CHAPTER 1

MOTION IN STRAIGHT
LINE

Rabab Farraj
 WHAT WE WILL LEARN
• Define position, displacement, and distance.
• Define the concepts of instantaneous velocity
and average velocity.
• Define the concepts of instantaneous
acceleration and average acceleration.
• Describe motion of an object in a straight line
with constant acceleration.
• Free fall motion
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 KEY TERMS
• position vector ‫متجه الموضع‬
• Displacement ‫اإلزاحة‬
• Distance ‫المسافة‬
• average velocity ‫السرعة المتوسطة‬
• instantaneous velocity ‫السرعة اللحظية‬
• Speed ‫مقدرا السرعة‬
• average acceleration ‫متوسط التسارع‬
• instantaneous acceleration ‫التسارع اللحظي‬
• free fall ‫السقوط الحر‬
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 2.2 Position Vector, Displacement
Vector, and Distance
• Position vector : the vector that links the
location of the body with the origin of the
coordinate system.
• position vector’s x-component can have a
positive or a negative value, depending on the
location of the point.

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 2.2 Position Vector, Displacement
Vector, and Distance
• Position Graphs: graphs of an object’s position as a
function of time
• .The slope of position-time graph gives the velocity.

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 2.2 Position Vector, Displacement
Vector, and Distance
• Displacement :difference between the
final position vector and the initial
position vector.

• The displacement vector is independent

of the location of the origin of the
coordinate system.

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 2.2 Position Vector, Displacement
Vector, and Distance
• The displacement vector in one dimension has
only an x-component, which is the difference
between the x-components of the final and
initial position vectors.

• displacement vectors can be positive or

negative

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 2.2 Position Vector, Displacement
Vector, and Distance
• Distance is the absolute value of the
displacement vector (only if the moving object
does not change direction)
l x
• The distance is always greater than or equal to
zero and is measured in the same units as
position and displacement.
• Distance is a scalar quantity.

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2.2 Position Vector, Displacement
Vector, and Distance

What is the displacement if the initial and find

positions are the same, i.e. if the objects return
to its starting point?

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 2.2 Position Vector, Displacement
Vector, and Distance
Exercise : page 59
2.26 You ride your bike along a straight line from
your house to a store 1000. m away. On your way
back, you stop at a friend’s house which is halfway
between your house and the store.
a) What is your displacement?
b) What is the total distance traveled?
After talking to your friend, you continue to your
house. When you arrive back at your house,
c) What is your displacement?
d) What is the distance you have traveled?
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 2.2 Position Vector, Displacement
Vector, and Distance

a) What is your c) What is your

displacement? displacement?

b) What is the total distance d) What is the distance

traveled? you have traveled?

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 2.3 Velocity Vector, Average Velocity,
and Speed
• average velocity is the change in position in a given time
interval divided by that time interval

• instantaneous velocity
dx
vx 
dt
• Speed is the absolute value of the velocity vector.
speed  vx
• Average speed

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 2.4. Acceleration Vector
• average acceleration is defined as the velocity
change per time interval

• instantaneous acceleration

Note that it’s often refers to the deceleration of an

object as a decrease in the speed the object over time,
which corresponds to acceleration in the opposite
direction of the motion of the object.

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 Notes

Vectors Scalar
displacement distance

velocity speed

acceleration

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 Notes
• The acceleration is the time derivative of the
velocity
• the velocity is the time derivative of the
displacement.

position velocity acceleration

t ‫نـشـتـق بالنسبة للزمن‬

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 Notes

•The slope of displacement- •The slope of velocity-time

time graph gives velocity graph gives acceleration

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 Notes
•If the velocity and acceleration are in the same
direction, the object moves faster.
• if the velocity and acceleration are in opposite
directions, it slows down.
•If the initial and find positions are the same . the
total displacement is zero
• the velocity of a stationary object (object at rest)
is zero.
•The acceleration of an object that moves with
constant velocity is zero.

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 Exercises
Exercise 1:
The position vector of an object is given by:
x(t)=3t2-t+2 m
a) find its position at t=2 s

b) find its displacement in time interval from

t1=3 s to t2=5 s

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 Exercises
Exercise 2:
A particle moves along the x-axis according to
the equation x(t)= t2+5t+4 m, find the velocity of
the particle at t = 1 s.

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 Exercises
Exercise 3:
The velocity of a particle in one dimension is
given by v=2t3+4t2-2 m/s, find its acceleration at
t=3 s.

