2 Describing motion

Sapphire
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES
2 Motion
Core Supplement
• Define speed and calculate average • Distinguish between speed and
speed from total time / total distance velocity
• Plot and interpret a speed-time graph • Define and calculate acceleration using
or a distance- time graph time taken change of velocity
• Recognise from the shape of a speed- • Calculate speed from the gradient of a
time graph when a body is distance-time graph
– at rest • Calculate acceleration from the
– moving with constant speed gradient of a speed-time graph
– moving with changing speed • Recognise linear motion for which the
• Calculate the area under a speed-time acceleration is constant
graph to work out the distance travelled • Recognise motion for which the
for motion with constant acceleration acceleration is not constant
• Demonstrate understanding that • Understand deceleration as a negative
acceleration and deceleration are acceleration
related to changing speed including • Describe qualitatively the motion of
qualitative analysis of the gradient of a bodies falling in a uniform gravitational
speed-time graph field with and without air resistance
•State that the acceleration of free fall (including reference to terminal velocity)
for a body near to the Earth is constant
Vectors and Scalars
All physical quantities (e.g. speed and force) are described by a
magnitude and a unit.

VECTORS – have magnitude and direction

examples: displacement, velocity, acceleration, force.

SCALARS – have magnitude only

examples: distance, speed, mass, work, energy.

velocity （速度） is an object 's speed( 速率 ) in the direction.

 Some Physics Quantities
Vector - quantity with both magnitude (size or numerical
value) and direction
Scalar - quantity with magnitude (size or numerical
value) only
Vectors: Scalars:
• Displacement • Distance
• Velocity • Speed
• Acceleration • Time
• Momentum • Mass
• Force • Energy
common motion
 Distance
 Distance (d) – how far an object travels.
 Does not depend on direction.
 Scalar or vector quantity? Scalar

 Imagine an ant crawling along a ruler.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
cm

 What distance did the ant travel?

d = 3 cm
 Distance
 Distance does not depend on direction.
 Here’s our intrepid ant explorer again.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
cm
 Now what distance did the ant travel?
d = 3 cm
 Does his direction change the answer?
 Distance
 Distance does not depend on direction.
 Let’s follow the ant again.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
cm

 What distance did the ant walk this time?

 d = 7 cm
 Displacement
 Displacement (d) – difference between an object’s
final position and its starting position.
 Does depend on direction.
 Displacement = final position – initial position
 d = dfinal – dinitial
 Inorder to define displacement, we need directions.
 Examples of directions:
+ and –
 N, S, E, W
 Angles
Location of the object at a specific time
 Displacement
 Let’s revisit our ant, and this time we’ll find
his displacement.
- +

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
cm

 Distance:3 cm
 Displacement: +3 cm
 The positive gives the ant a direction!
 Displacement
 Find the ant’s displacement again.
 Remember, displacement has direction!

- +

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
cm

 Distance:3 cm
 Displacement: -3 cm
 Displacement
 Find the distance and displacement of the
ant.
- +

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
cm

 Distance:7 cm
 Displacement: +3 cm
 Distance vs. Displacement
 You drive the path, and your odometer goes up by 8
miles (your distance).
 Your displacement is the shorter directed distance
from start to stop (green arrow).

start

stop
 Displacement vs. Distance
 Anathlete runs around a track that is 100 meters
long three times, then stops.
 What is the athlete’s distance and displacement?

 Distance= 300 m
 Displacement = 0 m
 Why?
 speed
related quantities:distance ,time and speed

How fast something is moving.

(the distance travelled by an object per unit time)

The distance travelled by a moving object is the

length of its path between two points.

What is the relationship between them?

 dis tan ce
speed 
time
Quantity SI unit Other units

Distance meter,m kilometre,Km miles

Time second,s hour, h hour,h

Speed meter per kilometres per miles per

second,m/s hour, km/h hour,mph
 Velocity
Velocity (v) – How fast an object is travelling, and in[m/s]
what direction.
VECTOR The rate of change of displacement.
 measure of speed in a given direction.
 velocity = x / time, w/ direction
 Scalar or Vector?
 The velocity of an object can change if: •It speeds up
•It slows down
•It changes direction
 Speed Vs Velocity

An object is moving in a circle at a constant speed of 10 m s-1.

We say that it has a constant speed but its velocity is changing. Why?

