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MARKS 1

KINEMAT
ATIICS
1
Kinematics is the science of describing the motion of objects using words, diagrams, numbers, graphs,
and equations. The goal of any study of kinematics is to develop sophisticated mental models which
serve to describe (and ultimately, explain) the motion of real-world objects.

1 .1 SCA L A RS A N D V ECT ORS :


The motion of objects can be described by words - words such as distance, displacement, speed, velocity,
and acceleration. These mathematical quantities which are used to describe the motion of objects can
be divided into two categories. The quantity is either a vector or a scalar. These two categories can be
distinguished from one another by their distinct definitions:
 Scalars are quantities which are fully described by a magnitude alone.
 Vectors are quantities which are fully described by both a magnitude and a direction.
As you proceed through the lesson, give careful attention to the vector and scalar nature of each
quantity.

CH ECK Y OU R U N DERST A N DI N G
To test your understanding of this distinction, consider the quantities listed below. Categorize each
quantity as being either a vector or a scalar.
Quantity Category
a. 5m Scalar
b. 30 m/sec, East Vector. A direction is listed for it.
c. 20 degrees Celsius scalar

V e c t o r r e p r e s e n t a t i o n i n 2 -D:

The base vectors of a rectangular x-y coordinate system are given by the unit vectors →i and →j along
the x and y directions, respectively.
j
y

i
F
F
y
 x
Fx

Using the base vectors, one can represent any vector F as

F  Fx →i  Fy →j

IITJEE KINEMATICS
2 MARKS

V e c t o r r e p r e s e n t a t i o n i n 3 -D:
In a rectangular coordinate system the components of the vector are the projections of the vector along
the x, y, and z directions. For example, in the figure the projections of vector A along the
x, y, and zdirections are given by Ax, Ay, and A z, respectively.

K
Z

A
Az j
y

i Ax
x Ay
A  A x →i  A y →j  Az k

1 .2 A B ODY I N M OT I ON :
A body is said to be motion, when its changes its position with time, with respect to an observer.
Similarly, if the position doesnÊt change with time, with respect to an observer (reference), the body is
in rest.
Basic terms :
1. Particle : A particle is a point mass. However, in practice a body may be treated as a particle,
if its size is very small compared to the distance covered by it.
2. Position : The position of a particle refers to its location in the space at a certain moment of
time. In general the position is measured by a vector joining a fixed point (known as origin)
to the moving particle. This vector is known as position vector.
For a particle in straight line motion along X-axis, the position vector is always parallel to X-axis and
hence has only X-component as non-zero. Therefore the position of a moving particle can be measured
by the X-coordinate x (t) at a certain time instant t.
If a particle is moving in a curve (i.e. in a plane) the position vector can have many possible directions.
The position in such a case can be measured by two numbers : X-coordinate and Y-coordinate the
position vector.
y
A(x ,y)

o x
3. Distance is a scalar quantity which refers to „how much ground an object has covered‰ during
its motion. It is the actual length of the path travelled by a particle.
4. Displacement is a vector quantity which refers to „how far out of place an object is‰. It is the
vector joining the initial position of the particle to its final position during an interval of time.
The change in the position of a moving object is known as displacement
KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 3

(a) To test your understanding of this distinction, consider the m otion depicted in the diagram
below. A physics teacher walks 4 meters East, 2 meters South, 4 meters West, and finally 2 meters
North.
4m

2m 2m

4m
Even though the physics teacher has walked a total distance of 12 meters, her displacement is 0 meters.
During the course of her motion, she has „covered 12 meters of ground‰ (distance = 12 m). Yet, when
she is finished walking, she is not „out of place‰  i.e., there is no displacement for her motion (displacement
= 0 m). Displacement, being a vector quantity, must give attention to direction. The 4 meters east is
canceled by the 4 meters west; and the 2 meters south is canceled by the 2 meters north.
(b) If a particle goes from A to B along a curve in some time duration and if O is the origin then
B
OA = initial position vector = r1

A s
OB = final position vector = rf
rf
AB = displacement vector = OB  OA
r
i
 s  rf  ri  r
O
5. Speed: Speed is a scalar quantity which refers to „how fast an object is moving. „Rate of
change of distance (x) covered by a particle, with time is called the speed of the particle. Its
unit is m/s.
Velocity is
6. Velocity: Velocity is a vector quantity which refers to „the rate at Speed with
which an object changes its position.‰ Rate of change of a direction.
displacement of the particle with time is called velocity of the
particle.
7. Average speed: The average speed of a particle in a time interval is defined as the distance
travelled by the particle by the time interval. If the particle travels a distance s in time t1 to
t2 the average speed is defined as:

s
speedav 
t2  t1

8. Average velocity: The average velocity of a particle in a time interval t1 to t2 is defined as


its displacement divided by the time interval.

 s  x y
vav   s  displacement   i→  →j
t 2  t1 t t

IITJEE KINEMATICS
4 MARKS

Di f f e r e n c e b e t w e e n a v e r a g e s p e e d a n d a v e r a g e v e l o c i t y :
Consider a particle moving around a circle. A particle starts at point P in the circle and covers the entire
circumference of the circle and reaches back at point P (as given in the figure below):
p
Total distance travelled
In this case, Average speed =
Time taken

2r  circumference of the circle 


=
Time taken

On the contrary, magnitude of average velocity = 0, since displacement is 0.


9. Instantaneous speed: The instantaneous speed is the speed of the particle defined for a
particular instant. When we had described average speed, it meant speed of the particle
defined for a time interval.
Suppose a particle covered a distance s for a time interval t, then average speed in this case
s
is equal to
t
Now, if the interval t is made extremely small, approaching to zero, the speed that is defined
 s ds
become for an instant. So, we can write the instantaneous speed as lim  .
t 0  t dt
In general, when we talk of ÂspeedÊ, it refers to the instantaneous speed.
You might think of the instantaneous speed as the speed which the speedometer 40 50 60
30 70
reads at any given instant in time and the average speed as the average of all the 20 80
m/s
speedometer readings during the course of the trip. 10 90
0 100
0 0 0
meters

10. Instantaneous velocity: The velocity at a particular moment of time is known as instantaneous
velocity. The term ÂvelocityÊ usually refers to the instantaneous velocity.
11. Acceleration: Rate of change of velocity with time is called acceleration. Acceleration is a
vector quantity. Its unit is m/s2.

Di r e c t i o n o f t h e A c c e l e r a t i o n V e c t o r
Acceleration is a vector quantity so it will always have a direction associated with it. The direction of
the acceleration vector depends on two factors:
 whether the object is speeding up or slowing down
 whether the object is moving in the positive (+) or negative () direction
The general RULE OF THUMB is :
If an object is slowing down, then its acceleration is in the opposite direction of its motion.
This RULE OF THUMB can be applied to determine whether the sign of the acceleration of an
object is positive or negative, right or left, up or down, etc.

KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 5

12. Average acceleration: Average acceleration is defined as the change in velocity divided by
the time interval.

change in velocity
Average acceleration =
time interval

 
 v 2  v1
Thus, a av 
t2  t1

The average acceleration depends only on the acceleration at time t 1 and t2. The way the
velocity changed in between these times does not make a difference in defining average
acceleration.
13. Instantaneous acceleration: The acceleration at a given instant of time is the called the
instantaneous acceleration. When we refer to acceleration, we mean Âinstantaneous accelerationÊ,
i.e.,
 
 v v
a  lim 
t 0  t dt
 
We also know that F  ma , which means that acceleration is also decided by the net force acting
on a particle. If F = 0, then a = 0 and the motion is known as uniform motion because the velocity does
not change, which also means that the particle is moving with a constant velocity. While, if the force
is constant, acceleration is also constant and the motion is known as uniformly accelerated motion,
which means that acceleration acts on the particle, but it is constant. An example of such a case is the
free fall motion(force and acceleration do not change).

T h e B i g M i s c o n c e p t i o n !!
We know that the acceleration of a free-falling object on Earth is 10 m/s/s.
This value (known as the acceleration of gravity) is the same for all free-falling
Hey ! Good
objects regardless of how long they have been falling, or whether they were initially Question !
dropped from rest or thrown up into the air. Yet the question is often asked
„DoesnÊt a massive object accelerate at a greater rate than a less massive object?‰.
This question is a reasonable inquiry that is probably based upon personal
observations made of falling objects in the physical world. After all, nearly everyone
has observed the difference in rate of fall of a single piece of paper (or similar object) and a textbook.
The two objects clearly travel to the ground at different rates  with the massive book falling faster.
The answer to the question (DoesnÊt a massive object accelerate at a greater rate than a less
massive object?) is . . . absolutely not! That is, absolutely not, if you are considering the specific type
of falling motion known as free-fall. Free-fall is the motion of objects under the sole influence of gravity;
free-falling objects do not encounter air resistance. Massive objects will only fall faster than less massive
objects if there is an appreciable amount of air resistance present.

IITJEE KINEMATICS
6 MARKS

Ex a m p l e 1
A bird flies north at 20 m/s for 15s. It rests for 5s and then flies south at 25 m/s for 10s. For
the whole trip find
(a) the average speed;
(b) the average velocity;
(c) the average acceleration.
Solution.
distance traveled towards north = AC = 20 m/s  15 s = 300 m C
distance traveled towards south = CB = 25 m /s  10 s = 250 m

distance P-th
Average Speed =
time

300 + 250 B
Average velocity = displacement time = m/s  18.32 m/s . A
15 + 5 + 10

displacement 300  250


Average velocity =   1.67 m/s
time 15  5  10

  
  v v f  v i   25    20
Average Acceleration = a av    m/s 2  1.5m/s 2
t t 30

Ex a m p l e 2
A particle goes along a quadrant AB of a circle of radius 5 cm with a constant speed 2.5 cm/
s as shown. Find the average velocity and average acceleration over the interval AB.

distance 3.14  5
Solution: Time taken    3.14s
speed 2  2.5

displacement AB 5 2  52
  m/s = 2.252m/s
time time 3.14
VB 2.5cm/s
  
v v  vA
Average Acceleration =  B
2.5cm/s

t t
V

 2.5   2.5
2 2
VA
= m/s 2  1.126 m/s 2
3.14

The average velocity is directed along AB and the average acceleration is directed perpendicular
to AB towards O.

KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 7

Also note. ds represents the magnitude of dr but dr does not represent the same.


ds  d r


dr  d r


dr = comp. of d r along 
r

    
=  d r . u→r   d r . u→r  d r cos 
 

dr = ds [when the particle means in a straight line].

Ex a m p l e 3
The radius vector of a point depends on time t, as

  bt2
r  ct 
2

where c and b are constant vectors. Find the modulus of velocity and acceleration at any time t.

 
 dr 
Solution. (i) Velocity v   c  tb
dt

  
Modulus of velocity vector will be v  c 2  b 2t 2  2 cb cos  , here c and b are modulus of c and b
 
and  is the angle between c and b which can be written as
     
c 2  c . c , b2  b . b and cb cos  = c . b

      
Hence, v  c . c  b . b t2  2 c . b t


 
(ii) Acceleration a  dv  b
dt

 
Hence, a  b .

IITJEE KINEMATICS
8 MARKS

Ex a m p l e 4

 
dv d v
(a) What does dt and represent ? (b) Can these be equal
dt

   
d v dv dv dv
(c) Can = 0 while dt = 0 (d)  0 while dt = 0
dt dt

 
dv d v
Solution. (a) dt is the magnitude of total acceleration. While represents the time rate of change
dt

of speed (called the tangential acceleration, a component of total acceleration) as v v.
(b) These two are equal in case of one dimensional motion (without change in direction)
(c) In case of uniform circular motion speed remains constant while velocity changes.

 
dv dv
Hence, dt = 0 while 0
dt


dv
(d)  0 implies that speed of particle is not constant. Velocity cannot remain constant if speed
dt
 
dv dv
is changing. Hence, dt = 0 cannot be zero in this case. So, it is not possible to have dt = 0 while


dv
 0.
dt

1 .3 I N ST A N T A N EOU S V EL OCI T Y & I N ST A N T A N EOU S A CCEL ERA T I ON


(U SE OF DERI V A T I V ES)
(a ) I n s t a n t a n e o u s V e l o c i t y :
If a car is driven along a straight road for 10 km in 5 hours, the average velocity is 2 km/hr. Can
we say that the car was moving with 2 km/hr at every instant in these five hours? Certainly not. As
we can easily imagine, the car accelerated from rest and went through will all speeds like 0.5 km/hr,
1 km/hr etc (and it may be moving with speeds more than 2 km/hr at some instants). To deal with this,
we need the concept of instantaneous velocity, which is the velocity at any instant of time.
P (t)

X axis
KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 9

Consider a particle moving along X-axis. Let us find the instantaneous velocity of this particle at
a certain time instant t, when it passes through the point P(t) as shown. We start with the concept of
average velocity. The particle passes through the point Q(t + t)t seconds after it passes P(t). The ratio
X/t is the average velocity over the interval PQ.
P (t) Q(t + t)
x
Vav  (in PQ) X axis
t x

By taking the position Q(t + t) more and more close to P(t), we can make this average velocity
very closely approximate the exact instantaneous velocity at P.
Taking Q closer to P means that the interval t shrinks and diminishes towards zero. We usually
describe this situation like this: „as Q is taken closer to P, t approaches zero and the average velocity
in PQ approaches the instantaneous velocity at P‰.
As Q  P, t = 0 and Vav (in PQ)  Vinst (at P)

 x   x
Vinst   in PQ   
 t Q P  t  t0

In exact notation we write:

  x  dx
Vinst  lim  
t 0   t  dt

In words, the instantaneous velocity at a given moment (say, t) is the limiting value of the average
velocity as we let t approach zero. The limit as t  0 is written in calculus notation as dx/dt and is
called the derivative of x with respect to t.
It is important to note that we do not simply set t = 0, for then x would also be zero, and we
would have an undefined number. We must consider the ratio x/t as a whole; and let t approach zero,
x approaches zero also; but the ratio x/t approaches some definite value, which we call the
instantaneous velocity.

