ENGGPHYSICS Physics for Engineers

CHAPTER III. KINEMATICS

KINEMATICS
The study of motion, and the related concepts of force and mass, is called MECHANICS. The
branch of mechanics that deals with the characteristics of motion is called KINEMATICS. Kinematics
is the study of the motion of particles in terms of space and time. And by a particle we mean an
identifiable physical object with spatial dimensions so small so that it can be located at a point in a
coordinate system.

 DISTANCE AND DISPLACEMENT

 Distance is a scalar quantity that refers to “how much ground an object has covered”
during its motion.
 Displacement is a vector quantity that refers to “how far out of place an object is”; it is the
object’s overall change in position.

 SPEED AND VELOCITY

 Speed is a scalar quantity that refers to the rate at which an object covers a distance. An
object with no movement at all has zero speed.
The average speed during the course of a motion is often computed using the
following formula:

 Velocity is a vector quantity. As such, when evaluating the velocity of an object, one must
keep track of direction.
The average velocity is often computed using the formula:

 AVERAGE SPEED AND INSTANTANEOUS SPEED

Since a moving object often changes its speed during its motion, it is common to
distinguish between the average speed and the instantaneous speed.
 Instantaneous Speed is the speed at any given instant in time.
 Average Speed is the average of all instantaneous speeds; found simply by a distance/time
ratio.

 ACCELERATION
The final mathematical quantity is acceleration. Acceleration is a vector quantity that
is defined as the rate at which an object changes its velocity. An object has acceleration if it is
changing its velocity.

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ENGGPHYSICS Physics for Engineers

Sample Problems:
1. You are playing a game of catch with a dog. The dog is initially standing near your feet. Then
he jogs 20 feet in a straight line to retrieve a stick, and carries the stick 15 feet back toward
you before lying on the ground to chew on the stick.
a. What is the total distance the dog travels?
b. What is the net displacement of the dog?
2. The same dog in (1.) jogged 20 feet away from you in 1.0 second to retrieve the stick and
ambled back 15 feet in 1.5 seconds. Calculate
a. the dog’s average speed
b. the dog’s average velocity for the total trip.
3. In 1954, Roger Banister became the first human to run a mile in less than 4 minutes. Suppose
that a runner on a straight track covers a distance of 1 mile in exactly 4 minutes, what was his
average velocity in
a. mi/hr
b. ft/s
c. cm/s?

ONE DIMENSIONAL MOTION / MOTION ON A STRAIGHT LINE

This is an application of kinematics where it tackles the movement of bodies and particles
moving in a straight line. The following formulas are used only for constant acceleration.

Where: Vf = Final velocity

Vi = Initial Velocity
a = acceleration
t = time
s = displacement

Remember, the value of the acceleration becomes positive (+) if the movement is going
faster while negative (-) if the movement is becoming slower. Negative acceleration is also
called deceleration.

At the same time, the value of displacement becomes negative when it is on the opposite
direction of the motion. For example, a ball thrown from a table top has + displacement when it
is still moving above the height of the table, and – displacement when it is already below the
height of the table.

A special case of one dimensional motion is Free Fall. In free fall, the value of acceleration is
equal to the gravitational acceleration, g = -9.81 m/s2 and neglects air resistance. The negative
sign indicates the direction (downward).

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Sample Problems:

1. An object with an initial velocity of 4 / moves in a straight line under a constant

acceleration. Three seconds later, its velocity is 14 /s. (a)What was the acceleration of the
object in / 2? In ft/ 2? (b) How far did the object travel during this time?
2. An airplane taking off from a landing field has a run of 500m. If it starts from rest, moves with
constant acceleration and makes the run in 30s, what velocity did it take off?
3. An inattentive driver is traveling 18.0 / when he notices a red light ahead. His car is capable
of a braking acceleration of 3.65 / 2 . If it takes him 0.200 s to get the brakes on and he is
45.0 m from the intersection when he sees the light, will he be able to stop in time?
4. A sled starts from rest at the top of a hill and slides down with a constant acceleration. At
same later time it is 80 meters from the top, two seconds after that it is 125 meters from the
top, two seconds later 180 meters, and two seconds later 245 meters.
5. A hot-air balloonist, rising vertically with a velocity of 5 m/s, releases a sand bag at an instant
when the balloon is 20 m above the ground.
a. Compute the position and velocity of the sandbag at the following times after its release:
¼ s, ½ s, 1 s, 2s
b. How many seconds after its release will the bag strike the ground?
c. With what velocity will it strike?
6. A ball is thrown vertically upward from a point near the cornice of a tall building. It passes a
point 160 ft below its starting point 5 s after it leaves the thrower’s hand.
a. What was the initial velocity of the ball?
b. What were the magnitude and direction of its velocity at the highest point?
c. How high did it rise above its starting point?
d. What were the magnitude and direction of its acceleration at the highest point?

NEWTON’S LAWS OF MOTION

 Newton’s 1st Law: Law of Inertia
“An object at rest remains at rest, and an object in motion continues to move in a straight line at
constant speed, unless acted upon by an external force.”
Inertia is the tendency of an object to resist changes in motion.

 Newton’s 2nd Law: Law of Acceleration

“The acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force acting on the object, is in
the direction of the net force, and is inversely proportional to the mass of the object.”

