VCE Physics Unit 2 2015 Motion Page 1

MOTION
Speed
The average speed is a measurement of the change is distance within a given change in time.

Distance travelled
Average speed =
Time taken

This can be written as: distance = speed x time

The standard units we use are metres per second,

but speed can have any units of distance over time.

Eg: kilometres per hour.

To change m/s to km/h multiply by 3.6 (x 1000/ (60x60)

To change km/h to m/s divide by 3.6 (x60x60 /1000)

Question 1
A rat in a hurry covers 3 metres in 0.5 second. What was her speed?

Question 2
The hungry zombie chasing the rat (for a quick snack between
brains) was moving at a sedate 15km/hr.

What was its speed in metres per second?

Scalars and Vectors

There are quantities where it makes no sense to include a
direction. For example we don’t say a person’s mass is 60
kilograms north, or that the time is 3 o’clock to the left or that
temperature is 5 degrees downward. Quantities like this, without
direction, are called scalars.

Distance is a scalar but displacement is a vector. Scalar

quantities have magnitude (size).
VCE Physics Unit 2 2015 Motion Page 2

Vector quantities have magnitude and direction (eg 5metres East).

Speed is scalar (2 m/s) but velocity is a vector (2m/s West).

Displacement and Velocity

In Year 11 the rate at which something moves is calculated by measuring the displacement of
the object from a point and the time it took to move. The direction of the displacement is
important and the direction of the change in displacement gives the direction of the velocity.

A treasure map contains information about

displacement magnitude and direction.

Eg South 100m, east 50m, north 50m,

east 100m , south 50m , east 50m

The total distance traveled is 400m.

If the time taken is 2hours (after fighting

cannibals, eating spiders and plodding
though boot sucking swamps) then the
speed was 400/2 = 200 m/hr

The displacement is worked out as the crow flies (before it is shot down by a hungry pirate for lunch).

The vector sum of 100m South and 200m east is 223m SE.

Velocity is a measurement of the change in displacement divided by the time taken

V= x/ t
So the velocity is V = x / t 223/2 = 111 m/hour South East

This is not the same value as the speed.

Note;
With displacement, if you start and finish at the same point your
displacement is zero.

So a five kilometre run round the oval starting and finishing at the gate will
give you displacement of zero and also an average velocity of zero.
VCE Physics Unit 2 2015 Motion Page 3

Graphing Motion

To explain the motion of an object,

rat or zombie, graphs can be drawn
from the data.

When given a graph, look at three things:

type of graph (x - t, v - t, a - t)
(position-time, velocity-time, acceleration-time)

the units on the axis (metres , seconds)

gradient or area (the gradient here gives velocity)

Displacement vs time graphs

Moving with constant Moving with faster Stopped (not moving!) moving with constant
velocity constant velocity velocity then stopping

Question 3 Write what is happening in these graphs

VCE Physics Unit 2 2015 Motion Page 4

Question 4
Below are 3 stories in graph form, which explanation goes with which graph?

i) Jeremy crocodile yawned as he clomped to the river, then lay and baked in the sun

ii) Francis snake slithered away slowly then, as she warmed in the sun, she moved faster and
faster and faster.

iii) Maurice the elephant jogged towards the banana, grabbed it, stopped then turned and
jogged back to his house

a) b) c)

Position vs time graph

Average Velocity from a graph

The gradient of a displacement time graph gives the
average velocity over that period of time.

displacement
average velocity =
time taken

Velocity direction
The velocity, v, of a particle is its rate of displacement.
Because displacement has a direction the velocity has
the same direction.

Instantaneous Velocity
This can be worked out by calculating the gradient of the graph for that point in time.
VCE Physics Unit 2 2015 Motion Page 5

Example of instantaneous velocity using the x-t graph shown before

What is happening to Florence the kangaroo over the 15 seconds shown in the graph?

She starts moving slowly for 2 seconds then hops east at a

constant velocity and speed slowing at 12 seconds then
stopping at 14 seconds

What is the average velocity at 10 seconds?

At ten seconds the displacement is 85 metres East.

Using Velocity = displacement / time
v = 85  10 = 8.5 m/s

What is the instantaneous velocity at 5 seconds ?

