Kinematics of a Particle
Statics & Dynamics
Dr Ilya Joohari
Faculty of Civil Engineering & Technology
Universiti Malaysia Perlis
Topic outcome
1. To introduce the concept of position, displacement, velocity and acceleration.
2. To study particle motion along a straight line and represent this motion
graphically.
3. To investigate particle motion along a curve path using different coordinate
system.
4. To present an analysis of dependent motion of two particles.
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02 Kinematics of a Particle
Introduction
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1. Position
2. Displacement
3. Velocity
1. Continuous motion
4. Acceleration
5. Constant acceleration
1. Given s-t graph, construct v-t graph
2. Given v-t graph, construct a-t graph
Kinematics 3. Given a-t graph, construct v-t graph
2. Erratic motion
of a 4. Given v-t graph, construct s-t graph
particle 5. Given a-s graph, construct v-s graph
6. Given v-s graph, construct a-s graph
3. General curvilinear 1. Velocity
motion 2. Acceleration
1. Horizontal motion
4. Motion of a projectile
2. Vertical motion
5. Absolute dependent 1. Dependent motion:
motion analysis of two procedures
particle
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02 Erratic motion
Kinematics of a Particle
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Erratic motion
● When a particle’s motion during a time period is erratic / discontinuity in the
motion, then it will be difficult to obtain a continuous mathematical function
to describe its position, velocity or acceleration.
● The motion may best be described graphically using a series of curves.
● Graphing provides a good way to handle complex motions that would be
difficult to describe with formulas.
● Graphs also provide a visual description of motion and reinforce the
calculus concepts of differentiation and integration as used in dynamics.
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1 Given s-t graph, construct v-t graph
● Plots of position vs. time can be used to find
velocity vs. time curves.
● Finding the slope of the line tangent to the
motion curve at any point is the velocity at
that point (or v = ds/dt).
● Slope of s-t graph = velocity.
● Therefore, the v-t graph can be constructed by
finding the slope at various points along the s-
t graph.
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2 Given v-t graph, construct a-t graph
● Plots of velocity vs. time can be used to find acceleration vs.
time curves.
● Finding the slope of the line tangent to the velocity curve at
any point is the acceleration at that point (or a = dv/dt).
● Slope of v-t graph = acceleration
● Therefore, the a-t graph can be constructed by finding the
slope at various points along the v-t graph.
● Also, the distance moved (displacement) of the particle is
the area under the v-t graph during time t.
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Example 1
A bicycle moves along a straight road such that its position is
described by the graph shown in figure. Construct the v-t and a-t
graph for 0 ≤ t ≤ 30 s.
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Example 1
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Example 1
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Example 1
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Example 1
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3 Given a-t graph, construct v-t graph
● Given the a-t curve, the change in velocity (∆v)
during a time period is the area under the a-t curve.
● So, we can construct a v-t graph from an a-t graph if
we know the initial velocity of the particle.
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4 Given a-t graph, construct v-t graph
● Given the v-t curve, the change in displacement (∆s)
during a time period is the area under the v-t curve.
● So, we can construct a s-t graph from a v-t graph if
we know the initial position of the particle.
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Example 2
The test car in figure starts from the rest and
travels along the straight track such that it
accelerates 10 m/s2 at a constant rate for 10 s
and then decelerates 2 m/s2 at a constant
rate. Draw the v-t and s-t graphs and
determine the time t’ needed to stop the car.
How far has the car travelled?
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Example 2
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Example 2
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Example 2
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Example 2
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Example 2
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Example 2
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5 Given a-s graph, construct v-s graph
● A more complex case is presented by the a-s graph. The
area under the acceleration versus position curve
represents the change in velocity (recall ∫a ds = ∫v dv).
● This equation can be solved for v1 , allowing you to solve
for the velocity at a point. By doing this repeatedly, a
plot of velocity versus distance can be created.
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6 Given v-s graph, construct a-s graph
● Another complex case is presented by the v-s graph. By
reading the velocity v at a point on the curve and
multiplying it by the slope of the curve (dv/ds) at this
same point, we can obtain the acceleration at that point.
a = v (dv/ds)
● Thus, we can obtain a plot of a vs. s from the v-s curve.
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Example 3
The v-s graph for a go-cart traveling on a straight road is shown. Determine
the acceleration of the go-cart at s = 50 m and s = 150 m. Draw the a-s
graph.
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Example 3
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Example 3
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Example 3
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Example 3
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General
03 curvilinear motion
Kinematics of a Particle
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General curvilinear motion
● A particle moving along a curved path undergoes curvilinear motion. Since the
motion is often three-dimensional, vectors are used to describe the motion.
● A particle moves along a curve defined by the path function, s.
● The position of the particle at any instant is designated by the vector r = r(t).
Both the magnitude and direction of r may vary with time.