Direction of Motion

The direction of the object keeps changing.

 Average speed
Speed is usually NOT CONSTANT

Ex. Cars stop and go regularly

Runners go slower uphill than downhill

Average speed = total distance traveled/total time it took.

 Calculating Average Speed
It took me 1 hour to go 40 km on the highway. Then it took me 2 more
hours to go 20 km using the streets.

Total Distance:
40 km + 20 km = 60 km
Total Time:
1 h + 2 h = 3 hr
Ave. Speed:
total d/total t = 60 km/3 h = 20 km/h
Total _ Dist .
Ave. _ Speed 
Total _ time
 Speed & Velocity
Velocity – the SPEED and DIRECTION of an object.

Example:
An airplane moving North at 500 mph
A missile moving towards you at 200 m/s
 Average Speed and Velocity Exercise P6 Q8-9

 Average speed is the total distance traveled divided by the time

interval

 Average velocity is the total displacement traveled divided by

the time interval during which the displacement occurred
 Measuring speed

In the life: speed camera

 Measuring speed

In the lab: light gate

infrared
beam
Using Two Light Gates:

 The light gates are placed a certain

distance apart.

 When the moving object breaks the

first beam it starts a timer.

 When the object breaks the second

beam it stops the timer.

 Speed is calculated using the time

interval and the distance between
the two gates.
Using One Light Gate:

 An ‘interrupt card’ is attached to the

object and the length of the card is
measured.

 When the front of the card passes

through the gate it starts the timer.

 When the back of the card passes

through the gate it stops the timer.

 Speed is calculated using the time

interval, and the length of the card.
Speed can also be measured using a ticker
timer.

 The timer prints dots on a strip of paper

every 1/50 s.

 The paper is attached to the moving

object, and pulled through the timer.

 The length of a strip with 11 dots (1 initial

dot + 10 more) shows the distance the
object travelled in ⅕ = 0.2 s.
 Question
I ran 1000 m in 3 minutes. Then ran another 1000 m uphill in 7 minutes.
What is my average speed?

A) 100 m/min
B) 2000 m/min
C) 10 m/min
D) 200 m/min
E) 20 m/min
Total Dist. = 1000 m + 1000 m = 2000 m

Total Time = 3 min + 7 min = 10 min

Ave speed = total dist/total time =

2000m/10 min = 200 m/min

Exercise
Exercise
 The Kinematic Equations
Five equations that link together five quantities which describe the
motion of an object:

s = displacement
u = initial velocity
v = final velocity
a = acceleration
t = time
Each equation links together four quantities. One
quantity is missing from each equation.

NOTE:

These equations can only be used IF:

 The object is moving in a straight line;

 The object has constant acceleration.

How to Use the Kinematic Equations

1. Identify which quantities you know in the problem. You must know at least
three quantities.
➤ Look out for ‘hidden’ quantities.

2. Identify which quantity you want to know.

3. Find which equation to use - which one links together the quantities you
know and the one you want?

4. If necessary, rearrange your equation to solve for the unknown quantity.

5. Put in your known quantities, and calculate the unknown quantity.

EG 1: A car accelerates from rest for
10 s, reaching a speed of
20 m/s. How far does it move
Know Want Use
in that
u =0
time?
v = 20 m/s s
t = 10 s
EG 2: A ball is dropped from rest, falling
50 m. Its acceleration is
10 m/s2. How much time does it
Know Want Use
takeu to
=0
reach the ground?
a = 10 m/s2 t
s = 50 m
 Graphs of Motion
Graphs of motion show how one of the kinematic
quantities for an object changes over a period of time.
There are five types of graph:

 distance-time
 displacement-time
 speed-time
 velocity-time
 acceleration-time
 In the mathematics

y-axis distance
speed
slope

x-axis
time
A distance–time graph with no slope

it represents a stationary object

(an object with no speed)
 Distance-time graph
distance/m
A- distance is increasing steadily

B- speed is moving at __ m/s

C
C-
B stationary (not moving)
eed
sp
ed

low  The steeper of slop/gradient( 斜

pe

率)
hs
A
hi g

 the faster object was moving

0
time/s 
the greater its speed.
 red line-represents the object is
speeding up .

blue line- shows the objecting

is decreasing.
time
 Graphing Speed:
Distance vs. Time Graphs
Travelling at
constant speed

