Engineering Physics I

Motion -1

Dr. Karim HAJ ISMAIL

College of Humanities & Sciences
a.hajismail@ajman.ac.ae

Credit captured snips: Young and Freedman, University Physics 11th edition & Sarway Jewett, Physics for scientists and Engineers .
Vectors, Motion and Newton’s Laws
1. Vectors
2. Motion
3. Newton’s Law
 REMINDER
Motion in one dimension:
Position: the location of the object with respect to a coordinate system.

• Distance: is the magnitude 10 km 𝒙2

𝒙𝟏
of travel of an object.
• Displacement: is the change 𝒙𝟑 6 km
in position considering:
• Magnitude and Direction
Motion in one dimension
Average Velocity:

▪ Average velocity is the

displacement of the object
divided by the time interval
required for its displacement.
▪ Average velocity vector:
∆𝒙 𝒙𝑓 − 𝒙𝑖
𝒗= =
∆𝑡 𝑡𝑓 − 𝑡𝑖
▪ Movement along the x-axis →
the y and z components are zero
▪ ∆x = x2 – x1 Units
▪ ∆t = t2 – t1 SI:
m/s
CGS:
cm/s
US Customary:
ft/s
NOTE: Other units
can be given in a
problem but you need to
convert them
Average Velocity
Graph of the position as a function of time

▪ The average velocity equals the slope of

the line between the starting and the
ending points.
∆𝒙 x −x
Slope = = t 2– t2
∆𝒕 2 1

▪ The average velocity depends on the ∆𝒙 =

x2-x2 that happens during the interval
∆𝒕 = t2 – t1
▪ The average velocity doesn’t consider what
happens during the time interval

▪ Average velocity can be positive or

negative (depends on the sign of the
displacement component)
Instantaneous Velocity
▪ Often we need the velocity
at a certain instant instead
of the average velocity!

▪ Instanteneous velocity
refers to how fast an
object is moving in a given
instant.
▪ The instantaneous
velocity is the limit of
the average velocity as
the time interval becomes
infinitely short

∆𝑥Ԧ 𝑑𝑥Ԧ
𝑣Ԧ = lim∆𝑡=0 =
∆𝑡 𝑑𝑡

- The instantaneous
velocity is not always
equal to average velocity
Average Acceleration

𝑣 (m/s)
▪ Change in velocity means the object has a B
𝑣2
certain acceleration
▪ Average acceleration: the rate of change of
velocity over particular time interval

A
𝑣1

𝑡1 𝑡2 t (s)
▪ Average velocity is a vector quantity
described by both magnitude and Units
direction SI: m/s2
CGS: cm/s2
US Customary: ft/s2
Acceleration and Deceleration
① 𝑡 = 60 𝑠

𝑣𝑖 = 0 𝑚/𝑠 𝑣𝑓 = 30 𝑚/𝑠
𝑣𝑓 − 𝑣𝑖 30 −0
𝑎𝑎𝑣𝑔 = = = 0.5 𝑚/𝑠2
𝑡𝑓 − 𝑡𝑖 60

- Acceleration: (velocity is increasing)

Acceleration - Deceleration: (velocity is decreasing)
② 𝑡 = 60 𝑠

𝑣𝑖 = 100 𝑚/𝑠 𝑣𝑓 = 10 𝑚/𝑠

𝑣𝑓 − 𝑣𝑖 10 −100
𝑎𝑎𝑣𝑔 = = = −1.5 𝑚/𝑠2
𝑡𝑓 − 𝑡𝑖 60

Deceleration
Instantaneous Acceleration
▪ Instantaneous acceleration (simply
acceleration): the rate of change of

𝑣 (m/s)
velocity a particular instant.
▪ Instantaneous acceleration is the limit of
the average acceleration as the time
interval become infinitely short B
𝑣(𝑡 + ∆𝑡)

∆𝑣 𝑣 𝑡+∆𝑡 −𝑣(𝑡)
𝑎Ԧ = lim∆𝑡=0 ∆𝑡 = lim∆𝑡=0 ∆𝑡
=
𝑑𝑣 𝑑 𝑑𝑥Ԧ 𝑑2 𝑥Ԧ
= ( ) =
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 2

▪ We follow the same procedure used for

instantaneous velocity A
𝑣(𝑡) The
tangent
▪ Motion in one dimension -> we consider line at A
one component, all other components are 𝑡 𝑡 + ∆𝑡 t (s)
zero.
Average and Instantaneous Acceleration

▪ In a velocity-time graph, the average

acceleration is the slope of the line
between the initial and final velocities.

▪ Instantaneous acceleration is the slope of

the tangent for a particular point in the
graph.
Example
Motion with Constant Acceleration

a = constant -> the average acceleration for any time

interval is the same as ax

𝑣2𝑥 − 𝑣1𝑥
𝑎𝑥 =
𝑡2 − 𝑡1
At t1= t0 = 0 and t2 is any time t Velocity as a
function of
𝑣1𝑥 = v0 and 𝑣2 𝑥 = 𝑣𝑥 acceleration and
time

1
Motion with Constant Acceleration

𝑥2 − 𝑥1 𝑥 − 𝑥0 2
𝑣𝑎𝑣𝑔 = =
𝑡2 − t1 𝑡
The average velocity for the time interval (0-t) is the
average of velocities at the begining and the end
1
𝑣𝑎𝑣𝑔 = (𝑣0𝑥 + 𝑣𝑥) 3
2
1 1
= 𝑣0𝑥 + 𝑣0𝑥 + 𝑎𝑥𝑡 = 𝑣0𝑥 + 𝑎𝑡 4
2 2 𝑥

Position as a function of time, initial velocity and acceleration

Motion with Constant Acceleration

Solving eq. 1 for t:

𝑣𝑥 − 𝑣0𝑥
𝑡= 6 Velocity as a
𝑎𝑥
Replacing t in eq. 5:
function of
2 acceleration and
𝑣 −𝑣 1 𝑣 −𝑣
𝑥 = 𝑥0 + 𝑣0𝑥 𝑥 0𝑥 + 𝑎𝑥 𝑥 0𝑥 displacement
𝑎𝑥 2 𝑎𝑥

Using eq. 2 and eq. 3

Position as a function of velocity and time

Motion with Constant Acceleration

1 Position as a function of time, velocity and acceleration

Velocity as a function of acceleration and time

5

7
Position as a function of velocity and time

Velocity as a function of acceleration and

displacement 8
Example:
Freely Falling Bodies:
▪ The motion of a free-falling object is equivalent
to the motion of particle under constant
acceleration in one dimension.
▪ The acceleration of freely falling objects is due
to gravity.

𝑔 = 9.8 m/s2
1
𝑦 = 𝑦0 + 𝑣0𝑦 𝑡 + 𝑔𝑡 2
2
Example:
Motion with Varying Acceleration:

▪ Acceleration is not constant but known as a

function of time.
▪ The change in velocity 𝑣𝑥 is the integral of the
acceleration 𝑎𝑥

𝑣𝑥 𝑡
𝑣𝑥 − 𝑣0𝑥 = න 𝑑𝑣𝑥 = න 𝑎𝑥𝑑𝑡
𝑣0𝑥 𝑡0

▪ The change in position 𝑥 is the integral of the

velocity v𝑥

𝑥 𝑡
𝑥 − 𝑥0 = න 𝑑𝑥 = න 𝑣𝑥𝑑𝑡
𝑥0 𝑡0
Example: