PHYS 161

MOTION ALONG A STRAIGHT LINE

“HOW DO THINGS MOVE?”

A JR Central L0 series five-car maglev (magnetic levitation) train undergoing a test run
on the Yamanashi Test Track. The maglev train’s motion can be described using
kinematics. (credit: modification of work by “Maryland GovPics”/Flickr)
LIKE VECTORS – NEED AN ORIGIN

These cyclists in Vietnam can be described by their position relative to buildings or a

canal. Their motion can be described by their change in position, or displacement, in a
frame of reference. (credit: Suzan Black)
 MOTION DIAGRAMS

We imagine a device that can show the

location of an object at constant intervals of
time
Oil dropping from a car or flashes of a strobe
light
Can use these to visualize displacement and
velocity

Check out some examples

© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.

 MOTION DIAGRAMS

© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.

DISPLACEMENT ≡ CHANGE IN POSITION

A professor paces left and right while lecturing. Her position relative to Earth is given by
x. The +2.0-m displacement of the professor relative to Earth is represented by an
arrow pointing to the right.
DISPLACEMENT, TIME, AND AVERAGE
VELOCITY
A particle moving along the x-axis has a coordinate x.
The change in the particle’s coordinate isx  x2  x1.
.
The average x-velocity of the particle is
JILL IS DELIVERING FLYERS

Runs out of flyers

in 9 minutes

Takes 9 minutes to
get back home
Heads west. Stops
after traveling 25
minutes
Stops here after 15
minutes traveling

Timeline of Jill’s movements.

JILL’S POSITION – TIME GRAPH

This graph depicts Jill’s position versus time. The average velocity is the slope of a line
connecting the initial and final points.
 CONSTANT MOTION
Equal displacement between time intervals

© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.

RULES FOR THE SIGN OF
X-VELOCITY
If x-coordinate is: . . . x-velocity is:

Positive and increasing (getting Positive: Particle is moving in

more positive) +x-direction

Positive and decreasing (getting Negative: Particle is moving in

less positive) −x-direction

Negative and increasing Positive: Particle is moving in

(getting less negative) +x-direction

Negative and decreasing Negative: Particle is moving in

(getting more negative) −x-direction
AVERAGE VELOCITY

The winner of a 50-m swimming race is the swimmer

whose average velocity has the greatest magnitude.
That is, the swimmer who traverses a displacement x
of 50 m in the shortest elapsed time t .
INSTANTANEOUS VELOCITY

The instantaneous velocity is the velocity at a

specific instant of time or specific point along the path
and is given by
𝑑𝑥
𝑣 =𝑥˙ =
𝑑𝑡

The average speed is not the magnitude of the average

velocity!
 AVERAGE & INSTANTANEOUS VELOCITIES
A cheetah is crouched 20 m to the east of a vehicle. At time t = 0 the cheetah begins to run due east
toward an antelope the is 50 m to the east of the vehicle. During the first 2.0 s of that chase, the cheetah's
x-coordinate varies with time according to the equation .
(a) Find the cheetah’s displacement between 1.0 s and 2.0 s
(b) Find its average velocity during that time interval
(c) Find its instantaneous velocity at 1.0 s by using t = 0.1s, 0.01s, and 0.001s
(d) Derive an expression for the cheetah’s instantaneous velocity and find v at 1.0s and 2.0 s
ACCELERATED MOTION

A subway train in Sao Paulo, Brazil, decelerates as it comes into a station. It is

accelerating in a direction opposite to its direction of motion. (credit: Yusuke Kawasaki)
AVERAGE ACCELERATION
Acceleration describes the rate of change of velocity
with time.
The average x-acceleration is .
INSTANTANEOUS
ACCELERATION
The instantaneous acceleration is
RULES FOR THE SIGN OF
X-ACCELERATION
If x-velocity is: . . . x-acceleration is:

Positive and increasing Positive: Particle is moving in

(getting more positive) +x-direction and speeding up

Positive and decreasing Negative: Particle is moving in

(getting less positive) +x-direction and slowing down

Negative and increasing Positive: Particle is moving in

(getting less negative) −x-direction and slowing down

Negative and decreasing Negative: Particle is moving in

(getting more negative) −x-direction and speeding up
 AVERAGE & INSTANTANEOUS ACCELERATION

Suppose the x-velocity of a car at any time t is

(a) Find the change in x-velocity of the car from 1.0s to 3.0s
(b) Find the average acceleration during this time interval
(c) Find the instantaneous acceleration at 1.0s by finding average accelerations for t
= 0.1s, 0.01s, and 0.001s
(d) Derive an expression for the instantaneous x-acceleration

© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.

