Chapter 9 Linear motion

Displacement, speed and velocity

Position, distance and displacement
Position describes the location of an object at a certain point in time
with respect to the origin.
Position is a vector quantity and must require a direction.

An example is a person swimming in a swimming pool. At the starting

point, the person’s position is 0m but when they swim 50m along
their swimming pool, the person’s position is 50m. Not a direction
needs to be given to a position, so it can be referred to as 25m to the
right or notated as +25 m .
Distance travelled
Distance travelled refers to the total length travelled. Distance
travelled is a scalar quantity and is measured in metres (m).
Distance is a scalar quantity meaning that no direction is given only
the magnitude.

Displacement
Displacement, is defined as the change in position and is denoted by
s.
Displacement s= final position – initial position
Displacement is a vector quantity and a direction must be given. It is
always measured in metres (m)
Total displacement= sum of individual displacements

Speed and velocity

Speed and velocity are both quantities that gives indication of how
the object is changing in position.

Speed is defined as the rate at which the distance travelled.

Velocity is defined in terms of the rate at which displacement
change. The SI unit for speed and velocity is metres per second (ms^-
1) but kilometres per hour (km hr^-1) is also common used.

Average speed and velocity

Average speed vav= distance travelled/ time taken= d/∆ T

Average velocity vav= displacement/ time taken= s/∆ T

Average speed is equal to instantaneous speed only when a body is

moving in uniform motion (that is, if it moves at a constant speed.

Worked example
Sam is an athlete performing a training routine by running back and
forth along a straight stretch of running track. He jogs 100 m north in
a time of 20 s, then turns and walks 50 m south in a further 25 s
before stopping.

(a)What is the average velocity in ms^-1.

To determine this find the displacement that is it will be 50 m
north.
Average velocity= displacement/ change in time= 50 m/ 45 s= 1.1
m s^-1 north

To convert the magnitude to km h^-1, simply multiply your

answer by 3.6
That is 1.1 x 3.6= 4 km h^-1 north.

Finding the average speed will just be total distance/ time takne.
That is 150m/ 45 s = 3.3 m s^-1.

Acceleration
Acceleration is a measure of how quickly the velocity changes.
Finding the change in velocity and speed
Change in speed is the final speed minus the inital speed, that is
∆ v=v−u
Where u is the initi9al speed (in m s^-1)
V is the final speed (in m s^-1)
∆ v is the change∈speed ( ¿ m s−1 )
Since speed is a scalar, direction is not required.

Example
A golf ball is dropped onto a concrete floor and strikes the floor at 5
ms^-1. It then rebounds at 5 m s^-1.

(a)What is the change in speed of the ball?

To attempt this problem use the change in speed formula.
That is change in v= v-u
Change in v= 5 ms^-1 – 5ms^-1 =0 ms^-1.

(b) What is the change in velocity of the ball?

Change in v= v-u
Change in v= 5 ms^-1 – (-5 ms^-1)= 10 ms^-1 up.
Graphing position, velocity and acceleration over time

Position- time (x-t) graphs

A position time graph indicates the position, x, of an object at any
time, t, for motion that occurs over an extended time interval.

The gradient of the position time graph is the velocity that is v=

change in position/ change in time= change in x/ change in t
To analyse a position time graph, look at the graph to see the trend
within the graph. Where there is a flat region, it shows that the
object is stationary for a specific amount of time, a steady gradient
shows that the object is moving at a constant rate. The steeper the
gradient of the graph, the faster the object is moving at a faster rate.

Velocity time ( v-t) graphs

Finding displacement

The displacement is the area under the graph of a velocity time

graph, i.e the area between the graph and the time axis. It is
important to note that an area below the time axis indicates a
negative displacement, i.e motion in a negative direction.
Acceleration from A (v-t) graph
The acceleration of an object can also be found from a velocity time
graph.
Acceleration is the gradient that is change in velocity/ change in
time.
Distance travelled
Add the sum of the total displacement and ignore the fact that the
values are both negative or positive.

Acceleration- time (a-t) graphs

An acceleration time graph indicates the acceleration of the object at
a specific time.
Area- a x change in time= change in velocity

The SUVAT. Equations can be used to find the uniform acceleration

and kinematics.