Ex a m p l e 5
The position of a particle is given by the equation x(t)=3t 3. Find the instantaneous velocity
at instants t = 2s, 4s using the definition of instantaneous velocity.
Solution. Let us find the instantaneous velocity v(t) of the particle at any time instant t. Then we can
substitute t = 3s, 6s for calculating particular values. Average velocity in a time interval from t to (t +
t) is:

 x 3  t   t  3 t
3 3

t t

=

3 t 3t 2  t 2  3t.t 
t
= 3 (3t2 + t 2 + 3t.t)

IITJEE KINEMATICS
10 MARKS

 x 
v(t )  lim  
t 0  t 

2
 2
= lim 3 3t  t  3t. t
t  0

 v(t) = 3(3t2 + 0 + 0)
 v(t) = 9t2
The velocity at t = 3s is v (t = 3) = 81 m/s.
The velocity at t = 6s is v (t = 6) = 324 m/s..
NOTE : The determination of instantaneous velocity by using the definition (i.e. by the limiting process
as in the last example) usually involves calculation. We can find

dx
v by using the standard results from differential calculus.
dt

dx du dv
x = u + v + ...     ...
dt dt dt

dx
x = constant   0 (derivative of a constant is zero)
dt

dx du
x = Au  A (where A is a constant)
dt dt

dx
x = tn   ntn 1
dt

dx
x = sin t    cost ( is constant)
dt

dx
x = cos t     sin  t ( is constant)
dt

dx 1
x log t  
dt t

Inst ant aneous Ac c eleration:


The instantaneous acceleration of a particle is its acceleration at a particular instant of time. It is
defined as the derivative (rate of change) of velocity with respect to time:

 
a  dv  lim   v 
dt  t 0   t  .

KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 11

1 .4 M o t i o n i n o n e , t w o a n d t h r e e d i m e n s i o n s
Motion of a block in a straight line is one dimensional (1-D) motion. Motion of a particle in a
straight line can be described by only one component of its velocity or acceleration. The motion of a
particle thrown vertical plane at some angle with horizontal ( 90) is an example of two dimensional
(2-D) motion. This is called a projectile motion. Similarly a circular motion is also an example of 2-D
motion. A 2-D motion takes place in a plane and its velocity (or acceleration) can be described by two
components in any two mutually perpendicular direction (vx and v y).
Motion of a bird (or a monkey) in space is a three dimensional (3-D) motion. In a 3-D motion
velocity and acceleration of a particle can be resolved in three components
(vx, vy, a x, ay and az). Here x, y and z are any three mutually perpendicular axes.
The position of a particle in one dimensional motion is described by one variable (say x) in a 2-D motion
it involves two variables (normally x and y) and in a 3-D motion three variables are x, y and z.
Note. All we are talking above is for certain coordinate system.

1 .4 .1 U N I FORM L Y A CCEL ERA T ED M OT I ON :

 
Equations of motion for uniformly accelerated motion  a  constant  are as under,
 

     1   
v  u  at, s  ut  at2 , v. y  u.u  2a.s
2

Here u = initial velocity of particle, v = velocity of particle at time t and



s = displacement of particle in time t

Note. If initial position vector of a particle is r0 , then position vector at time t can be written as

     1
r  r0  s  r0  ut  at2
2

On e -d i m e n s i o n a l u n i f o r m l y a c c e l e r a t e d m o t i o n
If the motion of a particle is taking place in a straight line, there is no need of using vector addition
(or subtraction) in equations of motion. We can directly use the equations.

1 2
v  u  at, s  ut  at and v2  u 2  2 as
2

Just by taking one direction as the positive (and opposite to it as negative) and then substituting
u, a, etc. with sign. Normally we take vertically upward direction positive (and downward negative) and
horizontally rightwards positive (or leftwards negative).
Sign convention for (a) motion in vertical direction (b) motion in +ve
+ve -ve -ve
horizontal direction is shown in Fig.
(a) (b)

IITJEE KINEMATICS
12 MARKS

Ex a m p l e 6
A ball is thrown upwards from the top of a lower 40 m high with a velocity of 10 m/s. Find
the time when it strikes the ground Take g = 10 m/s2 .
Solution. In the problem
u = 10 m/s, a =  10 m/s2 and s =  40 m
(at the point where stone strikes the ground)
v = +10 m/s
+ve a = g = -10m/s2

s=0
1 2
Substituting s  ut  at , we have
2
40 m
 40 = 10t  5t2
or 5t2  10t  40 = 0
or t2  2t  8 = 0
Solving this we have t = 4s and  2s. Taking the positive value t = 4s.
Note : The significance of t = 2s can be understood by following figure:

C C
t = 1s t AB = t DE = 2s
t BC = tCD = 1 s
B
t=0
D
t = 2s

A E t = 4s
t = -2s

Ex a m p l e 7
A particle of mass 1 kg has a velocity of 2 m/s. A constant force of 2N acts on the particle for
1s in a direction perpendicular to its initial velocity. Find the velocity and displacement of
the particle at the end of 1 second.
Solution. Force acting on the particle is constant. Hence, acceleration of the particle will also remain
constant.
F 2
a   2m/s 2
m 1
at=(2) (1)=3m/s
Since, acceleration is constant. We can apply
v
1
     1 2 at2 =1m
v  u  at and s  ut  at 2
2 v
Refer Fig.
 at=2m

a-2m/s (b)
(a)

KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 13
 
Here, u and at are two mutually perpendicular vectors. So


 u    at  
 2
2
v   2 2   2 2  2 2 m/s


at
  tan 1   45 
1 1
  tan
u

Thus, velocity of the particle at the end of 1s is 2 2 at an angle of 45 with its initial velocity.

  1
s  ut  at 2 .
2

 1  2
Here ut and at are also two mutually perpendicular vectors. So,
2

2
  2  1 
s  ut    2 at2    2
2
  1 
2
5m
 

1 2
at
2 1 
and   tan1   tan1   .
ut 2 

1  1 
Thus, displacement of the particle at the end of 1s is 5m at an angle of tan  2  from its initial

velocity.

Ex a m p l e 8

Velocity and acceleration of a particle at time t = 0 are u  2i→  3 →j   
 
m/s and a  4i→  2 →j m/s
2

respectively. Find the velocity and displacement of particle at t = 2 s.



 
Solution. Here, acceleration a  4i→  2j→ m/s is constant. So, we can apply
2

     1 2
v  u  at and s  ut  at
2

Substituting the proper values, we get



    
v  2i→  3 →j   2  4 i→  2 j→  10i→  7 →j m/s 
and

 1
 
s   2 2i→  3 j→  (2) 2 4i→  2 j→  12i→  10 j→ m .
2
  
IITJEE KINEMATICS
14 MARKS

   
Therefore, velocity and displacement of particle at t = 2s are 10→i  7 →j m/s and 12→i  10 →j m

respectively.
Following points are worthnoting in case of one dimensional motion with constant acceleration.
   
(i) It can be observed when either u  0, u  a or u  a
 
(ii) In the first two cases when either u  0 or u  a motion is only accelerated.

(iii) When u  a a motion is first retarded (till the velocity becomes zero) and then accelerated
in opposite direction.
(iv) As per our convention (vertically upward positive) acceleration due to gravity ÂgÊ is always
negative whether the particle is moving upwards or downwards. We are now left with the sign of u and
s. Displacement s is measured from the point of projection.
(v) For fast calculation in objective problems, remember the following results.
(a) Maximum height attained by a particle, thrown upwards from ground

u2
h
2g

(b) Velocity of particle at the time of striking the ground when released (u =0) from a height his,

v  2 gh

2h
(c) In (b) time of collision with ground t 
g

(d) Displacement of particle in nth second of its motion,

1
s1  u  at  a .
2
(vi) Difference between distance (d) and displacement (s)
 1 2 2 2 
The ÂsÊ in equations of motion  s  ut  2 at and v  u  2as  is really the displacement not the
 
distance. They have different values only when u and a are are of opposite sign or u  a .
SOM E COM M ON M I SCON CEPT I ON S!!
MISCONCEPT 1 - Equations of motion are applicable every time.
CLARIFICATION - Equations of motion are applicable only when a is constant.
MISCONCEPT 2 - In eqn of motion, s gives distance
CLARIFICATION - s gives displacement, not distance. So for finding distance, we must find out instant
at which velocity is reversing and then break the motion in parts.

KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 15

1 .4 .2 M OT I ON WI T H N ON -U N I FORM A CCEL ERA T I ON :


To start off with this topic it is important to have knowledge of integrals.

Sh o r t n o t e o n c a l c u l a t i o n o f i n t e g r a l s :
We have two types of integrals : Indefinite integrals and Definite integrals. Indefinite integrals are
basically anti-derivatives i.e., they are inverse of derivatives. For example, we know that derivative of
t2 = 2t and this means that the indefinite integral of 2t is t2. Similarly, the derivative of tn is ntn1 and
hence the indefinite integral of ntn1 is tn.
Proceeding in the similar way, we get:

t 1 t 1
n n
n
 t dt  n 1
Note that the derivative of
n 1
is t n.

(We can add a constant to the right hand side because the derivative of a constant is zero.)
Definite integrals are calculated over some intervals i.e., between an upper limit and a lower limit. To
calculate a definite integral, first find its indefinite integral (anti-derivative) and then substitute upper
and lower limits and subtract.

t2  2 2 12 3
For example:  tdt  
2 2
 
2 2

Some quantities defined as derivatives and integrals.


dx
v (t )  v = slope of x  t graph
dt

dv
(t)  a a = slope of v  t graph
dt

dp
F( t)  F = slope of p - t graph
dt
(p = linear momentum)

2
x   dx  1 v(t)dt x = area under v  t graph

2
v   dv  1 a(t) dt v = area under a  t graph

2
p  dp  1 F( t) dt p = area under F - t graph

2
W   dW  1 F( x) dx W = area under F - x graph

IITJEE KINEMATICS
16 MARKS

Im port ant result for int egrat ion

2 n t n1  t2n2  t1n1


1. 
1
t dt 
n  1

n 1

2 dt t2
2. 1 t
 log
t1

So l v i n g Pr o b l e m s I n v o l v i n g N o n -u n i f o r m A c c e l e r a t i o n
(a) Acceleration depends on velocity v or time t

dv
By definition of acceleration, we have a  .
dt

After substituting the expression for acceleration in left hand separate the variables.
v v
If a(t) is in terms of t,  0 dv   0 a t dt
v dv v
If a(v) is in terms of v, 0 a(v)  0 dt
On integrating , we get a relation between v and t.
x x
Using 0 dx  0 v(t)dt , x and t can also be related.
(b) Acceleration depends on velocity v or position x

dv dx dv
a  a=
dt dt dx

dv
 av
dx

This is another important expression for acceleration.

v x
If a(x) is in terms of x, v vdv  x
0 0
a (x)dx

v vdv x
If a(v) is in terms of v, v 0 a (v)
 x dx
0

On integrating, we get a relation between x and v.

x dx t
Using x
0
  dt , we can relate x and t.
v (x ) 0

KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 17

Ex a m p l e 9
The acceleration of a particle varies with time as shown. a
(a) Find an expression for velocity in terms of t and
m/s2
(b) Calculate the displacement of the particle in the interval
from t = 2 sec. to t = 4 sec. 1 t(s)
Assume that v = 0 at t = 0. -2

Solution.
(a) The a  t graph leads to the following expression for a(t).
a(t) = 2t  2
t
 v  v(t)  v(0)   a(t) dt; v(0)  0
0

t v
 v(t)  0  2t  2 dt m/s

t t o 2
= 0 2tdt  0 2dt t(s)

t t
= 0 tdt  0 2dt
t
 t2 
= 2  2   2 t 0
t

 0

 v(t) = t2  2t
 The v-t graph is a parabola.
4
x   v( t) dt
2

2  t 
4 2
=  2t dt

4 2 4 2
= 2 t dt 2 t dt

4 4
t3   t2 
=    
3  2  2 2

=
4 3  23
2
42  22

20
m.
 
3 2 3

IITJEE KINEMATICS
18 MARKS

Ex am pl e 10
A particle of mass m is projected in a resisting medium whose resistive force is F = kv and
the initial velocity is v 0.
(a) Find the expression for position and velocity in terms of time.
(b) Find the time after which the velocity becomes v0/2.

dv kv
Solution. Acceleration = 
dt m

v dv v dt
0 v
 0  k
m

v  kt
log 
v0 m

 v (t )  v0e kt / m (i)

 dx  v 0e kt/ mdt

 dx  v0 e kt / m dt
x x  kt / m
 0 dx  0 v0 e dt

t
 e kt /m   at eat 
 x  v0   usin g  e dt  
  k/ m  0  a 

mv0
 (t) 
k

1  e kt / m  (ii)

v0
(b) substituting v  in (i), we get
2

m
t log 2 .
k

1. We have found students often confused over the sign of ÂgÊ. As per our sign convention (positive
upwards and negative downwards) it is always negative, whether the particle is moving upwards
or downwards. Now if u is upwards (i.e., u  g ) motion is retarded and if u is either zero or
downwards (u  g ) motion is accelerated.
2. Sometime the standard results are written in different manners and the students unnecessarily go
on integrating or differentiating. The standard results which are usually altered are :

KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 19

(i) v = u + at

1 2
(ii) s  ut  at
2

(iii) v2 = u 2 + 2as
These are the equation of motion in one dimension with constant acceleration.

(iv) v   A 2  x2

(v) a = 2x
These are the equation of simple harmonic motion.
The above point will be more clear after going through following two examples.

Ex am pl e 11

Velocity of a particle moving in a straight line varies with its displacement as v   


4  4 s m/s .
Displacement of particle at time t = 0 is s = 0. Find displacement of particle at time t = 2s.
Solution. Squaring the given equation, we get
v 2 = 4 + 4s
Now, comparing it with v2 = u 2 + 2as
we get, u = 2m/s and a = 2 m/s2
 Displacement at t = 2s is

1 2 or 1
s  ut  at s  (2)(2)  (2)(2)2
2 2

1 2 or 1
s  ut  at s   2 (2)  (2)(2)2
2 2
or s = 8 m.

Ex am pl e 12

The velocity of a particle moving in the positive direction of x-axis varies as v   x , where
a is a positive constant. Assuming that at moment t = 0, the particle was located at the point
x = 0. Find
(a) the time dependence of the velocity and the acceleration of the particle
(b) the mean velocity of the particle averaged over the time that the particle takes to
cover first I meters of the path.
Solution. Squaring the given equation, we have
v2 =  2x
Comparing this equation with v2 = u2 + 2as

IITJEE KINEMATICS
20 MARKS

we have u = 0 and 2
a
2
2
i.e., the motion is uniformly accelerated with initial velocity u = 0 and acceleration a  . Hence
2

2 t
(a) (i) v = at or v 
2

2
(ii) a  = constant
2

1 2 1 2 2
(b) s  at  t
2 2 2

2 s
 t = time taken to cover first s metres.

s
s  s
 Vv   2 s or Vav  2 .
t 

Ex am pl e 13
A particle of mass 10ă2 kg is moving along the positive X-axis under the influence of a force
k
F( x)  2 where k = 10
ă2
Nm2 . At time t = 0, it is at x = 1.0m and its velocity is v = 0.
2x
(a) find its velocity when it reaches x = 0.5m
(b) find the time at which it reaches x = 0.25m

k
Solution. (a) Given F( x)  
2x2
here k and x2 are always positive. Hence F is always negative (whether x is positive or negative)

F(x)
a ( x) 
m
Substituting the values, we have B F(x) A
x=0 x = 0.5 m x = 1.0 m
k 10 2 1 v=v t=0
a   
2mx 2 2  10 2  x 2 2 x 2 v=0

dv 1 1 dx v 1 x 0.5 dx
or v.
dx
 2
2x
or vdv  
2 x2
or 0 vdv   2 x 1.0 x2
......... (i)

x0.5
v2 1  1   1 1 
or    2    or v2 = 1.0
2 2  2  x1.0  0.5 1.0 

KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 21

or v = ± 1.0 m/s
so v = 1.0 m/s (because velocity is along negative X-direction).
(b) To find velocity of particle at x = x .
Eq. (i) can be written as

x x
v2 1  1  1 1  1 x
   2
or v    
2 2  x x1.0  x 1.0  x

 dx  1 x x
or v  
 dt 

x
or  1 x
dx    dt

0.25 x t
or t 1 x
dx    dt
0

solving this, we get t = 1.48 s


Note. For integration make the substitution x = sin2.

Ex am pl e 14
A car starts from rest and accelerates uniformly for 10 s to a velocity of 8 m/s. It then run
at a constant velocity and is brought to rest in 64 m with a constant retardation. The total
distance covered by the car is 584 m. Find the value of acceleration, retardation and total
time taken.
Solution: The car starts from A, accelerates from A to B, run at constant velocity from B to C and
retards to rest from C to D.
From A to B

v  u 80
a   0.8 m/s 2
t 10

1 2 1
s  ut  at  0  0.8 100   40m
2 8

From B to C
s = BC = 584  AB  CD
= 584  40  64 = 480 m

1 2
s  ut  at
2
 480 = 87 + 0
 t = 60 seconds.

IITJEE KINEMATICS
22 MARKS

From C to D

v2  u 2 02  82
a   0.5m/s2
2s 2(64)

v u 0  8
t   16 seconds
a  0.5

 total time = tAB + BC + tCD


= 10 + 60 + 16 = 86 SEC
aAB = 0.8m/s 2 and a CD =  0.5 m/s 2

1 .4 .3 GRA PH S (ST RA I GH T L IN E M OT I ON ) :
With the help of graphs we visualise the variation of position (x), velocity (v), and acceleration (a) of a
moving particle with time. Plotting time (t) on X-axis and x, v, a on Y-axis we get three useful graphs:
(i) xt graphs (ii) vt graphs (iii) at graphs
Illustration I
A particle is resting on X-axis at the point (3,0). Draw its x-t graph.
The equation is: x(t) = 3.
As the particle is at rest, its X-coordinate is constant with the time and hence a horizontal line
y = 3 is the xt graph.

1 .4 .3 Gr a p h i c a l I n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f So m e Qu a n t i t i e s
Average Velocity:
If a particle passes a point P(xi ) at time t = ti and reaches Q (xf ) at a later time instant
 x xf  xi
t = tf , its average velocity in the interval PQ is V av  t  t  t .
f

This expression suggests that the average velocity is equal to the slope of the line (chord) joining
the points corresponding to P, Q on the x - t graph.
X x
Q Q
xr Q x
xi xr Q P v
xi t v-0
P a
P Q t v>0
A
B v<0 a>0 - 0
t C a<0 a>0
a=0
O t i tr t o ti tr t t a=0 t

Instantaneous Velocity:
Consider the motion of the particle between the two points P and Q on the x - t graph shown. As
the point Q is brought closer and closer to the point P. the time interval between PQ (At, At´, At´´,⁄
) get progressively smaller. The average velocity for each time interval is the slope of the appropriate
dotted line (PQ, PQ´, PQ´´,⁄). As the point Q approaches P, the time interval approaches zero, but at

KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 23

the same time the slope of the dotted line approaches that of the tangent to the curve at the point P.
As t  0, Vav (= x/t).  Vinst

Geometrically, As t  0, chord PQ  tangent at P.


Hence the instantaneous velocity at P in the slope of the tangent at P in the x  t graph. When
the slope of the x  t graph is positive, v is negative (as at the point A in figure). At C, v is negative
because the tangent has negative slope. The instantaneous velocity at point B (turning point) is zero as
the slope is zero.
Instantaneous Acceleration:
The derivative of velocity with respect to time is the slope of the tangent in velocity time (v - t)
graph.

1 .4 .3 .2 Di s p l a Ce m e n t v -t Gr a p h
Let us now discuss the problem of determining displacement from a v  t graph. For motion at
constant velocity, the v  t graph is a horizontal line, as shown in the figure.

v
v3 v
v v2
v v1

o t
t
o t o t
t1 t2 t3 t
x
Since v v  , the displacement Ax in a time integral t is given by x = vt.
t
This is just the area of the shaded rectangle of height v and width t.
Note that the unit of this area is (m/s) (s) = m.
x = u t = height of rectangle x base = area of rectangle under v  t graph.
Let us now consider the case when the velocity is not constant. Let the velocity be v1 for t1
seconds, v2 for t2 seconds, v 3 for t3 seconds.
Displacement
= x = x1 + x2 + x3
= v1t1 + v2 t2 + v 3t3 = sum of areas of the three shaded rectangle
 Displacement = x = area under v  t graph.
For the most general case, the v  t graph can be a curve i.e. velocity may change continuously with
time as shown. To calculate displacement during an interval t, we divide this interval into many small
intervals (t = t1, +t2, +⁄+ tn) . If the number of sub-intervals is made very large (i.e. n goes on
increasing), each interval becomes very small ( ti  0) and displacement during each of these sub-
intervals may be taken as the area of the shaded rectangles as shown. The approximation improves as
the number of rectangles (i.e. sub-intervals) is increased.
displacement = v1t1 + v2 t2 + ... + V ntn) as n  , ti  0
 displacement = total area under the v  t curve.
IITJEE KINEMATICS
24 MARKS

Since a negative velocity causes a negative displacement, areas below the time axis
are taken negative.
In a similar way, we can see that v = at leads to the conclusion that area under a  t graph gives
the change in velocity Av during that interval.

v v
v

o o o t
t t
t t

As the number of sub-intervals is increased (n  ), the sum of the areas of the rectangles
approaches the area under the curve.

1 .4 .3 .3 M o t i o n w i t h U n i f o r m V e l o c i t y u :

v Consider a particle moving along X-axis with


v e -x
slop u
sl op uniform velocity u starting from the point x = xi
e -x
u x is positive at t =0. Equations of x , v, a are:
x is negative
o t o t x(t) = xi + ut; v(t) = u; a(t) = 0
x-t graph is a straight line of slope u through xi
v
v negative velocityv
 as velocity is constant, v–t graph is a
u horizontal line.
o t
positive velocity  at graph coincides with time axis because a
o u o
t t = 0 at all time instants.

1 .4 .3 .4 . U n i f o r m l y A c c e l e r a t e d M o t i o n (a  0 )

1 2
x(t) = xi + ut + at Graph
2

v(t) = u + at x
x
a(t) = a x1 x1 a<0
a >0

o o t
 x(t) is a quadratic polynomial in terms of t.
Hence x-t graph is a parabola.
 v(t) is a linear polynomial in terms of t.
x
Hence v-t graph is a straight line of slope a. x
x1 x1
 a-t graph is a horizontal line because a is
constant.
o t o t

KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 25

1 .4 .3 .5 I m p o r t a n t Po i n t s t o Re m e m b e r
 For uniformly accelerated motion (a  0), x–t graph is a parabola (opening upwards if a > 0
and opening downwards if a < 0). The slope of tangent at any point of the parabola gives the
velocity at that instant.
 For uniformly accelerated motion (a  0), v–t graph is straight line whose slope gives the
acceleration of the particle.
 In general, the slope of tangent in x–t graph is velocity and the slope of tangent in v–t graph
is the acceleration.
 The area under a–t graph gives the change in velocity.
 The area between the v–t graph and the time-axis gives the distance traveled by the particle,
if we take all areas as positive; shaded area = distance covered in the time interval t = t1 to
t = t2. (see example 9)
 Area under v–t graph gives displacement if areas below the t-axis are taken negative. (see
example 9)

Ex am pl e 15
A car accelerates from rest at the rate of 1 m/s2 for 5 seconds and then retards at the same
rate till it comes to rest. Draw the x–t, v–t and a –t graphs.
Solution. Velocity acquired after 5 sec. u + at = 0 + 1(5) = 5 m/s.
x 0
x<
0 5 0
time taken to come to rest = x>
 1 = 5 sec.
o 5 10 t
 car starts at t = 0 and accelerates till t = 5s.
The car starts slowing down at t = 5s and comes to rest at t = 10s.
v
x
5 1
t
t o10 5
-1
o
5 10
In the v-t graph the area of shaded triangle = distance covered

1
= (5)(10)  25 m
2

Ex am pl e 16
A ball is thrown vertically upwards with a speed of 9.8 m/s from the ground. Draw the x–t,
v–t and a –t graph for its motion.
Solution. As the acceleration of the ball remains a =  9.8 m/s2 throughout the motion,
x v
a–t graph is a horizontal line.
t
o t o 2
1
9.8 9.8

IITJEE KINEMATICS
26 MARKS

time taken by the ball to reach top

0  9.8
=  9.8 = 1 sec & the height attained

02  9.82
=  4.9 m
2   9.8 
x
4.9
As a < 0, x-t graph is a parabola opening downwards. The x-coordinate of the ball is
zero initially and finally when it reaches back after 2 seconds. t
o 1 2
NOTE:
(i) velocity at the top = 0
slope of the tangent to the x-t graph at t =1 is zero.
(ii) distance covered = shaded area (taking area above or below t-axis as positive)

= 2   1  9.8   9.8 m
1
2 

displacement = area (taking area below t-axis as negative) = 4.9  (4.9) = 0 m


(iii) slope of line in v–t graph = acceleration =  9.8 m/s2 .
(iv) between t = 0 & t = 1, velocity is + ve i.e., the ball is going up between t = 1 & t = 2, velocity
is  ve i.e., the ball is coming down.

