MOTION (Part – 1)

MOTION:

• An object is said to be in motion if it changes its position with respect to a stationary reference
point with passage of time.

REST:

• A body is said to be at rest if it does not change its position with respect to a stationary reference
point with passage of time.

*REFERENCE POINT: It is the point from which the location of an object is measured. It is often called
as origin.

REST AND MOTION ARE RELATIVE TERMS:

• Rest and motion are always relative because they depend on the observer’s frame of reference. A
body cannot exist at a state of absolute rest or absolute motion. An object is said to be in motion
only if it changes its position with respect to a fixed point or a fixed body, therefore, a body or an
object at rest can be in motion with respect to another body.
• For example, two persons sitting in a moving bus are at rest with respect to each other but are in
motion with respect to a person standing on the roadside.

PHYSICAL QUANTITY:

Any quantity that can be measured is called a physical quantity. Example: Area, Length, Volume.

TYPES OF PHYSICAL QUANTITIES:

• SCALAR QUANTITY:

A physical quantity which has only magnitude is called a scalar quantity. Example: distance, mass,
time, volume, speed .etc.

• VECTOR QUANTITY:

A quantity which has both magnitude and direction is called a vector quantity. Example:
displacement, velocity, weight of an object .etc.

DISTANCE:

It is defined as the total length of the path that an object covers from its initial to final position. It is a
scalar quantity. The SI unit of distance is meter (m). It is always positive.

DISPLACEMENT:
 Shortest distance between initial and final position is called displacement. It is a vector quantity. The SI
unit of displacement is meter (m). It can be negative, positive or zero.

UNIFORM AND NON – UNIFORM MOTION

• UNIFORM MOTION:

The motion of an object is said to be uniform, if it moves along a straight line and covers equal
distances in equal intervals of time.

Example: A car moving along a straight road and covers 10 m in the first 15s, 10 m in the second
15 s,10 m in the third 15 s and so on.

• NON – UNIFORM MOTION:

The motion of an object is said to be non–uniform, if it covers unequal distances in k equal

intervals of time.

Example: A car moving along a busy road, a stone dropped from the top of a building.

SPEED

• Speed is defined as the distance travelled by a body in unit interval of time.

𝑫𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑵𝑪𝑬
• 𝑺𝑷𝑬𝑬𝑫 =
𝑻𝑰𝑴𝑬
• It is a scalar quantity.
• Its SI unit is m/s or ms-1.

TYPES OF SPEED

 UNIFORM OR CONSTANT SPEED:

If a body covers equal distances in equal intervals of time, the speed is said to be uniform.

Example: A car moving on a road with the speedometer showing the same speed throughout.

 NON – UNIFORM OR VARIABLE SPEED :

If a body covers unequal distances in equal intervals of time, then the speed is said to be non –
uniform or variable.

Example: a cycle moving on a crowded road.

 AVERAGE SPEED:

• Average speed is defined as ratio of total distance travelled by the body to the total time taken
to cover that distance.

𝑻𝑶𝑻𝑨𝑳 𝑫𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑵𝑪𝑬 𝑪𝑶𝑽𝑬𝑹𝑬𝑫

• 𝑨𝑽𝑬𝑹𝑨𝑮𝑬 𝑺𝑷𝑬𝑬𝑫 = 𝑻𝑶𝑻𝑨𝑳 𝑻𝑰𝑴𝑬 𝑻𝑨𝑲𝑬𝑵

• (NOTE: Average speed is calculated when an object undergoes non-uniform motion.)

VELOCITY

• Velocity can be defined as:

The distance travelled by an object in unit time in a specific direction.

OR

The rate of change of displacement of an object.

𝑫𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑵𝑪𝑬
• 𝑽𝑬𝑳𝑶𝑪𝑰𝑻𝒀 = 𝑻𝑰𝑴𝑬

• It is a vector quantity.
• Its SI unit is m/s or ms-1.

TYPES OF VELOCITY

 UNIFORM VELOCITY:

Velocity of an object is said to be uniform, if it has equal displacement in equal intervals of time.

Example: A car moving on a straight road with the same speed in North direction.

 NON-UNIFORM VELOCITY :
 Velocity of an object is said to be non-uniform, if it has unequal displacement in equal intervals
of time.

A body can have non-uniform velocity (or unequal displacements) in three cases.

1. When its speed keeps on changing (i.e., it covers unequal distances in equal intervals of
time)
2. Its direction of motion changes, or
3. Both speed and direction of motion changes.
 Example: A car moving along a circular path, a stone dropped from the top of a building.

 AVERAGE VELOCITY:

Average velocity for change in velocity at uniform and non-uniform rate is calculated in two
different ways:

1. When the velocity of a body changes at a uniform rate, its average velocity is given by the
arithmetic mean of initial velocity and final velocity for a given period of time.

𝑰𝑵𝑻𝑰𝑻𝑨𝑳 𝑽𝑬𝑳𝑪𝑰𝑻𝒀+𝑭𝑰𝑵𝑨𝑳 𝑽𝑬𝑳𝑶𝑪𝑰𝑻𝒀

• 𝑨𝑽𝑬𝑹𝑨𝑮𝑬 𝑽𝑬𝑳𝑶𝑪𝑰𝑻𝒀 = 𝟐

2. When the velocity of the body changes at a non-uniform rate, its average velocity is
calculated as the ratio of total displacement covered by the body to the total time taken.

𝑻𝑶𝑻𝑨𝑳 𝑫𝑰𝑺𝑷𝑳𝑨𝑪𝑬𝑴𝑬𝑵𝑻
• 𝑨𝑽𝑬𝑹𝑨𝑮𝑬 𝑽𝑬𝑳𝑶𝑪𝑰𝑻𝒀 = 𝑻𝑶𝑻𝑨𝑳 𝑻𝑰𝑴𝑬 𝑻𝑨𝑲𝑬𝑵

NOTE: When a body moves along a straight line and in the same direction, then the
magnitude of its average velocity and average speed is the same.