Chapter 3

Motion in Two and Three Dimensions

3.1 The Important Stuff

3.1.1 Position
In three dimensions, the location of a particle is specified by its location vector, r:

r = xi + yj + zk (3.1)

If during a time interval ∆t the position vector of the particle changes from r1 to r2, the
displacement ∆r for that time interval is

∆r = r1 − r2 (3.2)
= (x2 − x1)i + (y2 − y1 )j + (z2 − z1)k (3.3)

3.1.2 Velocity
If a particle moves through a displacement ∆r in a time interval ∆t then its average velocity
for that interval is
∆r ∆x ∆y ∆z
v= = i+ j+ k (3.4)
∆t ∆t ∆t ∆t
As before, a more interesting quantity is the instantaneous velocity v, which is the limit
of the average velocity when we shrink the time interval ∆t to zero. It is the time derivative
of the position vector r:
dr
v = (3.5)
dt
d
= (xi + yj + zk) (3.6)
dt
dx dy dz
= i+ j+ k (3.7)
dt dt dt
can be written:
v = vx i + vy j + vz k (3.8)

51
52 CHAPTER 3. MOTION IN TWO AND THREE DIMENSIONS

where
dx dy dz
vx = vy = vz = (3.9)
dt dt dt
The instantaneous velocity v of a particle is always tangent to the path of the particle.

3.1.3 Acceleration
If a particle’s velocity changes by ∆v in a time period ∆t, the average acceleration a for
that period is
∆v ∆vx ∆vy ∆vz
a= = i+ j+ k (3.10)
∆t ∆t ∆t ∆t
but a much more interesting quantity is the result of shrinking the period ∆t to zero, which
gives us the instantaneous acceleration, a. It is the time derivative of the velocity vector v:
dv
a = (3.11)
dt
d
= (vx i + vy j + vz k) (3.12)
dt
dvx dvy dvz
= i+ j+ k (3.13)
dt dt dt
which can be written:
a = ax i + ay j + az k (3.14)
where
dvx d2 x dvy d2 y dvz d2 z
ax = = 2 ay = = 2 az = = 2 (3.15)
dt dt dt dt dt dt

3.1.4 Constant Acceleration in Two Dimensions

When the acceleration a (for motion in two dimensions) is constant we have two sets of
equations to describe the x and y coordinates, each of which is similar to the equations in
Chapter 2. (Eqs. 2.6—2.9.) In the following, motion of the particle begins at t = 0; the
initial position of the particle is given by
r0 = x 0 i + y 0 j
and its initial velocity is given by
v0 = v0xi + v0y j
and the vector a = ax i + ay j is constant.

vx = v0x + ax t vy = v0y + ay t (3.16)

x = x0 + v0xt + 1
a t2
2 x
y = y0 + v0y t + 1
a t2
2 y
(3.17)
vx2 = 2
v0x + 2ax (x − x0) vy2 = 2
v0y + 2ay (y − y0 ) (3.18)
1 1
x = x0 + (v
2 0x
+ vx )t y = y0 + (v
2 0y
+ vy )t (3.19)
Though the equations in each pair have the same form they are not identical because the
components of r0 , v0 and a are not the same.
3.1. THE IMPORTANT STUFF 53

3.1.5 Projectile Motion

When a particle moves in a vertical plane during free–fall its acceleration is constant; the
acceleration has magnitude 9.80 sm2 and is directed downward. If its coordinates are given by
a horizontal x axis and a vertical y axis which is directed upward, then the acceleration of
the projectile is
ax = 0 ay = −9.80 sm2 = −g (3.20)
For a projectile, the horizontal acceleration ax is zero!!!
Projectile motion is a special case of constant acceleration, so we simply use Eqs. 3.16–
3.19, with the proper values of ax and ay .

3.1.6 Uniform Circular Motion

When a particle is moving in a circular path (or part of one) at constant speed we say that
the particle is in uniform circular motion. Even though the speed is not changing, the
particle is accelerating because its velocity v is changing direction.
The acceleration of the particle is directed toward the center of the circle and has mag-
nitude
v2
a= (3.21)
r
where r is the radius of the circular path and v is the (constant) speed of the particle.
Because of the direction of the acceleration (i.e. toward the center), we say that a particle
in uniform circular motion has a centripetal acceleration.
If the particle repeatedly makes a complete circular path, then it is useful to talk about
the time T that it takes for the particle to make one complete trip around the circle. This
is called the period of the motion. The period is related to the speed of the particle and
radius of the circle by:
2πr
T = (3.22)
v