So m e M o re Po i n t s
1. Slopes of v–t or s–t graphs can never be infinite at any point, because infinite slope of v—t graph
means infinite acceleration. Similarly, infinite slope of s–f graph means infinite velocity. Hence, the
following graphs are not possible:

s
v

t t

2. At one time, two values of velocity or displacement are not possible. Hence, the following graphs
are not acceptable:
s
v1 s1
v2 s2

to t to t

3. Different values of displacements in st graph corresponding to given vt graph can be calculated
just by calculating areas under vf graph. There is no need of using equations like v = u + at, etc.

KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 27

Ex a m p l e 1 7
A car accelerates from rest at a constant rate at a constant rate  for some time, after which
it decelerates at a constant rate  , to come to rest. If the total time elapsed is 1 sec evaluate
(a) the maximum velocity reached and (b) the total distance traveled.
Solution. (a) Let the car accelerates for time t1 and decelerates for time t2 . Then
t = t1 + t2 (i)
and corresponding velocity-time graph will be as shown in Fig.
From the graph

V max
 = slope of line OA =
t1

Vmax
or t1  (ii)

Vmax
and  =  slope of line AB =
t2

Vmax
or t2  (iii)

From equation (i), (ii) and (iii), we get

Vmax V    
 max  t or Vmax  t
    

 t
or Vmax 


(b) Total distance = displacement


= area under v  t graph

1  t
= t 
2 

1   t 2 
or Distance = 2      .
 

Note. This problem can also be solved by using equations of motion (v = u + at, etc.). Try it yourself.

IITJEE KINEMATICS
28 MARKS

1 .5 CI RCU L A R M OT I ON
U n i f o r m Ci r c u l a r M o t i o n
A particle moving along a circular path with a constant speed is said to be an uniform circular
motion.
Angular velocity ()
When a particle moves along a circle, it covers somearc length (= s) along the circumference in time
t sec. The angle subtended by this arc at the centre or the angle rotated by the radius vector is known
as angular displacement in time t sec.
If the particle goes from A to B
angular displacement = AOB = 
distance covered = arc AB = s
By definition of  in radian,

s

r
The angular displacement per unit time is known as angular velocity.

angular displacement

time

 s/ r 1  s 
    
t t r r 

now s/t = v = speed of the particle.

v
   v = r
r
Time period of revolution (T)
If the particle completes one revolution,  = 2
Let time for one revolution = T,

2
 
T
Let n = frequency of revolution
= number of revolution completed in one second

1 
 n 
T 2

2
   2 n and
T

2r
v  r   2 rn
T

KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 29

Veloc it y and ac c eleration in c irc ular m ot ion :


The magnitude of velocity does not change with time but the direction of the velocity (along
tangent) keeps on changing from moment to moment. As the velocity vector changes direction with time,
the acceleration is non-zero in uniform circular motion.
Let v = speed of moving particle (same at all points) and r = radius of the circle.
Let the particle start from A at t = 0. After time t, it reaches point P where the position vector is :

r( t)  OP  r cos  ti→  r sin  t

dr
 v(t)    r  sin t i→  r  cos t j→
dt

dv
acceleration = a( t)   r 2 cos t i→  r 2 sin t2 j→
dt

2
 2
=   r cost i→  r sint j→ 
 a   2 r

The magnitude of the accelration is 2 r and it is directed towards the centre O.


The figure shows the direction of velocity and acceleration for different positions of moving particle
on the circle. As the acceleration is directed toward the centre, it is known as centripetal acceleration
or radial acceleration (along the radius).
 centripetal acceleration = 2 r = v 2/r
NOTE : So far we have observed that in uniform circular motion, the magnitude of velocity (v) and
magnitude of acceleration (v 2/r) are constant, while the direction of the velocity (along the tangent) and
the direction of acceleration (along the radius) keep on changing with time.

N o n -u n i f o r m Ci r c u l a r M o t i o n
If the speed of the particle rotating in the circle changes with time, it is said to be in non-uniform
circular motion. The acceleration of the particle in that case has two components :
(1) A radical (or centripetal) component which causes the changes in the direction of the velocity. It
is directed towards the centre and has a magnitude ar given as : ar = v2 /r
Note that this component is also present in uniform circular motion.
(2) A tangential component which causes the change in magnitude of velocity. It is directed along the
tangent and its magnitude is decided by the net tangential force acting on the particle. Its magnitude
is given by at as :

dv
at  where v is the speed of the particle.
dt

The tangential acceleration is in the direction of motion if the particle speeds up and opposite to
the direction of motion if the particle slows down.
NOTE : In uniform circular motion, tangential component a t = 0 m/s2 because speed does not change.

IITJEE KINEMATICS
30 MARKS

Ci r c u l a r M o t i o n :
1. Circular motion is a special case of curvillinear motion where radius of curvature is same at all
points of trajectory.

 dv  a   V 
2
at   , r 
 r  at = tangential accderation
 dt   
Y
V

r   R cos  i→  (R sin ) j→ ar = radial acceleration P



  X
dr O
V   
 dt 
 

    
Also,  V . R  0   V R  
    r  (R cos ) i  (R sin ) j

 d
r  d  →  d  →  d 
 w
V=  R   sin     i  R cos    j, 
dt  dt   dt   dt 

= V Rw (  sin ) i→  Rw (cos ) j→

  dv
→ d
= a  
 dt  dt

R [  sin →i  cos →j] 
d d
= R   sin i  cos j    R    cos i  sin j 
dt dt

 d 
=  R   sin i  cos j    R   cos i  sin j   R (u→ )  w R ( u→r )
2 2
  = 
 dt 

Let the unit vector along tangent and radius be


u→  V    sin  i  (cos ) j→


r
u→r   (cos ) i  (sin ) j

|r |


v   R u
→ 

KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 31


a  R  u
→     2R   u→r 

    
a  R   v

   
a   a  ar 
 

d dv
at  R   R    
dt  dt 
y

 dv   vdv  at
at    =  
 dt   ds  
anet

R d an
  d  x
at   R =  R  o
dt  d 

v2
ar  r 
r

a 
tan    n  generally angle b/w net acceleration is asked.
 at 

Rotational eqns. can be derived as

 dv 
 = 0 + t     .......... (1)
 dt 

1  d 
 = 0t + t 2    .............. (2)
2  dt 

 d 
2 =  20 + 2     ......... (3)
 d 
In vector form, we have following relations :
  
(1) V  r


 2  
(2) ar     r     v 
 

   
(3) at    r 
 
IITJEE KINEMATICS
32 MARKS

Ex am pl e 18
If a Particle is moving along a circular path of radius R with velocity V = a ot. Then find out
acceleration of the particle when it has covered nth fraction of the circle.
 dv 
Solution at     a0 ..... (1)
 dt 
v2 = 0 + 2 a0 (s) [S = (2r)n
v2 = 2a o (2rn)
v2 = (4rna 0)
v2
 ar =  4 na0 ... (2)
r
Resultant acceleration

= a 2t  a 2r = a 20  16a 2n 2 a 02 = a  a0

1  16a n  2 2

a 
tan    r   4n with tangential acceleration.
 at 

Ex am pl e 19
A particle moves along a circular path of radius R, with retardation, such that at any moment
the tangitial and normal acceleration are equal in magnitude.
(1) If initial speed of the particle is V0, then find the speed of the particle as a function
of time t and distance s. Also plot it.
(2) Find the total accleration in terms of S. Plot it.
Solution
 
(1) at  ar
Y
v(t ) t
 dv   v2  dv 1 V0
    
 dt   r 
 
V
2

R  dt
vo o

X
1 1 t  V 0R  O
   V(t)   
V( t) V0 R  V 0t  R 

dv  v2  Y
Also, V   
ds  r  V0

dv  ds 
  
v R 
X
O s
vs s
dv 1
  v

R  ds
v0 0

V  S
log  s   Vs  Vo eS/R
 Vo  R

KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 33

Y
(2) a net = a2r  at2
2 2
V
= a2r  ar2 =  2  ar R 0

v2 2 2 2S / R X
 a net  2 = V e O s
R R 0

Ex am pl e 20
A particle moves along a circle of radius R with speed =  s where s is the distance covered.
(a) Find the angle between velocity and acceleration. as a function of distance covered.
(b) Find the distance covered when the angle is /4 .
Solution
at
 ar 
(a) tan    
 at 
v  s   

2 s  2  v2   2 s  at
=   ar   
R  2  R  R 

2s dv 2
tan   at  v 
R ds 2
(b) When  = / 4, s = (R/2)

Ex am pl e 21
A particle moves in X-Y plane with const-tangential acceleration = a 0 and a r = bt4, where b
is const. Find total acceleration as a function of distance covered s. (Initial speed = 0)
Solution.

 v2   v2 
ar     r  
 r  ar 
   
v2 = (2a 0s)
Now, a r = bt4
4
1 2s b  2s 
s  ut  at2  t  ar   
2 a0  a0 
2a0 s a02
radius of curvature, r 
b 4s 2
 a3 
r 0 
 2bs 
 

 16 s4 
at  a0 
2
ar2 at  a02  b 2  
 a0 4 
 

IITJEE KINEMATICS
34 MARKS

1 .6 PROJ ECT I CE M OT I ON
We have already seen that when a particle is given a vertical velocity in earthÊs gravitational field, it
moves along a vertical line. Imagine the motion of a particle when it is given an initial velocity u
directed at an angle  of with the horizontal and   90 .

Such a particle will move horizontally and as well as vertically i.e. along a curve.
For convenience, we will take origin at the point from where the particle is thrown and X-axis,
Y-axis as horizontal and vertical respectively.
The velocity of particle at any instant is directed along the tangent to the path and can have
horizontal and vertical components.
The only force acting on the particle is its weight (mg) directed downwards. Hence acceleration
is g directed vertically downwards.
As acceleration does not change with time, the projectile motion is a uniformly accelerated
motion. At all time instants, a x = 0 and a y = g.

vx

u s vy
v
usin sy
sx

O ucos

H o r i zo n t a l m o t i o n o f p r o j e c t i l e :
ax = 0
vx = ux + 0(t)
vx = u cos  at all time instants, i.e. the horizontal velocity is constant.
sx = horizontal component of displacement in a time interval of t sec.
1
sx = uxt + a t2
2 x
= u cos  (t) (as ax is equal to zero)
horizontal displacement = (horizontal velocity) (time)
Vertical motion of projectile :
ay = g
v y = uy gt
1
s y = vy gt2
2

KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 35

v y2 = uy2 2gsy
uy = the vertical component of initial velocity
s y = vertical component of displacement during t sec.
v y = vertical component of final velocity

Vertic al c om ponent of veloc ity at any tim e vy = 0


vy = + ve
(i) is zero, if the particle moving horizontally
vy = -ve
(at the highest point)
(ii) is + ve if it is going up.
(iii) is _ ve if it is coming down.
Time of Flight (T)
Refer Fig. Here, x and y-axes are in the directions shown in figure. Axis x is along horizontal
direction and axis y is vertically upwards. Thus,
ux = u cos , uy = u sin , ax = 0 and a y = g
At point B, sy = 0. So, applying

1
sy  uy t  ay t2 , we have
2
y
1 2
0 = (u sin ) t  gt
2
u A
2u sin 
t  0,  h
g x
O R B
2u sin 
Both t = 0 and t  correspond to the situation where sy = 0. The time t = 0 corresponds
g
2u sin 
to point O and time t  corresponds to point B. Thus, time of flight of the projectile is :
g
2u sin 
T = tOAB or T
g

H o r i zo n t a l Ra n g e (R)
Distance OB is the range R. This is also equal to the displacement of particle along x-axis in time
1
t = T. Thus, applying sx = u xt  a xt2 , we get
2

 2 u sin  
R   u cos     0
 g 

2 usin 
as ax = 0 and t  T 
g

IITJEE KINEMATICS
36 MARKS

2u2 sin  cos  u2 sin 2


 R 
g g

u2 sin 2
or R
g
Here, two points are important regardingthe range of a projectile.
(i) Range is maximum where sin 2 = 1 or  = 45 and this maximum range is :

u2
Rmax  (at  = 45 )
g
(ii) For given value of u range at  and range at 90  are equal although times of flight and
maximum heights may be different. Because
y
u 2 sin 2 90   u 2 sin  180   2
R90   
g g u
u
2
u sin 2 30 60
=  R x
g
So, R30 = R 60 or R 20 = R 70

M a x i m u m H e i g h t (H )
At point A vertical component of velocity becomes zero, i.e. vy = 0. Substituting the proper values
in

v2y  u2y  2ay sy


we have 0 = (u sin )2 + 2 ( g)(H)

u2 sin 2 
 H
2g

Eq u a t i o n o f t r a j e c t o r y :
It is the equation of the curve along which the particle moves.
Let the particle move from O to an arbitary point P on the curve in time t.
If the coordinates of P are (x, y)
sx = x
sy = y
P(x,y)
 x = (u cos ) t & y = (u sin ) t 1/2 g t2
eliminating t from two equations; y

2 O x
 x  1  x  gx2  x
y  u sin    g    y  x tan   or y  x 1   tan 
 u cos   2  u cos  2
2u cos 2  R

This is the equation of the curve along which the particle moves. This is called as the equation
of the trajectory of the projectile. As y is quadratic polynomial in terms of x i.e.of the form
y = ax bx2, the curve followed by the projectile is a parabola.

KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 37

Ex am pl e 22
A projectile is given an initial velocity of 5 m/s at an angle 30Ĉ below horizontal from the top
of a building 25 m high. Find :
(a) the time after which it hits the ground
(b) the distance from the building where it strikes the ground. (Take g = 10 m/s2 )
Solution :
The projectile is thrown from O and lands at A on (i) ay = g = 10 m/s2
the ground. s y = u y t + 1/2 ay t 2
2
25 = 2.5 t 1/2 (10)t
u
25m 10 t2 + 5t 50 = 0
on solivng, we get : t = 2 s, 2.5 s
 the relevant time = 2s
From O to A :
(ii) the distance of A from the building = sx
sy = 25 m; uy = 5 sin 30 = 2.5 m/s.
( ve becuse vertical component is downwards) s x = u x t = (5 cos 30 ) 2 = 5 3 m

Ex am pl e 23
Find the angle of projection of a projectile for which the horizontal range and maximum
height are equal.
Solution. Given, R = H

u2 sin 2 u 2 sin 2 
 
g 2g

sin 2 
or 2sin cos 
2

sin 
or  4 or tan  = 4
cos 
  = tan 1(4) Ans.

Ex am pl e 24
Prove that the maximum horizontal range is four times the maximum height attained by the
projectile; when fired at an inclination so as to have maximum horizontal range.
Solution. For  = 45 , the horizontal range is maximum and is given by
u2
Rmax 
g
Maximum height attained

u2 sin 2 45  u2 R
Hmax    max
2g 4g 4

or Rmax = 4 H max Proved.

IITJEE KINEMATICS
38 MARKS

Ex am pl e 25
There are two angles of projection for which the horizontal range is the same. Show that the
sum of the maximum heights for these two angles is independent of the angle of projection.
Solution. There are two angles of projection  and 90  for which the horizontal range R is same.

u 2 sin 2 
Now, H1 
2g

u 2 sin 2  90     u2 cos2 
and H2  
2g 2g

u2
Therefore, 
H1  H2  sin 2   cos2    2g

Clearly the sum of the heights for the two angles of projection is independent of the angles of
projection.

Ex am pl e 26
Show that there are two values of time for which a projectile is at the same height. Also show
mathematically that the sum of these two times is equal to the time of flight.
Solution. For vertically upward motion of a projectile

1 2
y  u sin   t  gt
2

1 2
or gt  u sin   t  y  0
2

This is a quadratic equation in t. Its roots are

u sin   u2 sin 2   2 gy
t1 
g

u sin   u2 sin2   2gy


and t2 
g

2 usin 
 t1  t2   T (time of flightof the projectile)
g

KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 39

Ex am pl e 27
A projectile is fired horizontally with a velocity of 98 m/s from the top of u=98 m/ s
O x
a hill 490 m high. Find :
y
(a) the time taken by the projectile to reach the ground
(b) the distance of the point where the particle hits the ground from foot
of the hill and B A Vx

Vy
(c) the velocity with which the projectile hits the ground (g = 9.8 m/s2 )
Solution. In this problem we cannot apply the formulae of R, H and T directly. We will have to follow
the three steps discussed in the theory. Here, it will be more convenient to choose x and y directions
as shown in figure.
Here, u x = 98 m/s. ax = 0, u y = 0 and ay = g
(a) s y = 490m. So, applying

1
sy  u yt  ayt 2
2

1
 490  0   9.8 t 2
2

 t = 10 s

1
(b) BA = sx = u xt + ax t2
2

or BA = (98)(10) + 0
or BA = 980 m Ans.
(c) v x = u x = 98 m/s

vy  uy  ay t  0  (9.8)(10)  98 m/s

 v  v2x  v2y  (98)2  (98)2  98 2 m/s

vy 98
and tan    1
vx 98

  = 45

Thus, the projectile hits the ground with a velocity 98 2 m/s at an angle of  = 45 with horizontal
as shown in Fig Ans.

IITJEE KINEMATICS
40 MARKS

Ex am pl e 28
A stone is thrown with a velocity of 19.6 m/s at an angle of 30Ĉ above horizontal from the top
of a building 14.7 m high. Find :
(i) the time after which the stone strikes the ground
(ii) the distance of the landing point of the stone from the building.
(iii) the velocity with which the stone hits the ground.
(iv) the maximum height attained by the stone above the ground.
Solution. B
u
h
30
O

sy
14.7m
sx
C
A
Consider the interval from O to C
ux = 19.6 cos 30 = 9.83 m/s x
a= 0 m/s2 u y = 19.6 sin 30 = 9.8 m/s; y
a= 9.8 m/s 2

(i) sy = uy t + 1/2 ay t 2 v y is ve because the stone is moving down when


14.7 = 9.8 t + 1/2 ( 9.8) t2 it hits the ground.
2
 4.9 t 9.8 t 14.7 = 0 resultant velocity = v2x  v2y
 t = 1, 3 s

98 3 
stone lands at C after 3 seconds. 2
 19.6   9.8 7 m/s
2
=
(ii) From O to C, the horizontal displlacement
velocity is directed at an angle  given by :
= Sx
Sx = u xt = (19.6 cos 30 ) 3 = 50.92 m  vy   19.6 
  tan 1    tan 1  
v
 x   9.8 3 
distance of C from the building = AC
= 50.92 m
1  2 
(iii) the horizontal velocity remains constant = tan   below horizontal
 3
Hence at C, 9.8 3
 vx (iv) maximum height attained above ground
vx = u x = 9.8 3 m/s = height of B above point of projection +
19.6 v height of building
vy = u y = + a y t vy
= h + 14.7
vy = 19.6 sin 30 9.8 3
= (u2/2g) sin230 + 14.7
vy = 19.6 m/s
= 19.6 m

KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 41

Ex am pl e 29
A projectile shot at an angle of 45Ĉ above the horizontal strikes a building 30 m away at a
point 15 m above the point of projection. Find :
(a) the speed of projection
(b) the magnitude and direction of velocity of projectile when it strikes the building.
Solution :
Let u = speed of projecton
g (30)2
P  15 = 30 tan 45
2 u2 cos2 45 
15m
u  u = 24.2 m/s
45 30m (b) at P, vx = u x = 24.2 cos 45 = 17.11 m/s.

(a) Let P be the point on the building where vy2  uy2  2 ay sy


projectile hits it.
Taking point of projection as origin, vy2  u2 sin 2 45   2 g(15)
coordinates of P are (30, 15). Using the
equation of trajectory. v2y  (60 g) (0.5)  30 g   
gx 2  v y = 0; At P, projectile is at its heighest point
y = x tan  2 2
2 u cos  and hence moving horizontally.

Ex am pl e 30
A rifle with a muzzle velocity of 100 m/s shoots a bullet at a small target 30 m away in the
same horizontal line. how high above the target must the gun be aimed so that the bullet will
hit the target ?
Solution :
Let  = angle of projection of bullet A
Let the rifle be at O and target at T
As OT is horizontal range = 30 m
 (u2/g) sin2 = 30
 sin 2 = 0.03 u
As sin 2is small, so take sin 2 2
O 
2= 0.03   = 0.015 T
rifle
30m
The rifle is aimed at A.
The height of A above the target = AT
 AT = 30 tan  (from triangle OAT)
AT  30 () = 30 (0.015)
 AT = 45 cm.

IITJEE KINEMATICS
42 MARKS

Ra n g e o f a Pro j e c t i l e o n I n c l i n e d Pl a n e
Let OP be an inclined plane making an angle  with the horizontal line OX (X-axis). Let a projectile
be projected from O with a speed u at an angle  with the horizontal. It meets the inclined plane at
the point A. The distance OA is the range on the inclined plane.

Y
u P
A
R
 Rsin
 Rcos
O X

Let R = OA
2u (cos  cos )
 A has the coordinates : (R cos , R sin ) = g sin (   )
The equation of trajectory is :

gx2 2u  


y  x tan   = 2sin sin
g 2 2
2u 2 cos 2 
x x  
= u  = 2sin cos
cos  u cos 2 2

x(cos   cos )
= u cos  cos     
sin  
2u  2 

2 u2 cos   cos   =   
= g cos  
t (tan   tan ) u cos  cos   2 

Ex am pl e 31
A stone is projected from the ground in such a direction so as to hit a bird on the top of a
telegraph post of height h and attains the maximum height of 2 h above the ground. If at the
instant of projection, the bird were to fly away horizontally with a uniform speed, find the
ratio between the horizontal velocities of bird and the stone, if the stone hits the bird while
descending.
Sol ut i on . Let the u and  be the velocity and the angle of projection of the stone.

u
P path of bird Q 2h
h

O

KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 43

As 2 h is the maximum height attained,


solving and using u sin = 4gh we get,
u2 sin2 
2h 
2g 2 usin   4 u2 sin2   8 gh
t OQ, t OP =
2g
 u2 sin2 = 4 gh
The bird starts from point P at the instant when
4 gh  2 2 gh
the stone is thrown and goes to Q where it gets =
2g
hit by the stone.
Hence the time taken by brd to go from P to Q
= time taken by the stone from O to Q = t OQ  tOQ 
2  2  gh; tOP 
2  2  gh
g g
Let v = horizontal velocity of the bird

PQ v
 v Hence the ratio of horizontal velocities =
tOQ u cos 

time taken by the stone to go from P to Q


= time from O to Q time from O to P = tOQ tOP 2 2
gh
tOQ  tOP g
PQ 
horizontal velocity of stone = u cos   t = tOQ 2 2
OQ  tOP gh
g
As the stone is at a height h at tOP and t OQ , these
time instants are the roots of the equation :
2 2 2
1 = 
h = (u sin ) t gt2 2 2 2 1
2

Ex am pl e 32
With what minimum speed must a particle be projected from origin so that it is able to pass
through a given point P (a, b) ?
Solution : The projectile will pass through P (a, b) if this
Let u and  be the velocity and angle of equation (quadratic in tan ) gives some real value
projection respectively. of .
For the projectile to pass through P (a, b) i.e., its discriminant  0
4a2u 4 4ga2 (ga2 + 2bu 2)  0
ga 2
b  a tan   2 2 u4 2gbu2 g2 a2  0
2u cos 
u4 2gbu2 + b 2g2 b2g 2 + a2g 2
ga2
b  a tan  
2u 2  1  tan 
2 (u2 bg)2 (b 2 + a 2) g 2

 u  bg  g a 2  b2
 ga 2 tan 2 2a u2 tan  + (ga 2 + 2bu 2)
=0

IITJEE KINEMATICS
44 MARKS

Ex am pl e 33
A football is kicked off with a initial speed of 20 m/s at a projection angle of 45Ĉ. A receiver on
the goal-line at a distance of 60 m away in the direction of the kick, starts running to meet the
ball at that instant. What must be his speed if he is to catch the ball before it hits the ground ?
(Take g = 10 m/s2)
Solution.

