Senior Secondary Course

Learner’s Guide, Physics (312)

MOTION IN A STRAIGHT LINE

Speed and Velocity

 relative to the object / point taken
 The total length of the path as reference
covered by a body is the distance
travelled by it.  The rate of change of the relative
 The difference between the initial position of an object with respect
and final position vectors of a to the other object is known as the
body is called its displacement. relative velocity of that object with
 Displacement is the shortest respect to the other
distance between the two positions  The relative velocity of B with
and has a certain direction. respect to A will be 𝑣 − 𝑣
 The rate of change of distance
Acceleration
with time is called speed
 The rate of change of displacement  The acceleration is defined as time
is known as velocity. rate of change of velocity.
 Acceleration is a vector quantity
Average Velocity
and its SI unit is ms-2.
 The average velocity of an object is
Average acceleration
defined as the displacement per
unit time (𝑎) =
–

𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑣 −𝑣
𝑣̅ = =
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑛 𝑡 −𝑡
𝑥 −𝑥
= The decrease in the rate of change of
𝑡 −𝑡
velocity is retardation
 The average speed of an object is
Position - Time Graph
obtained by dividing the total
distance travelled by the total time  The different positions and
taken: corresponding times can be
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑 plotted on a graph giving us
= a certain curve. Such a
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑛
curve is known as position-
time curve.
Relative Velocity  The time is represented
along x-axis whereas the
 The relative velocity of an object position of the body is
with respect to another object is the represented along y-axis.
rate at which it changes its position
relative to the object / point

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 Senior Secondary Course
Learner’s Guide, Physics (312)
 A motion in which the
velocity of the moving object
is constant is known as
uniform motion.

Velocity from position - time graph

Instantaneous velocity

 The velocity of the particle at

any instant of time or at
some point of its path is
called its instantaneous
velocity.
∆𝒙
 𝒗 =
∆𝒕
 The slope (Δx/Δt) of a line
tangent to the curve at that
point gives the
instantaneous velocity.

Position-Time Graph for Non-Uniform

Motion

 The distances covered in

equal intervals of time are
not equal. Such a motion is
said to be non-uniform
motion.
 If the distances covered in
successive intervals are Velocity - Time Graph
increasing, the motion is
Velocity-Time Graph for Uniform
said to be accelerated
motion. Motion
 In uniform motion the
velocity of the body remains
constant, i.e., there is no

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 Senior Secondary Course
Learner’s Guide, Physics (312)
change in the velocity with = (1/2) × (v1+v2) × (t2-t1)
time.
Determination of the acceleration of the
body
∆
Average acceleration = = slope of
∆
the tangent
Equations of Motion
Velocity-Time Graph for Non-Uniform
Motion First Equation of Uniformly
Accelerated Motion
The average acceleration of the body is
–
given by (𝑎)=
𝒗𝟐 − 𝒗𝟏 ∆𝒗 𝑣 −𝑣
𝒂 = = =
𝒕𝟐 − 𝒕𝟏 ∆𝒕 𝑡 −𝑡
= 𝒔𝒍𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝑣−𝑣
𝑎=
𝑡
V =𝒗𝟎 + 𝒂𝒕
Second Equation of Uniformly
Accelerated Motion
Distance travelled = area under v-t graph
= Area of trapezium
1
𝑥 − 𝑥 = (𝑣 + 𝑣 )𝑡
2
Since V =𝑣 + 𝑎𝑡

𝒙 = 𝒙𝟎 + 𝒗𝟎 𝒕 + 𝟏/𝟐 𝒂𝒕𝟐
Determination of the distance travelled
Third Equation of Uniformly
by the body
Accelerated Motion
1
𝑥 − 𝑥 = (𝑣 + 𝑣 )𝑡
2

1
𝑥 − 𝑥 = (𝑣 + 𝑣 )(𝑣 − 𝑣 )
2
V2 =𝒗𝟐𝟎 + 𝟐𝒂(𝒙 − 𝒙𝟎 )

Motion under Gravity

S= area of trapezium

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 Senior Secondary Course
Learner’s Guide, Physics (312)
The free fall of a body towards the earth is
one of the most common examples of
1. Which speed is measured by the
motion with constant acceleration.
speedometer of your scooter?
V =𝒗𝟎 + 𝒈𝒕 2. What is the numerical ratio of
velocity to speed of an object?
𝒙 = 𝒙𝟎 + 𝒗𝟎 𝒕 + 𝟏/𝟐 𝒈𝒕𝟐 3. Derive expression for equation of
V2 =𝒗𝟐𝟎 + 𝟐𝒈(𝒙 − 𝒙𝟎 ) Motion by v-t graph.
4. Give the difference between
distance and displacement.
5. A bus travels a distance A to B at a
CHECK YOURSELF
speed of 40 km/h and returns to A
at a speed of 30km/h.
1. Slope of position time graph I. What is the average speed
represents for uniform motion. for the whole journey?
A. Uniform Velocity II. What is average velocity?
B. Distance
C. Acceleration Answer to Check yourself
D. None of these
2. A car runs at a constant speed of a 1A) 2A) 3A) 4A) 5C)
circular track of radius 200 meter.
Taking 62.8 second on each lap.
Find the average velocity
A. 0
B. 20ms-1
C. 10ms-1
D. 30ms-1
3. The area under v-t graph gives the
A. Displacement
B. Velocity
C. Acceleration
D. Time
4. The ratio of the displacement of an
object to the time interval is known
as
A. Average velocity
B. Speed
C. Acceleration
D. Distance
5. Slope of velocity time graph
represents
A. Speed
B. Distance
C. Acceleration
D. None of above

STRETCH YOURSELF
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