Physics Lecture Notes

1.1 Linear Motion

White Station High Physics Club

Memphis, Tennessee
2018-2019
1.1 Linear Motion

KHAN ACADEMY ​Science > Physics > One-dimensional motion

Watch and read the following for a basic understanding. If you want you can watch the
other videos in the section. Use 2x speed on videos if you want and/or skip things you
already know.
● Intro to vectors and scalars
● What is displacement?
● Calculating average velocity or speed
● Solving for time
● Displacement from time and velocity
● What are position vs. time graphs

● Acceleration
● What is acceleration?
● Why distance is area under velocity-time graph
● What are velocity vs. time graphs
● Average velocity for constant acceleration
● Deriving displacement as a function of ​t​, ​a,​ and 𝑣​o
● Plotting projectile displacement, acceleration, and velocity
● Impact velocity from given height

Here are some sections of textbooks that give a more detailed explanation.
COLLEGE PHYSICS ​Chapter 2, Motion in One Dimension ⇐ ​(this is the AP Physics 1 Textbook from 2017-2018)

HALLIDAY FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICS ​Chapter 2, Motion Along a Straight Line

MIT LECTURE, Dr. Walter Lewin​ ​MIT 8.01, Lecture 2: Introduction to Kinematics​ ​(this is a
very long, 51 min lecture. 2x speed is highly recommended if you watch this one.)
Vectors and Scalars

Vectors​ have magnitude and direction, ​scalars​ only have magnitude. Know basic trig rules
and how to decompose vectors (refer to Khan Academy video above).

Examples
Vectors Scalars

Acceleration Time

Velocity Volume

Momentum Speed

Force Mass

A car is traveling at 60 mph to the east. A car is traveling at 60 mph.

Displacement and Distance Traveled

What is the difference between displacement

and distance?
● Displacement-​ how out of place
something is
● Distance​- how far something traveled
to get out of place
● Displacement is a vector, but distance
is a scalar.

Average Speed and Velocity

● The​ average speed​ of travel over a time ​t​ is given by the following, where ​s​ is the
total distance traveled and ​t i​ s the duration of travel.

● The ​average velocity ​of travel over a time ​t​ is given by the following, where ​s​ ​is the
total displacement and ​t​ is the duration of travel.
Note: In problems, make sure you read carefully! There is a difference between speed and
velocity.

Instantaneous Speed and Velocity

● The ​instantaneous speed​ is the speed of an object at a certain instant in time. It is

given by the following, where ∆​s​ is the distance traveled during the extremely short
time period ∆t, which is around that instant in time.

● The ​instantaneous velocity​ is the velocity of an object at a certain instant in time. It is

given by the following, where ∆​s​ ​is the displacement of the object during the
extremely short time period ∆​t,​ which is around that instant in time.

The instantaneous velocity and speed also have a definition related to calculus. Because the
instantaneous speed and velocity can keep changing as time passes, the time interval ∆​t
must be extremely small. It must be infinitesimally short, in other words.
So, instead, we can write the instantaneous speed as the derivative of the distance with
respect to ​t a​ nd the instantaneous velocity as the derivative of the displacement with
respect to ​t​.

Acceleration

● Acceleration​ is the changing of an object’s velocity with time. The average

acceleration over a period of time is defined as the change of the velocity over the
change in time. It is a vector quantity with dimensions of length per time squared
and commonly has units m/s​2​.
Δv v f −v i
ā= Δt = tf −ti

Instantaneous Acceleration
● The acceleration of an object at a point of time is the object’s ​instantaneous
acceleration​. It is written as the first derivative of the velocity with respect to ​t.​
 d2 s dv
a= dt2
= dt

1D Motion with Constant Velocity Graph

The ​s​ vs ​t​ graph for 1D motion with constant velocity is simply a straight line because the
velocity, or the slope of the graph by definition, is constant. The final position of the object
can be calculated as s = s0 + v t .

Question: What would the v vs ​t​ graph look like? What does the area under the curve of a v
vs ​t​ graph mean?

1D Motion with Constant Acceleration

Acceleration, represented by ​a​, is a vector. In 1D motion, ​a​ is a single real number with a
sign, positive or negative. When ​a ​> 0, the velocity is increasing. When ​a​ < 0, the velocity is
decreasing.

When acceleration is constant, the graph of ​v​ vs ​t​ will be a straight line.
The Big Four

These formulas relate velocity, time, displacement, and acceleration. They are the basic
equations of kinematics and are used to describe the motion of an object with a constant
acceleration. Click ​here​ for their derivations.

v f = v 0 + at

s = v 0 t + 12 at2

v 21 = v 20 + 2as

v f +v 0
s= 2
t

Free Fall

When you drop an apple and a bowling ball in a vacuum, the two experience acceleration
due to Earth’s gravitational pull. All objects on Earth experience roughly1 the same
gravitational acceleration (​g​ = 9.81 m/s​2​). The sign of the acceleration due to gravity can be
positive or negative; it just depends on which direction is positive.

Note: Using the approximate value, ​g​ = 10 m/s​2​ , is highly suggested on the F=ma and other
physics tests. Approximating g makes for quicker calculations. It is also an easy shortcut on
the AP exam(s); just make sure you specify your value of ​g​ on the FRQ.

Vertical Projectiles

Suppose you threw a ball straight up in the air. What does it do?
The ball is a ​vertical projectile​. Let’s set the up direction as the positive direction. Then the
equations that model this situation are as follows:

1
​ he location has an effect on the gravitational acceleration. For example, in Boston, it is 9.80 ​m/s​2​. ​Why?
T
Acceleration is also different on other planets. We will explain why later on.
These look very similar to the big four! I wonder why…?

Exercise: Derive the equation for the time it takes for the projectile to reach the peak of the
trajectory. Determine how high the projectile reaches as well.

Terminal Velocity

Why do balloons and feathers seem to drift slowly down at a constant velocity? Well,
objects like balloons and feathers reach their ​terminal velocities2 quickly. When an object
reaches its terminal velocity, it stays at that velocity and cannot accelerate due to gravity
anymore. This happens to skydivers, which typically have a terminal velocity of 200 km/hr.
Later after we have learned forces and fluids we will derive the mathematical model.

2
​Terminal velocity- the velocity at which the buoyancy force, the air friction, and gravity are at equilibrium.