20m/s
receiver

45
O 60m A B

Let u = 20 m/s;  = 45
u2
v = speed of the receiver OB = 60  sin 2   vt  60 .... (1)
g
The ball is projected from O and the receiver
runs from B to catch the ball at A. In any problem
2u sin 
involving motion of two bodies, usual steps to be Also t = time of flight  t
g
followed are :
(i) let t be the time after they meet, Solving (1) & (2), we get v and t. Eliminating t :
(ii) express the relation between the magnitude
u2  2 usin  
of displacement in terms of t. sin 2  v    60
g  g 
Let t = time after which the receiver meets the
ball hence t = time taken by the ball to go from
60 g  u2 sin 2
O to A and t = time taken by the receiver to go v
from B to A. 2u sin

u2 600  400
OA  range  sin 2 v 2
 2(20)
g

and AB = distance covered by receiver = vt  v  5 2 m/s

1 .7 REL A T I V E V EL OCI T Y
Consider two frames of reference S and S´ and suppose the particle P is observed from both the frames.
The frames may be moving with respect to each other. The position vector of the particle P with respect

to the frame S is r P S = OP . The position vector of the particle with respect to the frame S´ is
1

r P S 1  O´P . The position of the frame S´ (the origin of frame S´ in fact) with respect to the frame S
1

is OO´.

  
Now, OP  OO´  O´P

KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 45

S´ Differentiate again

Y S   
 a ps '  a ps  a s 's
rps´
O´ In general

rps
   
rs´s v12  v 1 s  v 2 s
X
O´   
or V1  V12  V 2
  
Z or V12  V1  V2
      
rps  rps'  rs ' s V A1 D  V AB  V BC  V CD ........... (3)
Similarly in cartesian form
  
rps'  r ps  r s' s V 1 (x) = V 1, 2 (x) + V2 (x)
V 2 (y) = V 1,2 (y) + v2 (y)
Differentiate w.r.t. time

    
 d r12 d v12 
vps  v ps  vs ' s Also,  V12 ,  a12
'
dt dt
1 .7 .1 Sh o r t e s t d i s t a n c e o f a p p r o a c h
Ex am pl e 34
I starts from origin in x direction with v = 40 km/hr 2 is initially 20 km from origin and starts
in y direction as shown in fig. Find out shortest distance and time takes to reach.
Solution.
Now, once we have studied the motion of 1 with
V1 40 km/hr respect to 2, we can consider 2, to be stationary
37 and then
20km
Anslyse the motion as if we are sitting on 2

sin  12 
V2 30 km/hr time  l     0.245
   50 
v 12
  
V12  V1  V2  40 →
i  30 j →   2nd Method : (Not preferable)
Perform the analysis from ground

= 40i→ 30 j → 
S  x2  x12  y2  y1
2
  z2  z1
2


v1 30 3
tan     ,   37  ds 
 40 4 and put    0
v2  dt 
Remember

2 2
V 12  40  30  50 km/hr Motion of one projectile with respect to anoter
projectile is always rectilinear.

IITJEE KINEMATICS
46 MARKS

Ex am pl e 35
Car A has an acceleration of 2 m/s2 due east and car B, 4 m/s 2 due north. What is the
acceleration of car B with respect to car A ? N
Solution. It is a two dimensional motion. Therefore,

 W E

a = acceleration of car B with respect to car A. = a  
aA
BA B

Here,  2 S
a B = acceleration of car B = 4 m/s (due north)

2
and 
a A = acceleration of car A = 2 m/s (due east)

 
 aBA aB= 4 m/s 2
a  (4)2  (2)2  2 5 m/s2
BA


1  4  1
and   tan    tan (2) 
aA = 2 m/s2
 
2

2 1
Thus, 
a BA is 2 5 m/s at an angle of  = tan (2) from west towards north.

1 .7 .2 M i n i m u m Di s t a n c e b e t w e e n T w o B o d i e s i n M o t i o n
When two bodies are in motion, the minimum distance between them or the time when one body
overtakes the other can be solved easily by the principle of relative motion. In these type of problems
one body is assumed to be at rest and the relative motion of the other body is considered. By assuming
so two body problem is converted into one body problem and the solution becomes easy. Following
example will illustrate the statement.

Ex am pl e 36
An open lift is moving upward with velocity 10 m/s. It has an upward acceleration of 2 m/s2 .
A ball is projected upwards with velocity 20 m/s relative to ground. Find :
(a) time when ball again meets the lift.
(b) displacement of lift and ball at that instant.
(c) distance travelled by the ball upto that instant. Take g = 10 m/s 2
Solution. (a) At the time when ball again meets the lift.
SL = SB
1 1 2 m/s2 10 m/s
 10 t   2  t2  20 t   10 t2 20 m/s
2 2 +ve
Solving this equation we get, Ball

5 10 m/s2
t = 0 and t  seconds L  Lift B  Ball
3

KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 47

5
 Ball will again meet the lift after second.
3
2
5 1  5 175
(b) At this instant S L  S B  10   2     m = 19.4 m
3 2  3 9
(c) For the ball u  a. Therefore we will first find t 0, the time when its velocity becomes zero.

u 20
t0    2 second
a 10

5 
As t second   t0 , distance and displacement are equal or
3 
d = 19.4 m.

Ex a m p l e 3 7
Two ships A and B are 10 km apart on a line running south to north. Ship A farther north
is streaming west at 20 km/hr and ship B is streaming north at 20 km/hr. What is their
distance of closest approach and how long do they take to reach it ?
Solution : Ships A and B are moving with same speed 20 km/hr in the directions shown in figure. It

is a two dimensional, two body problem with zero acceleration. Let us find 
v BA

   
vBA  v B  vA VA A

 VB
2 2
Here, vBA  (20)  (20)  20 2 km/hr
B
AB = 10 km
i.e., 
v BA is 10 2 km/hr at an angle of 45 from east towards north.
Thus, the given problem can be simplified as :  
vB = 20 km/hr v BA = 20 2 km/hr
A is at rest and B is moving with 
v BA

in the direction shown in Fig.


45
Therefore, the minimum distance between the two is : 
vA = 20 km/hr
 1 
S min  AC  AB sin 45   10  km
 2
= 5 2 km Ans. A
and the desired time is C
BC 5 2 vBA
t   45
 20 2 B
v BA (BC = AC = 5 2 km)

1
= hr = 15 minutes. Ans.
4

IITJEE KINEMATICS
48 MARKS

1 .7 .3 Ri v e r -b o a t Pr o b l e m s
In river boat problems we come across the following three terms :

 = absolute velocity of river


vr B

 y
vbr = velocity of boatman with respect to river  w
vbe
 x
or velocity of boatman in still water

A vr
and 
v b  absolute velocity of boatman

Here, it is important to note that  


vbr is the velocity of boatman with which he steers and v b is

the actual velocity of boatman relative to ground.

  
Further, vb  vbr = vr
Now, let us derive some standard results and their special cases.

A boatman starts from point A on one bank of a river with velocity 


vbr in the direction shown

in Fig. River is flowing along positive x-direction with velocity 


vr . Width ofthe river is w.
Then

  
v b  vr + vbr

Therefore, vbx  vrx  vbrx  vr  vbr sin 

and vby  vry  vbry  0  vbr cos   vbr cos 

Now, time taken by the boatman to cross the river is :

w w
t 
vby vbr cos 

w
or t .... (i)
vbr cos
Further, displacement along x-axis when he reaches on the other bank (also called drift) is
w
x  vbx t  vr  vbr sin 
vbr cos 

w
or x   vr  vbr sin   ... (ii)
vbr cos 

KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 49
Two special cases are ; B
(i) Condition when the boatman crosses the river in shortest
interval of time 
From equation (i) we can see that time (t) will be minimum when vbr
 = 0 , i.e. the boatman should steer his boat perpendicular to the
river current. 
w A vr
Also, t min  v as cos  = 1
br
(ii) Condition when the boatman wants to reach point B, i.e., at a point just opposite from
where he started B
In this case, the drift (x) should be zero
 x= 0

w vbr
or  vr  vbr sin    0 or vr = v br sin  
vbr cos 
A 
vr
vr 1  vr 
or sin   or   sin  
vbr  vbr 
1  v 
Hence, to reach point B the boatman should row at an angle  = sin  r  upstream from AB.
 vbr 
Further, since sin  > 1
So, if v r  vbr , the boatman can never reach at point B. Because if v r  vbr , sin  = 90 and it
is just impossible to reach at B if  = 90 . Moreover it can be seen that vb = 0 if v r = vbr and 
= 90 . Similarly, if vr > vbr , sin  > 1, i.e., no such angle exists. Pratically it can be realized in
this manner that it is not possible to reach at B if river velocity (v r) is too high.
(iii) Shortest path
Path length travelled by the boatman when he reaches the opposite shore is

s w2  x2
1  v 
When vr < vbr . In this case x = 0, when   sin  r 
 vbr 
  vr 
or smin  w at sin  1

 vbr 
dx
When vr > vbr : In this case x is minimum, where  0
d

d  w 
or   vr  vbr sin   0
d   vbr  cos  
2
or vbr cos  (vr vbr sin ) ( sin ) = 0
or vbr + vr sin  = 0

v 
or   sin 1  br 
 vr 

Now, at this angle we can find xmin and then s min which comes out to be

v  v 
smin  w  r  at   sin  1  br 
 vbr   vr 

IITJEE KINEMATICS
50 MARKS

Ex am pl e 38
A man can row a boat with 4 km/hr in still water. If he is crossing a river where the
current is 2 km/hr.
(a) In what direction will his boat be headed if he wants to reach a point on the other bank,
directly opposite to starting point ?
(b) If width of the river is 4 km, how long will the man take to cross the river, with the
condition in part (a) ?
(c) In what direction should he head the boat if he wants to cross the river in shortest time
and what was is this minimum time ?
(d) How long will it take him to row 2 kms up the stream and then back to his starting
point ?
Solution. (a) Given, that vbr = 4 km/hr and vr = 2 km/hr

 v  1  2 1  1 
   sin 1  r   sin    sin    30 
 vbr   
4  2
Hence, to reach the point directly opposite to starting point he should head the boat at an angle
of 30 With AB or 90 + 30 = 120 with the river flow.
(b) Time taken by the boatman to cross the river B
w = width of river = 4 km

vbr = 4 km/hr and  = 30 vbr

4 2
t  hr.
4cos30 3 A vr
(c) For shortest time  = 0
w 4
and tmin   = 1 hr
vbr cos0  4
Hence, he should head his boat perpendicular to the river current for crossing the river in
shortest time and this shortest time is 1 hr.
(d) t = t CD + tDC
CD DC
or t 
vbr  vr vbr  vr vbr v r vbr +vr
D C D C
2 2 1 4
=   1  hr.
42 4 2 3 3

1 .7 .4 A i r c r a f t Wi n d Pr o b l e m s

This is similar to river boat problem. The only difference is that  


vbr is replaced by v aw (velocity

of aircraft with respect to wind or velocity or aircraft in still air),  


v r is replaced by v w (velocity

of wind) and   
v b is replaced by v a (absolute velocity of aircraft). Further, v a = vaw . The
following example will illustrate the theory.

KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 51

Ex am pl e 39
An aircraft flies at 400 km/hr in still air. A wind of 200 2 km/hr is blowing from the south.
The pilot wishes to travel from A to a point B north east of A. Find the direction he must
steer and time of his journey if AB = 1000 km.

Solution. Given that 


v w  200 2 km/hr


v aw = 400 km/hr and 
v a should be along AB or in north- N
B
east direction. Thus, the direction of 
vaw should be such
 
 vbr vw= 200 2 km/hr
as the resultant of 
v w and vaw is along AB or in north-
east direction. C
45  
A vaw=400 km/hr
Let  E
vaw makes an angle  with AB as shown in Fig. 2.34.
Applying sine law in triangle ABC, we get
AC BC

sin 45 sin

 BC   200 2  1 1
or sin   sin 45     
 AC   400  2 2
  = 30
Therefore, the pilot should steer in a direction at an angle of (45 + ) or 75 from north towards
east.

va
Further, 400

sin 180   45  30  sin 45 

 sin105  km
or va   (400)
sin 45 hr

 cos15   km  0.9659  km
=   (400)   (400)
 sin 45  hr  0.707  hr

km
= 546.47
hr
The time of journey from A to B is

AB 1000
t=  hr
 546.47
va

t = 1.83 hr.

IITJEE KINEMATICS
52 MARKS

1 .7 .5 Ra i n Pr o b l e m s

In these type of problems we again come across three terms   


v r , v m and v rm . Here


v = velocity of rain

 = velocity of man (it may be velocity of cyclist or velocity of motorist also)


vr

and 
v m = velocity of rain with respect to man

Here 
v rm is the velocity of rain which appears to the man. Now, let us take one example of this.

