Linear Motion

Kinematics is defined as the study of motion.

Xo Xf

Displacement (S) is the change in position of an

object:
S = Xf − X 0
Displacement is a vector quantity.
Distance (S) is the total length of the path traveled
between two positions. It is a scalar quantity.
Ex1. A car moves 10km in East and turns around and
moves 4km in West. Find:
a) Distance travelled
b) Displacement
10Km

4Km
Ex. A car travels from Montfort College to a gas
station following a path A and return back to the
same position following path B. Which path represent
distance and displacement?
A=5km

C=3km

school gas station

B=6km

What is the total distance and displacement?

Speed is how fast an object is moving.
Average speed is the distance traveled divided by time
taken. It is a scalar quantity.
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑆
v av = 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑛 Vav =
𝑡
The SI unit of speed is m/s.
Average velocity is displacement (change in position)
divided by the time of travel. Its SI unit is m/s.
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐒
v av = 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑛
Vav =
𝑡
Velocity is a vector quantity.
Example: A man walks 7 km in 2 hours and 2 km
in 1 hour in the same direction.
a) What is the man's average speed for the whole
journey?
b) What is the man's average velocity for the
whole journey?
7 Km 2Km
A B C
 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑠
average Speed = =
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡
7𝑘𝑚+2𝑘𝑚 9𝑘𝑚
= = = 3 km/hr
2 ℎ𝑟+1 ℎ𝑟 3 ℎ𝑟

𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐒
average Velocity = =
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡
7𝑘𝑚+2𝑘𝑚 9𝑘𝑚
= = = 3 km/hr
2 ℎ𝑟+1 ℎ𝑟 3 ℎ𝑟
Exercise 1. A man walks 12km East in 3 hours and then 4km
West in 1 hour.
a) What is the man's average speed?

b) What is the man's average velocity?

2. A car took 1.2 hours to complete a race of 288 kilometers.

Calculate the average speed of the car?
3. A car travels 8Km to the East and 6km to the North in 2hr.
What is the magnitude of the average velocity of the car?

4. An object travels at an average speed of 12m/s for 3 min.

What is the distance covered by the body?
 Distance - time graph ( s-t graph )
Motion graphs can tell you how far a body has
travelled, how fast it is moving and all the speed
changes there have been.
Distance of a body from start point is measured. Here
are 4 examples of the motion of a car represented by
4 s-t graph
Case 1 : A car is travelling at constant speed
Case 2 : A car is travelling with increasing velocity

Case 3 : A car is travelling with decreasing velocity

Case 4 : A car is at rest (stationary)

• In a s-t graph, the velocity at any time is given by

the slope of tangent to the graph at the instant. If
the speed is uniform, the graph inclined straight
line.
Ex. Based on the following displacement- time (S-t)
graph, calculate the speed of an object during the
time interval: S
a) 0.0 – 4.0 sec
15m
b) 4.0 – 9.0

3m

0 4 t(s)
9

http://www.absorblearning.com/advancedphysics/demo/units/010103.html#Distance%C2%96timegraphs
2. Based on the following distance-time graph, find
the speed
i. during the time interval t=0sec to t= 6sec
ii. during the time interval t=6sec to t= 8sec
iii. during the time interval t=8sec to t= 11sec
Acceleration is the change in velocity over a given
time.
Average Acceleration is the rate at which velocity
changes.
∆𝑉 𝑉𝑓 − 𝑉𝑜
a= =
∆𝑡 𝑡
The SI unit of acceleration is m/s2.
• Acceleration is a vector in the same direction as the
change in velocity, Δv . Since velocity is a vector, it
can change either in magnitude or in direction.
Acceleration is therefore a change in either speed or
direction, or both.
• Keep in mind that although acceleration is in the
direction of the change in velocity, it is not always in
the direction of motion. When an object slows down,
its acceleration is opposite to the direction of its
motion. This is known as deceleration.
Note: An object moves with constant velocity is called
uniform motion. And its acceleration is zero.
Ex. 1. An object increases its speed from 3 m/s to 12
m/s in a time interval of 4 sec. What is the average
acceleration of an object?

2. A body starts from rest and accelerates at 5m/s2.

What is the final speed of the body after 1minutes?
3. A moving car decreases its speed from 40m/s to
25m/s within 10sec. What is the acceleration of the
car?
 Application of Kinematic equation
Equation of uniformly accelerated motion
If the acceleration of the particle is constant throughout the
motion, such a motion is said to be a uniformly accelerated
motion.
Consider an object increase its velocity from vo to vf in a time
interval t with uniform acceleration.
𝑣𝑓 − 𝑣𝑜
a=
𝑡
Vf = vo + at
Equations of uniformly accelerated motion

Vf = Vo + at

S = Vav t

S = Vot + ½ at2

Vf2 = Vo2 + 2as

Example : A moving car increases its speed from
40m/s to 60m/s within 10sec. What is the acceleration
of the car?

