Motion in a Straight Line

What is Motion in a Straight Line?

If an object changes its position with respect to its surroundings with time, then it is called in
motion. It is a change in the position of an object over time. Motion in a straight line is nothing
but linear motion. As the name suggests, it’s in a particular straight line, thus it can be said that it
uses only one dimension.

Types of Linear Motion

The linear motion, also called the Rectilinear Motion can be of two types:

1. Uniform linear motion with constant velocity or zero acceleration

2. Non-Uniform linear motion with variable velocity or non-zero acceleration

Linear motion is the simplest kind of one-dimensional motion. As Newton’s first law of
motion suggests, an object will either be in rest or continue to move in a straight line with a
uniform velocity unless and until an external force is applied to it.
You are suggested not to get confuse linear motion with general motion. As we discussed, linear
motion is a one-dimensional motion but in general, the motion has magnitude and direction both,
i.e. an object’s position and velocity are described in vector quantities.

Uniform Motion in a Straight Line

If a body travels in a straight line and covers an equal amount of distance in an equal interval of
time, then it is said to have uniform motion. In simple words, a body is said to have uniform
acceleration if the rate of change of its velocity remains constant.
The ball covers equal distance in equal intervals of time
Example:
If a car travels at a speed of 60 km/hour then it will cover a distance of 1 km/minute. In this
sense, the motion of car acceleration is uniform.

Non-uniform Motion in a Straight Line

Unlike, the uniform acceleration, the body is said to have a non-uniform motion when the
velocity of a body changes by unequal amounts in equal intervals of time. The rate of change of
its velocity changes at different points of time during its movement.
Example:
A boy kicking a football. It might cover 4 meters in the first attempt, 6 meters in the second
change, 9 meters in the third attempt and so on as per the velocity exerted by the boy.

Motion in a Straight Line Formulas

Following are the formulas of motion in a straight line:

v =u + at

s=ut+12at2
v2 = u2 + 2as

https://byjus.com/physics/motion-in-a-straight-line/#:~:text=What%20is%20Motion%20in%20a,is
%20nothing%20but%20linear%20motion.

3.S: Motion Along a Straight Line

(Summary)
Key Terms
acceleration due to
acceleration of an object as a result of gravity
gravity

average
the rate of change in velocity; the change in velocity over time
acceleration

average speed the total distance traveled divided by elapsed time

 the displacement divided by the time over which displacement
average velocity
occurs

displacement the change in position of an object

distance traveled the total length of the path traveled between two positions

elapsed time the difference between the ending time and the beginning time

free fall the state of movement that results from gravitational force only

instantaneous
acceleration at a specific point in time
acceleration

instantaneous
the absolute value of the instantaneous velocity
speed

instantaneous
the velocity at a specific instant or time point
velocity

the description of motion through properties such as position,

kinematics
time, velocity, and acceleration

position the location of an object at a particular time

total displacement the sum of individual displacements over a given time period

a kinematics problem in which the unknowns are calculated by

two-body pursuit
solving the kinematic equations simultaneously for two moving
problem
objects

Key Equations
https://phys.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/University_Physics/Book
%3A_University_Physics_(OpenStax)/Map%3A_University_Physics_I_-
_Mechanics_Sound_Oscillations_and_Waves_(OpenStax)/03%3A_Motion_Along_a_Straight_Line/3.0S
%3A_3.S%3A_Motion_Along_a_Straight_Line_(Summary)

PDF posVelAccel

http://www.spumone.org/contentSvr/dynNotes/posVelAccel/posVelAccel.pdf

The Physics Hypertextbook

https://physics.info/motion-graphs/

What is the Difference Between Velocity

And Acceleration?
Velocity and acceleration both describe motion, but there is an important
difference between the two. If you’re studying physics at high school or
college level, understanding the differences between them is essential.
Understanding what velocity means leads to an understanding of what
acceleration means because while velocity is the rate of change of
position, acceleration is the rate of change of velocity. If you’re traveling
at a constant pace, you have velocity but no acceleration, but if you’re
traveling and your pace is changing, you have velocity and acceleration.

