PHYSICS MOTION IN A STRAIGHT LINE

Kinematics of Linear Motion

Equations for Uniformly Accelerated Motion

 For an object moving along a straight line with uniform acceleration, the motion can be studied with
the help of three equations.
 If the motion of an object is uniformly accelerated, then the initial velocity ‘u’, the final velocity ‘v’, the
uniform acceleration ‘a’, the time ‘t’ and the displacement ‘s’ are related by the three equations of
motion:
v  u  at ...(1)
1 2
S  ut  at ...(2)
2
v 2  u2  2a S ...(3)

1. v = u + at
From the above figure,
Acceleration = Slope of the velocity–time graph AB
DB DB EB  ED v  u
a=   
AD OE OE t
v  u  at
v  u  at
1
2. S  ut  at 2
2
From the above figure,
Acceleration = Slope of the velocity–time graph AB
DB DB
a = 
AD t
DB  a t
Now, the distance travelled by object in time t is
S = Area of trapezium OABE
= Area of rectangle OADE + Area of triangle ADB

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 PHYSICS MOTION IN A STRAIGHT LINE

1
 OA  OE  DB  AD
2
1
 ut  at  t
2
1
 u t  a t2
2
1
Thus, S  ut  at 2
2
3. v 2  u2  2aS
Distance travelled by object in time interval t is
S = area of trapezium OABE
1
= (EB+OA)  OE
2
1
= (EB+ED)  OE ... (4)
2
Acceleration a = Slope of velocity-time graph AB
DB EB-ED
a= =
AD OE
EB-ED
OE =
a
Substituting in eqn. (4), we get,
1 EB-ED
S= (EB+ED) 
2 a
1
= (EB2 -ED2 )
2a
1 2 2
= (v -u )
2a
Thus, v2 − u2 = 2 aS

Relative Velocity

 The relative velocity of one object with respect to another is the velocity with which one object moves
with respect to another object.
 Thus, the relative velocity is the time rate of change of relative position of one object with respect to
another.
 Consider two objects A and B moving uniformly with average velocities vA and vB in one dimension,
say along the x-axis.
If xA (0) and xB (0) are positions of objects A and B at time t = 0, then their positions xA (t) and xB (t) at
time t are
xA (t) = xA (0) + vA t
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 PHYSICS MOTION IN A STRAIGHT LINE

xB (t) = xB (0) + vB t
Then the displacement from Object A to Object B is
xBA (t) = xB (t) − xA (t) = [xB (0) − xA (0)] + (vB − vA)t
Thus, the velocity of Object B relative to Object A is
vBA = vB − vA
Similarly, the velocity of Object A relative to Object B is
vAB = vA − vB

Position–Time Graph in Relative Velocity

 If two objects A and B move with the same velocity.

 If vB > vA, i.e. (vB − vA) is positive.

 If vA > vB, i.e. (vB − vA) is negative.

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