Republic of the Philippines

ISABELA STATE UNIVERSITY

Echague, Isabela

Title:

Chapter 2 – Motion along a Straight Line and Two-Dimensions

Overview/Introduction

A full treatment of kinematics considers motion in two and three dimensions. For
now, we discuss motion in one dimension, which provides us with the tools necessary to
study multidimensional motion. A good example of an object undergoing one-dimensional
motion is the maglev (magnetic levitation) train depicted at the beginning of this chapter. As
it travels, say, from Tokyo to Kyoto, it is at different positions along the track at various times
in its journey, and therefore has displacements, or changes in position. It also has a variety
of velocities along its path and it undergoes accelerations (changes in velocity). With the
skills learned in this chapter we can calculate these quantities and average velocity. All
these quantities can be described using kinematics, without knowing the train’s mass or the
forces involved.
In this chapter, you will learn why it is important to identify a reference frame in order
to clearly describe motion. For now, the motion you describe will be one and two
dimensional. Within this context, you will learn the difference between distance and
displacement as well as the difference between speed and velocity. To give a complete
description of kinematics, we must explore motion in two and three dimensions. After all,
most objects in our universe do not move in straight lines; rather, they follow curved paths.
From kicked footballs to the flight paths of birds to the orbital motions of celestial bodies and
down to the flow of blood plasma in your veins, most motion follows curved trajectories. In
this chapter we also explore two special types of motion in two dimensions: projectile motion
and circular motion.

Learning Outcome/Objective

At the end of this chapter, students are expected to be able to:

1. Define position, displacement, and distance travelled;
2. Calculate the total displacement given the position as a function of time;
3. Calculate the average velocity given the displacement and elapsed time;
 4. Explain the difference between average velocity and instantaneous velocity;
5. Calculate the speed given the instantaneous velocity;
6. Calculate the average acceleration between two points in time;
7. Explain the difference between average acceleration and instantaneous acceleration;
8. Identify which equations of motion are to be used to solve for unknowns;
9. Use the kinematic equations with the variables y and g to analyse free-fall motion;
10. Solve for the position, velocity, and acceleration as functions of time when an object
is in a free fall;
11. Calculate position vectors in a multidimensional displacement problem;
12. Solve for the displacement, velocity and acceleration in two dimensions;
13. Use one-dimensional motion in perpendicular directions to analyse projectile motion;
14. Calculate the range, time of flight, and maximum height of a projectile that is
launched and impacts a flat, horizontal surface;
15. Solve for the centripetal acceleration of an object moving on a circular path; and
16. Use the equations of circular motion to find the position, velocity, and acceleration of
a particle executing circular motion;

Learning Content/Topic

Lesson 2-1 – Position, Displacement, and Average Velocity

When you’re in motion, the basic questions to ask are: Where are you? Where
are you going? How fast are you getting there? The answers to these questions require
that you specify your position, your displacement, and your average velocity—the terms
we define in this section.

Time
How does time relate to motion? We are usually interested in elapsed time for a
particular motion, such as how long it takes an airplane passenger to get from his seat to
the back of the plane. To find elapsed time, we note the time at the beginning and end of
the motion and subtract the two. For example, a lecture may start at 11:00 A.M. and end
at 11:50 A.M., so that the elapsed time would be 50 min. Elapsed time Δt is the
difference between the ending time and beginning time.
Formula for elapsed time:

Where: = elapsed time

= ending time
= beginning time

Position
To describe the motion of an object, you must first be able to describe its position
(x): where it is at any particular time. More precisely, we need to specify its position
relative to a convenient frame of reference. A frame of reference is an arbitrary set of
axes from which the position and motion of an object are described. Earth is often used
as a frame of reference, and we often describe the position of an object as it relates to
stationary objects on Earth. For example, a rocket launch could be described in terms of
the position of the rocket with respect to Earth as a whole, whereas a cyclist’s position
could be described in terms of where she is in relation to the buildings she passes. In
other cases, we use reference frames that are not stationary but are in motion relative to
Earth. To describe the position of a person in an airplane, for example, we use the
airplane, not Earth, as the reference frame. To describe the position of an object
undergoing one-dimensional motion, we often use the variable x. Later in the chapter,
during the discussion of free fall, we use the variable y.
Displacement
If an object moves relative to a frame of reference - for example, if a professor
moves to the right relative to a whiteboard - then the object’s position changes. This
change in position is called displacement. The word displacement implies that an object
has moved, or has been displaced. Although position is the numerical value of x along a
straight line where an object might be located, displacement gives the change in position
along this line. Since displacement indicates direction, it is a vector and can be either
positive or negative, depending on the choice of positive direction. Also, an analysis of
motion can have many displacements embedded in it. If right is positive and an object
moves 2 m to the right, then 4 m to the left, the individual displacements are 2 m and −4
m, respectively.
Formula for displacement:

