Motion descriptors

What is the similarity between the motion

descriptors in the first column?
How are they different from the second column?
How are they related mathematically.

Displacement Distance
Velocity speed
Acceleration
A car accelerates along a road and
leave oil drops every half a second.
Use the scale diagram on the board to
explain how the dots can be used to find
the displacement of the car at different
times.
Explain how they could be used to find
the instantaneous velocity and average
velocity after 3 seconds.
Distance and Displacement
 Velocity and speed
ΔDisplacement (m) Eg. A cars
Velocity (m/s) = velocity is
Δ Time (s) 20m/s
North

Δ Distance (m)
Speed (m/s) =
Δ Time (s)
If velocity is rate of change of displacement, if a cars initial displacement is +10.0m
what will the displacement be in 3 seconds if the velocity is:- (take positive to the
right)
a) +3 m/s?
b) -2 m/s?
c) Try to illustrate your answer with a diagram. Draw vectors of the initial and final
displacements and the velocity vectors on the x axis for a) and b)
d) What would the answer to b) be after 6 seconds. What does the negative sign
mean?
 Acceleration
Δ velocity (m/s)
Acceleration =
(m/s2) Δ Time for change (s)

If acceleration is rate of change of velocity

for an initial velocity of 20m/s what will the velocity
be in 5 seconds if the acceleration is:-
a) +2m/s2?
b) -2m/s2?
c) Could the velocity ever become negative? What does
this mean?
 Vectors and scalars
Vector Scalar
(Number and direction) (a number)
Force (N) Energy (J)
Displacement (m) Distance (m)
Velocity (m/s) Speed (m/s)
Acceleration (m/s2) Mass (kg)
Drawing vectors – copy the diagram, choose and write
down a scale, represent the three vectors

Time elapsed 5s
Displacement +25 m
Velocity + 10 m/s
Acceleration +2 m/s2

S=0
 A Displacement time graph for a rabbit
displacement (m) (S= 0 is the rabbit’s hole)
20
15
Displacement (m)
10 (∆s)

5
0 Time elapsed (s) (∆t)

0 10 20 30 40 50

time (s)
∆S (m)
Gradient = Instantaneous =
Velocity (m/s) ∆t (s)
This graph show the displacement of a rabbit from the entrance of his
hole. When was the rabbit moving away from his hole with the greatest
speed?

20
displacement (m)

15
10
5
0
0 10 20 30 40 50
time (s)
The gradient gives the speed but when is the graph steepest. Could be at
the end but the rabbit is moving towards his hole after 40s so the
steepest bit would be 20 to 30s.
 20
displacement (m)

15
10
5
0
0 10 20 30 40 50

time (s)
a) Can the average velocity for the 100m be higher than the highest instantaneous velocity?
b) Can the instantaneous velocity be different from the average velocity at any instant?

The gradient gives the speed but when is the graph steepest. Could be at
the end but the rabbit is moving towards his hole after 40s so the
steepest bit would be 20 to 30s.
When was the rabbit the furthest away from his hole?

20
displacement (m)

15
10
5
0
0 10 20 30 40 50
time (s)
don't look at the gradient here just the value of the displacement. The
highest displacement is at 40s.
 A Velocity time graph for a car.

velocity time graph for a car

40

35

30
velocity (m/s)

25

20

15

10

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
time (s)

Instantaneous ∆v (m/s)
Gradient = Acceleration (m/s2) =
∆t (s)
 A Velocity time graph for a car.

velocity time graph for a car

40

35
velocity (m/s)

30

25

20

15

10

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
time (s)
 A Velocity time graph for a car.

velocity time graph for a car

40

35

30
velocity (m/s)

25

20

15

10

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
time (s)
 Motion descriptors
a) A car is moving at constant velocity. It covers 20 m in
2.2 seconds. Calculate its velocity. v = 20/2.2 = 9.1
m/s
b) A car is changes if velocity from 10 to 15 m/s in 10
seconds. Calculate its acceleration. a = 5/ 10 = 0.5
m/s2
 Which car has constant acceleration?