Looking at the graph the gradient has not changed between

two seconds and eight seconds so working out the gradient

V = change in displacement / change in time

V = (65 East – 10 East) / 8-2
V = 9.2 m/s East

Question 5
After munching 2kg of tasty grass, Florence
bounces off and the graph to the right shows
her travels.

What is her average velocity over 4 seconds?

What is her instantaneous velocity at

1.4 seconds?

Velocity vs time graphs

The following can be determined from a velocity-

time graph;

-the instantaneous velocity at any time

-the acceleration from the gradient

-the displacement from the area under the graph

VCE Physics Unit 2 2015 Motion Page 6

Instantaneous Velocity Examples

What is the velocity at ten seconds?

Reading from the graph, the ten seconds point corresponds to a

velocity of 10 m/s East.

What is the Velocity after 30 seconds?

Reading from the graph, the thirty

seconds point corresponds to a velocity of 20 m/s East.

The police are only interested in instantaneous velocity,

not average speed.

Acceleration
Acceleration is the term given when a body undergoes a change in velocity within a given
change in time.

Change in Velocity V = VFinal - VInitial

The acceleration of a body is a vector with magnitude and direction. It can be calculated using:

Change in velocity v final  v initial

Average Acceleration a= = units ms-2
Change in time time taken

Acceleration is the gradient of a Velocity time graph.

velocity

rise

run time

Acceleration does not just mean a body is getting faster, it can also mean getting slower
(deceleration) or changing direction.
VCE Physics Unit 2 2015 Motion Page 7

Example
Explain the motion

The green spotty Volvo started from rest and accelerated

to a velocity of 20m/s in 20 seconds, then maintained a
constant velocity until 35 seconds, then it slowed down
and stopped at 50 seconds.

Calculate the acceleration over the first 20 seconds.

The gradient of the line it the acceleration, this is

calculated by the rise over the run.
20 - 0
Which is: Average Acceleration =
20
The acceleration for the first 20 seconds = 1 ms-2

Example
Calculating the acceleration from the 20-second point until the 35-second.
20 - 20
Average Acceleration = = 0 ms-2
15

Example
Calculating the acceleration from the 35-second point until the 50-second point.

0 - 20
Average Acceleration = = -1.33 ms-2 The negative sign shows deceleration.
15

Displacement from a velocity graph

What is the displacement at

i) 10s ii) 20s iii) 35s iv) 50s

work out the area under the graph, the areas are triangles
and rectangles

i) ½ x10x10 = 50m E

ii) ½ x 20 x 20= 200m E

iii) 200m + 15 x 20= 500m E iv) 500m + ½ x 15 x 20= 650m E

VCE Physics Unit 2 2015 Motion Page 8

Summary of graph types

Graph type x-t v-t a-t
Found from
Direct reading 'x' at any 't' 'v' at any 't' 'a' at any 't'
't' at any 'x' 't' at any 'v' 't' at any 'a'
Gradient Instantaneous velocity at Instantaneous 'a' Not useful
any point. Average 'a'
vav between any two points
Area under graph Not useful Change in position Change in velocity

Question
The rat started from rest and ran faster
& faster, while at the same time the zombie rattled along at a constant speed. They started from
the same point And at time T they met. Explain how we know.

velocity

T time

The graph below shows the story of a car trip as it starts fro rest (initial velocity is zero)
accelerates to 60km/hr then slows and stops for a red traffic light where the driver remembers
he the door open so he does a U-turn and drives back towards home. By calculating the area
under the graph (positive and negative displacements) you can see how far from home he is.
VCE Physics Unit 2 2015 Motion Page 9

The displacement is calculated by adding the area under the velocity time graph and
noting the negative displacement.

+ + + - -
5m +10m + 30m +3m -2m -8m = 38m

Graph Summary
VCE Physics Unit 2 2015 Motion Page 10

Question 5
What do the following mean; i) magnitude …………………. ii) at rest ……………………….

Question 6
What was this object’s
acceleration over the one second
shown?