Where: = change in the position of the object or called the displacement

= final position of the object
= initial position of the object

Objects in motion can also have a series of displacements. In the previous

example of the pacing professor, the individual displacements are 2 m and −4 m, giving
a total displacement of −2 m. We define total displacement ΔxT, as the sum of the
individual displacements, and express this mathematically with the equation

Where: = total displacement

= individual displacement
i = initial position of the object
f = final position of the object

Average Velocity
To calculate the other physical quantities in kinematics we must introduce the
time variable. The time variable allows us not only to state where the object is (its
position) during its motion, but also how fast it is moving. How fast an object is moving is
given by the rate at which the position changes with time.
For each position xi, we assign a particular time ti. If the details of the motion at
each instant are not important, the rate is usually expressed as the average velocity .
This vector quantity is simply the total displacement between two points divided by the
time taken to travel between them. The time taken to travel between two points is called
the elapsed time Δt.
Formula for average velocity:

Where: = average velocity

= displacement or total displacement

= elapsed time

It is important to note that the average velocity is a vector and can be negative,
depending on positions x1 and x2.

Lesson 2-2 – Instantaneous Velocity and Speed

 We have now seen how to calculate the average velocity between two positions.
However, since objects in the real world move continuously through space and time, we
would like to find the velocity of an object at any single point. We can find the velocity of
the object anywhere along its path by using some fundamental principles of calculus.
This section gives us better insight into the physics of motion and will be useful in later
chapters.

Instantaneous Velocity
The quantity that tells us how fast an object is moving anywhere along its path is
the instantaneous velocity, usually called simply velocity. It is the average velocity
between two points on the path in the limit that the time (and therefore the displacement)
between the two points approaches zero.
To illustrate this idea mathematically, we need to express position x as a
continuous function of t denoted by x(t).
The expression for the average velocity between two points is

To find the instantaneous velocity at any position, we let t1=t and t2=t+Δt

After inserting these expressions into the equation for the average velocity
Take the limit as Δt→0 to find the expression for the instantaneous velocity
[ ]

This formula for the instantaneous velocity was express as the derivative of the
position of the object with respect to time.
For simpler discussion, we denote instantaneous velocity as velocity and for
simpler calculation; we used the formula for velocity as

Where: = velocity at time t or simple

= displacement at time t
t = elapsed time at time t

Speed
In everyday language, most people use the terms speed and velocity
interchangeably. In physics, however, they do not have the same meaning and are
distinct concepts. One major difference is that speed has no direction; that is, speed is a
scalar.
We can calculate the average speed, ŝ by finding the total distance travelled
divided by the elapsed time

Average speed is not necessarily the same as the magnitude of the average
velocity, which is found by dividing the magnitude of the total displacement by the
elapsed time. For example, if a trip starts and ends at the same location, the total
displacement is zero, and therefore the average velocity is zero. The average speed,
however, is not zero, because the total distance travelled is greater than zero. If we take
a road trip of 300 km and need to be at our destination at a certain time, then we would
be interested in our average speed.
 Lesson 2-3 – Acceleration
The importance of understanding acceleration spans our day-to-day experience,
as well as the vast reaches of outer space and the tiny world of subatomic physics. In
everyday conversation, to accelerate means to speed up; applying the brake pedal
causes a vehicle to slow down. We are familiar with the acceleration of our car, for
example. The greater the acceleration, the greater the change in velocity over a given
time.
Acceleration is the change in velocity divided by a period of time during which the
change occurs.

Where: = acceleration at time t

= change in velocity at time t
= time

The formula above implies that the dimension for acceleration is

Acceleration as a Vector
Keep in mind that although acceleration is in the direction of the change in
velocity, it is not always in the direction of motion. When an object slows down, its
acceleration is opposite to the direction of its motion. Although this is commonly referred
to as ―deceleration‖ – the negative acceleration. The term deceleration can cause
confusion in our analysis because it is not a vector and it does not point to a specific
direction with respect to a coordinate system, so we do not use it. Acceleration is a
vector, so we must choose the appropriate sign for it in our chosen coordinate system.

Average Acceleration
Average Acceleration is the average rate at which velocity changes.

Where: = acceleration at time t

= change in velocity at time t
= elapsed time at time t

Average acceleration is distinguished from instantaneous acceleration, which is

acceleration at a specific instant in time. The magnitude of acceleration is often not
constant over time. For example, runners in a race accelerate at a greater rate in the first
second of a race than during the following seconds. You do not need to know all the
instantaneous accelerations at all times to calculate average acceleration. All you need
to know is the change in velocity (i.e., the final velocity minus the initial velocity) and the
change in time (i.e., the final time minus the initial time), as shown in the formula.

References
1. openstax.org
2. physics.nist.gov
3. byjus.com