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1.1 Introduction
1.2 Displacement and Distance
1.3 Velocity and Speed
1.4 Acceleration
1.5 Equation of motion
1.6 Vertical motion under gravity

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The world, and everything in it, moves. Even
seemingly stationary things, like a roadway
and a building, move with Earth’s rotation,
Earth’s orbit around the Sun, the Sun’s orbit
around the center of the Milky Way galaxy
Kinematics – study of motions

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1. The motion discussed in this chapter is
restricted in one dimension. That is the
motion is along a straight line.

2. The moving object is either a particle (point-

like) or an object that moves likes a particle.

3. All units are in SI units (m, s, kg,…)

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The first step in describing the motion of a
particle is to set up a coordinate system
that defines its position
To locate an object means to find its
position relative to some reference point
(0 m)
The rabbit is at 2 m. The dog is at –3 m

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

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Distance = total length of travel (SI unit: m)
The distance travelled by the rabbit is 4 m
The distance travelled by the dog is 7 m

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

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Displacement: change in position = final
position – initial position (unit: m)
In symbols: 𝑠 = 𝑥𝑓 − 𝑥𝑖
Take right as positive for convention (you may
take left as positive in some situations)
Displacement of the dog = –3 m (minus
sign means the dog has moved to the left)

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

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Distance: no direction, always positive
Displacement: have directions, can be
positive or negative (in 1-D: left or right)
Scalar: only magnitude, no direction (distance is a
scalar quantity)

Vector: both magnitude and direction

(displacement is a vector quantity)

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For the rabbit: Distance = 3 m;
Displacement = + 1 m
For the dog: Distance = 4 m; Displacement
=0m

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

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 distance
Average speed= (unit: m/s, ms )
-1
time
In the above example, if the elapsed time is
4 s, then
The speed of the rabbit = = 0.75 ms−1
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4
The speed of the dog = = 1 ms−1
4
4
Note: speed is always positive! (it is a scalar quantity)

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

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 displacement
Average velocity= (unit = m/s,
time
ms )
-1
𝑠
In symbols: 𝑣 =
𝑡
= 0.25 ms−1
1
Velocity of the rabbit =
4
0
Velocity of the dog = = 0
4
Velocity is a vector quantity

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

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 Position / m
A rabbit travels from
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t = 0 to t = 4 s. Each 2
second is denoted by 1
a dot
-1 1 2 3 4 5 time / s
The motion can be -2
described by a -3

position-time graph

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

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 Position / m
From the graph, the
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motion can be
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divided into two 1
parts
1. Velocity = 1.5 ms-1 -1 1 2 3 4 5 time / s
-2
2. Velocity = -3 ms-1 -3

Average velocity =
− = −0.75 ms −1
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• Also, we can read the velocity by using
slope of position-time graph
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Acceleration = rate of change of velocity
change in velocity
with time =
elapsed time
(unit: m/s2, ms-2)
𝑣−𝑢
In symbols: 𝑎 = , where 𝑣 = final velocity,
𝑡
𝑢 = initial velocity
Example: A car accelerates from rest to 100
km/h in 5 s.
1000
𝑣 − 𝑢 100 × 3600 − 0
𝑎= = = 5.56 ms−2
𝑡 5
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Acceleration is a vector quantity
If 𝑣 > 𝑢, then 𝑎 > 0 and the object is
accelerating
If 𝑣 < 𝑢, then 𝑎 < 0 and the object is
decelerating
Negative acceleration means deceleration or
acceleration in negative direction (the velocity
can determine the sign of direction)

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From t = 0 to t = 2 s v / ms-1
𝑣−𝑢 4−0
𝑎= = = 2 ms−2
𝑡 2
From t = 2 s to t = 3 s 4

𝑎 = 0 (constant velocity)

We can also find the

acceleration by using the 0 2 3 t/s

slope of the v – t graph

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Here, we would like to obtain a set of
equations of motion by assuming
CONSTANT acceleration
𝑣−𝑢
From 𝑎 = ,we can rewrite it into another
𝑡
form: 𝑣 = 𝑢 + 𝑎𝑡
𝑣+𝑢
For constant 𝑎, mean velocity = 𝑣 =
2
Therefore, the displacement is 𝑠 = 𝑣 𝑡 =
𝑣+𝑢 𝑡
2

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 𝑢+𝑣 𝑡
Substitute 𝑣 = 𝑢 + 𝑎𝑡 into 𝑠 = , we have
2
𝑢+𝑢+𝑎𝑡 𝑡 1
𝑠= = 𝑢𝑡 + 𝑎𝑡 2
2 2
𝑣−𝑢 𝑢+𝑣 𝑡
Also, substitute 𝑡 = into 𝑠= , we
𝑎 2
𝑢+𝑣 𝑣−𝑢 𝑣 2 −𝑢2
can get 𝑠 = =
2𝑎 2𝑎
Rearranging the above equation to get
𝑣 2 = 𝑢2 + 2𝑎𝑠

