Motion Notes

Overview
Mechanics – 2 parts
 Kinematics
• Characteristics of motion
 Dynamics
• Causes of motion
Kinematics
 Imagine a three legged stool and each
leg is a fundamental parameter of
motion:
• Position (distance/location)
• Time
• Speed
Kinematics – Position
 Position (linear measure)
• Where an object is located at specific point in
time
• Units of meters
• Can be described in terms of:
• Distance (scalar)
• measure from one position to another
• Displacement (vector)
• measure from one position to another in a direction
• distance from the start point to the finish point in a
straight line, in a certain direction
Vector vs Scalar (Dist vs Disp)
 Consider an Olympic track – 400 m
• Distance covered?
• 400 m
• Displacement (finish-start)
• 0 m!
Kinematics - time
 Units
• Seconds (standard)
• Minutes/hours (common)
Kinematics - Speed
 Definition
• Rate of change of position
• Average Speed (scalar) = distance traveled
time taken to travel the distance
• Velocity (vector) = displacement
time taken
• When traveling in a straight line, speed and velocity have
the same magnitude.
• vav = d/t (or d = vav *t)
• Units: meters/second (m/s)
 Distance is to speed (both scalar quantities)
as displacement is to velocity (both vector
quantities).
Average speed (alternative formula) vav = (v0 + vf)/2
Vector vs Scalar (Speed vs Vel)
 Consider an Olympic track – 400 m in 40
seconds…
• Distance covered?
• 400 m
• Speed?
• =dist/time = 400/40 = 10 m/s
• Displacement (finish-start)?
• 0 m!
• Velocity?
• = displacement/time = 0/40 = 0 m/s
Example – speed
 (Jamaican) Usain “Lightning” Bolt won
the World Track & Field 100m sprint in
9.58 sec. What was his average speed
in m/s?
• Solve: avg speed = distance/time
• Speed (v) = 100/9.58 = 10.44 m/s
 What about 50m freestyle swimming
where Cielo’s record is 20.91 sec?
• Avg Speed = 50/20.91 = 2.39 m/s
MPH equivalent?
Example - segments
 A traveler uses a cab to travel east for
1000 m @ 25 m/s then north for 1700 m
@ 10 m/s. How long is the trip?
 Solution: break the trip into segments
and use d = v*t or t = d/v to find the
segment times – then add.
• Seg 1: t = 1000/25 = 40 seconds
• Seg 2: t = 1700/10 = 170 seconds
• Total time = 40 + 170 = 210 seconds (3m:30s)
Kinematics - Acceleration
 How do you pass a car on I-81?
 Definition
• Rate of change of velocity
• a = v/t, or
• a = (vf – v0)/t, where
• vf = final (ending) velocity
• v0 = initial (starting) velocity
• t = time taken for the velocity to change
• units: meters/sec/sec, or meters/sec2 (m/s2)
• VECTOR!
 Example - acceleration
 A funny car accelerates from zero to 300
mph (135 m/s) in 5 seconds. What is its
acceleration?
 Solve: acceleration = (vf – vo)/t
• a = (135 - 0)/5
• a = 27 m/s/s
• a = 27 m/s2
 g-forces?
 Kinematics – Graphs
(Distance vs Time)
 slope = velocity or
speed of the object
 Steep (left) slope =
higher speed
 Zero slope (flat line)
= object stationary
 Slope can be + or –
indicating motion
direction
Distance-time graphs

A. Constant speed
B. Returning to start
C. Stopped
D. Slowing down
 Kinematics – Graphs
(Velocity vs time)
 slope is acceleration
 Steep (left) slope =
higher accel’n
 Zero slope (flat line) =
zero accel’n or the
object is moving at
constant speed
 Slope can be + or –
indicating speed
direction
Velocity/speed – time graphs

E. Steady speed (acc=0)

F. Slowing down (neg acc)
G. Speeding up (pos acc)
H. Stopped
Practice - Handouts
 H/O Interpretation of Motion Graphs
• D-T & V-T
 H/O d-t & v-t graph worksheet
• D-T & V-T
 H/O Position Time
• D-T & V-T
Summary
 vav = dist/time = d/t
 d = vav*t (“I-81” formula)
 vav = (v0 + vf)/2
 a = (vf – v0)/t