 MOTION WITH CONSTANT ACCELERATION

© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.

A RACEHORSE COMING OUT OF THE GATE ACCELERATES FROM REST
TO 15.0 M/S DUE WEST IN 1.80 S

Identify the coordinate system, the given information, and what you want to determine.
GRAPHING ONE-DIMENSIONAL MOTION
 A POSITION-TIME GRAPH

© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.

<V> VS V

In a graph of position versus time, the instantaneous velocity is the slope of the tangent

→ 0, the average velocity approaches the instantaneous velocity at .

line at a given point. The average velocities between times , and are shown. When
 X-T GRAPHS

© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.

MOTION DIAGRAMS

Here is a motion diagram of the particle in the previous

x-t graph.
VELOCITY FROM POSITION GRAPHS

The object starts out in the positive direction, stops for a short time, and then reverses
direction, heading back toward the origin. Notice that the object comes to rest
instantaneously, which would require an infinite force. Thus, the graph is an approximation of
motion in the real world. (The concept of force is discussed in Newton’s Laws of Motion.)
VELOCITY-TIME GRAPH

The velocity is positive for the first part of the trip, zero when the object is stopped, and
negative when the object reverses direction.
GRAPHICAL ANALYSIS OF CONSTANT VELOCITY

We can get data of the motion using video analysis software

GRAPHICAL ANALYSIS OF CONSTANT VELOCITY
GRAPHICAL ANALYSIS OF CONSTANT VELOCITY

Let’s make a general equation for constant velocity.

x – t graph shows a line… equation of a line from algebra is

𝑦 =𝑚𝑥 +𝑏
Substituting our variables with physical meaning gives
 FINDING ACCELERATION ON A V -T GRAPH

© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.

OBJECT MOVING WITH

(a) Position: x(t) versus time.

(b) Velocity: v(t) versus time. The slope of the position graph is the velocity. A rough comparison of the slopes of the
tangent lines in (a) at 0.25 s, 0.5 s, and 1.0 s with the values for velocity at the corresponding times indicates they
are the same values.
(c) Speed: versus time. Speed is always a positive number.
<a> VS a

In a graph of velocity versus time, instantaneous acceleration is the slope of the tangent line.

(a) Shown is average acceleration between times , and . When → 0, the average acceleration approaches instantaneous acceleration at
time . In view (a), instantaneous acceleration is shown for the point on the velocity curve at maximum velocity. At this point,
instantaneous acceleration is the slope of the tangent line, which is zero. At any other time, the slope of the tangent line—and thus
instantaneous acceleration—would not be zero.

(b) Same as (a) but shown for instantaneous acceleration at minimum velocity.
ACCELERATION-TIME ↔ VELOCITY-TIME

(a, b) The velocity-versus-time graph is linear and has a negative constant slope (a)
that is equal to acceleration, shown in (b).
TIME-VARYING ACCELERATION
(a) Velocity versus time. Tangent lines
are indicated at times 1, 2, and 3 s.
The slopes of the tangents lines are
the accelerations. At t = 3 s, velocity
is positive. At t = 5 s, velocity is
negative, indicating the particle has
reversed direction.
(b) Acceleration versus time. Comparing
the values of accelerations given by
the black dots with the corresponding
slopes of the tangent lines (slopes of
lines through black dots) in (a), we
see they are identical.
FIGURE 3.18

(a) Velocity-versus-time graph with constant acceleration showing the initial and final velocities
and . The average velocity is 60 km/h.
(b) Velocity-versus-time graph with an acceleration that changes with time. The average
velocity is not given by , but is greater than 60 km/h.
VELOCITY WITH CONSTANT ACCELERATION

The airplane lands with an initial velocity of 70.0 m/s and slows to a final velocity of
10.0 m/s before heading for the terminal. Note the acceleration is negative because its
direction is opposite to its velocity, which is positive.
 A V -T GRAPH

© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.

