LECTURE 2: KINEMATICS

Kinematics Equations, Freefall, Projectile Motion

Kinematics Equations

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Kinematics
◦ Involves describing motion through quantities such as position,
time, velocity, and acceleration.

Figure 1. An accelerating car. Image is retrieved from https://byjus.com/physics/kinematics-

equations/

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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?
◦ The position must be specified 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.
◦ To describe the position of an object undergoing one-dimensional
motion, we often use the variable x.
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Displacement
◦ Change in position
◦ If an object moves relative to a frame of reference, then the object’s position
changes. This results to displacement.
◦ Displacement indicates direction, thus displacement is a vector quantity and
can either be positive or negative, depending on the choice of positive direction.

where
(Eq. 2.1)
Δx = displacement
xf = final position
x0 = initial position
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Does the person in the image shows a change
of position or displacement?

Figure 2. Image is retrieved from [1]

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Displacement

◦ Total displacement = sum of the individual displacements

(Eq. 2.2)

where
ΔxTotal = sum of the individual displacements
Δxi = individual displacements

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Average velocity
◦ Rate at which an object changes its position from one place to another with time
◦ Average velocity is a vector, so it can be negative, depending on positions x1 and x2

(Eq. 2.3)
where
⊽ = average velocity
x2 = final position
x1 = initial position
t2 = final time
t1 = initial time
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Average speed

◦ A scalar quantity, meaning, it has no direction

(Eq. 2.4)

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Average acceleration
◦ The rate at which velocity changes
◦ Occurs when velocity changes in magnitude (an increase or decrease in speed)
or in direction, or both

(Eq. 2.5)
where
ā = average acceleration
vf = final velocity
v0 = initial velocity
tf = final time
t0 = initial time
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Motion with constant acceleration

◦ We assume that the initial time = 0; subscript 0 denotes an initial value; the
absence of a subscript denotes a final value in whatever motion is under
consideration.
Δt = t (Eq. 2.6)

Δx = x – x0 (Eq. 2.7)

Δv = v – v0 (Eq. 2.8)

◦ We also assume that acceleration is constant. We use “a” as a symbol for

acceleration at all times.

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Displacement and Position from Velocity

(Eq. 2.3)

◦ We incorporate Eq. 2.7 and Eq. 2.7 to Eq. 2.3 which gives us

(Eq. 2.9)

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Displacement and Position from Velocity

◦ Solving for x gives us

(Eq. 2.10)

◦ where average velocity is

(Eq. 2.11)
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Solving for Final Velocity from Acceleration
and Time
◦ Using Eq. 2.8 and Eq. 2.6 and incorporating the equations in Eq. 2.5 gives us

(Eq. 2.12)

◦ Solving for v gives us

(Eq. 2.13)
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Solving for Final Position with Constant
Acceleration
◦ Starting with Eq. 2.13

(Eq. 2.13)

◦ Adding v0 to each side of the equation and dividing by 2 gives us

(Eq. 2.14)
Eq. 2.11

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Solving for Final Position with Constant
Acceleration
◦ For constant acceleration,

(Eq. 2.11)

◦ Incorporating Eq. 2.11 to Eq. 2.14

(Eq. 2.15)
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Solving for Final Position with Constant
Acceleration
◦ Substituting Eq. 2.15 to Eq. 2.10 gives us

(Eq. 2.16)

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Solving for Final Velocity from Distance and
Acceleration
◦ Solving for t in Eq. 2.13

(Eq. 2.17)

◦ Substituting Eq. 2.17 and 2.11 into Eq. 2.10 gives us

(Eq. 2.18)

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Summary of Kinematics Equations (constant a)

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Free Fall

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Free Fall
◦ Describes the motion of an object falling in a gravitational field
◦ We assume that the body is falling in a straight line perpendicular to the surface,
so its motion is one-dimensional
◦ An object is in free fall if the object is falling without air resistance or friction
◦ The force of gravity causes objects to fall toward the center of the Earth
◦ Acceleration due to gravity is constant, which means we can apply the kinematic
equations to any falling object where air resistance and friction are negligible

Acceleration due to gravity 21

One Dimensional Motion involving Gravity
Assumptions:
◦ No air resistance or friction
◦ Velocity (if there is any) is vertical
◦ Initial velocity is zero when the object dropped is in free fall
◦ When the object has left contact with whatever held or threw, the
object is in free fall
◦ When the object is thrown, it has the same initial speed in free fall as
it did before it was released.
◦ When the object comes in contact with the ground or any other
object, it is no longer in free fall and its acceleration of g is no longer
valid.
◦ Vertical displacement is denoted by symbol y. 22
Kinematics Equations for Objects in Free Fall
◦ Assumption: acceleration is equal to – g (with the positive direction upward).

