RELATIVE MOTION

Department of Physics, University of Ilorin

Motion is the change in position of an object with respect to the surrounding at a given time
interval. Therefore, any object that its position in changing as a function of time with respect to
the surrounding is said to be in motion. Going by the definition above, motion does not happen in
isolation – hence the statement ‘with respect to the surrounding’. Just as a frame of reference
(coordinate system) is required to specify a position – so also it is for motion. Therefore, motion
is defined as change in position of an object as a function of time relative to a coordinate system
(i.e. the surrounding). Motion is always relative; there is no such thing like absolute motion or
absolute rest. Motion is always defined with respect to an observer or a reference frame.

Reference frame: Reference frame is a coordinate system from which motion is observed along
with a clock attached to the axis, to measure time. Reference frame can be stationary or moving.

i. Suppose there are two persons A and B inside a car (as shown in Figure 1) moving at
constant speed. Two stationary persons C and D observe them from the outside of the car.

Figure 1
Here, to the observers C and D - B and A are in motion whereas B appears to be at rest
for A. Similarly, C appears to be at rest for D but moving backward for A and B.

Relative motion in one dimension

1. Relative Position: It is the position of an object w.r.t. an observer.

In general, considering Figure 2, if position of A w.r.t. to origin is xA and that of B w.r.t. origin is
xB, then “Position of A w.r.t. B xAB is xAB = xA – xB
Figure 2

Solved Example:

Example 1. See the figure below (take +ve direction towards right and –ve towards left). Find xBA,
xCA, xCB, xAB and

xAC.

Here,

Position of B w.r.t. A is 4 m towards right. (xBA = +4m)

Position of C w.r.t. A is 10 m towards right. (xCA = +10m)

Position of C w.r.t. B is 6 m towards right (xCB = +6m)

Position of A w.r.t. B is 4 m towards left. (xAB = –4 m)

Position of A w.r.t. C is 10 m towards left. (xAC = –10m)

2. Relative Velocity:

Definition: Relative velocity of an object A with respect to B is defined as the velocity with which
A appears to move if B is considered to be at rest. In other words, it is the velocity with which A
appears to move as seen by B considering itself to be at rest.

POINT 1 : All velocities are relative and have no significance unless observer is specified.
However, when we say “velocity of A”, what we mean is, velocity of A w.r.t. ground which is
assumed to be at rest.
Relative velocity in one dimension -

If xA is the position of A w.r.t. ground, xB is position of B w.r.t. ground and xAB is position of A
w.r.t. B

then we can say vA = velocity of A w.r.t. ground = dxA / dt

POINT 2: Velocity of an object w.r.t. itself is always zero.

Solved Example

Example 2. An object A is moving with 5 m/s and B is moving with 20 m/s in the same direction.
(Positive x-axis)

(i) Find velocity of B with respect to A.

(ii) Find velocity of A with respect to B

Solution :

(i) vB = +20 m/s, vA = +5 m/s,

vBA = vB – vA = +15 m/s

(ii) vB = +20 m/s, vA = +15 m/s

vAB = vA – vB = – 15 m/s

Note : vBA = – vAB

Example 3. Two objects A and B are moving towards each other with velocities 10 m/s and 12 m/s
respectively as shown. (i) Find the velocity of A with respect to B. (ii) Find the velocity of B with
respect to A
Solution : vA = +10, vB = – 12

(i) vAB = vA – vB = (10) – (–12) = 22 m/s.

(ii) vBA = vB – vA = (–12) – (10) = –22 m/s.

3. Relative Acceleration: It is the rate at which relative velocity is changing.

Equations of motion when relative acceleration is constant.

vrel = urel + arelt

srel = urelt + ½ arelt2

v2rel = u2rel + 2arel srel

4. Velocity of Approach / Separation: It is the component of relative velocity of one

particle w.r.t. another, along the line joining them. If the separation is decreasing, we
say it is velocity of approach and if separation is increasing, then we say it is velocity
of separation. In one dimension, since relative velocity is along the line joining A and
B, hence velocity of approach / separation is simply equal to magnitude of relative
velocity of A w.r.t. B.
Solved Examples

Example 4. A particle A is moving with a speed of 10 m/s towards right and another particle B is
moving at speed of 12 m/s towards left. Find their velocity of approach.

Solution:

Example 5. A particle A is moving with a speed of 20 m/s towards right and another particle B is
moving at a speed of 5 m/s towards right. Find their velocity of approach.

Example: A car is moving with a speed of 46 m/s in the same direction as a truck ahead with a
speed of 35 m/s. How long will it take the car to overtake the truck - if the truck is 12 m long?

