Kinematics in One

Dimension
 INTRODUCTION
Dynamics includes:
• Kinematics: study of the geometry of motion. Kinematics is
used to relate displacement, velocity, acceleration, and time
without reference to the cause of motion.
• Kinetics: study of the relations existing between the forces
acting on a body, the mass of the body, and the motion of the
body. Kinetics is used to predict the motion caused by given
forces or to determine the forces required to produce a given
motion.
• Rectilinear motion: position, velocity, and acceleration of a
particle as it moves along a straight line.
• Curvilinear motion: position, velocity, and acceleration of a
particle as it moves along a curved line in two or three
dimensions
Reference Frames and Displacement
Any measurement of position, distance, or speed must be made with respect to
a reference frame.
 Reference Frames and Displacement
We make a distinction between distance and displacement.
Displacement (blue line) is how far the object is from its starting
point, regardless of how it got there.
Distance traveled (dashed line) is measured along the actual
path.
 Reference Frames and Displacement
The displacement is written:

Left: Right:
Displacement is negative.
Displacement is positive.
 Average Velocity

Speed: how far an object travels in a given time interval

(2-1)

Velocity includes directional information:

 Instantaneous Velocity
The instantaneous velocity is the average velocity, in the limit as
the time interval becomes infinitesimally short.

(2-3)

These graphs show (a) constant

velocity and (b) varying velocity.
 Acceleration
Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity.
 Acceleration
Acceleration is a vector, although in one-dimensional motion we
only need the sign.
The previous image shows positive acceleration; here is negative
acceleration:
 Acceleration
There is a difference between negative acceleration and
deceleration:
Negative acceleration is acceleration in the negative direction as
defined by the coordinate system.
Deceleration occurs when the acceleration is opposite in
direction to the velocity.
 Uniform Rectilinear Motion
For particle in uniform rectilinear motion, the acceleration is
zero and the velocity is constant.

dx
 v  constant
dt
x t
 dx  v  dt
x0 0
x  x0  vt
x  x0  vt
 Uniformly Accelerated Rectilinear
Motion
• For particle in uniformly accelerated rectilinear motion, the
acceleration of the particle is constant.
v t
dv
 a  constant  dv  a  dt v  v0  at
dt v0 0
v  v0  at
x t
dx
dt
 v0  at  dx   v0  at dt x  x0  v0t  12 at 2
x0 0

x  x0  v0t  12 at 2

v 2  v02   ax  x0 
v x
dv
v  a  constant  v dv  a  dx 1
2
dx v0 x0

v 2  v02  2a x  x0 
 Acceleration

The instantaneous acceleration is the average acceleration, in

the limit as the time interval becomes infinitesimally short.

(2-5)
 Motion at Constant Acceleration

We can also combine these equations so as to eliminate t:

(2-10)

We now have all the equations we need to solve constant-

acceleration problems.
(2-11a)

(2-11b)

(2-11c)

(2-11d)
 Falling Objects
Near the surface of the Earth, all objects experience
approximately the same acceleration due to gravity.
This is one of the most common
examples of motion with constant
acceleration.
Falling Objects

In the absence of air

resistance, all objects fall
with the same
acceleration, although
this may be hard to tell
by testing in an
environment where there
is air resistance.
 Falling Objects

The acceleration due to

gravity at the Earth’s
surface is approximately
9.80 m/s2.
Falling Objects

The acceleration due to

gravity at the Earth’s
surface is approximately
9.80 m/s2.
Graphical Analysis of Linear Motion

This is a graph of x vs. t for an

object moving with constant
velocity. The velocity is the slope of
the x-t curve.
 Graphical Analysis of Linear Motion
On the left we have a graph of velocity vs. time for an object with
varying velocity; on the right we have the resulting x vs. t curve.
The instantaneous velocity is tangent to the curve at each point.
Graphical Analysis of Linear Motion

The displacement, x, is the

area beneath the v vs. t
curve.
Ball thrown vertically from 12 m
level in elevator shaft with initial
velocity of 18 m/s. At same
instant, open-platform elevator
passes 5 m level moving upward at
2 m/s.
Determine (a) when and where ball
hits elevator and (b) relative
velocity of ball and elevator at
contact.
SOLUTION:
•Substitute initial position and
velocity and constant acceleration of
ball into general equations for
uniformly accelerated rectilinear
motion.
•Substitute initial position and
constant velocity of elevator into
equation for uniform rectilinear
motion.

