Lesson 5:

TWO-DIMENSIONAL MOTION
At the end of this lesson, the learners are expected to:

1. Describe motion using the concept of relative velocities in 1D and 2D.

2. Deduce the consequences of the independence of vertical and horizontal components of
projectile motion.
3. Calculate range, time of flight, and maximum heights of projectiles.
4. Infer quantities associated with circular motion such as tangential velocity, centripetal
acceleration, tangential acceleration, radius of curvature.
5. Solve problems involving two-dimensional motion in contexts such as, but not limited to
ledge jumping, movie stunts, basketball, safe locations during firework displays, and Ferris
wheels.
R e l a tive M o t i o n

The motion of an object with

respect to other moving or
stationary object.

2D Motion
 Relative Motion in One Dimension

The velocity vectors simplify to having

only two possible directions.

2D Motion
2D Motion
2D Motion
Example:
Person sitting in a train moving east.

Figure 1 When constructing the vector equation, the subscripts for the coupling reference frame appear
consecutively on the inside. The subscripts on the left-hand side of the equation are the same as the two outside
subscripts on the right-hand side of the equation.

2D Motion
Adding the vectors, we find so the person is moving 8 m/s east with respect to
Earth. Graphically, this is shown:

2D Motion
Example
Two cars, standing a distance apart, start moving towards each other with speeds 1 m/s and
2 m/s along a straight road. What is the speed with which they approach each other ?

2D Motion
Example
Two cars, standing a distance apart, start moving towards each other with speeds 1 m/s and
2 m/s along a straight road. What is the speed with which they approach each other ?

Solution :
Let us consider that "A" denotes Earth, "B" denotes first car and "C" denotes second car. The equation of
relative velocity for this case is :
𝑣𝐶𝐴 = 𝑣𝐶𝐵 + 𝑣𝐵𝐴

𝑣𝐵𝐴 = 1.0 m/s and 𝑣𝐶𝐴 = − 2.0 m/s

2D Motion
Example
Two cars, standing a distance apart, start moving towards each other with speeds 1 m/s and
2 m/s along a straight road. What is the speed with which they approach each other ?

Solution :
Let us consider that "A" denotes Earth, "B" denotes first car and "C" denotes second car. The equation of
relative velocity for this case is :
𝑣𝐶𝐴 = 𝑣𝐶𝐵 + 𝑣𝐵𝐴

Then:
𝑣𝐶𝐴 = 𝑣𝐶𝐵 + 𝑣𝐵𝐴

− 2.0 m/s = 𝑣𝐶𝐵 + 1.0 m/s

𝑣𝐶𝐵 = − 2.0 m/s − 1.0 m/s
𝑣𝐵𝐴 = 1.0 m/s and 𝑣𝐶𝐴 = − 2.0 m/s 𝒗𝑪𝑩 = − 3.0 m/s
2D Motion
Relative Motion in Two Dimensions
There is one or more objects move in a frame
which is non-stationary with respect to another
observer.

2D Motion
Example:
A truck is traveling south at a speed of 70 km/h toward an intersection. A car is traveling east
toward the intersection at a speed of 80 km/h. What is the velocity of the car relative to the
truck?

2D Motion
Example:
A truck is traveling south at a speed of 70 km/h toward an intersection. A car is traveling east
toward the intersection at a speed of 80 km/h. What is the velocity of the car relative to the
truck?

2 2
𝑘𝑚 𝑘𝑚 𝑘𝑚
𝑣𝐶𝑇 = 80 + 70 = 106
ℎ𝑟 ℎ𝑟 ℎ𝑟
70
𝜃 = tan−1 = 41.2𝑜
80

2D Motion
Projectile
A projectile is an object upon which the only force acting is gravity. Many
projectiles not only undergo a vertical motion, but also undergo a horizontal motion. That
is, as they move upward or downward, they are also moving horizontally. There are the two
components of the projectile's motion - horizontal and vertical motion. And since
perpendicular components of motion are independent of each other, these two components
of motion can (and must) be discussed separately. The goal of this part of the lesson is to
discuss the horizontal and vertical components of a projectile's motion; specific attention
will be given to the presence/absence of forces, accelerations, and velocity.

