10 Measuring Motion

10.1 Measuring speed

10.2 Speed check
Speed detection – Speed Cameras/ Detectors , purpose ?

• What if the drivers are not considering speed

limits ?
• The police officers can’t be checking drivers
speed from time to time at all the risky areas.
• Hence, there should be a system to monitor it
automatically and capture those who brake the
laws.
Speed detection principle
• If we know the time that a
vehicle takes to pass a known
distance we could simply
calculate the speed of that
vehicle.
• Since, this known distance is a
fixed/ constant, the speed of the
vehicle varies with the time
taken to pass it.

• Speed × Time = Distance

Measuring time

• The moment that the vehicle start passing the 1st point of the known distance and
the moment vehicle start pasting the 2nd point (end point) have to be detected separately to
measure the time elapsed.

• Time elapsed can be measured. If a stop watch (can’t measure less than 1 s)/ timer could be
started at 1st point and could be stopped at 2nd point.
Light gates
• Since, the reaction time of a person to switch on/off a timer add some delays/errors to the
measurement of time, we could use a Light gates.
Problem solving..
• A car is detected by a speed camera. The two detectors are separated by 5.0 m. The car travels
this distance in 0.2 s. What is its speed ?
If the speed limit is 22 m/s, is the car travelling too fast ?

• The distance between two light gates is 12.0 cm. A trolley passes between them. The timer shows
that it takes 0.06 s. What is the speed? Give your answer in cm/s.
Further..
• Explain how to measure the speed an object using a single light gate.
Assume that the speed check for ‘Vega’ car was done using a one light gate. If the time
measurement is 0.002 s. Write down and expression with necessary parameters to calculate its
speed.
 End of lesson 10.1
Home work : Solve all problems in Skill builder & Challenge