Hint: To overtake the truck means the time it will take for the car to cover a relative distance of 12
m.
Relative motion in two dimension

Solved Example

Example 6. Object A and B both have speed of 10 m/s. A is moving towards East while B is
moving towards North starting from the same point as shown. Find velocity of A relative to B

Example 7. A and B are thrown vertically upwards with velocity, 10 m/s and 20 m/s respectively (g = 10
m/s2) . Find the separation between them after 1 second.

Solution:

1
The relevant equation is 𝑆 = 𝑈𝑡 − 2 𝑔𝑡 2 , note that g is negative for upward motion and positive

for downward motion.

Applications of Relative motion: Some of the applications of relative motion are below.

1. Useful in predicting occurrence of a solar eclipse and lunar eclipse

2. Useful in predicting when to sight a new moon
 EQUATION OF MOTION AND APPLICATIONS OF NEWTONIAN MECHANICS

Newton’s second law of motion relates resultant force or net force to acceleration i.e. Fnet = ma

The implication is that for any object that is under the influence of a net force, its acceleration a is

𝑭𝒏𝒆𝒕 𝐹𝑛𝑒𝑡
a= → a= ------- (1)
𝑚 𝑚

where m is the mass of the object

𝑑𝑥
Remember that the instantaneous velocity V is given by V = 𝑑𝑡

𝑑𝑣 𝑑2 𝑥
and also that of acceleration a is a= = 𝑑𝑡 2
𝑑𝑡

𝑑2 𝑥
→ = Fnet ------- (2)
𝑑𝑡 2

Equation 2 is the equation of motion – it is a second order differential equation. The solution of
the equation of motion i.e. x(t) gives the position of an object as a function of time.

Examples:-

1. Simple Harmonic Oscillator

A mass-spring system of mass m displaced by a distance x from the equilibrium position
(see the figure below)

In the mass-spring system above, the restoring force (i.e. the net force) on a mass displaced
by a distance x from the equilibrium position (i.e. x0) is
Fr = - kx -------- (3)
Therefore, the equation of motion is
 𝑑2 𝑥
𝑚 𝑑𝑡 2 = −𝑘𝑥 ------- (4)

Assuming a solution of the form x(t) = Acos𝜔𝑡

𝑑𝑥 𝑑2 𝑥
→ = - 𝜔𝐴𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑡 & = − 𝜔2 𝐴𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜔𝑡 } ----- (5)
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 2

Put (5) in (4): 𝑚 (− 𝜔2 𝐴𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜔𝑡) = -kAcos𝜔𝑡,

𝑘
−𝜔2 = −
𝑚

𝑘
→ 𝜔 = √𝑚 ,

𝑘
𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑥(𝑡) = 𝐴 𝑐𝑜𝑠 (√𝑚 ) t ------ (6)

The implication of equation (6) is that, if the maximum displacement A is known at t =0, then the
𝑘
position as a function of time of the oscillator can be obtained. Remember that 𝜔 = √𝑚 is a

parameter of the system i.e. spring-mass system

2. Motion of satellite
For a satellite orbiting the earth about a central axis, the gravitation m of the satellite is
−𝑮𝑴𝑬 𝒎𝒓
F= (7)
𝒓𝟑

Then the equation of motion is

𝑑2 𝑟 −𝑮𝑴𝑬 𝒎𝒓
𝑚 𝑑𝑡 2 = (8)
𝒓𝟑
𝑑2 𝑟 𝑟
= − 𝑟 3 𝜇 , where 𝜇 = 𝐺𝑀𝐸
𝑑𝑡 2

Therefore,
𝑑2 𝑟 𝑟
+ 𝑟3 𝜇 = 0 (9)
𝑑𝑡 2

This is a second order differential equation. Its solution involves six constants to be
determined and they are called the orbital elements.
3. Molecular Dynamics
This is a technique for computer simulation of complex systems, modelled at the atomic
level. Many particles are involved. The position of ith particle is written as
ri (t) = (xi (t), yi (t), zi (t) )
𝑑2 𝑟 (𝑡)
and the force acting upon ith particle at time t is Fi = 𝑚𝑖 where mi is the mass
𝑑𝑡 2

of the ith particle.

The solution of the second order differential equation can be solved.
Numerically, the solution is
𝐹𝑖 (t)
ri (t + ∆𝑡) ≅ 2 𝑟𝑖 (𝑡) − 𝑟𝑖 (t − ∆𝑡) + ∆𝑡 2 (10)
𝑚𝑖

Equation 10 gives the position of ith particle as a function of time