2D Motion
2D Motion
 Horizontally Launched Projectiles

Horizontal
Vertical Motion
Motion
Forces
Yes
(Present? – Yes or No) No The force of gravity
(If present, what acts downwards
direction?)
Acceleration
Yes
(Present? – Yes or No) No “g” is downward at
(If present, what 9.8 m/s^2
direction?)
Velocity Changing
(Constant or Constant By 9.8 m/s each
Changing?) second

2D Motion
Non-Horizontally Launched Projectiles

2D Motion
2D Motion
Problem 1
In the cricket game, a batsman strikes the ball
such that it moves with the speed 30 m/s at an angle
30° with the horizontal as shown in the figure. The
boundary line of the cricket ground is located at a
distance of 75.0 m from the batsman. Will the ball go
for a six? (Neglect the air resistance and take
acceleration due to gravity g = 10 m/s^2).

2D Motion
Problem 1
In the cricket game, a batsman strikes the ball
such that it moves with the speed 30 m/s at an angle
30° with the horizontal as shown in the figure. The
boundary line of the cricket ground is located at a
distance of 75.0 m from the batsman. Will the ball go
for a six? (Neglect the air resistance and take
acceleration due to gravity g = 10 m/s^2).

2D Motion
Solution
The motion of the cricket ball in air is essentially a projectile motion. As
we have already seen, the range (horizontal distance) of the projectile
motion is given by

𝑢2 𝑠𝑖𝑛2𝜃
𝑅=
𝑔
The initial speed u = 30 m/s
The projection angle θ = 30°
The horizontal distance travelled by the cricket ball

𝑚 2
30 (sin 60)
𝑅= 𝑠 = 77.94 𝑚
𝑚
10 2
𝑠
This distance is greater than the distance of the boundary line. Hence
the ball will cross this line and go for a six.

2D Motion
Problem 2
An object is launched at a velocity of 20 m/s in a direction making an angle of 25° upward with the horizontal.
a) What is the maximum height reached by the object?
b) What is the total flight time (between launch and touching the ground) of the object?
c) What is the horizontal range (maximum x above ground) of the object?
d) What is the magnitude of the velocity of the object just before it hits the ground?

2D Motion
a) What is the maximum height reached by the object?

Given:
u = 20 m/s
θ = 25°
g = 9.8 m/s2

Solution:
𝑢 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 2
ℎ𝑚 =
2𝑔
( 20𝑚/𝑠)(𝑠𝑖𝑛25° )2
ℎ𝑚 =
9.8𝑚
2( 2 )
𝑠
𝒉𝒎 = 𝟑. 𝟔𝟒𝟓𝟎 𝒎

2D Motion
b) What is the total flight time (between launch and touching the ground) of the object?

Given:
u = 20 m/s
θ = 25°
g = 9.8 m/s2

Solution:
𝑢 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃
2𝑡𝑚 = 2
𝑔
20𝑚
( ) 𝑠𝑖𝑛25°
2𝑡𝑚 = 2 𝑠
9.8𝑚/𝑠 2
𝟐𝒕𝒎 = 𝟏. 𝟕𝟐𝟓𝟎 𝒔

2D Motion
c) What is the horizontal range (maximum x above ground) of the object?

Given:
u = 20 m/s
θ = 25°
g = 9.8 m/s2

Solution:
𝑢2 sin(2𝜃)
𝑅𝑚 =
𝑔
(20𝑚/𝑠)2 sin(2 ∙ 25°)
𝑅𝑚 =
9.8𝑚/𝑠 2
𝑹𝒎 = 𝟑𝟏. 𝟐𝟔𝟕𝟏 𝒎

2D Motion
d) What is the magnitude of the velocity of the object just before it hits the ground?

