Edexcel IGCSE Physics Chapter-1 Motion & Movement Page-1

Learning Objectives:
U State the meaning of speed and velocity
g Calculote averqge speed
g State the meaning of uniftrm acceleration and calculate accelerotion

KINEMATICS
. Kinematics describes the motion of objects without considering the force acting on it.
. Motion is a change in position. When an object is in motion, its changes its position.
. The physical quantities used to describe the motion of objects are distance, displacement, speed,
velocity and acceleration.

Distance
. Motion is a change in position. When an object is in motion, its changes its position.
. The total length of the path between one position and the other position travelled by the object
is called distance.
. The Sl unit for distance is metre (m).
. Distance is a scalar quantity. lt is the total length covered in a journey irrespective of direction
of the motion.
For example,
The distance travelled by an object between X and Y is 12 m.
l2m - path

./ Distance only indicates the magnitude without direction

,/ Hence, we do not know if the object has travelled from X to Y or Y to X. We only know that
the object has travelled a distance of 12 m along the path between X and Y.

Displacement
. Displacement is the distance travelled by the object between the initial position to the final
position of the object in a straight line.
. The Sl unit for displacement is metre (m).
. Displacement is a vector quantity. lt indicates both the magnitude and the direction of how the
length between two points is measured.
For example,

distance between X (initial position) to

W
'i
:
lne snortesl cllslance
benueen the initial
i

Y (final position) in a straight line i,',ii.,., point and thefinal i

Displacement indicates both the magnitude and the direction.

* *v:Li : -! : t:sl!t
J' " : :- -i

When the object travels from X to Y the displacement is B m.

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B Worked example L
The distance-time graph below shows the movement of a car.
distance/m

time/s

Describe the movement of the car in terms of speed.

Solution
At A, the car moves with a constant speed. At B, the car is stationary. (The distance remains the
same). At C, the car moves with a constant speed. At D, the car moves with a decreasing speed. At
E, the car moves with an increasing speed.

B Worked example 2
The motion of a train is depicted in the following speed-time graph.
speed (mis)

time (s)

(a) Determine the acceleration between O and P

(b) Determine the acceleration between P and Q.
(c) What is the total distance travelled by the train from O to R?
(d) Calculate the average speed of the train.

Solution
(a) Givenu=0ffi/s; v- 40m/s; t-20s
v-u 40-0 2 mls2
t20
(b) PQ shows a constant speed, so the acceleration is zero.
(c) Distance travelled in OP = x 20 x 40 : 400 m
Yz
Distance travelled in PQ : 35 x 40 : 1400 m
Distance travelled in QR - Yz x 20 x 40 : 400 m
Total distance travelled = 400 + 1400 + 400 - 22OO m
Tott {stance travelled :'??o :29.3
(d) Average speed - mls
Total time taken 75 :s
o
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Light gates
The speed of a moving object can also be measured using light gates. Figure 1- shows an
experiment to determine the acceleration of a rolling ball as it passes between two light
gates. When the ball passes through a light gate. it cuts a beam of light. This allows the
computer to measure the time taken by the ball to pass through the gate. By knowing
the diameter of the ball the speed of the ball at each gate can be calculated. You can tell
if the ball is accelerating if it speeds up between light gates A and B. Follow the
questions below to show how the gates can be programmed to do the work for you. The
measurements taken in an experiment are shown here.

Figure-1

1 Explain why it is important to adjust the light gates to the correct height.
2 Calculate the speed of the ball as it goes through:
a) gate A b) gate B.
3 Calculate the ball’s acceleration as it moves from gate A to gate B.

Ticker timer
Changing speeds and accelerations of objects in the laboratory can be measured directly
using light gates, data loggers and computers. However, motion is still studied using the
ticker timer Figure-2. because it collects data in a clear way, which can be usefully
analysed. A ticker timer has a small hammer that vibrates up and down 50 times per
second. The hammer hits a piece of carbon paper, which leaves a mark on a length of
tape.
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Figure 3.4 shows you a tape that has been pulled through the timer. You can see that the
dots are close together over the region PQ. Then the dots get further apart, so the object
moved faster over QR. The movement slowed down again over the last part of the tape.
RS. Since the timer produces 50 dots per second the time between dots is 1/50 s or 0.02
s. So we can work out the speed:
speed = distance between dots / Time between dots
Between P and Q ; speed = 0.5 cm /0.02s = 25 cm/s or 0.25 m/s

Equation of Motion
When an object accelerates in a straight line, the final speed, initial speed, the
acceleration and the distance travelled may be connected by the following equation.

(final speed)2 = (initial speed)2 + 2x(acceleration )x(distance moved)

V2 = u2 +2as
where v is the final velocity in metres per second. m/s
u is the initial (starting) velocity in metres per second. m/s

a is the acceleration in metres per second squared. m/s2

s is the distance in metres. m.
Provided the value of three of the quantities is known, the equation can be rearranged
to calculate the unknown quantity .

Conversion:

Time : 1 hour = 60 min ; 1 min = 60 second ; 1 hour = 3600 second

Distance : 1 km = 1000 m ; 1 m = 100 cm ; 1 cm = 10 mm ; 1 m = 1000mm

Speed Units:

𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎𝒎 𝟓 𝟓
1 km/h = = m/s ; So to convert from km/h to m/s multiply with
𝟑𝟔𝟎𝟎𝒔 𝟏𝟖 𝟏𝟖

𝟏𝟖 𝟏𝟖
1 m/s = km/h ; so to convert from m/s to km/h multiply with
𝟓 𝟓