MOTION DIAGRAMS

Here is the motion diagram for the particle in the previous

vx-t graph.
 A V -T GRAPH

© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.

MOTION DIAGRAMS
Here is the motion diagram for the particle in the previous
vx-t graph.
 VELOCITY AND POSITION BY INTEGRATION
The acceleration of a car is not always constant.
The motion may be integrated over many small time
intervals to give and

© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.

EXAMPLE 1
4 5

4
3
3
2
2
1
1

a (m/s/s)
v (m/s)

0 0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5
-1
-1
-2
-2
-3
-3
-4

-4 -5

t (s) t (s)
5

1
x (m)

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5
-1

-2

-3

-4

-5

t (s)
EXAMPLE 2
EXAMPLE 3
EXAMPLE 3
EXAMPLE 3
EXAMPLE 4
 CONSTANT ACCELERATION

© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.

 MOTION WITH CONSTANT ACCELERATION

© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.

 MOTION WITH CONSTANT ACCELERATION

© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.

 A POSITION-TIME GRAPH

© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.

 THE EQUATIONS OF MOTION WITH CONSTANT
ACCELERATION
The four equations below apply to any
straight-line motion with constant
acceleration a.

© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.

 FREELY FALLING BODIES

Free fall is the motion of an

object under the influence
of only gravity.
In the figure, a strobe light
flashes with equal time
intervals between flashes.
The velocity change is the
same in each time interval,
so the acceleration is
constant.

© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.

DROPPING A HAMMER & FEATHER

A hammer and a feather fall with the same constant acceleration if air resistance is
negligible. This is a general characteristic of gravity not unique to Earth, as astronaut
David R. Scott demonstrated in 1971 on the Moon, where the acceleration from gravity
is only 1.67 m/s2 and there is no atmosphere.
 A FREELY FALLING COIN
If there is no air resistance, the downward acceleration of
any freely falling object is g = 9.8 m/s2 = 32 ft/s2.

© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.

 UP-AND-DOWN MOTION IN FREE FALL
Position as a function of time for a ball
thrown upward with an initial speed of 15.0
m/s.

© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.

 UP-AND-DOWN MOTION IN FREE FALL
Velocity as a function of time
for a ball thrown upward with
an initial speed of 15.0 m/s.
The vertical velocity, but not
the acceleration, is zero at
the highest point.

© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.

NEXT TIME, USE A ROPE!

A climber on a high ledge above the base of a cliff

attempts to throw a sandwich to his climbing partner
located above him. When the sandwich leaves the
lower climber’s hand it is 40.0 m above the base of the
cliff and traveling upward with a velocity of 11.0 m/s.
The upper climber holds his hand 5.0 m above the point
at which the sandwich is released.
For your consideration… the fourth kinematic equation (no time)

Take our velocity equation and solve for t:

.
Now, we substitute that for t in the quadratic position function:
 THROWING A BALL DOWN
The positions and velocities at 1-s
intervals of a ball thrown downward from
a tall building at 4.9 m/s.
INFIELD FLY!

A baseball hit straight up is caught by the catcher 5.0 s later. Find

a. The ball’s initial velocity.
b. Maximum height from origin.
c. Time to max height.
d. Acceleration at the top of the path
e. Velocity when caught.
MISSLE LAUNCH
A rocket releases its booster at 5 km
above the ground and velocity 200.0 m/s.
How high does the booster go?
How fast is it traveling at 6 km above the
ground?
MOTORBOATIN’

(a) Velocity of the motorboat as a function of time. The motorboat decreases its velocity to zero in 6.3 s. At
times greater than this, velocity becomes negative—meaning, the boat is reversing direction.
(b) Position of the motorboat as a function of time. At t = 6.3 s, the velocity is zero and the boat has
stopped. At times greater than this, the velocity becomes negative—meaning, if the boat continues to
move with the same acceleration, it reverses direction and heads back toward where it originated.