How far had the object travelled

in this time

Question 7
Using this graph
i) when was the object at rest

ii) when was the object travelling the

fastest?

iii) what was the objects velocity at

a) 5 seconds b) 10 seconds
c) 25 seconds d) 40

iii) what was the objects acceleration at

a) 3 seconds b) 11 seconds c) 24 seconds d) 42 seconds

v) how far had the object travelled by 30s

vi) between 30 and 55s how far had the object gone?

vii) By 55 seconds how far was the object from the starting point?
VCE Physics Unit 2 2015 Motion Page 11

Question 8
What is the difference between a vector and a scalar?

Question 9
Here are four acceleration time graphs, say what is happening and draw the missing graphs
Acceleration time explanation Velocity time
VCE Physics Unit 2 2015 Motion Page 12

Recapping: Vectors and Scalars

Scalars are quantities that have magnitude but no direction, eg. volume, mass, energy.
A calculator is a tool for doing scalar arithmetic.

When adding scalars: 2 + 2 = 4 (easy!)

Vectors are quantities that have a direction as well as a magnitude. To specify completely a
movement you have to give the length as well as the direction. Eg. 5 km. due North.


Vectors are represented by symbols which have a line above or below them, Eg. v, v , v .

It is important to be clear whether something is a vector or a scalar because the rules for
adding, subtracting and so on are different for vectors than they are for scalars.

When adding vectors: 2 + 2 gives something between 0 and 4; we must take account of
direction to get the size (magnitude) of the answer.

A vector can be represented graphically by an arrowed line whose direction represents the
direction of the vector, and whose length represents the magnitude of the vector.

Eg. 5 km east 10 km east 5 km west

Adding Vectors

 Vectors are added by drawing a diagram using a line for each vector.
 The length of each segment is drawn to scale to show the size of the vector.
 The direction of the line shown by the arrow head shows the direction of the vector
quantity.

Once the vectors are drawn, addition and subtraction is as follows. Suppose we have to add two
vectors, v1 and v2 shown below

v1 v2

We add the two vectors by drawing a line to represent v1 and then on the end of this line we
draw another to represent v2, making sure that the arrow heads are such that the vectors are
drawn 'head to tail' as shown below. (feet on face)

v2
v1
VCE Physics Unit 2 2015 Motion Page 13

The sum of the vectors is then the third side of the triangle. Note the direction of the arrow
heads. The resultant vector, can be used to replace the two original vectors, it starts at the
same point as v1 and finishes where v2 finishes.

v2
v1

v 1 + v2

The magnitude of V1 + V2 is found by using Pythagoras (because this is a right angled triangle).

Vector addition at year 11 and year 12 will only involve vectors which are in line, or at right
angles (the cosine law is not expected to be used as it is not ‘year ten maths’).

Simple vector addition

add. 8m east to 10m east 5 m west

+ =

=
18m East

add. 8m east to 5m west

+ =

=
3m East

The answer is called the resultant vector and is usually shown by 2 lines (and = )

If we wish to add more than two vectors, we simply place them all head to tail to form a polygon.
The order of the addition does not matter. The 'resultant vector' will always be the same.

a
b
c

d
a+b+c+d

Rearrange these and add in different order, the resultant is the same in magnitude and direction

Displacement, velocity, acceleration all use vector addition and subtraction.

VCE Physics Unit 2 2015 Motion Page 14

Question 9
If a person walks 5 km east and then 4 km north, their resultant displacement from the starting
point is

a) 9 km NE b) 3 km N770E c) 9 km N770E d) 6.4 km N510E

A radio controlled toy car starts from next to a

rubbish bin in a playground. It travels 20 m north
and then travels 15 m east.
It completed the journey in 20 s.

Question 10
What is the total distance travelled by the car?

Question 11
Fully describe the car’s final displacement from the rubbish bin.

Question 12
Calculate the car’s average velocity.

Question 13
A plane flying East at 100 m/s is hit by a wind coming from the south at
40 m/s What is its velocity relative to the ground?

Question 14
A bird is flying south at 3 m/s into a 2 m/s head wind (in its face). What is the bird’s velocity
relative to the ground?