● If the particle moves a distance Δs along the curve during time interval Δt, the
displacement is determined by vector subtraction: Δr = r’ - r
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Velocity
● Velocity represents the rate of change in the position of a particle.
● The average velocity of the particle during the time increment Δt is
vavg= Δr/Δt
● The instantaneous velocity is the time-derivative of position v = dr/dt .
● The velocity vector, v, is always tangent to the path of motion.
● The magnitude of v is called the speed. Since the arc length Δs
approaches the magnitude of Δr as t→0, the speed can be obtained by
differentiating the path function (v = ds/dt). Note that this is not a vector!
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Acceleration
● Acceleration represents the rate of change in the velocity of a particle.
● If a particle’s velocity changes from v to v’ over a time increment Dt, the
average acceleration during that increment is:
aavg = Dv/Dt = (v - v’)/Dt
● The instantaneous acceleration is the time-derivative of velocity:
a = dv/dt = d2 r/dt2
● A plot of the locus of points defined by the arrowhead of the velocity vector is
called a hodograph. The acceleration vector is tangent to the hodograph,
but not, in general, tangent to the path function.
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Acceleration
Velocity
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Motion of a
04 projectile
Kinematics of a Particle
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Motion of a projectile
● Projectile motion can be treated as two rectilinear motions, one in the horizontal
direction experiencing zero acceleration and the other in the vertical direction
experiencing constant acceleration (i.e., gravity).
● For illustration, consider the photograph of a bouncing ping-pong ball which
suggests the parabolic nature of the path,
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Motion of a projectile
The free-flight motion of a projectile is often studied
in terms of its rectangular components – projectile
acceleration always acts in the vertical direction. To
illustrate the kinematic analysis, consider the
projectile launched at point (xo,yo). The path is
defined in the x-y plane such that the initial velocity is
vo, having the components (vo)x and (yo)y. When air
resistance is neglected, the only force acting on the
projectile is its weight which causes the projectile to
have a constant downward acceleration of
approximately ac = g = 9.81 m/s2.
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Horizontal motion
● Since ax = 0, application of the constant
acceleration equations yields:
● The first and last equation indicate that the
horizontal component of velocity always
remains constant during the motion.
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Vertical motion
● Since the +ve y axis is directed upward, then
ay= -g. Applying on constant acceleration
equations, we get:
● Last equation can be formulated on the basis
of eliminating t between the 1st two equation,
therefore only two of the above equations are
independent of one another.
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Example 1
The shipping machine is designed to eject
wood chips at v0 = 7.5 m/s as shown in the
figure. If the tube is oriented at 30° from
the horizontal, determine how high h, the
chips strike the pile if they land on the pile
6 m from the tube.
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Absolute dependent motion
05 analysis of two particles
Kinematics of a Particle
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Absolute dependent motion analysis of two particles
● In many kinematics problems, the motion of one object will
depend on the motion of another object.
● Dependency commonly occurs if the particles are interconnected
by inextensible cords which are wrapped around pulleys.
● The movement of block A downward along the inclined plane will
cause a corresponding movement of block B up the other incline.
● The motion of each block can be related mathematically by
defining position coordinates, sA and sB.
● If total cord length is lT, the position coordinates are related by the
equation:
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Absolute dependent motion analysis of two particles
● Here lT is the total cord length and lCD is the length of cord
passing over arc CD on the pulley.
● lCD and lT remain constant, while sA and sB measure the
lengths of the changing segments of the cord. By taking
the time derivation of this expression, we have:
● Accelerations can be found by differentiating the velocity
expression: aB = -aA .
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● Consider a more complicated example involving the
dependent motion of two blocks.
● Position coordinates (sA and sB) are defined from fixed
datum lines, measured along the direction of motion of
each block.
● The red-coloured segments of the cord remain constant in
length during the motion of the blocks. The position
coordinates are related by the equation:
Where l is the total cord length minus the lengths of the red segments.
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● Since l and h remain constant during the motion, the
velocities and accelerations can be related by two
successive time derivatives:
● When block B moves downward (+ sB), block A moves to
the left ( - sA).
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Dependent motion: Procedures
1 Step 1 Define position coordinates from fixed datum lines, along the path of
each particle. Different datum lines can be used foreach particle.
2 Step 2 Relate the position coordinates to the cord length. Segments of cord
that do not change in length during the motion may be left out.
3 Step 3 If a system contains more than one cord, relate the position of a point
on one cord to a point on another cord. Separate equations are
written for each cord.
4 Step 4 Differentiate the position coordinate equation(s) to relate velocities
and accelerations. Keep track of signs!
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Example 1
Determine the speed of block A in the figure if
block B has an upward speed of 2 m/s.
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Example 1
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Example 2
Determine the speed of block A in the figure if
block B has an upward speed of 2 m/s.
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Example 2
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Example 3
Determine the displacement of the block at B
if A is pulled down 1 m?
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Example 3
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That’s all for today ☺
Thank you!
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