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 Exercises
Exercise 4:
The position of a particle is given by x=t2+2t-2 m
find its acceleration at t=1s.

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 Exercises
Example 2.1 page 35 :

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 Exercises
Exercise : page 59

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 Exercises
Exercise : Page 59

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 Exercises
Exercise : Page 60

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 2.7 Motion with Constant
Acceleration
Here are the five kinematical equations we have obtained for
the special case of motion with constant acceleration

x : final position
xo : initial position
v : final velocity
vo : initial velocity
a : accelerati on
t : time

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 2.7 Motion with Constant
Acceleration
Solved problem 2.2 – Page 48
As an airplane rolls down a runway to reach takeoff
speed, it is accelerated by its jet engines. Assuming a
constant acceleration of ax = 4.3 m/s2 starting from
rest, what is the airplane’s takeoff velocity after 18.4 s?
How far down the runway has the plane moved by the
time it takes off?

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 Free Fall
•The acceleration due to the gravitational force
is constant.
•It has the value g = 9.81 m/s2
•Motion under influence of a gravitational
acceleration is called free fall.
•The value of the gravitational acceleration is
the same for all objects provided we can neglect
air resistance.

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 Free Fall

y
•Free fall is one dimension motion

a = -g

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 Free Fall

• Consider throwing a ball straight up with a velocity v
• As the ball travels upward, the acceleration due to gravity acts to
slow the ball down.
• When the ball reaches its maximum height, the velocity of the ball
is zero.
• The ball now begins to move downward, and the acceleration due
to gravity acts to speed it up.
• Finally, the ball returns to its initial hieght . The velocity of the ball
now has the same magnitude as when the ball was initially thrown
upward, but its direction is now downward.
• The acceleration remains constant and downward even though the
velocity changes from upward to zero to downward.

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 Free Fall
At maximum point
Velocity = 0

Up y Down
Velocity: Velocity:
Upward Downward
Decrease v g v Increases
 
Slows down Speeds up

The acceleration is downward all the time

Be careful slow down and speed up are tricky words
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 Free Fall
2.2 In-Class Exercise – Page 52
Throwing a ball straight up into the air provides an example of
free-fall motion. At the instant the ball reaches its maximum
height, which of the following statements is true?
a) The ball’s acceleration points down, and its velocity points up.
b) The ball’s acceleration is zero, and its velocity points up.
c) The ball’s acceleration points up, and its velocity points up.
d) The ball’s acceleration points down, and its velocity is zero.
e) The ball’s acceleration points up, and its velocity is zero.
f) The ball’s acceleration is zero, and its velocity points down.

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 Free Fall

Time to reach maximum height (top)

vo
t
g

Prove!!

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 Free Fall
Example 2.5 Reaction Time – Page 53
It takes time for a person to react to any external stimulus. There
is a simple test, that you can perform to determine your
reaction time. Your partner holds a meter stick, and you get
ready to catch it when your partner releases it, as shown in the
left frame of the figure. From the distance h that the meter stick
falls after it is released until you grab it (shown in the right
frame), you can determine your reaction time.
If the meter stick falls 0.20 m before you catch it, what is your
reaction time?

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 Exercises
Exercise:
A particle starts from rest with constant
acceleration of 9 m/s2, what is its velocity after
4s

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 Exercises
Exercise:
A particle starts from rest with constant
acceleration of 9 m/s2, what is its velocity
after 4s?

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 Exercises
Exercise:
An object starts its motion from rest with
constant acceleration of 10 m/s2, find the
displacement of the particle after 1 s.

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 Exercises
Exercise:
A car starts from rest to 40 m/s in 8 s, What is
the acceleration of that car?

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 Exercises
Exercise:
A particle starts its motion with initial velocity
10 m/s and constant acceleration 6 m/s2. How
far does it move in 2 s?

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 Exercises
Exercise:
A ball falls freely from a top of a building 20 m
high, find its velocity when it reaches the
ground.

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 Exercises
Exercise:
stone thrown vertically down from a top of a
building 20 m, find the time taken by the stone
to reach the ground ?

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 Exercises
Exercise:
A ball thrown straight upward from a top of a
building with an initial velocity of 12 m/s. What
is the time at which the ball reaches its
maximum height?

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 Exercises
Exercise:
A ball thrown straight upward from a top of a
building with an initial velocity of 12 m/s. What
is the time at which the ball reaches its
maximum height?

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