SUMMARY CHAPTER 2

2.1 Displacement

The displacement of an object moving along the x-axis is defined as the change in position of the object,

where xi is the initial position of the object and xf is its final position.

A vector quantity is characterized by both a magnitude and a direction. A scalar quantity has a
magnitude only.

2.2 Velocity

The average speed of an object is given by

The average velocity v during a time interval t is the displacement

divided by

The average velocity is equal to the slope of the straight line joining the initial and final points on a graph
of the position of the object versus time. The slope of the line tangent to the position vs. time curve at
some point is equal to the instantaneous velocity at that time. The instantaneous speed of an object is
defined as the magnitude of the instantaneous velocity.

2.3 Acceleration

The average acceleration a of an object undergoing a change in velocity Dv during a time interval Dt is

The instantaneous acceleration of an object at a certain time equals the slope of a velocity vs. time
graph at that instant.
2.5 One-Dimensional Motion with Constant Acceleration

The most useful equations that describe the motion of an object moving with constant acceleration
along the x-axis are as follows:

All problems can be solved with the first two equations

alone, the last being convenient when time doesnt explicitly

enter the problem. After the constants are properly

identified, most problems reduce to one or two equations

in as many unknowns.

2.6 Freely Falling Objects

An object falling in the presence of Earths gravity exhibits

a free-fall acceleration directed toward Earths center.

If air friction is neglected and if the altitude of the falling

object is small compared with Earths radius, then we can

assume that the free-fall acceleration g 5 9.8 m/s2 is constant

over the range of motion. Equations 2.6, 2.9, and 2.10

apply, with a 5 2g.