What Is Velocity?
The rate of change of your position with time defines your velocity. In everyday
language, velocity means the same thing as speed. However, in physics, there is an
important distinction between the two terms. Speed is a “scalar” quantity, and it’s
measured in units of distance/time, so in meters per second or miles per hour. Velocity
is a “vector” quantity, so it has both a magnitude (the speed) and a direction.
Technically, saying you’re traveling at 5 meters per second is a speed and saying
you’re traveling at 5 meters per second towards the north is a velocity, because the
latter has a direction too.

The formula for velocity is:

Velocity = distance traveled ÷ time taken

In the language of calculus, it can be more precisely defined as the rate of change of
position with respect to time and so is given by the derivative of the equation for
position with respect to time.

What Is Acceleration?
Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity with time. Like velocity, this is a vector
quantity that has a direction as well as a magnitude. An increase in velocity is
commonly called acceleration while a decrease in velocity is sometimes termed
deceleration. Technically, since velocity includes a direction as well as a speed, a
change in direction at a constant speed is still considered acceleration. Acceleration
can be defined simply as:

Acceleration = change in velocity ÷ time taken for velocity to change

Acceleration has units of distance/time squared – for example, meters/second 2.

In the language of calculus, this is more precisely defined as the rate of change of
velocity with respect to time, so it’s found by taking the derivative of the expression for
velocity with respect to time. Alternatively, you can find it by taking the second
derivative of the expression for position with respect to time.

Constant Acceleration vs. Constant Velocity

Traveling with a constant velocity means you’re going at the same speed in the same
direction continuously. If you have a constant velocity, this means you have zero
acceleration. You can imagine this as driving down a straight road but keeping your
speedometer on the same value.

A constant acceleration is quite different. If you travel with a constant acceleration,

your velocity is always changing, but it’s changing by a consistent amount each
second. The acceleration due to gravity on the Earth has the constant value 9.8 m/s 2,
so you can imagine this like dropping something from a skyscraper. The velocity starts
low, but increases by 9.8 m/s for every second it is falling under gravity.

Acceleration and Newton’s Second Law

Acceleration, rather than velocity, forms a key part of Newton’s second law of motion.
The equation is F = ma, where F stands for force, m is mass, and a is the
acceleration. Because of the link between velocity and acceleration, you can also write
this as force = mass × the rate of change of velocity. However, acceleration is the key
characteristic here, not velocity.

Velocity and Momentum

The equation for momentum uses velocity instead of acceleration. Momentum
is p = mv, where p is momentum, m is mass, and v is velocity. In Newton’s second
law, acceleration multiplied by mass gives force, whereas when velocity is multiplied
by mass, this gives the momentum. Their definitions are different, and this shows how
those differences lead to distinct equations in practice.

https://sciencing.com/what-is-the-difference-between-velocity-and-acceleration-
13710473.html
Physics 1
Kinematics Notes
Velocity vs. Acceleration
Velocity and Acceleration
The concepts of velocity and acceleration are linked together, but they are
linked incorrectly in many people's minds. Many people think that if an object has a
large velocity, it must have a large acceleration - if it has a small velocity, it must
have a small acceleration - if its velocity is zero, its acceleration must be zero,
too. THIS IS WRONG!!

Acceleration is the rate at which velocity changes, which means that acceleration tells
you how fast the velocity is changing. A large acceleration tells you that the velocity is
changing quickly - a small acceleration tells you that the velocity is changing slowly -
an acceleration of zero tells you that the velocity is not changing at all.

Acceleration tells you how the velocity changes - it doesn't tell how how much the
velocity is! An object can have a large velocity and a small (or zero) acceleration -
and vice versa.

Speeding Up and Slowing Down

Many people also have the misguided notion that "positive acceleration means
speeding up, negative acceleration means slowing down." Sorry! By studying
the examples of calculation accelerations, you can conclude that:

 If the velocity and acceleration are in the same direction (both have the same
sign - both positive or both negative) the object is speeding up.
 If the velocity and acceleration are in opposite directions (they have opposite
signs), the object is slowing down.

http://www.batesville.k12.in.us/physics/PhyNet/Mechanics/Kinematics/VelVsAcc.html