Ex am pl e 40
To a man walking at the rate of 3 km/hr the rain appears to fall vertically. When he increases
his speed to 6 km/hr it appears to meet him at an angle of 45Ĉ with vertical. Find the speed
of rain.

Solution : Let i→ and j→ be the unit vectors in horizontal and vertical directions respectively.

Let velocity of rain be 


v r  ai→  bj→ vertical ( j )

2  2
The speed of rain will be vr  a  b ............ (i)
Horizontal ( j )

In the first case 


v m  velocity of man  3 i→

  
 v rm  v r  v m   a  3 i→  bj→

It seems to be in vertical direction. Hence,


a  3 = 0 or a = 3

In the second case 


v m  6i→


 v rm   a  6 i→  bj→   3i→  bj→

This seems to be at 45 with vertical.

Hence, b  3

 2 2 km
Therefore, from Eq. (ii) speed of rain is vr  (3)  (3)  3 2
hr

KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 53

1 .7 .6 V e l o c i t y o f A p p r o a c h V2
ds 2
= (Vrear  V front ) along the line joining the particles.
dt
Velocity of approach can be found by taking the
component of relative velocity along the line joining the
particles.
While deciding the front and rear object, the direction of
arrow of the line joining the particles can be taken as a
1
guide.
  ds   
Velocity of approach =    V rear  V front
 dt  V1

  ds 
 dt   V1 cos  1  (V2 cos 2 )
 

Velocity of separation = Vfront  Vrear

 ds
 (V 2 cos 2  V1 cos 1)
dt
Ex am pl e 41
A particle A moves with uniform (const.) speed V, continually aimed at B, which moves
 
rectilinearly and uniformly with speed u (<v). Initially, u  v and separation AB = l.
Find : (i) How soon the particles converge ?
(ii) Distance covered by each particle till they corverge.
Solution :
t = to 0 
u
B u B' C   ds =  (v  u cos ) dt
l 0


V
l  v  u  cos dt ... (1)
l  0
A'

t = to
For 2nd eqn., xA =  (vcos ) dt
V 0

A 

Let the particles meet at time = . xB = xA  v  cos  dt


0
At any instant let the particles be at A´ and
B´ respectively as shown.  (u )  ( xA )
Velocity of approach = v  (u cos)

u  v  cos  dt. ... (2)
  ds 
   = v  (4cos ) 0
 dt 
IITJEE KINEMATICS
54 MARKS
Solving (1) and (2)
vl
 u   Time of meeting =
l = v  u  v  v  u2
2

 
 u2   uvl 

l =  v   Distance covered by B = u  
 v   v2  u2 
 
(v 2  u 2)
l 
v  2 
Distance covered by A = v   v l 
vl  v2  u2 
  
v2  u 2
Ex a m p l e 4 2
3 Particles are located at the corner of an equilateral triangle of side a. They all start moving
simultaneously with constant speed v, with each heading towards the other. Find :
A
(a) the time after which the particle converge ( )
(b) the distance covered by each particle they coverage 60
(c) Avg. angular acceleration of each particle about centroid from
t = ( /4) to ( /2)
(d) Find inst. acceleration at t = 0,  /4. 60 60
B C
Solution.
 At t = /4
 ds
(a)  v   v cos60 
dt s
ds
 dt  v  (  v cos60 )
 ds  3v  a
  
dt 2 
3v
a  s= t
2
0 3v 
  a  ds  2 0 dt
3v 30
O
 s=a  t
2
 3v  2a
a   =
 2  3v  2a  3v  2a 1  3 a 
c  = a 
 3v  2  3v  4  4 
 2a 
(b) distance covered = v      2 3v 
 3 3v 4
 1 = 2 3a   
   3a 
(c) Avg. angular acceleration, Relative angular
velocity about centroid O At t = /2
vsin 30  3v
= s= a t2
R 2

v sin 30 v sin30 3  3 v  3v  2a  1  a 


    a  
a
 = sec 30 a  2a  2  3v  2  2 
2
KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 55

 v2 sin 30 3
2 3v  3 v 
 2     a
2a s
 a 
Hence, () avg  v2 sin 30 3
a
  3v  
 2  1 3 v 2 3 2 3V 2  a   2  t
      
=
t2  t1 a 39 a2
/ 4 3 v2 4  2 3 v2 
At t = /4 a   
(d) Acceleration 2(3a )  3a 


dv  3v2 
a 
 = (v ) n→ At t = 0,  2 a 
dt  

Ex am pl e 43
A gun is fitted with trolley moving with v = 20 m/s. The gun rotates freely about vertical axis
with  = 10 rad/s. Length of gun = 5m, Height of trolley = 5m.
Given, muzzle speed = 10 m/s. Find :  = 10rad/s
Horizontal range before its strikes the ground.

V = 10m/s

37
5m

20m/s
5

Solution.

   
V shot  V shot, gun + V gun,trolley + V trolley  1 2
y  y 0 +  uyt  ayt 
 2 
=  ( V cos37 ) j  ( V sin 37) i   (5sin 37) co  (  k→ ) also, y = 0, y0 = 5 + 5 cos 37 = 9m
+ [20i] 1 2
0  9 = 8t  gt
= (26i→ )  8 j→  30 k→ 2

 5t2  8t  9 = 0

 V shot, ground = (26i→  8 j→  3k→) m/s
 
t  8  64  180 
  
ax  0, az  0, ay  ( g ) m/s 2

IITJEE KINEMATICS
56 MARKS

Ex am pl e 44
Y
A block is floating in a river with a velocity v = 2m/s. 20m
a stone is projected as shown. The stone strikes the block.
2m/s
F i n d v 1 and v2 .

40m 
V3 = (V1 i+V2 j+20k)
X
O

Solution.   
Sz = 0 {displacement of stone in vertical Vstone, boat = V stone  V boat
direction = 0]
= (v 1  2) i + v2 j + 20k
0 = (u zt)  1 gt 2 (V1  2) t = Sx
2  (V1  2) 4 = 20
 V 1 = 7 m/s
 2 u  40
t   z    4s also, V 2 t = Sy
 g  10
40
Sx = 20 m Sy = 40 m  v2 = = 10 m/s.
4
Ex am pl e 45
2 boats are moving relative to water as shown. Now, a bomb Y

is projected from 1st boat with velocity v  ( v1i  v2 j  20 k)
 
and it explodes the 2nd boat. Find v1 and v2 . X
Solution.
   
Z
V bomb, ground = V bomb, boat1 + V boat1 , river + V river, ground
2m/s
37

 v1i  v2 j  20k  v bomb, boat 1  (4i  3 j )  2i
 5m/s
v bomb, boat 1  (v1  6) i  (v2 3) j 20k 10m 5m/s
  
v bomb, boat 2  v bomb,boat 1  v boat 1, boat 2
 
= [(v  6) i  (v  3) j  20K]  [V boat1, river  V boat2, river]
1 2 20m
= [(v1  6)i  (v2  3) j  20K]  [(4i  3 j )  (3i  4 j )]
= (v 1  5) i + (v 2  4) j + 20 k
 2 uz 2 20
Now time of flight =  g    4s
  10
also,
S y = (v2  4) 4 = 10 Sx = (v1  5) 4 = 20
13
 v2   m/s v 1 = 10 m/s
2
= 3.5 m/s
KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 57

M I SCEL L A N EOU S EX A M PL ES

Ex a m p l e 1
Two particles are projected from ground as shown. If the 2 particles move in same plane and
collide, find vB and find the time and height at which collision takes place.

m /s
= 20
VB
VA
37 53
P 50 m Q
Solution.
Since the particle mut collide 
vAB must be 4 3
= 20   15   25 m/s
directed along PQ. 5 5

 Normal component of 
vAB (y) must be  50 
 time =    2s
zero.  25 
VAB (y) = V A (y)  V B (y) = 0 1
H  uyt  ayt2
= 20 sin 37  VB sin 53 = 0 2
20 sin 37 = V B sin 53 3 1
 20  (4)   10  4  28 m
 VB = 15 m/s 5 2

   Concept : The resultant Velocity (relative) of the


VAB (x)  V A (x)  VB (x) two projectiles colliding with each other, must lie
= 20 cos 37  ( 15 sin 37 ) along the line joing them

Ex a m p l e 2

A trolley A is moving along a straight line parallel to y-axis with v =  


3  1 m/s in a smooth
horizontal XY plane. A stone is projected along OA making an angle with + X axis, along the
surface with speed V2, when the trolley makes an angle (/4 ) with x-axis.
the stone hits the trolley
(i) If motion of stone is observed from the trolley frame then find the angle  made by its
velocity vector along the axis.
(ii) If   = 4
 / 3 find v2?
Y
V1 = ( 3 - 1)

V2

P 
X
O

IITJEE KINEMATICS
58 MARKS

Solution :


let, V s be velocity of stone = V st  Vs sin    45  Vb sin / 4  0

V t be velocity of trolley V s sin    45   Vt sin / 4

and V st be velocity of stone
Vs 
 3 1 
w.r.t. trolley 2 sin    45 
For collision to happen Now, in the reference from of trolley the angle
made by the velocity vector of stone with X-axis
 must be directed along OA.
v st = / 4 (as it is directed along OA)
4
  
V st  V s  V t
 
3
 /

3

Ex a m p l e 3
A large heavy box is sliding without friction down a smooth place of indination  . From a
point P on the bottom of the box, a particle is projected inside the box, The initial speed of
the particle with respect to the box is u and the directions of projection makes an angle  ,
with the bottom as shown in the figure.
(a) find the distance along the bottom PQ.
(b) if the horizontal displacement of the particle is zero, as seen by ground, find the speed
of the box w.r.t. ground at the instant when the particle was projected. (J EE 1998)


Q
P

Solution. (a) X
k)
l oc
 (b
Let a p be acceleration of particle 
in
Y gs  Q
 
a b the acceleration of block P (particle)
 g
 O
then a pb is the acceleration of particle
Normal component of acceleration should be zero
w.r.t. block
   
(a pb )y = (a p )y  (a b )y

KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 59

= (g sin  (+ g sin) = 0

  
i.e. 
( a pb) x = ( a p) x  ( a b) x  
 =0 V
= g cos  0 = g cos ( v p) x

 u sin 2 
2
   
Range PQ    (v p )x = ( v pb) x  ( v b) x
 g cos  
 0 = u cos ( + ) + ( v cos)
(b) Horizontal displacement = 0
u cos(  )
Horizontal comp. of velocity of particle as  v
cos 
observed from ground = 0

Ex a m p l e 4
Two trains are approaching each other on a long straight track with constant speed of v km/
hr each. When the trains are l km apart, a bird just in front of one train flies at a speed 
km/hr ( > v) towards the other train. When it arrives just in front of that train, it turns and
flies back towards the firs train. In this way, it flies back and forth between the two trains
until the final moment when it is sandwiched between the trains.
(a) Show that the bird makes infinite trips and the time interval between these trips form
(  v)
a geometrical series with the common ratio (  ) .
v
(b) Find the total distance travelled by the bird.
(c ) Taking l = 20 km, v = 50 km/hr,  = 70 km/hr, draw the v–t and x – t graphs for the
problem.
Solution.  (v + ) tn + l  S n1 (2v)
(a) Let t1, t 2, t3, ............ tn be the time intervals replacing n by n  1, we have :
for the first, second, third, ................ trips
(v + ) tn1 = l  Sn2 (2v) ........... (ii)
respectively. Let us calculate the time tn
for the nth trip. Before this trip, the bird subtracting the equations (i) & (ii), we get,
and the trains have already been in motion
(v + ) (t n  tn1) =  2v (Sn1  S n  2)
for
 (v + ) (tn  tn1) =  2vt n1
Sn1 (= t1 + t2 + t3 + .... .... + tn1) seconds.
Hence the separation between the trains at tn v
2v
this instant is l  Sn1 (2v), where 2v is the  1  
tn  1  v w v
velocity of approach for the trains. The
velocity of approach between the bird and a
Thus we conclude that the time intervals for the
train is (v + ).
successive trips are in geometric progression with
Time for the nth trip : (  v)
common ratio .The bird makes infinite
( v)
seperation l  2 vS n1 trips of decreasing intervals.
tn =  ........ (i)
v v+ 

IITJEE KINEMATICS
60 MARKS

Ex a m p l e 5
A rubber ball is released from a height of 4.90 m above the floor. It bounces repeatedly,
always rising to 81/100 of the height through which it falls.
(a) Ignoring the practical fact that the ball has a finite size (in other words, treating the
ball as point mass that bounces an infinite number of times), show that its total distance
of travel is 46.7 m.
(b) Determine the time required for the infinite number of bounces.
(c) Determine the average speed.
Solution.
2h  2 nh 2 n2 h 
LetÊ h = 4.9 m
=  2   ........... 
g  g g 
(a) distance travelled  

 81 2  81
 81  where n =
= h 2  h   h  ................  100
 100  100  
2h 2h  n 
 total time = 2  
 0.81  g g 1 n 
= h  2h  
 1 0.81 
2h
= (1  18)  19sec.
9.8  0.81 g
= 4.9  = 46.7 m
0.19 (c) average speed
(b) time required to fall through infinite distance travelled
bounces Average Speed = time taken
2h
time required to fall through height h = 46.7
g = = 2.46 m/s
 total time 19

Ex a m p l e 6
Consider a collection of a large number of particles each with speed v. The direction of
velocity is randomly distributed in the collection. Show that the magnitude of the relative
velocity between a pair of particles averaged over all the pairs in the collection is greater
than v.
Solution :
As shown in Fig. let  
v1 and v 2 be the velocities of any two particles and  be the angle between them.
As each particle has speed v, so
 
v1  v2  v

The magnitude of relative velocity 


v 21 of particle 2 with respect to 1 is given by
2 2
   
v21   v 1  v2  v 1 v2 cos 180   

KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 61

 v2 v2  2v v cos   2v2  1  cos 

   2 2 
 2 v2  2 sin2  2 vsin 1  cos2   2 sin  1  cos   2sin 2 
2 2  
As the velocities of the particles are randomly distributed, so  can vary from 0 to 2. If (v 21) is
the magnitude of the average velocity when averaged over all pairs, then
2 C B
 
  cos 2 
2 v 1 
2   /2  V21
0 2v sin d
  0 V2
 v21  2
2  180   

0
d   20
A' –V1 O V1 A
2 Fig. 2.69.
 
