BPS1323 INTRODUCTION TO ENGINEERING SCIENCE

Linear Motion

by
Dr. Hanida Abdul Aziz
Faculty of Industrial Sciences and Technology
hanidaaziz@ump.edu.my
 Contents

Vector vs. Scalar Quantity

Kinematics Definitions
Speed , Velocity & Acceleration
Linear Motion Equation
Graphing
 Vector vs. scalar Quantity
Vector - quantity with both magnitude (size) and direction
Scalar - quantity with magnitude only

Vectors: Scalars:
• Displacement • Distance
• Velocity • Speed
• Acceleration • Time
• Momentum • Mass
• Force • Energy
 Vectors
Vectors are represented with arrows
• The length of the arrow • The arrow points in the
represents the directions of the force,
magnitude (how far, motion, displacement,
how fast, how strong, etc. It is often specified
etc, depending on the by an angle.
type of vector).

5 m/s
42°
 Kinematics definitions

• Kinematics – branch of physics; study of

motion
• Position (x) – where you are located
• Distance (s ) – how far you have traveled,
regardless of direction
• Displacement (x) – where you are in
relation to where you started
 Distance vs. Displacement
• You drive the path, and your odometer goes up by 8
miles (your distance).
• Your displacement is the shorter directed distance
from start to stop (green arrow).
• What if you drive in a circle?

start

stop
 Overview of Speed, Velocity, &
Acceleration
• Speed (v) – how fast you go.
Ave speed = distance(m) / time(s)

• Velocity (v) – how fast you go & which way

Ave velocity = displacement(m) / time(s)

• Acceleration (a) – how fast you speed up, slow down,

or change direction; the rate at which velocity
changes.
a = change in velocity(m/s)/ time(s)
 Speed

Speed has the following conditions:

Speed (Instantaneous): current speed of an object at a point of time

Constant speed : no change in motion

Average speed : two ways to determine the “mean” movement

distance s
• Total distance / Total time v 
time t
• Sum of the individual speeds / number of speed measurements
100 km/h 98 km/h
 Example: Speed

A man walks 600 metres in 5minutes. Determine his speed in

(a) metres per second and
(b) kilometres per hour.
 Example: Speed

A man walks 600 metres in 5minutes. Determine his speed in

(a) metres per second and
(b) kilometres per hour.
 SPEED/ time graph
v

Each has area of height  width.

The height is in m/s; width is in seconds.
Therefore, area is in meters!

Total area under the graph = total distance traveled.

 Velocity

• Velocity also has the following conditions:

– Velocity (Instantaneous)
– Constant velocity
– Average velocity

displaceme nt x
v 
time t
 Velocity/ time graph
v

Each has area of height  width.

The height is in m/s; width is in seconds.
Therefore, area is in meters!

Total area under the graph = total distance traveled.

 Speed vs. Velocity
20 mph

A B

• Speed is a scalar
• (how fast something is moving regardless of its direction).
Ex: v = 20 mph.
The symbol for speed is v.

Velocity is a combination of speed and direction.

Ex: v = 20 mph at 15 east.
• The symbol for velocity is type written in bold: v or
• hand written with an arrow: v

** Speed is the magnitude of velocity.

 Speed vs. Velocity

• At any point in time, your velocity vector points tangent to

your path.

• The faster you go, the longer your velocity vector.

Speed vs. Velocity

• The person, according to a

pedometer has walked a
total of 12m. That is the
distance traveled.
• The person walking starts
where she stops, so her
displacement is zero.
 Describe motion in a straight line

Which car has the greatest velocity? BLUE

Which car has a constant velocity? RED

Which 2 cars have the same average RED and GREEN

velocity?
Sample Problem # 1
Velocity
 Trigonometry

The theorem of Pythagoras

Question 1

Ans: 1,488 km
Trigonometric ratios of acute angles
Question 3
Answer: Q3
 Sin and Cosine Rules

For a non-right-angled triangle, trigonometric ratios and Pythagoras’ theorem

cannot be used. Instead, two rules, called the sine rule and the cosine rule, are used.
Sin rule
Cosine rule
Question: Applying Cosine and Sin rule

Two voltage phasors are shown in

This figure. If V1 D 40V and V2 D 100V
determine the value of their resultant (i.e.
length OA) and the angle the resultant makes
with V1
Answer
 Velocity