•Write equation for relative

position of ball with respect to
elevator and solve for zero
relative position, i.e., impact.
•Substitute impact time into
equation for position of elevator
and relative velocity of ball with
respect to elevator.
SOLUTION:
• Substitute initial position and velocity and
constant acceleration of ball into general
m  m
B 
vequations
v 0  at 
for 18  
uniformly
9 . 81 t
accelerated rectilinear
motion. s  s 
2

 m  m 2
yB  y0  v0t  12 at 2  12 m  18 t   4.905 2 t
 s  s 

• Substitute initial position and constant velocity

of elevator into equation for uniform rectilinear
motion. m
vE  2
s
 m
y E  y0  v E t  5 m   2 t
 s
 •Write equation for relative position of ball with
respect to elevator and solve for zero relative
position, i.e., impact.

 
y B E  12  18t  4.905t 2  5  2t   0

t  0.39 s meaningles s 
t  3.65 s

•Substitute impact time into equations for position of elevator and

relative velocity of ball with respect to elevator.

y E  5  23.65 y E  12.3 m

vB E  18  9.81t   2 vB  19.81

m
E
s
 16  9.813.65
A projectile is fired from the edge of a 150-m cliff with an
initial velocity of 180 m/s at an angle of 30° with the
horizontal. Neglecting air resistance, find (a) the horizontal
distance from the gun to the point where the projectile strikes
the ground, (b) the greatest elevation above the ground
reached by the projectile.
 Vertical Motion. Uniformly
Accelerated Motion. Choosing the
positive sense of the y axis upward
and placing the origin O at the
gun, we have

Substituting into the equations of uniformly accelerated motion,

we have
 Horizontal Motion. Uniform
Motion. Choosing the positive
sense of the X axis to the right,
we have

Substituting into the equation of uniform motion, we obtain

Horizontal Distance. When the projectile strikes the ground, we

have
 Carrying this value into Eq. (2) for the vertical motion, we
write

Carrying t= 19.91 s into Eq. (4) for the horizontal motion, we

obtain

Greatest Elevation. When the projectile reaches its greatest

elevation, we have vy= 0; carrying this value into Eq. (3) for the
vertical motion, we write
A 30.0-g arrow is shot by person through an 8.00-cm-thick
apple sitting on top of his son’s head. If the arrow enters the
apple at 30.0 m/s and emerges at 25.0 m/s in the same
direction, with what force has the apple resisted the arrow?
Solution: First, convert g to kg and cm to m.
30.0 g = 0.0300 kg and 8.00 cm = 0.0800 m
Next, find the acceleration of the arrow before
finding the force.
The negative sign before the answer implies that the apple was
causing the arrow to slow down. Now solve for the force exerted
by the apple.

This is the force that the apple exerts on the arrow. It is

negative because its direction is opposite to the arrow’s
direction of motion.
 Summary
• Kinematics is the description of how objects move with respect
to a defined reference frame.
• Displacement is the change in position of an object.
• Average speed is the distance traveled divided by the time it
took; average velocity is the displacement divided by the time.
• Instantaneous velocity is the limit as the time becomes
infinitesimally short.
•Average acceleration is the change in velocity divided by the
time.
•Instantaneous acceleration is the limit as the time interval
becomes infinitesimally small.
 Summary

•The equations of motion for constant acceleration are given in

the text; there are four, each one of which requires a different
set of quantities.

• Objects falling (or having been projected) near the surface of

the Earth experience a gravitational acceleration of 9.80 m/s2.