MOTION IN

ONE
DIMENSION
The Important Stuff!
Displacement

-refers to the change in position from x1 to x2

-as the particles move, its coordinate changes with the time

∆ 𝒙 = 𝒙𝟐 − 𝒙 𝟏
Example:

Karlo travels 250 miles North but the back-tracks to South for 105 miles to pick up a
friend. What is Karlo’s total displacement?
Average Velocity

-when a particle has a displacement in change of time , its average velocity for that time
interval is

∆𝒙 𝒙𝟐 − 𝒙 𝟏
𝒗= =
∆𝒕 𝒕 𝟐 −𝒕 𝟏
Example:

A rifle fires a bullet that travels 100 m and then hits a wall. The time that passes between the
moment the bullet fired and the moment it hits the wall is 0.250 s. Find the average velocity.
Average Velocity: Solution
Average Speed

-refers to the absolute value of the average velocity and is given by

𝑻𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆
𝒔=
𝑻𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆
Average Acceleration

-when a particle’s velocity changes, it undergoes an acceleration

∆ 𝒗
𝒂=
∆ 𝒕
Free Fall

-when an object tossed up or down near the earth’s surface, it has a constant downward acceleration of
magnitude of

𝟐
𝒂𝒈 =𝟗 .𝟖𝟎 𝒎 / 𝒔
Instantaneous Velocity

-answers the question “how fast is a particle moving at a particular time t?”
-limiting case of the average velocity when the time interval ∆t and the time t is as small as we can imagine
Instantaneous Velocity

∆𝒙 𝒅𝒙
𝒗 = lim =
∆𝒕 →𝟎 ∆𝒕 𝒅𝒕
Instantaneous Velocity: Example

If the displacement of the particle varies with respect to time and is given as 6t 2+2t+4 meters, find the instantaneous
velocity at t=5 seconds.
Instantaneous Velocity: Solution
Instantaneous Velocity: Solution
t=5 seconds
Instantaneous Speed

-is the absolute value (magnitude) of the instantaneous velocity

-since speed is a scalar quantity, it specify no direction