SANTOS, LORBEY JANE R.

BS ECE – 3A

4 Kinematic Equations

Derivation of the first kinematic formula ( 𝑣 = 𝑣0 + 𝑎𝑡)

𝑣+𝑣 0
Derivation of the second kinematic formula (∆𝑥 = 2
)𝑡

A cool way to visually derive this kinematic formula is by considering the velocity graph for an object with
constant acceleration—in other words, a constant slope—and starts with initial velocity 𝑣0as seen in the graph
below.

The area under any velocity graph gives the displacement ∆𝑥. So, the area under this velocity graph will be the
displacement ∆𝑥 of the object.
∆𝑥 = 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎
The height of the blue rectangle is 𝑉0 and the width is 𝑡 so the area of the blue rectangle is 𝑉0𝑡

1
The base of the red triangle is 𝑡 and the height is 𝑉 − 𝑉0, so the area of the red triangle is 2
𝑡(𝑉 − 𝑉 ). The
0
total area will be the sum of the areas of the blue rectangle and the red triangle.

1 2
Derivation of the third kinematic formula ∆𝑥 = 𝑉0𝑡 + 2
𝑎𝑡

Consider an object that starts with a velocity 𝑉0 and maintains constant acceleration to a final velocity of 𝑣 as

seen in the graph below.

Since the area under a velocity graph gives the displacement ∆𝑥, each term on the right hand side of the formula
1 2
∆𝑥 = 𝑉0𝑡 + 2
𝑎𝑡 represents an area in the graph above.

The term 𝑉0 𝑡 represents the area of the blue rectangle since 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 = ℎ𝑤

1 2 1
The term 2
𝑎𝑡 represents the area of the red triangle since 𝐴𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 = 2
𝑏ℎ
 1 2
∆𝑥 = 𝑉0𝑡 + 2
𝑎𝑡

2 2
Derivation of the fourth kinematic formula 𝑣 = 𝑉0 + 2𝑎∆𝑥

We want to eliminate the time 𝑡 from this formula. To do this, we'll solve the first kinematic formula,
𝑣−𝑣0
𝑣 = 𝑣0 + 𝑎𝑡 , for time to get 𝑡 = 𝑎
. If we plug this expression for time 𝑡 into the second kinematic formula
we'll get

Source:
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/physics/one-dimensional-motion/kinematic-formulas/a/what-are-the-kine
matic-formulas?fbclid=IwAR2yhEaH61Mt901_5cK3BK0QwrddFD82BIJiugBgyUDRakc-0Imvlx__SDY