PHY05P: General Physics 1 1st Term, A.Y.

2018-2019

MECHANICS
Motion in a Straight Line
Malcolm Jayson G. Calicsihan
The train in this picture is:

A. slowing down.
B. speeding up.
C. moving at a constant speed.
D. can’t tell.
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LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Define Mechanics and Kinematics

2. Define quantities involved in Kinematics

3. Identify if a situation involves Uniform Velocity or Uniform Acceleration

4. Derive kinematic equations

5. Solve problems about Kinematics

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TERMINOLOGY
Mechanics is the study of motion and its causes.

Kinematics is a branch of mechanics that deals with the study

of motion.

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DISTANCE vs DISPLACEMENT
Distance is the length of the actual path.

Displacement is the length from the initial position to the final

position.

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A child walks 6 m east, then 3.5 m north, then 2 m east.

a. What is the distance covered by the child?

b. What is the displacement of the child?

EXAMPLE DISTANCE vs DISPLACEMENT

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SPEED vs VELOCITY
Speed is the distance covered over a period time.
𝑑
𝑣=
𝑡

Velocity is the displacement over a period of time.

𝑑Ԧ
𝑣Ԧ =
𝑡
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AVERAGE SPEED vs AVERAGE VELOCITY
Average Speed is the total distance covered over the total
time. 𝑑 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙
𝑣𝑎𝑣𝑒 =
𝑡
Average Velocity is the total displacement over the total time.

𝑑Ԧ𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙
𝑣Ԧ𝑎𝑣𝑒 =
𝑡 mjgc
On a trip, Neil drove for 1 hour and 40 minutes at an average speed of
95kph. Going back, heavy traffic slowed him and drove at an average
speed of 60kph.What was his average velocity for the whole trip?

EXAMPLE SPEED vs VELOCITY

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ACCELERATION
Acceleration is the change in velocity over a period of time.

Δ𝑣Ԧ
𝑎Ԧ =
Δ𝑡

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A car speeds up from 20 m/s to 27 m/s in 4 seconds as it passes a
truck.What is its acceleration?

EXAMPLE ACCELERATION

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After a race, a runner, traveling in fixed direction, takes 5 seconds to
come to a stop from a speed of 9m/s. What is the runner’s
deceleration?

EXAMPLE ACCELERATION

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UNIFORM RECTILINEAR
MOTION
Uniform Velocity and Uniform Acceleration
UNIFORM RECTILINEAR MOTION
Uniform Velocity (alsoreferred to as UM)

Uniform Acceleration (alsoreferred to as UAM)

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UNIFORM VELOCITY
A situation where there is no acceleration.

𝑑
𝒙 = 𝒙𝟎 + 𝒗𝒕 𝑣=
𝑡

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A train is traveling on a straight section of a track at constant
speed. It covered a distance of 2200 meters in 50 seconds. How fast
was the train moving?

EXAMPLE UNIFORM VELOCITY

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A car is travelling down a highway at a speed of 100 kph. How far
does it travel in 24 minutes?

EXAMPLE UNIFORM VELOCITY

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UNIFORM ACCELERATION
A situation where the velocity changes at the same rate
throughout the motion.

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RECALL: ACCELERATION
Acceleration is a change in velocity.
Velocity is the “speed in a given direction”.

Velocity changes when there is:

1. a change in a particle’s speed, or

2. a change in a particle’s direction.

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KINEMATIC EQUATION 1
∆𝑣Ԧ
𝑎Ԧ =
∆𝑡 නd𝑣Ԧ = න𝑎Ԧ d𝑡 𝑣Ԧf − 𝑣Ԧi = 𝑎Ԧ 𝑡f − 𝑡i

d𝑣Ԧ 𝑣Ԧf − 𝑣Ԧi = 𝑎𝑡

Ԧ
𝑎Ԧ = 𝑓 𝑓
d𝑡 න d𝑣Ԧ = න 𝑎Ԧ d𝑡 𝑣Ԧf = 𝑣Ԧi + 𝑎𝑡
Ԧ
𝑖 𝑖
d𝑣Ԧ = 𝑎Ԧ d𝑡
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KINEMATIC EQUATION 2
∆𝑠Ԧ d𝑠Ԧ f f
𝑣Ԧ = =
∆𝑡 d𝑡 න d𝑠Ԧ = න 𝑣Ԧ𝑖 + 𝑎𝑡
Ԧ d𝑡
i i
d𝑠Ԧ = 𝑣Ԧ d𝑡 𝑡f − 𝑡i 2
𝑠Ԧf − 𝑠Ԧi = 𝑣Ԧ𝑖 𝑡f − 𝑡i + 𝑎Ԧ
d𝑠Ԧ = 𝑣Ԧi + 𝑎𝑡
Ԧ d𝑡 2
1 2
𝑑Ԧ = 𝑣Ԧ𝑖 𝑡 + 𝑎𝑡
Ԧ
නd𝑠Ԧ = න 𝑣Ԧ𝑖 + 𝑎𝑡
Ԧ d𝑡 2
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KINEMATIC EQUATION 3
∆𝑣Ԧ ∆𝑠Ԧ
𝑎Ԧ = 𝑣Ԧ = න𝑎Ԧ d𝑠Ԧ = න𝑣Ԧ d𝑣Ԧ
∆𝑡 ∆𝑡
Ԧ 2 2
2𝑎𝑑 = 𝑣Ԧf − 𝑣Ԧi
𝑎Ԧ ∆𝑣Ԧൗ∆𝑡
f f
= න 𝑎Ԧ d𝑠Ԧ = න 𝑣Ԧ d𝑣Ԧ 2
𝑣Ԧ ∆𝑠Ԧൗ 2
∆𝑡
i i
𝑣Ԧf = 𝑣Ԧi + 2𝑎Ԧ 𝑑Ԧ
1 2 2
𝑎Ԧ ∆𝑣Ԧ d𝑣Ԧ 𝑎Ԧ 𝑠Ԧf − 𝑠Ԧi = 𝑣Ԧf − 𝑣Ԧi
= = 2
𝑣Ԧ ∆𝑠Ԧ d𝑠Ԧ
1 2 2
Ԧ
𝑎Ԧ 𝑑 = 𝑣Ԧf − 𝑣Ԧi
𝑎Ԧ d𝑠Ԧ = 𝑣Ԧ d𝑣Ԧ 2
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Starting from rest, a car accelerated uniformly for 5.25 seconds,
covering a distance of 110 m.What was the car’s acceleration?