Question 15
A green tug boat in a harbour is moving North at 4 m/s and
experiencing a current pushing it in an easterly direction at
3 m/s. What is the tug boat’s total velocity?
VCE Physics Unit 2 2015 Motion Page 15

Subtracting vectors
To subtract vectors we add the negative of the vector to be subtracted.

Eg. a - b = a + (-b) in words a minus b is the same as a plus (minus b)

a
b -b -b

a-b

There are different ways of doing this but possibly the easiest is to remember ; ‘keep-flip-add’

4m east subtract 5m east

- = +
=

= 1

Change in velocity

When an object collides with another and changes its velocity, its change in velocity is a vector
quantity found by subtracting the initial velocity form the final velocity and can be shown
graphically in a vector diagram

Change in velocity = final velocity - initial velocity

v = vf - vI

Example

A ball thrown at a wall hits it horizontally at 5m/s and rebounds horizontally at 2m/s.

The impact lasts 2.0 s.

i) what is the change in velocity? v = vf - vI. = 2 - 5 = +
= 7

ii) what is the acceleration? v / t = (vf - vI.)/t = 7/2= 3.5 m/s/s

VCE Physics Unit 2 2015 Motion Page 16

Question 16

A ball thrown at a wall hits it horizontally at 2m/s East and rebounds horizontally at 1m/s West

What is the change in velocity

What is the acceleration if the impact lasted 0.2s.

Question 19

P and Q are two vectors, of equal magnitude acting in the directions shown.

Q
P
Question

P+Q=

A B C D

Question

P-Q=

A B C D

Question

Q – 2P =

A B C D
VCE Physics Unit 2 2015 Motion Page 17

Vector Components

In some situations it is convenient to replace one vector by two which are equivalent. This
process is called resolving a vector into its components. It is normal practice to resolve
the vectors into two components that are at right angles to each other.

V V V vertical


V horizontal

Vertical velocity = V sin  Horizontal velocity = V cos 

Question 18
The wind is blowing at 2m/s from the North East. What is the Easterly component?

Question 19

A Honda ‘P’ plate car is traveling north at 8m/s

Then turns right and travels east at 8m/s
What is the Honda’s change in velocity?

Question 20

A 747 jet carrying 352 passengers flies from Melbourne and heads due
north towards Sydney. The plane can fly at 200m/s but is pushed from
the east by a 100m/s wind.

What angle will the plane have to fly to get to Sydney?

How fast will the plane now be travelling relative to the ground?
VCE Physics Unit 2 2015 Motion Page 18

Motion Formula
As mentioned before the acceleration is the change in velocity divided by the change in time.
Previously written as v / t = (vf - vI)) / t

V = final velocity vf u = starting velocity = vI a =acceleration x = displacement

A = (v-u) / t also written as v = u + at and average velocity = (u + v)/2 = x/t

You will use these formulas for analysing motion with constant acceleration:
a = (v-u) / t Each equation uses 4 of the 5 different variables.
v = u + at
Each equation uses a different combination of the
x= 1 (u + v) × t
2 4 variables.
1
x = ut + 2
at2 These formulas can also be derived from the
1
graphs.
x = vt - 2
at2
You will often be given three and have to work
v2 = u2 + 2ax
out the fourth.

Technique for solving constant acceleration problems using the equations.

1. Use a sign convention for all values, ie. take one direction as positive (which way are YOU
looking? That is POSITIVE)

2. In the question circle or colour in the variable values given and then list all the variables:
u= v= a= t= x=

3. write down the relevant formula (if you need x there is a choice of 3)

4. Substitute the values that are given.

5. Check if u = 0, or v = 0 then solve

Question 18
The speedboat started out at 2m/s then Rohan
accelerated at 1/s/s/ for 3 seconds

How fast did he end up going?

V = u + at

Sammy the snail started at 0.01m/s and

accelerated to a slithering 0.02m/s in 5
seconds. How far did he travel?

X = ½ (u + v) t
VCE Physics Unit 2 2015 Motion Page 19

Laura started from rest and slid down the

snow to a speed of 3m/s in a time of 4s

What was her acceleration?

