Module 1 – Lecture 1

Kinematics in One Dimension

Displacement, velocity, acceleration

Graphs
A special case: constant acceleration
Bodies in free fall

Serway and Jewett Chapter 2

Kinematics
• Kinematics: the description of motion
• One dimension: motion along a straight line
(e.g., the x-axis)

• Examples
• sprinter running 100 meters in a straight line
• ball falling straight down, and bouncing back up

McMaster PHYSICS 1D03 – M1 L1

1D Motion
• 1D motion can be described using scalars (real numbers
with units) as functions of time:
Position x(t) (displacement from the origin)
Velocity v(t) (rate of change of position)
Acceleration a(t) (rate of change of velocity)
• Sign (positive or negative) keeps track of direction (1D)
• Algebraic relations involving position, velocity, and
acceleration come from calculus.
• Same relations can be seen on graphs of position, velocity,
and acceleration as functions of time.

McMaster PHYSICS 1D03 – M1 L1

Displacement - 1D Motion
x (m)
• Change in position during
x2
some time interval
Dx
• Represented as Dx x1
• D x ≡ x2 – x1
0 t (s)
t1 t2

• Dx can be positive or negative

• Depends only on the beginning and ending positions

• Distance:
• the length of a path followed by a particle
McMaster PHYSICS 1D03 – M1 L1
Average Velocity - 1D Motion
position x as a function of time t
x
x2
Dx
x1
Dt
t1 t2 t

• Displacement: Δ𝑥 ≡ 𝑥! − 𝑥"

#$
• Average velocity: 𝑣̅ ≡ #%
(slope of the line)
• Average velocity is the slope of the line on the position – time
graph
McMaster PHYSICS 1D03 – M1 L1
Instantaneous Velocity
x
B B B
The slope of red line B
gives average velocity B
between A and B.

B
A t

• The instantaneous velocity is the slope of the line

tangent to the x vs. t curve.
• As Dt gets smaller and smaller, the red lines
approach the blue (dashed) line.
McMaster PHYSICS 1D03 – M1 L1
 Instantaneous Velocity
• Instantaneous velocity is the average over an
‘infinitesimal’ time interval
Δ𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑡! → 𝑡" , Δ𝑡 → 0 and → ≡𝑣
Δ𝑡 𝑑𝑡
x
v is the slope of the
line tangent to the x
vs. t graph.
t t Physically, v is the
time rate of change
of displacement, x,
hence dx/dt.
McMaster PHYSICS 1D03 – M1 L1
Instantaneous Velocity
• Instantaneous velocity at time t is the slope of the
line that is tangent to the position - versus- time
graph at time t.

Δ𝑥 𝑑𝑥
𝑣#$% = lim =
&'→) Δ𝑡 𝑑𝑡

𝑑𝑥
𝑣* =
𝑑𝑡
'"
𝑥(𝑡) = 3 𝑣 𝑡 𝑑𝑡
'!

McMaster PHYSICS 1D03 – M1 L1

Average Acceleration
• What is acceleration?
• Dealing with a changing velocity à speeding up or
slowing down

• Acceleration is the rate of change of the velocity

Δ𝑣* 𝑣*/ − 𝑣*#

𝑎*,,-. ≡ =
Δ𝑡 𝑡/ − 𝑡#

McMaster PHYSICS 1D03 – M1 L1

Average Acceleration – 1D Motion
velocity v as a function of time t
v
v2
Dv
v1
Dt
t1 t2 t

&-
Average acceleration: 𝑎,-. = (slope of the secant line)
&'
Δ𝑣 𝑣/ − 𝑣#
𝑎,-. = 𝑎6 = =
Δ𝑡 𝑡/ − 𝑡#
McMaster PHYSICS 1D03 – M1 L1
 Instantaneous Acceleration
• Instantaneous acceleration is the average over an
‘infinitesimal’ time interval
Δ𝑣 𝑑𝑣
𝑡! → 𝑡" , Δ𝑡 → 0 and → ≡𝑎
Δ𝑡 𝑑𝑡
v
a is the slope of the
line tangent to the v
vs. t graph.

t Physically, a is the
t
time rate of change
of velocity, v, hence
dv/dt.
McMaster PHYSICS 1D03 – M1 L1
Instantaneous Acceleration
• Instantaneous acceleration at time t is the slope of
the line that is tangent to the velocity - versus-time
graph at time t.

Δ𝑣* 𝑑𝑣*
𝑎#$% = lim =
&'→) Δ𝑡 𝑑𝑡

𝑑𝑣*
𝑎* =
𝑑𝑡
'"
𝑣* (𝑡) = 3 𝑎* 𝑡 𝑑𝑡
'!

McMaster PHYSICS 1D03 – M1 L1

Graphs of x(t), v(t), and a(t)

position x

acceleration a
time

velocity v

McMaster PHYSICS 1D03 – M1 L1

What do you think?
A ball attached to an elastic cord is dropped. It slows
to a stop as the cord stretches, and then bounces
back up. (Take +x to be upwards, and x=0 at the
floor.)
At the lowest point of the motion, the
acceleration:
A. is zero
B. is positive
C. is negative
D. none of the above
Suggestion: Sketch graphs of x, v, a vs. time.

