Physics Kinematics

Kinematic Terms

Scalar – A quantity that has magnitude only

Ex.

Ex.

Vector – A quantity that has both magnitude and direction

Ex.

Ex.

To distinguish between scalar and vector quantities, scalars are written in plain type (ex.
), whereas vectors are written either in bold type or with an arrow on top (ex. ⃗)

Distance, : A measure of separation between two objects.

Ex.

Position, : A measure of the distance between an object and a zero point, combined with
the direction to the object from the zero point.

Ex.

Displacement, : A measure in the change in position of an object.

Note: Along the horizontal direction, traditionally, right is positive, and left is negative. Also, a negative value for displacement
indicates direction. Therefore, = −3 is equivalent to = 3 .
Vector vs. Scalar Examples

Ex. If the reference point is at zero (0) on the grid measured in m, then:

a. What is the distance of the fox from the bunny?

b. What is the distance of the bunny from the fox?

c. What is the position of the fox?

d. What is the position of the bunny?

e. What is the displacement of the fox from the bunny?

f. What is the displacement of the bunny from the fox?

Vectors and scalars are fairly straight forward in 1-dimension. However, once we
start working in 2-dimensions, it begins to get a little more complicated.

Angle Notation

There are various ways of expressing direction. In Physics, here are some examples:

60o

60o N of E
30o E of N
In Math, the common way to express angle is using standard position. For standard
position, 0o always starts on the positive x-axis and we travel counter-clockwise
around the origin.

60o

120o

Ex. A woman rides her bike 3.0 km North, 4.0 km East, than 5.0 km South. The whole trip
takes 2.5 hours.
a. Draw a picture (Draw vectors using tip to tail method)
b. Determine distance traveled
c. Determine the final position

Drawing of Scenario The Math