Given:
u = 20 m/s
θ = 25°
g = 9.8 m/s2

Solution:

𝑉𝑥 = 𝑢 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 𝑉𝑦 = 𝑢 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 − 𝑔𝑡
20𝑚 20𝑚 9.8𝑚
𝑉𝑥 = 𝑐𝑜𝑠25° 𝑉𝑥 = 𝑠𝑖𝑛25° − ( 2 )(1.7250 s)
𝑠 𝑠 𝑠
𝑉𝑥 = 18.1262 𝑚/𝑠 𝑉𝑦 = −8.4526 𝑚/𝑠

𝑉= 𝑉𝑥2 + 𝑉𝑦2

𝑚 2 𝑚 2
𝑉= 18.1262 + −8.4526
𝑠 𝑠
𝑉 = 20.0 𝑚/𝑠
2D Motion
d) What is the magnitude of the velocity of the object just before it hits the ground?

Given:
u = 20 m/s
θ = 25°
g = 9.8 m/s2

Solution:
V=u
V = 20 m/s

2D Motion
 Circular Motion

Circular motion is a movement of

an object along the circumference of a
circle or rotation along a circular path. It
can be uniform, with constant angular rate
of rotation and constant speed, or non-
uniform with a changing rate of rotation.

2D Motion
There are three mathematical quantities that will be of primary interest to us as we analyze
the motion of objects in circles. These three quantities are speed, acceleration and force. The
speed of an object moving in a circle is given by the following equation.

The acceleration of an object moving in a circle can be determined by either two of the
following equations.

2D Motion
 The net force is related to the acceleration of the object (as is always the case) and is thus
given by the following three equations:

2D Motion
Example 1
A 900-kg car moving at 10 m/s takes a turn around a circle with a radius of 25.0 m.
Determine the acceleration and the net force acting upon the car.

The solution of this problem begins with the identification of the known and requested
information.

To determine the acceleration of the car, use the equation a = v^2 / R. The solution is
as follows:
a = v^2 / R
a = (10.0 m/s)^2 / (25.0 m)
a = (100 m^2/s^2) / (25.0 m)
a = 4 m/s^2

To determine the net force acting upon the car, use the equation Fnet = m•a. The
solution is as follows.
Fnet = m • a
Fnet = (900 kg) • (4 m/s^2)
Fnet = 3600 N

2D Motion
2D Motion
Example 2
A particle moves in a circle of radius 10 m. Its linear speed is given by v = 3t where t is in second
and v is in m/s.
a) Find the centripetal and tangential acceleration at t = 2 s.
b) Calculate the angle between the resultant acceleration and the radius vector.

Solution
The linear speed at t = 2 s The angle between the radius vector with resultant
acceleration is given by
𝑚
𝑣 = 3𝑡 = 6
𝑠 𝑎𝑡 3
𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 = = = 0.833
The centripetal acceleration at t = 2 s is 𝑎𝑐 3.6
𝜃 = tan−1 0.833 = 0.69 𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛
𝑚 2 In terms of degree 𝜃 = 0.69 𝑥 57.17𝑜 = 40𝑜
𝑣2 6
𝑎𝑐 = = 𝑠 = 3.6 𝑚/𝑠 2
𝑟 10𝑚

2D Motion
Example 3
A particle is in circular motion with an acceleration α = 0.2 rad/s^2.
a) What is the angular displacement made by the particle after 5 s?
b) What is the angular velocity at t = 5 s?. Assume the initial angular velocity is zero.
Solution
Since the initial angular velocity is zero (ω0 = 0).
The angular displacement made by the particle is given by

1 2
𝜃 = 𝜔𝑜 𝑡 + 𝛼𝑡
2 𝜔𝑓2 = 𝜔𝑜2 + 2𝑎𝜃
1 𝑟𝑎𝑑 2
𝜃 = 0 5𝑠 + 0.2 2 5𝑠 𝑟𝑎𝑑
2 𝑠 𝜔𝑓 = 2 0.2 2 2.5 𝑟𝑎𝑑
𝑠
𝜃 = 2.5 𝑟𝑎𝑑
In terms of degree 𝑟𝑎𝑑
𝜔𝑓 = 1
180 𝑠
𝜃 = 2.5 𝑟𝑎𝑑 𝑥 = 143𝑜
𝜋

2D Motion