Physics Assignment Help | Equations of Motion|www.expertsmind.

com
E EQ QU UA AT TI IO ON NS S O OF F M MO OT TI IO ON N
EQUATIONS OF LINEAR MOTION FOR UNIFORM ACCELERATION
Given a particle moving along a straight line with fixed acceleration a. Let u be the initial velocity of
the particle and v be the velocity at time t. So by definition,
dv
a
dt
= dv = a dt
Integrating,
v t t
u 0 0
dv a dt a dt = =
} } }
(a being a constant may be taken out of the integral) v u = at
v = u + at (i)
Further, v =
dx
dt
dx = vdt
But, v = u + at, dx = (u + at)dt
Integrating within limits, equations change into,
s t
0 0
dx (u at)dt = +
} }

t t
0 0
s 0 u dt a t dt = +
} }

,
2 2
1
s u(t 0) a t 0
2
= +
t t 2 2 2
0 0
t 0 t
dt t and t dt
2 2 2
| | | |
= = =

\ . \ .
} }

2
1
s ut at
2
= + (ii)
Again, going back to definition of acceleration, we have,
dv
a
dt
=
Multiply and divide RHS of above equation by dx, equation gets,
dx dv
a
dt dx
| | | |
=

\ . \ .

dv
a v
dx
= adv = adx
Integrating within limits, equation converts,
v s
u 0
v dv a dx =
} }

s
v
2
u
0
v
ax
2
=

2 2
v u
a(s 0)
2 2
=
2 2
v u 2as = (iii)
From (i) and (iii) we also result that,
u v
s t
2
+ | |
=

\ .
(iv)
Equation (iv) is a special equation, as we do not have a in this equation, but still it belongs to
motion, which is uniformly accelerated.
To result, we again write the equation of motion for constant acceleration below.
v = u + at ; s = ut +
2
1
at
2
;
2 2
v u 2as = ; s =
u v
s t
2
+ | |
=

\ .
EQUATION OF MOTION FOR VARIABLE ACCELERATION
Case I when acceleration (a) of the particle is a function of time i.e.
A = f(t)
dv
f(t)
dt
= dv = f(t)dt
Integrating both sides within limits, equation have,
v t
u 0
dv f(t)dt =
} }
v u
t
0
f(t)dt =
}
v = u +
t
0
f(t)dt
}
Case II When acceleration a of the particle is a function of distance i.e.
a = f(x)
dv
dt
= f(x)
dv dx
dx dt
= f(x)
v
dv
dx
= f(x) vdv = f(x)dx
Integrating we get,
v s
u 0
vdv f(x)dx =
} }

s 2 2
0
v u
f(x)dx
2 2
=
}

s
2 2
0
v u 2 f(x)dx = +
}
Case III When acceleration of the given particle is a function of velocity i.e.,
a = f(v)
dv
f(v)
dt
=
Option 1 Option 2
dv
dt
f(v)
=
Integrating,
t v
0 u
dv
dt
f(v)
=
} }
v
u
dv
t
f(v)
=
}
dv
v f(v)
dx
=
vdv
dx
f(v)
=
vdv
a
dx

=
`
)
Integrating,
x v
x0 u
vdv
dx
f(v)
=
} }
v
0
u
vdv
x x
f(v)
= +
}
The displacement by the body of particle in n
th
second is given by , (2 1)
2
= +
n
a
s u n