A = (v-u) / t

Below is a proof for the formulas of motion; you will not be expected to reproduce them.
(This is Specialist Maths)

change in velocity v -u
Acceleration = a=
time taken t
at = v - u
v = u + at
Displacement = average velocity × time
x = 21 (u + v) × t

Since x= 1 (u + v) × t
2

x = 1 ut + 1 vt
2 2

x = 1 ut + 1 (u + at)t
2 2

x = 1 ut + 1 ut + 1 at2
2 2 2
1 2
x = ut + 2
at

Since x= 1 (u + v) × t
2

x = 1 ut + 1 vt
2 2

x = 1 (v-at)t + 1 vt
2 2

x = 1 vt + 1 vt - 1 at2
2 2 2
1 2
x = vt - 2
at

If v = u + at
v2 = (u + at)( u + at)
v2 = u2 + 2uat + a2t2
v2 = u2 + 2a(ut + 21 at2)
v2 - u2 = 2ax
VCE Physics Unit 2 2015 Motion Page 20

Vertical motion under gravity (g)

Falling bodies are a good example of motion under a constant acceleration.

The acceleration due to gravity is considered to be 10 ms-2

(9.81 ms-2 is used in maths but 10 is accepted for physics and engineering)

Take care with directions when doing vertical motion.

On the way up the object slows down and STOPS vertically because the acceleration is in the
opposite direction to the velocity,

But on the way down the acceleration and velocity are in the same direction, so the objects
velocity increases.

At the top of the flight, the VERTICAL velocity is zero, but the acceleration is NOT zero (still 'g').
When solving problems with gravity, substitute 'g' for 'a'.

+ ve
+ ve
+ ve
dropped Thrown down Thrown up (consider as 2 parts)

V=? v2 = 2ax V=? v2 = u2 + 2ax V = 0 u2 = 2ax

U=0 U=U U=U
a = +10 a=+10 a = - 10
X=? x = 21 at2 X = ? x = ut + 21 at2 X = ? x = ut + 21 at2
T=? T=? T=?

Falling vertically without a pushing force the final velocity is found using; v = √20h

The time of fall is calculated using t = √h/5

VCE Physics Unit 2 2015 Motion Page 21

Falling

Question 21
If you carelessly dropped a cat from a height of 8m how long would it take to fall?

Question 22
How fast would the miserable howling cat be going on impact just before hitting the ground and
bleeding to death?

This is a set of graphs of a falling object.

displacement velocity acceleration

Acceleration = 10m/s/s

If you decided instead to kick your ‘object’ vertically up, these are the graphs.
displacement velocity acceleration

Acceleration is MINUS
10m/s/s
VCE Physics Unit 2 2015 Motion Page 22

Projectile motion

Instead of just dropping an object, throwing an object vertically upwards with NO horizontal
velocity just initial non zero vertical velocity and using the acceleration equations, it is possible
to calculate the maximum height.

Example
Gertrude the frog leaps up vertically with a starting velocity of 10m/s

How high does she get?

Her velocity at the top of her jump is zero.
Her acceleration is negative (if up is positive)

v2 = u2 + 2aX

0 = 10x10 + 2 x -10 x X X = 5m

Question 23
When asked to prepare dinner by peeling the potatoes, instead you decided some physics
homework was more interesting and you shot a potato vertically up at 8m/s
How high would it get?

Projectile motion gets more interesting when there is horizontal as well as vertical velocity.

Projectiles are objects like cats which

experience forces which cause them to
move through the air (water, space etc).

Movement through air encounters air

friction (air resistance) but in VCE physics
it is ignored as insignificant (it isn’t).

After the cat is fired, only

gravity is acting.

This cat experienced horizontal and vertical velocity components.

Shooting horizontally the time to fall does not depend on the horizontal velocity, only on gravity.
VCE Physics Unit 2 2015 Motion Page 23

As there is no air resistance (a=0), the

horizontal velocity is constant.

The vertical velocity here starts at zero and

increases due to the vertical gravitational
acceleration (g).

The total velocity is the vector sum of the

horizontal and vertical components.

The magnitude of the total velocity is found

using Pythagoras.

Question 24
If you shot another potato this time horizontally at 8.0m/s from a height of 5m above the ground
how far would it get horizontally?

