King Fahd University of

Petroleum & Minerals

Mechanical Engineering
Dynamics ME 201
BY
Dr. Meyassar N. Al-Haddad
Lecture # 2

Objective

To introduce the concepts of position, displacement,

velocity, and acceleration.
To study particle motion along a straight line.

Rectilinear Kinematics
Section 12.2

Rectilinear : Straight line motion

Kinematics : Study the geometry of the motion dealing
with
s, v, a.
Rectilinear Kinematics : To identify at any given instant, the
particles position, velocity, and acceleration.

(All objects such as rockets, projectiles, or vehicles will be

considered as particles has negligible size and shape

particles : has mass but negligible size and shape

Position

Position : Location of a
particle at any given instant
with respect to the origin

r : Displacement ( Vector )
s : Distance ( Scalar )

Distance & Displacement

Displacement : defined as the

change in position.
r : Displacement ( 3 km )
s : Distance
( 8 km )
Total length
For straight-line
Distance = Displacement
s
=
r
s r

Vector is direction oriented

r positive (left )
r negative (right)

River

City
QUT

My Place
X

3km

8 km

Velocity & Speed

Velocity : Displacement per unit time

Average velocity :
V = rt
Speed : Distance per unit time
Average speed :
spsTt (Always positive scalar )
Speed refers to the magnitude of velocity
Average velocity :
avg = s / t

Velocity (con.)

Instantaneous velocity :

V lim
t 0

For straight-line

r
t

r = s

ds
v
dt

dr
dt

Problem

A particle moves along a straight line such that its

position is defined by s = (t3 3 t2 + 2 ) m. Determine the
velocity of the particle when t = 4 s.

ds
v
3t 2 6t
dt
At t = 4 s, the velocity = 3 (4)2 6(4) = 24 m/s

Acceleration

Acceleration : The rate of change

in velocity {(m/s)/s}

V V V

Average acceleration :

aavg

Instantaneous acceleration :

v dv d 2 s
a lim

2
t 0 t
dt dt

If v > v
If v < v

Acceleration
Deceleration

Problem

A particle moves along a straight line such that its position is

defined by s = (t3 3 t2 + 2 ) m. Determine the acceleration of the
particle when t = 4 s.

ds
3t 2 6t
dt

dv
6t 6
dt

At t = 4

a(4) = 6(4) - 6 = 18 m/s2

Problem

A particle moves along a straight line such that its position is defined
by s = (t3 12 t2 + 36 t -20 ) cm. Describe the motion of P during the
time interval [0,9]

ds
3t 2 24t 36 3(t 2)(t 6)
dt
dv
a
6t 24 6(t 4)
dt

-20

12

-4

-20

61

36

-12

63

-24

-12

12

30

Total time = 9 seconds

Total distance = (32+32+81)= 145 meter
Displacement = form -20 to 61 = 81 meter
Average Velocity = 81/9= 9 m/s to the right
Speed = 9 m/s
Average speed = 145/9 = 16.1 m/s
Average acceleration = 27/9= 3 m/s2 to the right

Relation involving s, v, and a

No time t
Position s
Velocity

ds
v
dt

Acceleration a

dv
dt

ds
dt
v

dt

dv
a

a ds v dv

ds dv

v
a

Problem 12.18

A car starts from rest and moves along a straight line with
an acceleration of a = ( 3 s -1/3 ) m/s2. where s is in meters.
Determine the cars acceleration when t = 4 s.
Rest t = 0 , v = 0
1

s 3 ds 3 dt

a ds v dv
s

1
3

3s ds vdv
0

1
3

ds 3 dt
0

3 3
s 3t
2

1
3

ds
v
3s
dt

s
0

3
1 2
3
(3) s v
2
2

v 3s

1
3

s (2t )

3
2

For constant acceleration

a = ac

Velocity as a Function of Time

dv
ac
dt

dv ac dt
v

dv a

vo

dt

v v0 ac t

Position as a Function of Time

ds
v
v0 ac t
dt
s

ds (v

so

ac t ) dt

1 2
s s0 v0t ac t
2

velocity as a Function of Position

v dv ac ds
v

v dv a

v0

ds

s0

1 2 1 2
v v0 ac ( s s0 )
2
2

v v 2 ac ( s s 0 )
2

2
0

Free Fall

Ali and Omar are standing at the top of a cliff of height H. Both throw a ball with initial speed v0, Ali straight down and Omar straight up.
up. The speed of the
balls when they hit the ground are vA and vO respectively. Which of the following is true:

(a)

vA < vO

(b) vA = vO

(c) vA > vO

Ali
v0

v0

Omar
H

vA

vO

Free fall

Since the motion up and back down is symmetric, intuition should tell you that v = v0
We can prove that your intuition is correct:

v 2 v 02 2( g ) H H 0

Equation:

Omar
v0

This looks just like Omar threw

the ball down with speed v0, so
the speed at the bottom should
be the same as Alis ball.

v = v0
H

y=0

Free fall

We can also just use the equation directly:

Ali

v 2 v 02 2( g ) 0 H

Omar: v

Ali
v0

v0

v 02 2 ( g ) 0 H

Omar

y=H

y=0

same !!

Summary

Time dependent acceleration

s (t )
ds
v
dt
2
dv d s
a
2
dt dt

a ds v dv

Constant acceleration

v v0 ac t
1 2
s s0 v0t ac t
2

v v 2 ac ( s s 0 )
2

2
0

This applies to a freely falling object:

a g 9.81 m / s 2 32.2 ft / s 2