3.1.7 Relative Motion

The velocity of a particle depends on who is doing the measuring; as we see later on it is
perfectly valid to consider “moving” observers who carry their own clocks and coordinate
systems with them, i.e. they make measurements according to their own reference frame;
that is to say, a set of Cartesian coordinates which may be in motion with respect to another
set of coordinates. Here we will assume that the axes in the different system remain parallel
to one another; that is, one system can move (translate) but not rotate with respect to
another one.
Suppose observers in frames A and B measure the position of a point P . Then then if
we have the definitions:

rP A = position of P as measured by A

rP B = position of P as measured by B
54 CHAPTER 3. MOTION IN TWO AND THREE DIMENSIONS

rBA = position of B’s origin, as measured by A

with v’s and a’s standing for the appropriate time derivatives, then we have the relations:

rP A = rP B + rBA (3.23)

vP A = vP B + vBA (3.24)
For the purposes of doing physics, it is important to consider reference frames which move
at constant velocity with respect to one another; for these cases, vBA = 0 and then we find
that point P has the same acceleration in these reference frames:

aP A = aP B

Newton’s Laws (next chapter!) apply to such a set of inertial reference frames. Observers
in each of these frames agree on the value of a particle’s acceleration.
Though the above rules for translation between reference frames seem very reasonable, it
was the great achievement of Einstein with his theory of Special Relativity to understand
the more subtle ways that we must relate measured quantities between reference frames. The
trouble comes about because time (t) is not the same absolute quantity among the different
frames.
Among other places, Eq. 3.24 is used in problems where an object like a plane or boat
has a known velocity in the frame of (with respect to) a medium like air or water which itself
is moving with respect to the stationary ground; we can then find the velocity of the plane
or boat with respect to the ground from the vector sum in Eq. 3.24.

3.2 Worked Examples

3.2.1 Velocity

1. The position of an electron is given by r = 3.0ti − 4.0t2j + 2.0k (where t is in

seconds and the coefficients have the proper units for r to be in meters). (a)
What is v(t) for the electron? (b) In unit–vector notation, what is v at t = 2.0 s?
(c) What are the magnitude and direction of v just then? [HRW5 4-9]

(a) The velocity vector v is the time–derivative of the position vector r:

dr d
v = = (3.0ti − 4.0t2j + 2.0k)
dt dt
= 3.0i − 8.0tj
m
where we mean that when t is in seconds, v is given in s
.
3.2. WORKED EXAMPLES 55

(b) At t = 2.00 s, the value of v is

v(t = 2.00 s) = 3.0i − (8.0)(2.0)j = 3.0i − 16.j

that is, the velocity is (3.0i − 16.j) ms .

(c) Using our answer from (b), at t = 2.00 s the magnitude of v is
q q
v= vx2 + vy2 + vz2 = (3.00 ms )2 + (−16. ms )2 + (0)2 = 16. ms

we note that the velocity vector lies in the xy plane (even though this is a three–dimensional
problem!) so that we can express its direction with a single angle, the usual angle θ measured
anti-clockwise in the xy plane from the x axis. For this angle we get:
vy
tan θ = = −5.33 =⇒ θ = tan−1 (−5.33) = −79◦ .
vx
When we take the inverse tangent, we should always check and see if we have chosen the
right quadrant for θ. In this case −79◦ is correct since vy is negative and vx is positive.

3.2.2 Acceleration

2. A particle moves so that its position as a function of time in SI units is

r = i + 4t2j + tk. Write expressions for (a) its velocity and (b) its acceleration as
functions of time. [HRW5 4-11]

(a) To clarify matters, what we mean here is that when we use the numerical value of t in
seconds, we will get the values of r in meters. Since the velocity vector is the time–derivative
of the position vector r, we have:
dr
v =
dt
d
= (i + 4t2 j + tk)
dt
= 0i + 8tj + k

That is, v = 8tj + k. Here, we mean that when we use the numerical value of t in seconds,
we will get the value of v in ms .
(b) The acceleration a is the time–derivative of v, so using our result from part (a) we have:

dv
a =
dt
d
= (8tj + k)
dt
= 8j
56 CHAPTER 3. MOTION IN TWO AND THREE DIMENSIONS

m
So a = 8j, where we mean that the value of a is in units of s2
. In fact, we should really
include the units here and write:  
a = 8 sm2 j