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They are called the equations of uniformly
accelerated motion:

𝑣 = 𝑢 + 𝑎𝑡
𝑢+𝑣 𝑡
𝑠=
2
1 2
𝑠 = 𝑢𝑡 + 𝑎𝑡
2
𝑣 2 = 𝑢2 + 2𝑎𝑠

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During a Formula One race, a racing car
travelling at 40 ms-1 accelerates steadily at
6 ms-2 in order to overtake its competitor. If
the car accelerates for 3 s, find
(a) its final velocity after the acceleration,
and
(b) the distance travelled by the car during
this time interval
Solution:
(a) 𝑣 = 𝑢 + 𝑎𝑡 = 40 + 6 × 3 = 58 ms−1
1
(b) 𝑠 = 40 + 58 × 3 = 147 m
2
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A jet fighter speeds up from rest on the
runway of an aircraft carrier with an
acceleration of 9 ms-2. If the fighter takes
off at a velocity of 252 kmh-1, estimate
(a) the minimum length of the runway, and
(b) the time needed for the take off.
Solution:
1000
(252×3600)2 −02
(a) 𝑣 2 = 𝑢2 + 2𝑎𝑠 → 𝑠 = = 272 m
2×9
1000
252× −0
(b) 𝑣 = 𝑢 + 𝑎𝑡 → 𝑡 = 3600
= 7.78 s
9

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The driver of a car moving at 30 m/s sees a
wounded dog 120 m ahead. It takes her 0.5 s
to think and react before stepping on the
brake. The car decelerates at a rate of 5 ms-2
when the brakes are locked. Will the dog be
knocked down?

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The car is travelling at constant speed when
the driver is thinking (reaction time = 0.5 s)
The distance travelled during the reaction time
is 30 × 0.5 = 15 m
By using 𝑣 2 = 𝑢2 + 2𝑎𝑠
02 = 302 − 2 × 5 × 𝑠
𝑠 = 90 m
Therefore, the total distance travelled = 90+15
= 105 m < 120 m
The dog will not be knocked down.

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If you release a ball in mid-air, it will fall due
to the gravity of the Earth

Do objects fall at different rates?

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If there is no air resistance, all objects fall at
the same rate!

Experiments show that the acceleration due

to gravity near the Earth surface is about
𝑔 = 9.8 ms −2

If we take upwards to be positive, then we

have 𝑎 = −𝑔= - 9.8 ms −2

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Therefore, the equations of vertical motion
are (upward direction is taken to be positive)

𝑣 = 𝑢 − 𝑔𝑡
𝑢+𝑣 𝑡
𝑠=
2
1 2
𝑠 = 𝑢𝑡 − 𝑔𝑡
2
2 2
𝑣 = 𝑢 − 2𝑔𝑠

With g = 9.8 ms-2.

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Suppose an object is dropped from an initial
height 44 m to the ground. Estimate the time
it takes to reach the ground.

Solution:
1 2 1
𝑠 = 𝑢𝑡 − 𝑔𝑡 → −44 = 0 − 9.8 𝑡 2
2 2
𝑡 = 3.00 s

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A ball is projected vertically upwards with an
initial velocity of 40 m/s. What is
(a) the maximum height reached by the ball?
(b) the time taken for the ball to return to its
starting point?

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(a) By using 𝑣 2 = 𝑢2 − 2𝑔𝑠
0 = 402 − 2 × 9.8 × 𝑠
𝑠 = 81.6 m

(b) Since the projection is symmetric, the time

for upward trip is equal to the downward trip.
𝑣 = 𝑢 − 𝑔𝑡
0 = 40 − 9.8 × 𝑡
𝑡 = 4.08 s
Therefore, the total time is 8.16 s

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You need to memorize the 𝑣 = 𝑢 + 𝑎𝑡
following equations: 𝑢+𝑣 𝑡
𝑠=
2
𝑠 = 𝑥𝑓 − 𝑥𝑖 1
𝑠 = 𝑢𝑡 + 𝑎𝑡 2
distance 2 2
2
speed= 𝑣 = 𝑢 + 2𝑎𝑠
time
displacement If we take upwards as
velocity= positive, we have
time
𝑠
(𝑣 = ) 𝑎 = −𝑔 for vertical
𝑡
𝑣−𝑢 motion
𝑎=
𝑡

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