Introductory Physics - I

Chapter 2 – Part 1
Motion along a straight line
Position, displacement, velocity, speed

Lecture 4 – September 19
Outline – Chapter 2

• Position and displacement

• Average velocity
• Speed and velocity; distance travelled
• Graphs of motion
• Instantaneous velocity
• Average acceleration
• Instantaneous acceleration
• Motion with constant acceleration
Free fall
• Integrals and motion
 Before we start
Two simplifying assumptions:

1.The moving object is a particle or behaves like a

particle i.e. there is no rotation (point like object).

2.The motion under consideration may be vertical,

horizontal, or on a slope but is in a straight line.
 Physical quantities used in this
chapter
• displacement • distance travelled
• velocity • speed
• acceleration

vectors scalars

• For motion along a straight line (1d case) the

direction of the vector is indicated by the sign.
• We won’t use the arrow notation.
• But they are still vectors!
 Position, displacement, motion
Position 1 Position 2

x2 or x(t2)
x1 or x(t1)

- origin +
(reference for motion)

• Motion – a change in position, relative to a reference

frame
• The change in position is measured by displacement.
• Remember, displacement is a vector.
• Motion is relative – depends on the reference frame; there
is no absolute reference frame so no absolute motion.
 Position and Displacement

• Position is measured by x or y relative to

the origin (zero position).
• Typically, x is used for horizontal motion
and y is used for vertical motion.
• We choose a convenient origin and a
positive direction.
• The opposite direction is the negative
direction.
 Position and Displacement

• Displacement is the Change of Position.

D x = x2 – x1
•  represents the change in a quantity.
• The displacement is independent of the position of
the origin of co-ordinates. (but it depends on the
state of motion of the origin)
• The displacement is an example of a vector
quantity.
 Average Velocity
(vector)

The average velocity is defined by

Alternative notations:
x  x0 x  x0
vave  vave  (if to=0)
t t0 t
 Average Speed
(scalar)
The average speed is defined by
𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑
𝑣 𝑎𝑣𝑒 =
𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑝𝑠𝑒𝑑𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒

• Velocity is a vector, distance travelled (d.t.) is a scalar.

• Average speed is not the magnitude of the average
velocity.
• (d.t.) is equal to the magnitude of displacement only
for motion along a line without turning points.
Graphical representation of motion
 Pillar (origin)
Post
x2=-80m x1=200m

- +
280m

a) Speed – need distance travelled: d.t.=200m+280m = 480m

b) Velocity – need displacement (note: initial x is x0=0)
Δ 𝑥 =𝑥 𝑓 − 𝑥 𝑖 =𝑥2 − 𝑥 0=− 80 𝑚
For both (a) and (b) we need the time elapsed from pillar to post.

𝑑.𝑡 . 𝑑.𝑡 .
𝑣 𝑎𝑣𝑒 = Δ 𝑡=
Δ𝑡 𝑣 𝑎𝑣𝑒
(speed)

First segment
𝑑 . 𝑡 .=200 𝑚
Δ 𝑡 1=40 𝑠
5m/s
Δ 𝑡=110 𝑠
Second segment
280m
Δ 𝑡 2=70 𝑠
4m/s
 Δ 𝑡=110 𝑠
a) d.t.= 480 m

1 480 𝑚
𝑣 =
𝑎𝑣 =4.4 𝑚/ 𝑠 (speed)
110 𝑠

b) displacement= -80 m

2 − 80 𝑚
𝑣 =
𝑎𝑣 =− 0.73 𝑚/ 𝑠 (velocity)
110 𝑠
 Instantaneous Velocity

 x dx
v  Lim 
t  0  t dt
•v is obtained by differentiating the position
function with respect to time.
• v is the slope of the x - t graph.
• v is a vector
•The sign of v gives the direction of the velocity at
that instant.
 Velocity and the slope of the tangent
Instantaneous Velocity at a given time –
slope of the tangent to the curve at that time

x
Positive Slope
Positive Velocity
Negative Slope
Negative Velocity