McMaster PHYSICS 1D03 – M1 L1

 Summary: x – t graphs
• Positive slope à positive
velocity
• Negative slope à negative
velocity
• Constant slope à constant
velocity
• Slope = 0 à object at rest
• Steep slope à high velocity
© 2016 Pearson Education Inc.
• Shallow slope à low velocity

McMaster PHYSICS 1D03 – M1 L1

Summary: Velocity and Acceleration
• Acceleration = slope of
velocity-time curve
• rate of change of velocity
with respect to time
• Acceleration and velocity
do not necessarily reach
max value at same time
• Acceleration can be in
opposite direction to
velocity à velocity will
decrease during time
interval of interest
• speeding up à +v and +a “Slowing down” means that 𝒗
or –v and –a and 𝒂 have opposite signs, not
that 𝒂 is negative
• slowing down à +v and –a
or –v and +a McMaster PHYSICS 1D03 – M1 L1
Special Case. – Constant Acceleration
Under the condition of constant acceleration, use the
!" !$
definitions of acceleration, 𝑎 ≡ !# , and velocity, 𝑣 ≡ !# , to
derive the two basic equations of motion
𝑣 𝑡 = 𝑎𝑡 + 𝑣%
Remember: These assume
1 & acceleration is constant.
𝑥 𝑡 = 𝑎𝑡 + 𝑣%𝑡 + 𝑥%
2

Exercise: eliminate t or a to show that

𝑣 & − 𝑣%& = 2𝑎(𝑥 − 𝑥%) These are sometimes

convenient, but not necessary.
𝑣 + 𝑣% 𝑥 − 𝑥% Again, they are valid only for
= = 𝑣̅
2 𝑡 constant acceleration.
McMaster PHYSICS 1D03 – M1 L1
Kinematic Equations - Constant a
• There are two common ways to write the kinematic
equations for constant acceleration

v f = vi + a t v = v0 + a t

x f = xi + v i t + 1
2 at2 x = x0 + v 0t + 12 a t 2

v 2f - vi2 = 2 a ( x f - xi ) v 2 - v02 = 2 a ( x - x0 )

x f = xi + vt x = x0 + vt

McMaster PHYSICS 1D03 – M1 L1

Example: Free Falling Objects
• Motion of an object moving under the influence of
only gravity, and no other forces, is called free fall.
• Motion can be in any direction
• All objects in free fall move with constant
downward acceleration,
m
𝑎 = 𝑔 ≈ 9.80 ! [downwards]
s
• This was demonstrated by Galileo around 1600 A.D.
• “g” is called the “acceleration due to gravity” or the
“gravitational field of the Earth”.

McMaster PHYSICS 1D03 – M1 L1

 All objects fall with the same acceleration

Brian Cox, BBC 2 World’s biggest vacuum chamber

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E43-CfukEgs
McMaster PHYSICS 1D03 – M1 L1
Free Fall
• In free fall, acceleration is always directed
downward
• If we take up as the positive direction then
𝑎 → −𝑔
where g is a positive number and g = 9.8 m/s2 on
the surface of the earth.

v = v0 + at ® v = v0 - gt

x = x0 + v0 t + 12 a t 2 ® y = y0 + v0 t - 12 g t 2

v 2 - v02 = 2 a ( x - x0 ) ® v 2 - v02 = - 2 g ( x - x0 )

McMaster PHYSICS 1D03 – M1 L1

Free Falling Objects
• Free fall acceleration is the
same for all objects; size and
composition don’t matter.
• Notes:
• g varies slightly with location
and height, about ±0.03 m/s2
over the surface of the Earth,
and up to a few kilometers
above
• if air resistance is significant, In a vacuum, the
we don’t really have free fall apple and feather fall
(gravity isn’t the only force) at the same rate and
hit the ground at the
same time.
McMaster PHYSICS 1D03 – M1 L1
Think about it… Kinematics Q1
If you drop an object in the absence of air resistance,
it accelerates downward at 9.8 m/s2. If, instead, you
throw it downward, what is its downward
acceleration after release?

McMaster PHYSICS 1D03 – M1 L1

Think about it… Acceleration on an inclined plane

Imagine a frictionless inclined plane. What is the

acceleration of an object sliding on the plane?

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Example: Motion with Calculus
A particle’s position is given by the function
𝑥 = −𝑡 ' + 4𝑡
What are the particle’s position, velocity and acceleration at
time t = 3 s?

McMaster PHYSICS 1D03 – M1 L1

Example: Tossing a Ball
You throw a ball with initial velocity of 5 m/s straight upward.
a) How long does it take for the ball to reach its maximum
height?
b) What is its velocity when it arrives back at the initial
throwing position?
1 "
Remember kinematics equations: 𝑦 = 𝑦! + 𝑣! 𝑡 − 𝑔𝑡
2
𝑣# = 𝑣! − 𝑔𝑡

McMaster PHYSICS 1D03 – M1 L1

Strategies – Handling Kinematics Questions
• You will often deal with multiple types of motion in
problems:
• motion of an object changes (e.g. a car travels at constant velocity
for 10 s, then hits brakes)
• more than one object moves (e.g. two cyclists in a race)

• KEY: Break the problem up into different ‘parts’ – treat each

type of motion as a separate part of the problem (even if it
is the same object, such as the car above!)

∆𝐱 =
For each ‘part’, list the following
𝒗𝒊 =
quantities, and include numbers
if you have them: 𝒗𝒇 =
𝒂=
∆𝒕 =

McMaster PHYSICS 1D03 – M1 L1

Strategies – Kinematics Problems & Graphs
• For many kinematics problems, it is very useful to draw a
graph of the motion.
• remember that the equations are functions…you will generally plot 𝑡 on
the horizontal axis and either position (𝑥), velocity (𝑣) or acceleration (𝑎)
on the vertical axis
• it is possible to plot the motion of more than one object on the same
graph, as long as we can use the same time 𝑡 in both equations of motion

• Some key points:

• area under a velocity vs. time graph is the displacement – can be positive
or negative!
• slope of a position vs. time graph is the velocity
• slope of a velocity vs. time graph is the acceleration
• curvature of a position vs. time graph related to acceleration

McMaster PHYSICS 1D03 – M1 L1