• Displacement

• Velocity
• Acceleration
• Constant acceleration
• Vectors
 Position of a body at
time t is denoted as x(t)

x is called a function of
t
Displacement
Position at time t1 is
denoted as x(t1)
Position at time t2 is
denoted as x(t2)
The displacement ∆x in
time interval∆t = t2 – t1 is:

∆x = x(t2 ) – x(t1) = x2 – x1
Imagine a graph of a
particle’s position along
the x-axis as a function
of time...
 x2
∆x
x1

t1 t2
∆t
10 20 30 40 x (m)
∆x = x2 – x 1
= 30m – 10m
= +20 m
10 20 30 40 x (m)
∆x = x 2 – x1
= 10 m – 30 m
= –20 m
Notice that the
sign indicates
the direction!
Speed And
Velocity
speed and velocity
measure how position
changes with time
 average speed =
total distance traveled
total time
average velocity =
displacement
total time
Average velocity
x2 – x1 ∆x
= =
t2 – t 1 ∆t

formula for a slope!

 x trajectory
x2
∆x
x1
t1 t2 t

∆t
vav = slope connecting
line from t1 to t2
Instantaneous velocity is
the velocity at a
particular time
 x
x2
∆x
x1
t1 t2 t

∆t
Instantaneous velocity

Take two times very

close to each other
so ∆t is very small
 x

∆x

t
∆t
Acceleration
Acceleration measures
how the velocity
changes with time
average acceleration =
change in velocity
time taken
 Average acceleration
v2 – v1 ∆v
= =
t2 – t 1 ∆t

formula for a slope!

Instantaneous acceleration:
is the acceleration at a
specific instant of time:
a = limit ∆v
∆t  0 ∆t
 v
v2
v Slope  a
v1
t1 t 2 t
t
v

slope of
tangent  a

t
t
Note that acceleration a
does not have to be in
the same direction as
velocity v !!
 Acceleration = -2m/s2
at t1=0, v1=15m/s
at t2=5s,
v2=5m/s
 Constant
Acceleration
Take for convenience
t1 = 0 and t2 = t
then:

x1 = xo and x2 = x
v1 = vo and v2 = v
If acceleration is constant,
then a = aav
 v2 – v 1
a =
t2 – t 1

v = vo + at
 Definition of
average

vav = ½(vo + v)
 x2 – x 1
vav =
t2 – t 1

x = xo + vavt
x = xo + vot + ½at 2
Two Main
Equations
x = xo + vot + ½at2

v = vo + at
x

t
v

t
From these two:

x = xo + vot + ½at2

v = vo + at
v2 = vo2 + 2a(x – xo)

(v as a function of x)
Vectors
• Vectors have magnitude
and direction
• In 1-D, direction has a +
or – sign
• Consider the position
vector r in 2 dimensions
 Example:

Where is Islamabad?
• Choose origin at Karachi

• Choose coordinates of
distance (km) and
direction (N,S,E,W)
 Islamabad

Karachi

• Vector r points 1200

km north west
Velocity
Vector
• Components of r are
its (x,y) coordinates

• r = (rx ,ry ) = (x,y)

 (x,y)

y r

 x
• Components can
be expressed as:
rx  x  r cos
ry  y  r sin 
 
where rr and

  arctan( y / x)
• Magnitude (length) of r
is found by Pythagorean
theorem:

r r x y
2 2
The length of a vector
does not depend on
its direction.
 Vector
Addition
C = A + B
We can arrange the vectors
any way we want, as long
as we maintain their length
and direction !
Parallelogram
Method
C = A + B
C = A + B
 Vector
Addition
COMPONENT
METHOD
If C = A + B
C B
ByC
y
A
Bx
Ax Ay
Cx
 Cx = Ax + Bx
then
Cy = Ay + By
Vector addition:
1. add components
2. then use
2 2
C  Cx  C y
3. and the angle is
  arctan(C y / C x )