Question 25
If you shot the next rotten smelly potato horizontally at 10m/s from a height of 5m above the
ground, i) how far horizontally would it go now?

ii) what would its total velocity be just before hitting the ground and exploding into mashed
potato?

starting with no vertical velocity

Notice that the vertical height dropped is
independent of the horizontal velocity.

The horizontal velocity does not change.

The vertical velocity increases.

The RANGE (horizontal displacement) is

determined by the horizontal component of the
velocity.

This area of physics is used when delivering food drops by air to starving flood victims.

Knowing the horizontal velocity and the vertical height, the time of fall is calculated and the
horizontal distance to drop zone.
VCE Physics Unit 2 2015 Motion Page 24

x = 21 at2
500 = ½ x10 t . t

t = 10 seconds

release distance
x = vt = 70 x 10 = 700m

Question 26
To deliver hay bales to starving Tasmanian
sheep cut off by flooding you are flying a single
engine plane low (400m) and slow (60m/s). to
work out how far away from the sheep you
have to kick out the hay:-

a) Work out the time to fall

b) Using the time and the horizontal velocity, work out the horizontal distance ahead of the
sheep which is needed to push the hay out

For projectile motion with horizontal and vertical velocity components;

Horizontal velocity = V cos  Vertical velocity = V sin 

The range is determined by the horizontal velocity and the angle of projection
 VCE Physics Unit 2 2015 Motion Page 25

This diagram is showing that the magnitude of the velocity at A and at C is the same.

The horizontal velocity does not change

The vertical velocity at B is zero so the total velocity at B is the horizontal velocity.

example
This kitten cannon shoots defenseless kittens at
a velocity of 4m/s and an angle of 30degrees

Where is the kitten moving at the highest speed?

Just before hitting the ground

What velocity does it land with?

Same speed as the start, opposite direction
What is its maximum height?
See below
How far is the kitten sent horizontally?
vertical velocity = V sin  = 4 sin 30 = 2m/s
máximum height
v2 = u2 + 2aX 0 = 2 2 + 2 x - 10 x X X = 4/20 = 0.2m (maximum height)
Time of flight (from the top to the ground ) x = 21 at2
0.2 = 1/2 x10 x t 2 time = 0.2s total time = 0.4s
Horizontal velocity = V cos  = 4 cos 30 = 3.5 m/s
horizontal distance = vt= 3.5 x 0.4= 1.4m
VCE Physics Unit 2 2015 Motion Page 26

Acceleration Horizontal vertical velocity Total velocity

velocity
A g V cos  V sin  V
B g V cos  0 V cos 
C g V cos  - V sin  -V

Rotation – Motion in a Circle

The distance travelled in a circle radius r is given by the circumference. d = 2π r

The frequency of rotation is the reciprocal of the period (T) the time for one rotation.
F = 1/T

The rotational speed is determined from;

For an object at B the direction of the displacement and velocity are

determined by the direction of the rotation.
Here is is shown as clockwise. The vector direction is
tangental for both displacement and velocity

Even when the speed is constant as the direction changes

so does the velocity.

The change in velocity is a vector subtraction.

So the acceleration is inwards along the radius to the centre

of the circle and the magnitude is found using

If you are serious about “where did that come from” check out this link to see how centripetal
acceleration and force vectors are derived.

http://dev.physicslab.org/document.aspx?doctype=3&filename=circularmotion_centripetalacceleration.xml
VCE Physics Unit 2 2015 Motion Page 27

example
Sammy the snail is sat on a rotating dish inside a microwave
happily going round and round and round once
every 2 seconds

He is not happy,
he is going to be sick

The radius is 20cm the period is 0.50 s

His velocity is His acceleration is

=(2x 3.14x0.2)/0.5= 2.5m/s = (2.5^2) / 0.5 = 12.5 m/s/s

Here is Fergus, a Scottish hammer thrower, rotating a heavy hammer in a circle

Which one of the diagrams (A to E) below, best shows the path of the ball after
release?

Which arrow in the diagrams below (A to E) shows the direction of

i) displacement ….. ii) velocity ….. iii) acceleration …………….