Stationary

Travelling at constant speed

 Sketch /Draw distance-time graphs

draw x-axis and y-axis

find two or more points

connect all points

 Graphing Speed:
Distance vs. Time Graphs
Speed = gradient of distance-time graph
= Rise/Run

Rise=?
600 km

3h
Exercise
Homework
 Velocity and acceleration in the same direction: speeding up.
 Velocity and acceleration in opposite directions: slowing down.
2.3understanding
acceleration
Sapphire
 Acceleration from speed-time graph
Acceleration=gradient of speed-time
graphs
 Acceleration
accelerate - the rate at which its speed is changing.

the change in speed per unit time

 An object accelerates,
speed increase( 增加 ), accelerating/acceleration

 The object slows down,

speed decrease （减少） , decelerating/ deceleration
 Types of acceleration

Increasing speed
Example: Car speeds up at green light

Decreasing speed
Example: Car slows down at stop light screeeeech

Changing Direction
Example: Car takes turn (can be at constant speed)
 Calculating Acceleration
 Acceleration-the rate of change of an
object’s velocity(uniformly accelerated motion)
u= initial velocity v=final velocity
Final _ VELOCITY Initial _ VELOCITY
Acceleration 
Time

 Units of acceleration:
 m/s2
 Calculating Acceleration
Uniformly accelerated motion
Final _ VELOCITY Initial _ VELOCITY
Acceleration 
Time
16m/ s  0m/ s

4s
 4m/ s 2

0s 1s 2s 3s 4s

0 m/s 4 m/s 8 m/s 12 m/s 16 m/s

 Calculating Acceleration
Uniformly accelerated motion

How to calculate the distance in 4s ?

0s 1s 2s 3s 4s

0 m/s 4 m/s 8 m/s 12 m/s 16 m/s

 Graphing Acceleration:
Speed vs. Time Graphs
14
12
10

Speed (m/s)
8
6 Rise = 4 m/s
4
2 Run = 2 s
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Time (s)

1)In Speed vs. Time graphs:

Acceleration =gradient of speed-time graph= Rise/Run
= 4 m/s ÷ 2 s = 2 m/s2
 speed-time graph
speed The speed increases with time

 speeding up— the

chang in speed is same
(acceleration)

speeding up— the

chang in speed is
time different
(acceleration) .
 speed-time graph
speed

speed constant —
accelaration is 0.

speed has 0,
time the object is stationary.
 speed-time graph
speed

The steeper the slop ,

the greater the acceleration

time
 speed-time graph
speed
The speed decreases with time

slow down— the chang in

speed is same
(deceleration)
slow down— the
time chang in speed is
different
(deceleration) .
 speed-time graph

• positive slope(sloping upwards) : accelerating

• negitive slope(sloping downwards) :

decelerating—— slow down
 speed-time graph
speed

shaded area=distance
travelled

distance= area under

speed-time graph
time
 Area under speed-time graph
A car travels with a uniform speed of 20m/s for 5s.
The distance travelled by the car is given by
Question
14
12
10

Speed (m/s)
Run = 3 s
8
6
Rise = -6 m/s
4
2
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Time (s)
Above is a graph showing the speed of a car over time.
1) How is the speed of the car changing (increase,
decrease, or staying the same)?
2) What is this car’s acceleration?
1)The car is slowing down

2)Acceleration = rise/run =
-6m/s ÷3s = -2 m/s2

A negative slope means a

deceleration
 velocity -time graph
• graph is a straight line: v is changing but direction is not.
• graph is curved line: a is changing.

• slop upwards: accelerating,speeding up

• slop downwards: decelerating ,slowing down

• graph in positive x-axis and y-axis ,object is moving in the

direction.
• graph in negtive x-axis and positive y-axis ,object is
moving in the opposite direction.
 comparison
distance -time graph speed-time graph
slope/gradient speed acceleration
straight line speeds are same:
steady speed;
accelerations are same:
upwards- speed increasing steadily
constant speed downwards- speed decreasing steadily

horizontal line no speed:

stationary object
no acceleration:
steady speed/ constant speed

curved line speeds are changing:

slop increases, object is speeding up
accelerations are changing:
slop upwards-
slop decerase,object is slowing down slop downwards-
Exercise
Exercise
Exercise
 K S
A N
T H
ir e
p ph
Sa