Exercise
1. An objects starting from 2m/s is accelerated with
4m/s2 for 10 sec. What is its speed at the end of
10sec?
2. A car starts from rest and reaches a speed of 40m/s
in 12 sec. How far does it travel during this time?

3. An automobile travelling at a speed of 2m/s

accelerates uniformly to a speed of 10m/s in 6 sec.
How far does the automobile travel after 10sec?
4. An object starting from rest has a constant
acceleration of 1.5m/s2.
a) How far is the object is moving after 3s?
b) How far has it travelled in 4 s?
C) How far has it travelled by the time its velocity
becomes 30m/s.
5. A body starts from rest, moves in a straight line
with constant acceleration, and covers a distance of
120m in12 s.
a) What is the final velocity?
b) What is the distance covered in 6sec?
c) What is the velocity of a body at a distance of 60m
from its starting position?
Speed - time graph ( v-t graph )

• The acceleration at any time is given by the slope of

tangent to the graph at that time
• Note: The area enclosed by the graph = distance
Ex. Based on the following V-t graph of a train find
A) Acceleration from 0 – 10 s.
B) Acceleration from 10 – 40 s.
C) Acceleration from 40 – 45 s.
D) Total distance.
V(m/s)

20

10 40 45 t(s)
2. A car travels at various speeds during a short
journey. The table shows the distances travelled and
the time taken during each of four stages P, Q, R and
S.

• During which two stages is the car travelling at the

same speed?
• A. P and Q B. P and S C. Q and R D. R and S
Ex. The figure shows the graph of vx versus time for
an object moving along the x-axis. Solve the distance
traveled between
A. t = 5.0 s and t = 9.0 s
B. t = 0.0 s and t = 5.0 s
C. t = 9.0 s and t = 13.0 s
3. An airplane starts from rest and accelerates at
a constant 3 m/s2 for 30.0 s before leaving the
ground.
a. How far did it move?
b. How fast was the airplane going when it took
off?
• Acceleration - time graph ( a-t graph )
 Free fall
• The force of gravity causes objects to fall toward the
center of Earth.
• The acceleration of free-falling objects is therefore
called the acceleration due to gravity.
• The acceleration due to gravity is constant.
g = 9.80 m/s2 ≈ 10 m/s2
For the equation of free fall, Replacing a = g , vo =0
and s=h of equation of uniformly accelerated motion.
• V = vo + at ⇒ V=gt
• S = vot + ½ at2 ⇒ h = ½ at2
• v2 = vo2 + 2as ⇒ V2 = 2gh
Ex 1. A ball is dropped from a height of 20m . Find
a) The speed of the ball just before touching the
ground.
b) The time of flight.
2. An object is dropped from a certain height and
strikes the ground with a speed of 6m/s.
a)What is the height?
b)What is the time of flight?
3. An object is dropped from the top of a building and
it hits the ground in 3 seconds. What is the height of
the building?
 Consider an object thrown vertically up ward with
initial speed u: v=0
• The speed decreases as it is ascending
g
• The speed is zero at climax point
• The speed increases as it is descending.

equation of motion u
V = u – gt
h = ut – ½ gt2
V2 = u2 – 2gh
Ex1: An object is thrown vertically upward with
20m/s.
a) How high it travels?
b) What is the time of flight up to maximum height?
c) What is the total time of flight?
d) What is the speed of the object after 3sec?
2. An ball is thrown vertically and rise up 100 m
height. What is the initial speed of the ball?
 Review Question
1. Which one of the following are vector quantities.
A. speed, acceleration C. energy, distance
B. force, mass D. velocity, displacement
2. A 10kg cubic mass has 4cm length. What is the
density of the object?
3. Write at least 5 fundamental unit of a physical
quantity?
4. A car moving along a straight highway with a speed
of 60m/s is brought to a stop within a distance of
200m. A) What is the retardation of the car?
B) How long does it take for the car to stop?
5. From the following S-t graph. Find the speed in
each time intervals
S(m)

30

26

18

0 4 6 8 12 t(s)

A) 0- 4sec B) 4s- 6s C) 6s- 8s D) 8s- 12s

E) total distance
6. What are the instruments/device used to measure
A. mass
B. time
C. volume of rectangular block
D. density of irregular object
E. diameter of electrical rod
7. A vector of Q= 120 units makes an angle of 370
from the horizontal. What is the horizontal and
vertical components of Q?
4. Describe the following terms
a) uniform motion:

b) accelerated motion:

C) decelerated motion:
5. A car travels with a velocity of 7.2m/s. How far
does it travel after 10minutes?
6. An object travels at a speed of 10m/s accelerates
uniformly to a speed of 22m/s in 4 sec. How far does
the object travel during this time?
7. An object is dropped from a certain height and
strikes the surface after 4sec. From what height it is
dropped?