Chapter 1 Motion (I)

1.1 Length and time

A Length
1 The SI unit of length is _______________, written as __________.
2 Prefixes can be added to form larger or smaller units of length:
1 nm = 109 m

1 mm = _______ m
1 cm = 102 m

1 km = _______ m

B Time
1 The SI unit of time is _______________, written as __________.
2 Prefixes can be added to form larger or smaller units of time:
1 s = 106 s

1 ms = _______ s

3 Other common units of time:

minute: 1 min = _______ s

hour: 1 h = 60 min = ______________ s = _______ s

4 Measuring time with a stop-watch involves human response. The time for the response

is called the human ____________ time. Using a machine which takes measurements
automatically can avoid error due to this.

Checkpoint 1
Convert the units of the following lengths and times.

(a) 2940 cm = __________ m

(b) 6 700 000 m = __________ km

(c) 24 h = __________ s

(d) 7200 s = __________ h

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 1.2 Distance and displacement
1 When you walk from a place to another, the journey can be described by using distance
and displacement.

(a) Displacement
 the length and direction of the __________
end line pointing from the __________ position
to the __________ position
 a vector quantity (with both ____________
and ____________)
 e.g. 172 m due north

(b) Distance
 the length of the ________ travelled along
start
 a scalar quantity (with ___________ only)
 e.g. 347 m

Checkpoint 2
The figure below show the paths travelled by an object. Draw the displacement vector and
hence find the total displacement.

final position

1m N

3m
3m

initial position

Solution
By Pythagoras’ theorem,
1m
magnitude of the displacement
3m
=
3m 
Using trigonometric ratio to find the direction of the displacement:
tan  =

=
 The total displacement is ___________________.

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Checkpoint 3
A car travels 150 m due south. Then it travels 220 m
due west and finally travels 50 m due north.
(a) Find the total distance travelled by the car.
(b) Find the total displacement.

Solution
(a) Total distance travelled =

(b) In the figure below, sketch the path of the car and label the distance in each part of it.
Hence sketch the displacement vector.

initial position

By Pythagoras’ theorem,
magnitude of the displacement =

Using trigonometric ratio,

 The total displacement of the car is ___________________________.

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 1.3 Speed, velocity and acceleration
A Speed
1 Speed = ___________________ per unit time

2 Speed is a _______________ quantity (with magnitude only).

3 The SI unit of speed is _____________________, written as ____________.

4 Another common unit of speed is kilometer per hour, written as ____________.

Checkpoint 4
Convert the units of the following speeds.

110 km m
(a) 110 km h1 = = = __________ m s1
1h s

(b) 15 m s1 = = __________ km h1

B Velocity
1 Velocity = ___________________ per unit time

2 Velocity is a _______________ quantity (with both magnitude and direction).

e.g. 15 m s1 due east

C Instantaneous and average

1 When you walk from a place to another, you may sometimes walk faster and
sometimes walk slower along the journey. You may also change your direction of
travel. The following terms can be used to describe the situation.

Instantaneous speed = speed at any instant

Instantaneous velocity = velocity at any instant

total distance travelled

Average speed =
total time of travel

total displacement
Average velocity =
total time of travel

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Checkpoint 5
Johnny starts walking towards the east from A at time t = 0. He first walks at a constant
speed of 5 km h1 for 1 h to reach B, and then walks at a constant speed of 3 km h1 for 2 h
to reach C.
east

A 5 km h1 B
C
3 km h1

Complete the table below. Write your steps if necessary.

(a) Instantaneous speed at t = 30 min

(b) Instantaneous velocity at t = 30 min

(c) Instantaneous speed at t = 2 h

(d) Instantaneous velocity at t = 2 h

(e) Average speed from t = 0 to t = 3 h

(f) Average velocity from t = 0 to t = 3 h

Checkpoint 6
A car enters a roundabout at P at time t = 0. It then travels
in the roundabout at a constant speed of 8 m s1 and back
to P at t = 10 s.
(a) Compare the instantaneous velocity at t = 2.5 s
and t = 7.5 s. P
(b) Find the average speed and average
velocity from t = 0 to t = 10 s.

