Descriptors of Motion

Describe the motion of an object in terms of distance and

displacement, speed or velocity and acceleration.
Many of the things around us move. Some
move slowly like the turtles and clouds,
others move quickly like the satellites. It is
because motion can be seen everywhere. It
seems to be very simple.
 Motion
• Motion can be described as a change in position.
However, to say that there is a change in position we
must consider a point of reference. A reference point is
something that is stationary. It is fixed. You can
determine whether an object moves by comparing its
position to that of a fixed point.
 Motion
• Motion is a change in position of an object over
time. It is described in terms of displacement,
distance, velocity, acceleration, time and speed.
Motion of a body is observed by attaching a frame
of reference to an observer and measuring the
change in position of the body relative to that frame.
• If the position of a body is not changing
with respect to a given frame of reference,
the body is said to be at rest, motionless,
immobile, stationary or to have constant
position. An object’s motion cannot change
unless it is acted upon by a force.
 Distance vs. Displacement
• Both distance and displacement are terms used in
the study of motion. Each has its own meaning.
Distance is a scalar quantity that refers to "how
much ground an object has covered" during its
motion. The total length covered by moving body
or the entire path that the object travelled.
 Distance vs. Displacement
• Displacement is a vector quantity that refers to "how
far out of place an object is"; it is the object's overall
change in position. Displacement refers to the shortest
distance between the object’s two positions, like the
distance between its point of origin and its point of
destination, no matter what path it took to get to that
destination.
 Look closely at the
example above. Boy
travels from D to A, A to
B, B to C and C to D.
Displacement from D to
D (which are our initial
and final points) is zero.
However, distance
traveled is not zero.
It is equal to the
perimeter of the
rectangle.
John walks from the point A to B to
C. What does the distance he travel?
What is the displacement?

As you can see from Figure, he travels

from A to B to C. Distance from A to B is
4m and B to C is 3 m. Their sum will
give us total distance: 4+3=7

It is clearly seen in the Figure1 the

interval between A to C is 5m. So, our
displacement vector is 5m. Its direction
is from the point A to C.
 Speed and Velocity
• Speed is a scalar quantity with just
concerning the magnitude and velocity is a
vector quantity that must consider both
magnitude and direction.
 Speed and Velocity
• A body in motion not only changes position but
also makes use of time in changing position. A
change in distance within a given time is called
speed. Speed, therefore is define as distance
travelled divided by the time of travel.
 Speed
• Speed can be defined as “how
fast something moves” or it
can be explained more
scientifically as “the distance
covered in a unit of time
 Speed
• Example: Calculate the speed of the
car that travels 450m in 9 seconds.
S=d/t
Where:
S = speed S =d/t
d= distance S = 450m / 9s
t= time S = 50m/s
 VELOCITY
• Velocity can be defined as “speed having direction”. It is a
vector quantity having both magnitude and direction. In
daily life, we use speed and velocity interchangeably, but in
physics they have different meanings.

Velocity =
V=
 VELOCITY
• Example:1 Calculate the
speed and velocity of the
man moving 45m to the
north, and 36m to the south
in 27 seconds.
 • Example 2. A car
travels at uniform
velocity a distance of
100 m in 4 seconds.
What is the velocity of
the car?
Average Speed and Instantaneous Speed

• A moving object does not have the same speed

during its travel. Sometimes it speeds up and
sometimes slows down. At a given instant time,
what we read from the speedometer is
instantaneous speed.
 Average Speed

Average Speed =
 Instantaneous Speed
• The rate at which an object is moving at any given instant is called
instantaneous speed. Although it is impossible to measure the speed of a
moving object at a very short interval of time, some devices like the
speedometer gives the instantaneous speed
Average Velocity and Instantaneous Velocity

Average Velocity =
• Assume that car travels
500 km in a 5 hour.

AV=
AV =

AV =100 km/hr
• Example: A man is
Average Velocity =
traveling with his car
150m to the east and
70m to the west.
Calculate the average
speed and velocity of
the car if the travel
takes10 seconds.
 ACCELERATION
• Acceleration is defined as the “change in
velocity”. Based from the definition, there must
be change in the velocity of the object. This
change can be in the magnitude (speed) of the
velocity or the direction of the velocity.
Acceleration =
Or
a=
• Example: A car starts to move and reaches
the velocity 80m/s in 10 seconds. Calculate
the acceleration of this car.
Direction: Solve the following problems and write your answers in your notebook/ on a
separate sheet of paper.
1. A car traveled 400 km the next day for 5 hours. What was the average speed of this
vehicle?
2. How long does it take a truck traveling at a velocity of 90 km/hr. to travel 990 km.?
3. An automobile starting at rest (m/s) increases to a velocity of 31 m/sec in 2 seconds.
What was the acceleration of this vehicle?
4. John took 45 minutes to bicycle to his grandmother’s house, a total of 4 kilometers.
What was his speed in km/h?
5. How long would it take for a car to travel a distance of 200 kilometers if it is traveling
at a speed of 55 km/h?