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ENABLING OBJECTIVES:

1. Describe the following terms:

1.1. Distance and Displacement.
1.2. Speed and Velocity.
1.3. Acceleration.
2. Solve simple problems on distance, displacement, speed, velocity and acceleration.
3. Carry out an investigation into distance-time graph, calculate the gradient and its speed:
3.1. Plot velocity-time graph and:
3.1.1. Calculate the gradient and interpret it as acceleration.
3.1.2. Calculate the area under the curve and interpret it as the distance travelled.
4. Describe the effect of force on acceleration:
4.1. Describe the acceleration due to gravity:
4.1.1.Explain the acceleration of the free fall of a body near to Earth.
4.1.2.Determine experimentally the acceleration due to gravity.

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DISTANCE AND DISPLACEMENT.

DISTANCE
 The total length of travel irrespective
of the direction and motion.
 It is a scalar quantity.
 S. I. Unit: metre (m)
DISPLACEMENT
 The shortest distance from the initial
to the final position of a point (The
length of the imaginary straight path).
 It is a vector quantity.
 S. I .Unit: metre (m)

SPEED AND VELOCITY.

SPEED VELOCITY
 The distance moved by the object per  The distance travelled by the object
unit time. per unit time in a specific direction.
 It is also defined the rate of change
of displacement.
 It is a scalar quantity.  It is a vector quantity.
s  speed , m / s v  speed , m / s
d d
 s d  dis tan ce, m  v d  displacement , m
t t  time, s
t t  time, s
 S. I. Unit: metre per second (m/s or  S. I .Unit: metre per second (m/s or
ms 1 ) ms 1 )

ACCELERATION.

 Acceleration: The rate of change of velocity.

 The formula for acceleration is given by:
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vu
a
t
Where a – acceleration, m / s 2
v – final velocity, m / s
u – initial velocity, m / s
t – time, s
 S. I. Unit: m / s 2 or ms 2
 It is a vector quantity.
 Acceleration only occurs when there are changes in velocities.
 If the velocity of the moving object is constant throughout, there is no acceleration.
 If the velocity is increasing, the object is accelerating (acceleration) – positive
acceleration.
 If the velocity is decreasing, the object is decelerating (deceleration or retardation)
– negative acceleration.

DISTANCE/DISPLACEMENT-TIME GRAPH.

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SPEED/VELOCITY-TIME GRAPH.

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AREA UNDER THE CURVE (GRAPH).

 The distance moved by the object per unit time.

 The area under a speed/velocity-time graph will give the total distance travelled.

EFFECT OF FORCE ON ACCELERATION.

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 An object is in “free fall” if the only force acting on it is the weight or the force due
to gravity.
 The acceleration due to gravity is denoted by g and its value is approximately 10
m / s2 .
 Falling object can only be in free fall if there is no air resistance.
 ALL objects (regardless of their mass and size) will fall at the same speed/velocity
when there is no air resistance. If they are released from the same height, they will
reach the ground at the same time.
 The equation of force due to acceleration is given by:
F  ma
Where a - the acceleration due free fall, m / s2
m - mass of the object, kg
F - Force acting on the weight of the object, N