EXAMPLE UAM

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A vehicle speeds up from 18.5 m/s to 46.2 m/s in 2.40 seconds.
How far did it travel during the speeding up motion? What was the
acceleration?

EXAMPLE UAM

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A car was moving at 22.4 m/s when it started to stop. How far did
the car travel if it stopped after 2.50 seconds?

EXAMPLE UAM

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Find the displacement of a bus as it accelerates uniformly from
10m/s to 30m/s in a 12.0-second interval.

EXAMPLE UAM

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A cyclist moving with a speed of 2.0 m/s, pedals furiously and
𝑚
accelerates at 1.8 𝑠2 , covering a distance of 46.3 m. For how long
did the cyclist accelerate?

EXAMPLE UAM

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An overspeeding car is moving constantly at 42.0 m/s when it passed by a police
officer. Two seconds after the car passed by, the police officer starts off pursuit of the
car with an acceleration of 2.50 m/s2. If the police officer was uniformly accelerating
during the pursuit,:

(a) how long will it take him to catch up with the overspeeding car?
(b) how much distance has the police officer traveled when he caught up with the car?
(c) how fast was the police officer moving when he caught up with the car?

EXAMPLE UNIFORM RECTILINEAR MOTION

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NASA video from Apollo 15 of Commander David Scott dropping a 1.32 kg aluminum geological
hammer and a 0.03 kg falcon feather on the surface of the Moon,August 2, 1971. mjgc
In the video, the hammer and feather drop a distance of 1.60 m in
1.41 s. What is the acceleration of gravity on the surface of the
Moon?

EXAMPLE UAM

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FREEFALL
Neglecting air resistance, all objects at a particular location
fall with the same downward acceleration, regardless of
their size or weight.

Freefall is not limited to the downward motion.

It also includes the upward motion.

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Once the ball is let go,
the only force acting on
it is the force of gravity.
FREEFALL
Freefall is a special case of Uniformly Accelerated Motion.

The acceleration in freefall is always equal to the acceleration

due to gravity.

Near the Earth’s surface, the acceleration due to gravity,

𝑚 𝑓𝑡
denoted as g, is approximately −9.81 2 or −32.2 2 .
𝑠 𝑠
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Hoping to pass her Physics course, Bianca dropped an old coin in a
wishing well, hitting the water 2.5 s later. Ignoring air resistance,
determine the:

(a) distance of the surface of the water from the edge of the well, and

(b) the speed of the coin before hitting the ground.

EXAMPLE UAM - FREEFALL

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Determine the initial speed of an object if it was thrown
straight up and reached a height of 15 m.

EXAMPLE UAM - FREEFALL

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A ball was thrown with a velocity of 42 ft/s upwards. If it is
caught at the same level as it was thrown,:

(a) how high did the ball rise, and

(b) for how long was the ball in the air?

EXAMPLE UAM - FREEFALL

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Suppose you decide to drop a melon from the first observation platform of
the Eiffel Tower that is 58.3 m above the head of your friend who is
standing on the ground right below you.

At the same instant you release the melon, your friend shoots an arrow
straight up with an initial velocity of 25.1 m/s.

How long after you drop the melon will the arrow hit it? At what height
above your friend’s head does this collision occur?

EXAMPLE UAM - FREEFALL

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Given:

Height = 58.3 m
Speed of Arrow = 25.1 m/s

EXAMPLE UAM - FREEFALL

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REFERENCES
Bauer, W. & Westfall, G.D. (2014). University Physics. NY: McGraw-Hill
Education
Ostdiek, V.J., and D.J. Bord. Inquiry Into Physics. 2013. 7th Edition.
C&E Publishing, Inc. Philippines.
Young, H.D. and R.A. Freedman. University Physics. 2008. 12th Edition.
Pearson Addison-Wesley, CA, USA.

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