MechYr1 Chapter 11 ::

Variable Acceleration
jfrost@tiffin.kingston.sch.uk
www.drfrostmaths.com
@DrFrostMaths

Last modified: 3rd June 2020

www.drfrostmaths.com Register now to interactively practise questions on this topic, including
past paper questions and extension questions (including MAT + UKMT).
Everything is completely free. Teachers: you can create student accounts (or students can register
Why not register? themselves), to set work, monitor progress and even create worksheets.

With questions by:

Dashboard with points,

trophies, notifications
and student progress.

Questions organised by topic,

difficulty and past paper.
Teaching videos with topic
tests to check understanding.
Functions of time
constant no acceleration
acceleration

Up to now, the acceleration has

velocity
constant
always been constant in any deceleration

particular period of time…

time
Our velocity-time graph can
be any shape we want! We
However, it’s possible to specify either the 1 3 can use an expression in

velocity
𝑣= 𝑡 terms of to give a certain
displacement, velocity or acceleration as any 2 shape.
function of time (i.e. an expression in terms of ).
This allows the acceleration to constantly change. time

The velocity-time graph of a body is [Textbook] A body moves in a straight line such that its velocity,
shown above, where . ms-1, at time seconds is given by . Find
(a) What is the velocity after 4 seconds (a) The initial velocity
have elapsed? (b) The values of when the body is instantaneously at rest.
(b) How many seconds have elapsed (c) The value of when the velocity is 64 ms-1.
when the velocity of the body is ms- (d) The greatest speed of the body in the interval .
1
?
d
a
b
When ms-1. ? 24

a ms-1 or . ? 2 6

? c or
?
(4,-8)
By the symmetry of a quadratic graph,
b minimum occurs when .
s
? ? ms-1
By inspection, greatest velocity is 24 ms -1
within the range .
Exercise 11A
Pearson Stats/Mechanics Year 1
Page 184

Classes in a rush (or Further Mathematicians) may wish to skip this exercise.
Using Differentiation
In Chapter 9, we saw that velocity is the rate of change of displacement (i.e. the
gradient). But in Pure, we know that we can use differentiation to find the gradient
function:
Fro Memory Tip: I picture
𝑑𝑠 and 𝑑𝑣 𝑑 𝑠 2 interchanging between as
𝑣= ?
𝑑𝑡 similarly…
𝑎=
𝑑𝑡 ?𝑑 𝑡 2
= differentiating to go
downwards and
integrating to go upwards:
velocity is the rate of acceleration is the rate of
change of displacement change of velocity 𝑑
∫ 𝑣𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡

[Textbook] A particle is moving on the -axis. At time seconds, the displacement 𝑑

metres from is given by . Find: ∫ 𝑎𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡
(a) the velocity of when (We will do integration a
(b) The value of when is instantaneously at rest bit later)
(c) The acceleration of when

a c
When ms-2 ? When , ?
b
?
Test Your Understanding

Pudding the Cat’s displacement from a house, in metres, is where is in

seconds.
(a) Determine the velocity of the cat when .
(b) At what time will the cat be instantaneously at rest?
(c) What is the cat’s acceleration after 5 seconds?

a
When , ms-1
?
When ,

b s
?
When , ms-2

c
?
Exercise 11B
Pearson Stats/Mechanics Year 1
Page 185-186
Maxima and Minima Problems
Recall from Pure that at minimum/maximum points, the gradient is 0. We could
therefore for example find where the velocity is minimum/maximum by finding
when (i.e. when the acceleration is 0).

[Textbook] A child is playing with a yo-yo. The yo-yo leaves the child’s hand at time and travels vertically in a
straight lien before returning to the child’s hand. The distance, m, of the yo-yo from the child’s hand after
time seconds is given by:

(a) Justify the restriction

(b) Find the maximum distance of the yo-yo from the child’s hand, correct to 3sf.

1 1
a 𝑠= 5 𝑡 ( 3+2 𝑡 −𝑡 )= 5 𝑡 ( 3 − 𝑡 ) ( 1+ 𝑡 ) b
2
is maximised when .

𝑠 From the graph,

we can see that for
m (3sf)
non-negative times

? (), is only positive

for . ?
3 𝑡
Test Your Understanding
A dolphin escapes from Seaworld and its velocity as it a At the maximum velocity,
speeds away from the park, is
(in ms-1), and maintains this velocity at the point Given the shape of the cubic, corresponds to a
maximum (and the minimum)
where it would start slowing down.
(a) When does the dolphin reach its maximum ms-1 ?
velocity?
(b) What is this maximum velocity?

b
?
Edexcel M2 June 2013 Q3a,b

a
?
b

?
Exercise 11C
Pearson Stats/Mechanics Year 1
Page 187-188
Using Integration
Differentiating (with respect to time) gets us from displacement to velocity, and from
𝑑
∫ 𝑣 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 velocity to acceleration.
So naturally, integrating (with respect to time) gets us from acceleration to velocity, and
∫ 𝑎𝑑𝑡 𝑑 from velocity to displacement. As mentioned earlier, it’s helpful to picture the graph on
𝑑𝑡 the left, where we move down to differentiate and up to integrate.

[Textbook] A particle is moving on the -axis. At time , the particle is at the point where . The
velocity of the particle at time seconds (where ) is ms-1. Find:
(a) An expression for the displacement of the particle from at time seconds.
(b) The distance of the particle from its starting point when .

a
When
Recall in Pure Year 1 that we can find
? the constant of integration by using
known values.
When ,

Distance is m
b
?
Further Example

[Textbook] A particle travels in a straight line. After seconds its velocity, ms-1, is given by , . Find the distance
travelled by the particle in the third second of its motion.

𝑣
Distance travelled is 14 m.
?
23 𝑡
 Further Example
Edexcel M2 June 2015 Q6

Warning: recall that if the curve goes above and below

the -axis, we need to find each area separately.

a
?

b
c
?

?
Exercise 11D
Pearson Stats/Mechanics Year 1
Page 189-191
Constant acceleration formulae
In Chapter 9, we work out the various formulae by using a velocity-time graph.
But it’s also possible to derive all of these using integration, provided that we consider
that acceleration is constant.

Given a body has constant acceleration , initial velocity and its initial
displacement is 0 m, prove that:
(a) Final velocity:
(b) Displacement:

a Note that is a constant not a variable, so integrates as such.

Just as , we find

?
When , therefore

Integrating again:
b
Since when ,

Again, because is fixed, we can treat it as a constant.

?
Exercise 11E
Pearson Stats/Mechanics Year 1
Pages 192-193
The End