Example: If a plane flies from place O to place A, a distance of

300 kilometres in one hour, A being due north of O, It then flies
from A to B, a distance of 400 kilometres during the second hour
of flight, B being due east of A. Its average velocity for the two
hour flight is??
 Answer

If a plane flies from place O to place A, a distance of 300

kilometres in one hour, A being due north of O, It then flies from
A to B, a distance of 400 kilometres during the second hour of
flight, B being due east of A. Its average velocity for the two
hour flight is??
 60 km/h 65 km/h
Acceleration
2.5 s

v v f  vi • Change in velocity
a  accelerati on  
t t over time.
• delta. • Either hitting the gas
or hitting the break
• Means “change in”
counts as acceleration.
and is calculated by
subtracting the initial • Units are m/s2
value from the final
value.
 Sample Problem # 3

Acceleration – how fast you speed up, slow down, or change

direction; it’s the rate at which velocity changes. Two examples:
t (s) v (mph) t (s) v (m/s)
0 55 0 34
1 57 1 31
2 59 2 28
3 61 3 25
a = +2 mph / s
a = -3 m / s = -3 m / s 2
VELOCITY s
ACCELERATION + Speeding up
_ Slowing down
 Sample Problem # 4

• In 2.5 s a car increases its speed from 60 km/h to 65 km/h

while a bicycle goes from rest to 5 km/h. Which undergoes
the greater acceleration? What is the acceleration of each
vehicle?

60 km/h 65 km/h Acceleration of the car =

(65 km/h - 60 km/h)/2.5 s = 2
km/h·s.
Acceleration of the bike=
2.5 s
(5 km/h - 0 km/h)/2.5 s = 2 km/h·s.
Acceleration
 Sample Problem

A car going 15m/s accelerates at 5 m/s2 for

3.8s. How fast is it going at the end of the
acceleration?

First step is identifying the variables in

the equation and listing them.
 Sample Problem # 5

A car going 15m/s accelerates at 5m/s2 for 3.8s.

How fast is it going at the end of the acceleration?

t=3.8s
vi=15m/s
a=5m/s2
vf=?
 Velocity vs. Time Graphs

• Velocity is determined
by reading the graph.
• Acceleration is
determined by reading
the slope of the graph
(slope equation will
give units of m/s2).
Question 9
Ans. 9

find the acceleration for each of the three

stages of the journey.
 Ans

Since there is no change in speed for the next 30 s, then the

acceleration for this is zero.
 EXERCISE 2

• What is the
acceleration
of the object
at 6s?
 GRAPHING !
POSITION VS. TIME GRAPH
x
Increasing
Decreasing t

Increasing means moving forward (positive direction).

Decreasing means moving backwards (negative
direction).
x
Position vs. Time graph
B
A
t

C
A … Starts at home (origin) and goes forward slowly
B … Not moving (position remains constant as time
progresses)
C … Turns around and goes in the other direction
quickly, passing up home
x POSITION VS. TIME GRAPH

Concavity
Concave up means positive acceleration.
Concave down means negative acceleration.
x POSITION VS. TIME GRAPH
Q
P R
t
S

Special Points
Inflection Pt. P, R Change of concavity
Peak or Valley Q Turning point
Time Axis Times when you are at
P, S
Intercept “home”
x All 3 Graphs
t

t
x Graphing Tips
t

• Line up the graphs vertically.

• Draw vertical dashed lines at special points except intercepts.
• Map the slopes of the position graph onto the velocity graph.
• A red peak or valley means a blue time intercept.
 Graphing Tips
The same rules apply in making an acceleration graph from a velocity graph.
Just graph the slopes! Note: a positive constant slope in blue means a
positive constant green segment. The steeper the blue slope, the farther the
green segment is from the time axis.

t
 Real life
Note how the v graph is pointy and the a graph skips. In real
life, the blue points would be smooth curves and the green
segments would be connected. In our class, however, we’ll
mainly deal with constant acceleration.

t
 Graph Practice
Try making all three graphs for the following scenario:
1. Schmedrick starts out north of home. At time zero he’s driving a cement mixer
south very fast at a constant speed.
2. He accidentally runs over an innocent moose crossing the road, so he slows to a
stop to check on the poor moose.
3. He pauses for a while until he determines the moose is squashed flat and deader
than a doornail.
4. Fleeing the scene of the crime, Schmedrick takes off again in the same direction,
speeding up quickly.
5. When his conscience gets the better of him, he slows, turns around, and returns
to the crash site.