Kinematics: describing motion

Speed

 Average speed: the total distance travelled by an object divided by the total time taken
 Instantaneous speed: the speed of an object measured over a very short period of time

Distance and displacement, scalar and vector

 Displacement: the distance travelled in a particular direction; it is a vector quantity

Speed and velocity

 Vector quantity: a quantity with both magnitude (size) and direction

 Scalar quantity: a quantity with magnitude only
 Velocity = change in displacement/ time taken

Speed and velocity calculations

 Change in displacement S= v x change in time

 Change in time T = change in displacement / v

Deducing velocity from a displacement-time graph

 See page 8

Combining displacements

 Vector triangle: a triangle drawn to determine the resultant of two vectors

 Resultant vector: the single vector formed by adding two or more vectors

Subtracting vectors

 To subtract a vector, add on the vector to be subtracted in the opposite direction