Solution
(a) The instantaneous velocities at t = 2.5 s and t = 7.5 s have the same / different
magnitudes but the same / different directions.

(b) The average speed from t = 0 to t = 10 s is ________________________.

The average velocity from t = 0 to t = 10 s is ________________________.

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Checkpoint 7
Paul drives at 50 km h1 due south for 30 min and then at 30 km h1 due east for 20 min.
Find the average speed and the average velocity during the journey.

Solution
Sketch the path of the journey in the space below.
N

initial position

Distance travelled in the first 30 min =

Distance travelled in the next 20 min =
Total time of travel =

2 Note that

 The magnitude of instantaneous velocity is always equal to / different from the

instantaneous speed.

 An object moving at a constant speed must / may not have a constant velocity.

 If an object moves at a constant velocity, it is in uniform motion. Its average

velocity is then equal to / different from its instantaneous velocity.

D Acceleration
1 Acceleration = ________________________ per unit time

2 Acceleration is a _______________ quantity (with both magnitude and direction).

3 The SI unit of acceleration is metre per second squared, written as ____________.

total change in velocity

4 Average acceleration =
total time of travel

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5 Acceleration is not zero when any of the following occurs:

(a) Change in speed

e.g. speeding up or slowing down

(b) Change in _______________________

e.g. turning a corner with a constant speed

The acceleration of the car

is not zero even if it moves
with a constant speed.

6 An object decelerates when it _________________. In this case, the ‘deceleration’ of

the object is taken as the ______________ of the acceleration of the object.

Checkpoint 8
A leopard sees a goat and runs towards it along a
straight path. It starts from rest and reaches a velocity
of 70 km h1 in 2 s. Find the magnitude of its average
acceleration. Express your answer in m s2.

Solution
Magnitude of average acceleration
total change in velocity
=
total time of travel
=

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 1.4 Motion along a straight line
1 When the motion along a straight line is considered, the direction of a vector can be

represented by ________ or ________ signs.

Checkpoint 9
Janice starts walking from A at time t = 0. She first walks 20 m towards the east in 10 s to
reach B, and then walks 24 m towards the east in 8 s to reach C. Finally she walks at a
constant speed of 1 m s1 to go back to B.
east
1 m s1

A 20 m B 24 m C
(a) Take the direction towards the east as positive. Find the displacement, time of travel and
velocity in each part of the journey. Complete the table below with appropriate steps.

Displacement Time of travel Velocity

 20
From A to B +20 m 10 s = +2 m s1
10

From B to C

From C to B

Whole journey

(b) If the direction towards the west is taken as positive, the ________________ and
__________________ in (a) will change their signs while the ________________ will
remain unchanged.

Checkpoint 10
A ball is thrown upwards and then drops back to
speed
the ground. The figure shows the path of the ball. B
speed = 8 m s1
A
The ball first passes A at 12 m s1 and then passes = 12 m s1
B at 8 m s1 after 2 s. Find the average
acceleration of the ball from A to B.

Solution
Take the upward direction as positive.
Average acceleration =
 The average acceleration of the ball from A to B is _________________________.
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Checkpoint 11
A car travels along a straight road as shown. Take the direction to the right as positive.

v = 2 m s1
a = +1 m s2

The car has a uniform acceleration of +1 m s2. It has a velocity of 2 m s1 at the moment
shown. Describe the subsequent motion of the car.

Solution
The car is moving to the left / right at the moment shown. It speeds up / slows down and
finally travels in the _______________ direction.

2 Note that

 When a is +ve, the object must be / may not be moving towards the +ve direction.

 When a is ve, the object must be / may not be slowing down.

 When a and v have the same sign, the object is speeding up / slowing down.
When a and v have have opposite signs, the object is speeding up / slowing down.

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