 4 v cos 
 2 0 2v 2v 4v
   cos   cos0    1  1   1.273 v
2  0   

Clearly,  v21   v
Ex a m p l e 7
Fig. 2.70 shows a rod of length l resting on a wall and the floor. Its
B
lower end A is pulled towards left with a constant velocity v. Find the
velocity of the other end B downward when the rod makes an angle
 with the horizontal. I
Solution.
V A 
In such type of problems, when velocity of one part of a body is given and that
of other is required, we first find the relation between the two displacements, Fig. 2.70
then differentiate them with respect to time. Here  the distance from the
corner to the point A is x and that up to B is y. Then

dx
v
dt

dv dv
and vB  vB   ( sign denotes that v is decreasing)
dt dt
Further x2 + y2 = l 2

dx dy
Differentiating with respect to time t 2x  2y 0
dt dt

xv = yvB

x
vB  v  vcot
y

IITJEE KINEMATICS
62 MARKS

Ex a m p l e 8
In a car race, car A takes time t less than car B and passes the finishing point with a velocity
y more than the velocity with which car B passes the point. Assuming that the cars start from
v
rest and travel with constant accelerations a 1 and a 2 , show that  a1 a2 .
t
Solution.
Let s be the distance covered by each car. Let the times taken by the two cars to complete the journey
be t1 and and t2, their velocities at the finishing point be v1 and v2 respectively. According to the
problem,
v1  v2 = v and t2  t1 = t

v v1  v2
Now, 
t t2  t1

2a1 s  2a2 s a1  a2
 
2s 2s 1 1
 
a2 a1 a2 a1

 a1 a2 Hence proved.

Ex a m p l e 9
A particle moves in the plane according to the law x = k t, y = kt (1 ă a t), when k and a are
positive constants, and t is the time. Find :
(a) the equation of the particleÊs trajectory y(x)
(b) the velocity v and the acceleration a of the point as a function of time.
Solution.
(a) x = kt, y = kt (1  at)

x2
Equation of trajectory, y  kt  kat2  x  ka
k2

x2
or yxa (parabola)
k
dx dy
(b) vx   k; vy   k  2 at  k 1  2 at
dt dt


      v  I→vx  J→ vy  k I→ + k 1 - 2at J→

k2  k2 1  2 at   k 1  1  2 at 
2 2
      v

 dv
Acceleration a    2a k →J = constant
dt
KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 63

Ex am pl e 10
A point moves rectilinearly with deceleration whose modulus depends on the velocity v of
the particle as  = k v where k is a positive constant. At the initial moment the velocity of
the point is equal to v0. What distance will it traverse before it stops? What time will it take
to cover that distance?
Solution.
Let t 0 be the time in which it comes to a stop
dv
Given that  k v
dt

0 0 dv v0 dv
0 k dt   v 0

v

0 v

v
kt0   2 v   2 v0
0
 0

2
t0  v0
k
To find the distance covered before stopping,
dv dv ds dv ds
We have,  v as v 
dt ds dt ds dt

dv
Now, k v
dt

dv
Therefore, v  k v  v dv   k ds
ds

0 v 2 3/2
 v 0
v dv    k ds
0
 s v
3k 0
Ans.

Ex am pl e 11
A man can row a boat in still water at 3 km/h. He can walk at a speed of 5 km/h on the shore.
The water in the river flows at 2 km/h. If the man rows across the river and walks along the
shore to reach the opposite point on the river bank, find the direction in which he should
row the boat so that he could reach the opposite shore in the least possible time. Also
calculate this time. The width of the river is 500 m.

SOLUTION : Suppose the boatman rows with velocity V in the direction shown in Fig. 2.82.
br

Given, vbr = 3 km/hr, vr = 2 km/hr,
and v w = walking speed = 5 km/hr

  
V b  V br  V r

IITJEE KINEMATICS
64 MARKS

 v bx = vr  vbr sin  = 2  3 sin  y


and v bx = vbr cos  = 3 cos 
x w = 0.5 km
Time taken to reach the other side V br

v 0.5 1
t1    ....(i)
vbv 3 cos 6 cos Vr
Fig. 2.82
1 1 tan 
horizontal drift x  vbx t1   2  3 sin    
6cos  3cos 2

x 1 tan 
Time to travel this distance by walking t2    ... (ii)
vw 15 cos  10

1  7 
Total time t  t1  t2    tan   ...(iii)
10  3 cos  

dt
For time to be minimum 0
d

7
or sec  tan   sec 2   0
3

3
or sin   Ans.
7

1 7 7 3 
For Eq. (iii) tmin     
10  3 40 40 

= 0.21 hr. Ans.

Ex am pl e 12
A river of width ÂaÊ with straight parallel banks flows due north with speed u. The points O
and A are on opposite banks and A is due east of O. Coordinate axes Ox and Oy are taken
in the east and north directions respectively. A boat, whose speed is v relative to water,
starts from O and crosses the river. If the boat is steered due east and u varies with x as
u = x (a ă x) v/a 2. Find
(a) equation of trajectory of the boat
(b) time taken to cross the river
(c) absolute velocity of boatman when he reaches the opposite bank
(d) the displacement of boatman when he reaches the opposite bank from the initial
position.
Solution.
  
(a) Let V be the velocity of boatman relative to river, V r the velocity of river and V b is the
br
absolute velocity of boatman. Then

KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 65

  
V b  V br  V r
N Y
 Vr
Given; V br  v O A W E
O X
Vbr
S

Vr  v a
and

dy v
Now, u  vy   x( a  x) 2 ...(i)
dt a

dx
and v  vx   v ...(ii)
dt

Dividing Eqs. (i) by (ii), we get

dy x (a  x ) x( a  x)
 2 or dy  dx
dx a a2

y x x(a  x)
or 0 dy  0 a2
dx

x2 x3
or y  2 ...(iii)
2 a 3a

This is the desired equation of trajectory.

a a
(b) Time taken to cross the river is t  v  v Ans.
x

(c) When the boatman reaches the opposite side, x = a or vy = 0


Hence, resultant velocity of boatman is v along positive x-axis or due east
(d) from Eq. (iii)

a2 a3 a
y  2  at x = a (at opposite bank)
2 a 3a 6

Hence displacement of boatman will be


 → → a →
s  xi→  yj→ or s  ai  ai  b j

IITJEE KINEMATICS
66 MARKS

Ex am pl e 13
A particle is thrown over a triangle from one end of a horizontal base and after grazing the
vertex falls on the other end of the base. If  and  be the base angles and  the angle of
projection, prove that tan  = tan  + tan .
Solution :
The situation is shown in Fig. 2.90 Y
From figure, we have R = Range

y y A(x, y)
tan   tan  
x Rx
y

 
yR x X
tan   tan  O Rx
x (R - x) ....(i)
Fig. 2.90

 x
Equation of trajectory is y  x tan  1  
 R

yR
or, tan   ....(ii)
x (R  x)

From eqs. (i) and (ii) tan  = tan  + tan 

Ex am pl e 14
Two parallel straight lines are inclined to the horizontal at an angle  . A particle is projected
from a point mid way between them so as to graze one of the lines and strikes the other at
right angles. Show that if  is the angle between the direction of projection and either of
lines, then

tan  =  
2  1 cot  y x

Solution : Consider the motion of the particle from O to P.


B
The velocity vy at P is zero. P 90
b
b Q
vy2  uy2  2ay sy u
   
 0 = (u sin ) 2  2 (g cos )b O A

u2 sin2 
or b ...(i)
2 g cos 

Now, consider the motion of the particle from O to Q


The particle strikes the point Q at 90 to AB, i.e., its velocity along x-direction is zero.
Using v x = u x + a xt, we have
0 = u cos   (g sin )t

KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 67

u cos 
or t ...(ii)
g sin 

1
For motion in y-direction, sy  uy t  ay t2
2

2
 u cos   1  ucos  
or  b  u sin     ( g cos )   ...(iii)
 g sin   2  g sin  

From Eqs. (i) and (iii)

u 2 sin 2  u 2 sin  cos  gu 2 cos  cos2 


or   
2g cos g sin  2 g2 sin 2 

sin 2  sin  cos  cos  cos 2 


or  
2 cos  sin  2sin2 

Solving we get tan  =  


2  1 cot 

Ex am pl e 15
Two particles are simultaneously thrown from the roofs of two
45
high buildings as shown in figure. Their velocities are vA = 2 m/ A
s and vB = 14 m/s respectively. Calculate the minimum distance
between the particles in the process of their motion. Also find 45
the time when they are at closest distance. 20 m B

Solution : 11 m
Assuming A to be at rest
22 m
    
a
BA
 a B  aA  0 as aA  aB  g (downwards)

Thus the relative motion between them is uniform.


Relative velocity of B with respect to A in vertical direction.

1
uBAV  uB sin 45   uA sin 45   14  2   6 2 m/s
2

Relative velocity of B with respect to A in horizontal direction

uBAH  uB cos45  uA cos45

1
  14  2  8 2 m/s
2

IITJEE KINEMATICS
68 MARKS

Horizontal distance between A and B after time t is

 uBAH  t  22  8 
2t m

and vertical distance between A and B after time is


y  9  u BAV t  9  6 2t m 
Therefore, distance between them after time t is

S  x2  y2

    9  6 2t 
2 2
or S 2  x 2  y 2  22  8 2t

For S to be minimum
d
dt
 
S2  0

    
2 22  8 2t  8 2  2 9  6 2t  6 2  0  
or 88  32 2t  27  18 2t  0

23
or t second
10 2

23
 S min  x2  y2 at time t  second
10 2

Substituting the values, we get S min = 6.0 m

Ex am pl e 16
Two inclined planes OA and OB having inclinations 30Ĉ and x
y
60Ĉ with the horizontal respectively intersect each other at
O, as shown in figure. A particle is projected from point P v B
u Q
with velocity u  10 3 m/s along a direction perpendicular A
to plane OA. If the particle strikes plane OB perpendicular P
at Q. Calculate h
30 60
(a) time of flight
O
(b) velocity with which the particle strikes the plane OB
(c) height h of point P from point O
(d) distance PQ (Take g = 10 m/s2)

KINEMATICS IITJEE
MARKS 69

Solution.
Let us choose the x and y directions along OB and OA respectively. Then

ux  u  10 3 m/s, uy  0

2
ax   g sin 60    5 3 m/s 2 and ay   g cos60   5 m/s

(a) At point Q, x-component of velocity is zero. Hence, substituting in


vx = u x + a xt

0  10 3  5 3t

10 3
or t  2s
5 3

(b) At point Q v = v y = u y + a yt
 v = 0  (5)(2) =  10 m/s
Here, negative sign implies that velocity of particle at Q is along negative y direction
(c) Distance PO = |displacement of particle along y-direction| = |Sy|

1 1
Here, S y  uy t  a y t2  0  (5)(2)2   10m
2 2

 PO = 10 m

1 
Therefore, h = PO sin 30 = (10)  
 2

or h= 5m
(d) Distance OQ = displacement of particle along x-direction = s x

1
Here, s x  u xt  a x t2
2

 
 10 3 (2) 
1
2
 
5 3 (2)2  10 3 m

or OQ  10 3 m

 
2
PQ   OQ   (10) 2  10 3
2 2
 PQ   100  300  400

 PQ = 20 m

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