.

Figures
All images used in this module are creative commons results taken from the Insert
Ribbon – Online Pictures from MS Office 365.
Image 1-11:
- retrieved August 12, 2020, This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC
BY-SA-NC

Avatars
All avatars used in this module are created originally using the Bitmoji mobile
application. Created on July 15, 2020.

Icons
All icons used in this module is taken from MS Office 365.

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