IAS Physics Unit 01 Linear Motion

Linear Motion
Motion in a …………………………… is known as linear motion.
Distance
The ………………. travelled by an object or the ……………… of a path is called distance.
Displacement (s)
The …………………... / ……………. distance between two points or the distance travelled in a
particular …………………. from a …………………. point is called displacement.
Note: - Distance is a ………………. quantity and Displacement is a ………………… quantity. The
SI unit for both is ……………..
Speed
The ……………… of change of ……………………. is called speed.
𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆
𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒅 =
𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆
Velocity
The ………………. of change of ……………………. is called velocity.
𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕
𝑽𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚 =
𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆
Instantaneous velocity
The velocity of an object at any given ……………………
Ex:- …………………….. reading of a vehicle.
Finding the instantaneous velocity of a trolley
Method 1(Using light gates)

 Measure the width ‘x’ of the cardboard using a ………………….. at least 3 times at
……………. positions and hence determine the ………………… and then enter it to the
computer program.
 Set up the apparatus as shown in the diagram and then release the ……………… from rest.
 The data logger records the time taken for the cardboard to pass through the ……………….
and then sends it to the computer program.
o As the ……………… edge of the cardboard enters the light beam, the timer …………..
& when the …………………. edge leaves the light beam, the timer ……………..
 The computer program calculates the instantaneous velocity as follows.

𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝

𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 =
𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞

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 Linear Motion

Method 2 (Using a ticker tape timer)

 Set up the apparatus as in the diagram.

 Connect the ticker timer to a low-voltage power supply.
 Give the trolley a small push to start it moving.
o As the vibrator hits the carbon paper, a ……………… pattern is printed on the paper.
 The dot pattern printed on the ticker tape can be used to find the instantaneous velocity of the
trolley.

 The time interval between two adjacent dots is 0.02 s, assuming the ticker timer marks fifty
dots per second (frequency – 50Hz).

 Measure the distance between two adjacent ……………… using a ………………………….

 We can assume that the trolley was travelling at constant velocity for a small time interval.
Thus
𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑑𝑜𝑡𝑠
𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 =
0.02
Average velocity (Vavg)
𝑻𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕
𝑨𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚 =
𝑻𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆
𝑼+𝑽
𝑽𝒂𝒗 =
𝟐
3km
A B
1) A man rides his bicycle from A to B and then to C in 10minutes
and 15 minutes respectively. Then he comes back to A along path
CA in 20 minutes. Find
4km i) Distance and displacement when he travels
a. From A to B b. From B to C

c. From A to C d. For the whole journey

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 Linear Motion

ii) Speed and velocity when he travels

a. From A to B b. From B to C

c. From A to C d. For the whole journey

2) Diagram below shows a straight path. Displacements to the right are taken as positive.

800 m 0.5 km 700 m 1.2 km

B A C D E

a. Ian travels from A to E in 10 minutes. Find his speed and velocity in SI units.

b. Jane travels from C to E and back to D in 15 minutes. Find her speed and velocity in SI units.

c. Ahdil travels from A to D and back to A in 12 minutes. Find his speed and velocity in SI units.

d. Arun travels from C to E and back to B in 30 minutes. Find his speed and velocity in SI units.

3) A car moving at a velocity of 8ms-1 speeds up to velocity of 15m s-1 in 12 s. find

a. Average velocity b. Distance travelled

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 Linear Motion

4) A van travelling at velocity of 15 m s-1 is brought to rest in 5 s,

a. Find average velocity b. Distance travelled

Acceleration
The rate of change of ……………………… is called acceleration.

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑽𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝜟𝑽 𝒗−𝒖

𝑨𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 = 𝒂= 𝒂=
𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕 𝒕

Note:- Deceleration is taken as a ………………….. acceleration.

