AP Physics 1 Unit 1 - Kinematics

1.1 Kinematics
Focus Question: What is the difference between a vector and scalar quantity?

Motion with constant velocity.

Kinematics – The study of motion without regards to the forces causing the motion (The study of forces is
called dynamics).

Vectors - Scalars –

ex: ex:

Position –

Displacement – Distance –

*distance must always be zero or positive, it cannot be

negative!
* Displacement tells you how far you are from you are started. Distance tells you how far you’ve traveled.
Velocity – Speed -

*Rearranging the equation above, the general formula that

relates displacement, velocity, and change in time is: *speed is the absolute value of velocity. For example, an
∆𝒙 = 𝒗∆𝒕 *this only work when there is no acceleration object moving at -20 m/s has more speed than object
(velocity is constant)* moving at 10 m/s, but less velocity. This means it’s
moving faster, but moving in the negative direction.
Example A: Mario drives a go-kart around a circular track with a radius of 20 m .What is his a)
displacement and b) distance traveled?
Example B: Under what condition will an object have a distance equal to its displacement?

Example C: Pikachu and Eevee are both located at the origin. At time t = 0, they both start moving. Pikachu
moves with a velocity 20 m/s. Eevee moves with a velocity of -10 m/s. Find the distance between the two after
10 s.

Acceleration

➢ Acceleration –

▪ If velocity and acceleration are in the same direction, an object is ____________________.

▪ If velocity and acceleration are in opposite directions, an object is ____________________.

Example D: A family excitingly drives to Homeplus for some well-choreographed shopping. For each of the
following cases, determine the direction of the acceleration of the car.

a) The car travels east and speeds up _____________

b) The car travels east and slows down _____________

c) The car travels east at constant velocity _____________

d) The car travels west and slows down _____________

e) The car travels west and speeds up _____________

For an object in motion, there are 5 primary kinematic quantities to describe the motion:

• 𝑣𝑖 – initial velocity
• 𝑣𝑓 - final velocity
• ∆𝑥 – change in position (displacement)
• 𝑎 - acceleration
• ∆𝑡 - change in time
When given a problem to solve for an unknown quantity, first determine the given quantities. Then find a
kinematics equation that contains both the unknown and the known quantities. Each kinematics equation
contains four of the quantities and can be classified by which quantity is not in the equation.

no acceleration:

no displacement:

no final velocity:

no initial velocity:

no time:

*These only work for uniform (constant; does not change with time) acceleration.

To solve a kinematics problem:

Use the kinematics equations to solve for unknown quantities.

Example E: A 2014 Hyundai Elantra uniformly accelerates from 12 m/s to 20 m/s in 3 seconds. What distance
did it travel in that time?

Example F: A 2013 Hyundai Accent is initially traveling at 10 m/s. It accelerates uniformly at a rate of 2 m/s2
for 4 seconds. How far does the car travel during this time.
Example G: A 2000 Ford Focus is traveling at a speed of 22 m/s. The brakes can produce a maximum
acceleration of 8 m/s2. What is the minimum distance needed for the car to stop?

Example H: A jet requires 2.5 seconds of acceleration from rest to cover a 94 m distance.
a) What is the takeoff speed of the plane?
b) What was the acceleration?

Example I: An unusually athletic panda is initially running up at mountain with a speed of 𝑣 when he gets the
inspiration to speed up with uniform acceleration for a period of 𝑡 seconds. Afterwards, he is now running at a
speed of 3𝑣.
a) What distance did the panda cover during the 𝑡 seconds?
b) What was the panda’s acceleration?
AP Physics 1 Unit 1 - Kinematics
1.2 Free Fall_
Focus Question: How does the earth’s gravity affect the motion of an object?
Free Fall Acceleration
In the absence of air resistance, all objects fall with the same, constant acceleration.

Solve kinematics equations for falling objects.

If an object is dropped from rest:

Example A: A camera falls off a cliff of height 𝐻. Determine the time it takes to hit the ground if up is the
positive direction.

Example B: A rock is dropped off a cliff that is 80m.

a) How long does it take the rock to reach the ground?
b) With what speed does the rock strike the ground?
Solve kinematics equations for objects thrown up in the air.

Example C: Deriving some formulas - A football is thrown up with a velocity 𝑣.

a) Calculate the maximum height of the thing.

b) Calculate the time the thing takes to reach its maximum height.
c) How long is the thing in the air?
d) With what speed will the thing strike the ground?
Example D: A rocket is ascending at 12.0 m/s. It turns off its booster at 22 m above the ground.
a) How long will it take the rocket to reach its maximum height?
b) How high will the rocket rise?
c) How long will it take the rocket to reach the ground?
d) With what speed will the rocket strike the ground?

Example E: Choosing a coordinate system - A baseball is thrown upward with initial speed of 35 m/s. What
is its velocity at t =2 s if:
a) Up is the positive direction?
b) Down is the positive direction?
AP Physics 1 Unit 1 - Kinematics
1.3 Displacement, Velocity, and Acceleration Graphs
Focus Question: How do velocity, acceleration, and displacement change over time?

Example A: Intro to Kinematic Graphs. Graph the appropriate quantities for the scenarios given.
a) A llama gallops gracefully in the positive direction at a constant speed of 3 m/s for 3 seconds.

b) An alpaca is initially at rest. The alpaca is startled by a fierce capybara and starts running at time t =
0 at a constant acceleration of 1 m/s2 for 3 seconds.

c) A capybara is initially at x = 1. At t = 2.0 s, the capybara moves in the positive direction to x = 2 at

constant velocity and stops at t = 3.0, then stays there at rest.
Analyze position vs. time graphs

Position vs. Time Graphs

▪ slope =
o positive slope –

o negative slope –

o no slope -

▪ A straight line with a non-zero slope –

▪ A line with a slope of zero indicates –

▪ A vertical line – The end of all things (impossible)

▪ Curved Lines:

Positive Velocity, Positive Acceleration Positive Velocity, Negative Acceleration

Negative Velocity, Positive Acceleration Negative Velocity, Negative Acceleration

▪ In general, concavity gives the acceleration:

Concave up (a smiley face ☺) – Concave down (a frowny face ) –

Example B: Refer to the graph on right.

a) Where is the velocity positive and constant?

b) When is the object at rest?

c) Where is the instantaneous speed greatest?

d) Where is speed undefined?

e) Where is acceleration zero?

Example C: For the graph on the right, find:

a) the total displacement

b) The velocity at t = 1 s.

c) The velocity at t = 8.

d) The average acceleration from t =5 to = 9.

Analyze velocity vs. time graphs

Velocity vs. Time Graphs

▪ Acceleration:
o positive slope –

o negative slope –

o no slope –

*speed may be increasing or decreasing

depending on velocity’s sign.
▪ Speed
o If the graph is approaching the x-axis:

*velocity is positive and getting less positive or negative and getting less negative.
o If the graph is moving away from the x-axis:

*velocity is positive and getting more positive or negative and getting more negative.
▪ Displacement
Example D: Ponder the graph shown.

a) Find the displacement of the object after

55 seconds.

b) Find the distance the object travels in 55

seconds.

c) Find the acceleration and speed at 30 seconds.

d) Name a time when the velocity is increasing but the speed is decreasing.

e) Name a time when the velocity is decreasing but the object is getting faster.

Analyze acceleration vs. time graphs

Acceleration vs. Time Graphs

*Area under Graph =

Zero Acceleration Constant Acceleration

Example E: Classify the velocity at each point of the position vs. time graph and sketch the graphs for velocity
and acceleration.