20

18

16

14

12
Car A
Velocity 10
Linear (Car A)
(m/s) 8
Car B
6

4
Polynomial (Car B)
2

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Time (s)

A, to find the acceleration of each car you have to find the gradient.
The gradient changes all the time for car B but for car A the graph is a
straight line so the gradient doesn't change.
 a) Find the displacement of car B during the 8.0 seconds
shown by the graph.
b) Use your answer to find the average velocity of car B
c) Which 4.5
car had the highest average velocity.
4

3.5

2.5 Car A
Velocity 2 Linear (Car A)
(m/s) 1.5 Car B
1
Polynomial (Car B)
0.5

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Time (s)

a)16m
b)2.0m/s
c) the same.
 A ball is thrown into the air:-
a) are its velocity and acceleration always in the same direction?
b) Can an object have zero velocity and non zero acceleration?
c) Can an object have zero acceleration and non zero velocity?

a) No, on the way down they are

opposite
b) Yes, it must if its stationary and
starts to move eg the ball at the
top of its flight.
c) Yes, balanced or no forces
acting, eg the ball when air res
equals weight.
 The spoons are tied to a 10m long piece of string, equally spaced out along the
string. They are dropped from a 20m building. (ignore air resistance)
a) Do the spoons hit the ground with the same speed?
b) Does the time interval between the spoons hitting the ground increase or
decrease?

a) No, the one that fall further has a

higher speed.
b) It decreases (draw a v vs t
diagram to see why.
 What is the average acceleration of the car during the time t =
7.0 to t = 9.0 s?
25

20

15

velocity (m/s)
10

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12

time elapsed (s)

10 m/s2 find the gradient
 How far does the car go in the first 4.0 seconds?
25

20

15

velocity (m/s)
10

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12

time elapsed (s)

find the area of the triangle

 How far does the snail go in the first 4.0 s?
25

20

15

Displacement
(mm)
10

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12

time elapsed (s)

read the value from the graph

 A car moves along a straight road with the speed shown in the graph:-
a)calculate the average acceleration during the first 6 seconds of
motion?
b) what is the instantaneous acceleration at time 2 seconds?
25

20

15

velocity (m/s)
10

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12

time elapsed (s)

a) 3.3 (m/s)/s
b) 5.0 (m/s)/s
 A car moves along a straight road with the speed shown in the graph:-
a) calculate the distance travelled by the car during the first 9 seconds of
the motion?
b) calculate the average acceleration during the first 6 seconds of
motion?
25

20

15

velocity (m/s)
10

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12

time elapsed (s)

a) 120m
b) 3.3 m/s2
The graphs show acceleration of an arrow vs time for two different types of bow and arrow.
a) Could the kinematic equations be used for either bow and arrow?
b) What does the area under each curve represent?
c) What does the gradient of the graphs mean?

a) No, the acceleration isn’t constant.

b) Change in velocity.
c) Rate of change of acceleration (which doesn’t have a special name).
a) Car A and car B both have an instantaneous speed of 100
km/hr, do they have the same velocity?
b) If a car has a higher velocity than another car does that
mean it has a higher acceleration?

a) No, the direction is opposite.

b) No, acceleration and velocity are generally independent.
a) A trolley is accelerated by a piece of elastic. The motion is recorded with a ticker
tape, the time between each dot is 0.02 seconds.
b) What would the time from the start be when the trolleys displacement is 3.2 cm.
c) what would the displacement be at A
d) what would the displacement be at B
e) what would the change in displacement be between A and B
f) what would the velocity be from A to B

(cm)

Answers.
 Choose the correct combination, from t = 0 to 6

20
18
16
14
12
Car A
Velocity
10 Linear (Car A)
8
(m/s) 6
Car B
4 Polynomial (Car
2
B)
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Time (s)
A. Highest instantaneous velocity A, highest instantaneous acceleration B, highest
displacement B
B. Highest instantaneous velocity B, highest instantaneous acceleration B, highest
displacement B
C. Highest instantaneous velocity B, highest instantaneous acceleration A, highest
displacement B
D. Highest instantaneous velocity B, highest instantaneous acceleration B, highest
displacement A
 Relating the graphs:-
displacement time graph for a train

1200

Displacement (m)
1000

800

600

400

200

0 10 20 30 40(s)
time 50 60 70 80

Area = Displacement (m/s) Gradient = Velocity (m/s)

velocity time graph for a train
30

25
velocity (m/s)

20

15

10

0 10 20 30 time40(s) 50 60 70 80

Area = Velocity (m/s) Gradient = Acceleration (m/s2)

acceleration time graph for a train

1
acceleration (m/s2)

0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0

0 10 20 30 time40(s) 50 60 70 80