Lesson

Quiz

Experiment

III. Motion in One Dimension

a.

Description of Motion in One Dimension

Motion is described in terms of displacement (x), time (t), velocity (v), and acceleration (a).
Velocity is the rate of change of displacement and the acceleration is the rate of change of
velocity. The average velocity and average acceleration are defined by the relationships:

A bar above any quantity indicates that it is the average

value of that quantity. If the acceleration is constant,
then equations 1,2 and 3 represent a complete
description of the motion. Equation 4 is obtained by a
combination of the others. Click on any of the equations
for an example.
Graphing one-dimensional motion
b.

Distance, Displacement Average Velocity and Time

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For position parameters:
x1 =

x2 =

y1 =

y2 =

z1 =

z2 =

the distance is
d=
The displacement of an object is defined as the vector distance from some initial point to a
final point. It is therefore distinctly different from the distance traveled except in the case of
straight line motion. The distance traveled divided by the time is called the speed, while the
displacement divided by the time defines the average velocity.

If the positions of the initial and final points are

known, then the distance relationship can be used to
find the displacement.

The case of motion in one dimension (one direction) is a good starting point for the
description of motion. Perhaps the most intuitive relationship is that average velocity is equal
to distance divided by time:

A basic type of calculation may be explored here by substituting numbers and then clicking
on the bold text of the quantity you wish to calculate. Make only one substitution at a time
and click the desired quantity -- then you can repeat with other substitutions.

m=

m/s *

s=(

m/s +

m/s) * time/2

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c.

Quiz

Experiment

Velocity

The average speed of an object is defined as the distance traveled divided by the time elapsed.
Velocity is a vector quantity, and average velocity can be defined as the displacement divided
by the time. For the special case of straight line motion in the x direction, the average velocity
takes the form:

The units for velocity can be implied from the definition to be meters/second or in general any
distance unit over any time unit.
You can approach an expression for the instantaneous velocity at any point on the path by
taking the limit as the time interval gets smaller and smaller. Such a limiting process is called
a derivative and the instantaneous velocity can be defined as

d.

Average Velocity, Straight Line

The average speed of an object is defined as the distance traveled divided by the
time elapsed. Velocity is a vector quantity, and average velocity can be defined as the
displacement divided by the time. For the special case of straight line motion in the x
direction,
the
average
velocity
takes
the
form:

If the beginning and ending velocities for this motion are known, and the acceleration is
constant,
the
average
velocity
can
also
be
expressed
as

For this special case, these expressions give the same result.
Average Velocity, General
The average speed of an object is defined as the distance traveled divided by the time elapsed.
Velocity is a vector quantity, and average velocity can be defined as the displacement divided
by the time. For general cases involving non-constant acceleration, this definition must be
applied directly because the straight line average velocity expressions do not work.

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If the positions of the initial and final points are known, then the distance relationship can be
used to find the displacement.
e.

Acceleration

Acceleration is defined as the rate of change of velocity. Acceleration is inherently a vector

quantity, and an object will have non-zero acceleration if its speed and/or direction is
changing.
The
average
acceleration
is
given
by

where the small arrows indicate the vector quantities. The operation of subtracting the initial
from the final velocity must be done by vector addition since they are inherently vectors.
The units for acceleration can be implied from the definition to be meters/second divided by
seconds, usually written m/s2.
The instantaneous acceleration at any time may be obtained by taking the limit of the average
acceleration as the time interval approaches zero. This is the derivative of the velocity with
respect to time:

f.

Forms of Motion Equations

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Motion Example
Initial velocity =

m/s, Final velocity =

m/s

Distance
traveled x =
m
In this example, the items labeled on
the diagram are considered primary: if
one of them is changed, the others
remain the same. The data in the
boxes may be changed, and the
calculation will be done when you
click outside the box, subject to the
constraints described. Changing
average velocity, acceleration or time
will force a change in at least one of
the original quantities. In this version,
the final velocity is allowed to change.

Distance x =

Initial velocity v0 =
Final velocity v =

m/s
m/s

Average velocity =
Acceleration a =
Time t =

m/s
m/s^2

g. Linear Motion Explorer

These motion equations apply only in the case of constant acceleration. It is assumed that x=0
at t=0 and that the motion is being examined at time t. After you have edited any box of
motion data, click on the text or symbol for the quantity you wish to calculate. If it does not
behave the way you expect, see the comments on the calculation.

m=
m/s =

s
m/s =

m/s +

m/s^2 x

m=
m/s x

s + 1/2

m/s^2 * t^2

Comments on Motion Explorer

In the example motion calculation, some assumptions are made about the calculation order. It is
intended to be an exploration exercise, and may not conveniently solve all problems. The motion
equations represent a complete set of equations for constant acceleration motion, but in certain types
of problems, intermediate results must be calculated before proceeding to the final calculation. In the
example calculation, you may have to do intermediate calculations, e.g., to establish the final velocity,
in order to set up the problem you wish to solve, just as if you were working the problem with
calculator and paper.
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In the example calculation, the time, initial velocity, and displacement were considered given
(primary) unless they were being calculated . For example,if x is being calculated, then v is assumed
given, so it must be calculated first if you want to specify a. After making substitutions, not all values
are updated, so to be sure a specific parameter has been updated, click on the text or symbol associated
with that parameter.

h.

Motion Graphs

Constant acceleration motion can be characterized by motion equations and by motion graphs.
The graphs of distance, velocity and acceleration as functions of time below were calculated
for one-dimensional motion using the motion equations in a spreadsheet. The acceleration
does change, but it is constant within a given time segment so that the constant acceleration
equations can be used. For variable acceleration (i.e., continuously changing), then calculus
methods must be used to calculate the motion graphs.

Add annotation about the slopes of the graphs.

A considerable amount of information about the motion can be obtained by examining the
slope of the various graphs. The slope of the graph of position as a function of time is equal to
the velocity at that time, and the slope of the graph of velocity as a function of time is equal to
the acceleration.

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The Slopes of Motion Graphs

A considerable amount of information about the motion can be obtained by examining the
slope of the various motion graphs. The slope of the graph of position as a function of time is
equal to the velocity at that time, and the slope of the graph of velocity as a function of time is
equal to the acceleration.

In this example where the initial position and velocity were zero, the height of the position
curve is a measure of the area under the velocity curve. The height of the position curve will
increase so long as the velocity is constant. As the velocity becomes negative, the position
curve drops as the net positive area under the velocity curve decreases. Likewise the height of
the velocity curve is a measure of the area under the acceleration curve. The fact that the final
velocity is zero is an indication that the positive and negative contributions were equal.

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