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 Newton’s 3rd Law: Law of Interaction

“Whenever one object exerts a force on a second object, the second object exerts an equal and
opposite reaction.” Or

Where: F = Force
m = mass
a = acceleration
G = gravitational constant (Earth: 6.67 x 10-11 N.m2/kg2)
r = radius (Earth: approximately 40,000 km)

Sample Problems:
1. What is the mass of a body that weighs 1 N at a point where the gravitational acceleration is
9.8 m/s2?
2. A constant horizontal force of 40 N acts on a body on a smooth horizontal plane. The body
starts from rest and is observed to move 100 m in 5 seconds.
a. What is the mass of the body?
b. If the force ceases to act at the end of 5 sec, how far will the body move in the next 5 sec
in the same velocity?
3. A 22 rifle bullet travelling at 360 m/s strikes a block of soft wood which it penetrates at a
depth of 0.1 m. The mass of the bullet is 1.8 g. Assume a constant retarding force.
a. How much time was required for the bullet to stop?
b. What was the accelerating force in Newtons?
4. A body of mass 10 kg is moving with a constant velocity of 5 m/s on a horizontal surface. The
coefficient of sliding friction between the body and the surface is 0.2.
a. What horizontal force is required to maintain the motion?
b. If the force is removed, how soon will the body come to rest?
5. A communications satellite of mass 200 kg is in a circular orbit of radius 40, 000 km around
the Earth (mass 5.97 x 1024 kg). What is the gravitational force on the satellite and what
fraction is this of its weight on Earth?

MOTION ON A PLANE / PROJECTILE

Projectile Motion is the motion of an object thrown or projected into the air, subject only to
acceleration as a result of gravity. Such objects that undergo projectile motion are called the
projectiles and their path is called a trajectory. The motion of falling objects (free fall) is a simple
one-dimensional type of projectile motion in which there is no horizontal movement.

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The most important fact to remember here is that motions along perpendicular axes are
independent and thus can be analysed separately. The key to analysing two-dimensional projectile
motion is to break it into two motions: one along the horizontal axis (x-axis) and the other along the
vertical axis (y-axis). This choice of axes is the most sensible because acceleration resulting from
gravity is vertical, thus, there is no acceleration along the horizontal axis when air resistance is
negligible.

Vf=0

Vf
Vfy
Vi ymax

Vfx
Viy
y
Ѳ
Vix
x

Using the following sets of equations derived from the three kinematics formula, we can
analyse projectile motion.

Horizontal Motion: (acceleration, a = 0)

Vertical Motion: (acceleration, a = g)

[ ]

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Where:
Vix , Viy = x and y components of initial velocity
Vfx , Vfy = x and y components of final velocity
sx , x = horizontal displacement
sy, y = vertical displacement
Problem Solving Strategy for Projectile Motion:

1. Resolve the motion into horizontal and vertical components along the x- and y-axes. The
magnitude of the components of displacement s along these axes are x and y. The
magnitudes of the velocity V are Vx and Vy.
- The horizontal motion is simple, because acceleration is zero and velocity is constant.
- The velocity in the vertical motion begins to decrease as the object rises. At its highest
point, the vertical velocity is zero. As the object falls towards the earth again, the vertical
velocity increases again in magnitude but points in the opposite direction to the initial
vertical velocity.

2. Treat the motion as two independent one-dimensional motions: one vertical and one
horizontal. Use the kinematic equations for horizontal and vertical motion presented above.
3. Solve for the unknowns in the two separate motions. Note that the only common variable
between the motions is time t.
4. Recombine quantities in the horizontal and vertical directions to find the displacement s and
velocity v. Solve the magnitude and direction of the displacement and velocity using
trigonometric functions.

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ENGGPHYSICS Physics for Engineers

Sample Problem:
1. A tourist throws a rock horizontally off the edge of a high cliff with an initial velocity of 10 m/s.
a. Taking the y-axis to be upward, write equations for the x and y coordinates as functions of
time.
b. Calculate the values of x and y at times t= 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2 seconds.
c. Write equations for the x and y components of the rock’s velocity.
d. Find the magnitude and direction of the velocity at time t=1 s. Is the velocity tangent to the
trajectory?
2. A ball rolls off the edge of a table top 1 m above the floor and strikes the floor at a point 1.5 m
horizontally from the edge of the table.
a. Find the time of flight.
b. Find the initial velocity.
c. Find the magnitude and direction of the velocity of the ball just before it strikes the floor.
3. A block slide off a horizontal table top 1 m high with a speed of 3 m/s.
a. Find the horizontal distance from the edge of the table at which the block strikes the floor.
b. Find the horizontal and vertical components of its velocity when it reaches the floor.
4. An airplane flying at 100 m/s drops a box at an elevation of 2000 m.
a. How much time is required for the box to reach the Earth?
b. How far does it travel horizontally while falling?
c. Find the horizontal and vertical components of its velocity when it strikes the ground.
5. A ball was thrown at an angle of 150 from the horizontal. If it was pitch with a velocity of 200
m/s,
a. How long before the ball hits the ground?
b. How far did the ball go?
c. How long after being pitched did the ball reached its highest peak?
d. How high did the ball go?
e. What is the magnitude and direction of the ball as it hits the ground?
6. In a game, Player A hits a tennis ball bouncing back to the opponent in an angle of 350. Assuming
the ball bounce back on the opponents area after 2.3 seconds, calculate,
a. the initial velocity of the ball on its first bouncing
b. the horizontal displacement of the ball
c. the maximum height the ball bounced
d. the final velocity of the ball on its second bouncing
7. A batted baseball leaves the bat at an angle of 300 above the horizontal and is caught by an
outfielder 120 m from the plate.
a. What was the initial speed of the ball?
b. How high did it rise?
c. How long was it in the air?
8. Jojo was playing on their backyard with his new ball. He tried kicking the ball on the other side
of the lawn but it bounced on a wall 2 m high. If he kicked at an angle of 560 and reached the
wall after 1.78 s, find out the (a) initial velocity that the ball was kicked, (b) the distance between
Jojo and the wall, and (c) the maximum height the ball reached.

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