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Projectile Motion

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The past discussions focused in the motion in one-dimension.

The first part of the discussion (Kinematics equations) explored the

motion of an object in the x-axis or x-direction of the Cartesian plane.

The second part of this lecture slide, Free Fall, explored the motion of an
object in the y-axis or y-direction of the Cartesian plane.

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How about we step up our discussion to the motion of an object in two-
dimensions? Still good?

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Projectile Motion

◦ The motion of an object thrown or projected into the air, subject

only to acceleration as a result of gravity
◦ The objects are called projectiles.
◦ The path of the objects or projectiles are referred to as trajectory.
◦ Motions along perpendicular axes are independent.

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Projectile Motion

Important points to remember:

◦ ay = -g = -9.8 m/s2 (defining the positive direction to be upward)
◦ ax = 0 (gravity is vertical so x-component of acceleration is zero)
◦ If ax = 0, this means the initial velocity in the x-direction is equal to
the final velocity in the x-direction, or vx = v0x

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Projectile Motion
◦ Rewriting the kinematics equations,

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Projectile Motion
(a) Two-dimensional projectile motion analyzed
by breaking it into two independent one-
dimensional motions along the vertical and
horizontal axes
(b) The horizontal motion is simple, because ax = 0
and vx is constant.
(c) The velocity in the vertical direction begins to
decrease as the object rises. At its highest point,
the vertical velocity is zero. As the object falls
toward Earth again, the vertical velocity
increases again in magnitude but points in the
opposite direction to the initial vertical
velocity.
(d) The x and y motions are recombined to give the
total velocity at any given point on the
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trajectory.
Time of Flight
◦ We note the position and displacement in y must be zero at launch and at impact
on an even surface. Displacement in y becomes equal to zero.

(Eq. 2.19)

◦ Combining similar terms,

(Eq. 2.20)

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Time of Flight
◦ From Eq. 2.20, solving for t or time of flight gives us

(Eq. 2.21)

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Time of flight

◦ Eq. 2.21 shows the time of flight for a projectile both launched and impacting on a
flat horizontal surface
◦ Eq. 2.21 does not apply when the projectile lands at a different elevation than it
was launched.
◦ Linearly proportional to the initial velocity in the y direction and inversely
proportional to g.

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Trajectory
◦ The projectile is launched from the origin (x0 = y0 = 0)
◦ Kinematic equation for x gives us

(Eq. 2.22)

◦ Substituting the expression for t into the equation (shown in the projectile
motion (vertical motion) equations,

(Eq. 2.23)
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Trajectory
◦ Substituting t from Eq. 2.22 to Eq. 2.23 gives us

(Eq. 2.24)

◦ Rearranging the terms,

(Eq. 2.25)
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Trajectory
◦ Eq. 2.25 is in the form of y = ax + bx2, which is an equation of a parabola with
coefficients

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Range
◦ Horizontal distance traveled by the projectile
◦ From Eq. 2.25, we have

(Eq. 2.26)

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Range
◦ The position y is zero for both the launch point and the impact
point since we are considering only a flat horizontal surface.
◦ Setting y = 0 in Eq. 2.26 gives solutions:
◦ x = 0, corresponding to the launch point
◦ , corresponding to the impact point

(Eq. 2.27)

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Range
◦ Using these:

Trigonometric identity (Eq. 2.28)

For range (Eq. 2.29)

◦ we get,

(Eq. 2.30)
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Range
◦ Eq. 2.30 is valid only for launch and impact on a horizontal surface.
◦ Range is directly proportional to the square of the initial speed v0 and sin2θ0
◦ Range is inversely proportional to the acceleration of gravity
◦ The range is maximum at 45o. This is true only for conditions neglecting air
resistance. If air resistance is considered, the maximum angle is somewhat
smaller.

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Reference
[1] S. J. Ling, J. Sanny, & W. Moebs. (2018). University Physics Volume 1. Rice University. Retrieved from
https://openstax.org/details/books/universityphysics-volume-1

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