Finding the acceleration of a trolley

Method 1(Using light gates)

 Measure the width ‘x’ of the cardboard using a ………………….. at least 3 times at
……………. positions and hence determine the …………….. and then enter it to the computer
program.
 Set up the apparatus as shown in the diagram and then release the trolley from ……………...
 The data logger records the time taken by the cardboard to pass through the first light gate,
time taken to travel from the first one to second light gate and time to pass through the second
light gate and then sends the time readings to the computer program.
o As the …………… edge of the cardboard enters the first light beam, the timer starts
‘t1’.
o When the rear edge ……………. the first light beam ‘t1’ stops & simultaneously ‘t2’
starts.
o When the front edge ………….. the second light beam ‘t2’ stops & simultaneously
‘t3’ starts.
o When the ……………….. edge leaves the second light beam ‘t3’ also stops.

 The computer program calculates the acceleration of the trolley as follows.

x x
𝑣=t 𝑢=t
3 1

v−u
𝑎=
t2

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 Linear Motion

Method 2 (Using a ticker tape timer)

 Set up the apparatus as in the diagram.

 Connect the ticker timer to a suitable low-voltage power supply.
 Allow the trolley to roll down the runway.
 The trolley is accelerating as the distance between the spots is increasing.

 The time interval between two adjacent dots is 0.02 s, assuming the ticker timer marks fifty
dots per second.

 Mark out the space between two adjacent dots near the beginning of the tape. Measure the
length s1.
 The time t1 (0.02 s)

 We can assume that the trolley was travelling at constant velocity for a small time interval.
Thus
𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑑𝑜𝑡𝑠
𝐼𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 =
0.02
 Similarly mark out the space between two adjacent dots near the end (s2) of the tape and find
the final velocity v.
 Record time taken to change the velocity. (t3)

s2 s1
t − t1
𝑎= 3
t2

1) A physics student carried out the above experiment and he has recorded the following
readings.
S1- 12 mm, S2 – 42 mm and the frequency of the ticker tape timer is 50 Hz.
If there are 5 gaps between first time reading and the second one, find the acceleration of the
trolley.

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 Linear Motion

2) A car moving at a velocity of 5 ms-1 accelerates at a rate of 0.25 ms-2 for 25 s. Find;
a. Final velocity

b. Average velocity c. Distance travelled

3) A car moving at a velocity of 20 ms-1 decelerates at a rate of 0.4 ms-2 for 10 s. Find;
a. Final velocity

b. Average velocity c. Distance travelled

Equation of Motion (SUVAT)

These are vector equations, so they are applied in a particular ………………….
These equations can be applied only when the ……………………. is uniform.

1) A car starts travelling at 3 m/s and accelerates for 10 s at 5 m/s 2. Find Displacement and
Velocity after 10 s.

2) An airplane accelerates down a runway at 3.20 m/s2 for 32.8 s until is finally lifts off the
ground. Determine the distance traveled before takeoff and the velocity just before taking
off.

3) A car starts from rest and accelerates uniformly over a time of 5.21 seconds for a distance
of 110 m. Determine the acceleration and the final velocity.

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4) A race car accelerates uniformly from 18.5 m/s to 46.1 m/s in 2.47 seconds. Determine the
acceleration of the car and the distance traveled.

5) Rocket-powered sleds are used to test the human response to acceleration. If a rocket-
powered sled is accelerated to a speed of 444 m/s in 1.83 s, then what is the acceleration and
what is the distance that the sled travels?

6) A bike accelerates uniformly from rest to a speed of 7.10 m/s over a distance of 35.4 m.
Determine the acceleration of the bike and time taken.

7) A car traveling at 22.4 m/s skids to a stop in 2.55 s. Determine the skidding distance of the
car and the acceleration (assume uniform acceleration).

8) A bullet is moving at a speed of 367 m/s when it embeds into a lump of moist clay. The
bullet penetrates for a distance of 0.0621 m and stops. Determine the acceleration of the
bullet and time taken while moving into the clay. (Assume a uniform acceleration.)

9) It was once recorded that a Jaguar left skid marks that were 290 m in length. Assuming
that the Jaguar skidded to a stop with a constant deceleration of 3.90 m/s 2, determine the
speed of the Jaguar before it began to skid and time taken.

10) Initially, a ball has a speed of 5.0 m/s as it rolls up an incline. Sometime later, at a distance
of 5.5 m up the incline, the ball has a speed of 1.5 m/s DOWN the incline. (a) What is the
acceleration? b) What is the average velocity? c) How much time did this take? d) At some point
the velocity of the ball had to have been zero. Where and when did this occur?

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 Linear Motion

Motion Graphs
There are different types of motion graphs. d
(
Displacement – Time graphs
m
The physical quantity given by the gradient of the displacement - time graph
)
is ……………………………
(
Representing Different types of motions in s-t Graphs (Forward journey) m
/s
)
Tangent becomes ……….
Gradient is ……………… Gradient is ……………...
Velocity is ……………….
Graph shows constant ………… Graph shows …………….

Tangent becomes …........... Gradient is ………….

Gradient is …………………. So the velocity is …………
So the velocity is …………... Graph shows ………
Graph shows ………….

Displacement – time graphs for the backward journey

Distance – Time Graph

The physical quantity given by the gradient of the distance - time graph is ………………
Distance time graphs are not drawn ……………………..
Shane rides his bicycle from A to B at a constant velocity in 2minutes and stays at B for 3 minutes and
comes back to A in 1 minute at a constant velocity. The distance between A and B is 0.6km.
a) Draw displacement-time graph for his journey
b) Use the graph to calculate the velocity of the forward and backward journey.
c) Draw the distance - time graph for the above journey.

Velocity – Time Graphs

The physical quantity V The Physical quantity given
V
given by the gradient of by the area under the V-t
(
the V-t graph is ………… ( graph is …………
m
m
/s
/ t
) t s (
( ( ) s
m s )
/s )
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) Lakmal[BSc, Physics(Hon)] Page 8
(
s
 Linear Motion

Representing Different types of motions in V-t Graphs

V Gradient is ……………… V
(m ( Gradient is ……………...
/s) m and ……………….
Graph shows ………….…… / Graph shows ……………….
s
t( )
s (
) m
( Gradient is ………………, so, /
s acceleration is ……………. s
) velocity is also …………… )
Graph shows ………….…… t
t (
Graphs for the(backward journey s
s )
V )
(m/s) t (s)
Acceleration
Deceleration
Constant Velocity

Speed – Time Graphs

The physical quantity given by the gradient of the speed- time graph is ……………………………
The Physical quantity given by the area under the speed- time graph is …………………………..
There are no graphs below the time axis in speed- time graphs, since speed is a ……………….
quantity.

Acceleration – time Graph

a The physical quantity given by the area under the a-t graph is the ……………………….
(
m
/
s
Representing Different types of motions in a-t Graphs
)

a-t Graphs for the backward journey

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 1) The graph shows how the velocity of a motorbike varies with time
during the final 10 s of a race.
(a) (i) Describe the motion shown by the graph given.

ii) Show that during the final 10 s the motorbike travels a distance
of approximately 800 m

b) Calculate the acceleration in the first 4 seconds.

c) Using the axes given, sketch a graph showing how

the distance of the motorbike from the finishing line
varies with time during the final 10 s of the race.

2) The graph given below shows the horizontal speed υ

of a long jumper from the start of his run to the time
when he reaches the take-off board.

a) Use the graph to estimate his maximum acceleration.

b) Use the graph to estimate the distance of the ‘run-up’.

3) The graph shows the variation of velocity with time

for a body moving in a straight line. Calculate
(i) The total distance travelled,

(ii) Deceleration

(iii) The average speed over the 20 seconds.

(iv) Sketch the acceleration – time graph.

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