Chapter 2

Motion in Straight Line

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 Position
• To locate an object means to find its position
relative to some reference point

2
 2.1 Displacement

Displacement • Definition: The

∆x change in position of
an object.

Equation: x  x f  xi

xi is the coordinate of the initial position

xf is the coordinate of the final position
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 Displacement, ∆x

Positive Vector
answer: quantity-
displacement has both a
in the magnitude
Application:
positive x- (size) and a
SI unit: to denote a
direction. direction.
meter change in
Negative Examples
(m) any physical
answer: are
quantity
displacement velocity
in the and
negative x- acceleratio
direction n
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 2.2 Speed and velocity
Average speed Average velocity

Definition: the length

Definition: the
of the path it travels
displacement ∆x
divided by the total
divided by ∆t
elapsed time

SI unit: meter per SI unit: meter per

second (m/s) second (m/s)

Positive or negative,
Always positive depending on the sign
of the displacement
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• The time interval ∆t is always positive.

• The average speed:

• The average velocity:

x x f  xi
v 
t t f  ti

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Graphical representation of velocity
• The average velocity of an object during the
time interval ∆t is equal to the slope of the
straight line joining the initial and final points
on a graph of the object’s position versus time.

• Slope carriers units.

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Instantaneous velocity

• The instantaneous velocity v is the limit of

the average velocity as the time interval
∆t becomes infinitesimally small.

• SI unit: meter per second (m/s).

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• The slope of the line tangent to the position
versus time curve at “a given time” is
defined to be the instantaneous velocity at
that time.

• The instantaneous speed of an object, which

is a scalar quantity, is defined as the
magnitude of the instantaneous velocity.

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• Like average speed, instantaneous speed
has no direction associated with it and
hence carries no algebraic sign.

• Example:
If one object has an instantaneous velocity
of +15 m/s along a given line and another
object has an instantaneous velocity of -15
m/s along the same line, both have an
instantaneous speed of 15 m/s.

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Position versus time graph for the motion
with changing velocity 12
 Exercise 1
• Lisa travelled a total distance of 440 km.
Her trip took 8 hours. What was her average
speed?

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 Exercise 2
A runner makes one lap around a 200 m of a
circular track in a time of 25 s. Find the runner's
average speed.

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 2.3 Acceleration

• Definition: the
changing of an
Acceleration object’s velocity with
time

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Average acceleration

• Is defined as the
Average change in velocity
acceleration ∆v divided by ∆t
during the time • SI unit: meter per
interval ∆t second per second
(m/s2)

v v f  vi
a 
t t f  ti
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 When the object’s When the object’s
velocity and velocity and
acceleration are in acceleration are in
the same direction, opposite directions,
the speed of the the speed of the
object’s increases object decreases
with time. with time.

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Minus sign indicates that the
acceleration vector is also in
the negative x-direction.

Because the velocity and

acceleration vectors are in the
same direction, the speed of
the car must increase as the
car moves to the left.

Positive and negative

accelerations specify
directions relative to chosen
axes, not “speeding up” or
“slowing down”. 19
 Refer to an
Terms speeding
increase and a
up or slowing
decrease in
down
speed

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Instantaneous acceleration

• Definition: the
limit of the
average
Instantaneous acceleration as the
acceleration time interval ∆t
goes to zero.
• SI unit: meter per
second per second
(m/s2)

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• The closer ∆t gets to zero, the closer the
ratio gets to a fixed number, which is the
instantaneous acceleration.

• The instantaneous acceleration of an

object at a given time equals the slope of
the tangent to the velocity versus time
graph at that time.

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Graphical representation of motion (velocity)23
 Exercise 3
• A car moves in a straight line and its odometer
readings are plotted against time in figure. Find the
instantaneous speed of the car at point A and B,
What is the car's average speed? What is the
acceleration?

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Important to remember...

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 Exercise 4
A particle’s position on the x axis is
given by , with in
meters and in seconds.
a) Because position depends on time
, the particle must be moving. Find
the particle’s velocity function
and acceleration function .
b) Is there ever a time when ?
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27
 2.5 1D motion with constant
acceleration

Object moves with constant acceleration

Instantaneous acceleration at any point in a
time interval is equal to the value of the
average acceleration over the entire time
interval.

Velocity increases or decreases at the same

rate throughout the motion, and a plot of v
versus t gives a straight line with either
positive, zero or negative slope.
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List of equation for constant a
1) v  v0  at
v0  v
v
2) 2
1
x  v0  v t
3) 2
1 2
4) x  v0t  at
2

5) v 2
 v 0  2ax
2

where v0 is the initial velocity

v is the velocity at any arbitrary time t
v is the average velocity in any time interval
a is the acceleration
x is the displacement of an object as a function of time
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• The area under the graph of v versus t for
any object is equal to the displacement of
the object.

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 Exercise 5
• A van moves along a straight road with a
speed v which varies with time t as shown in
the figure below.
v (ms-1)

80

t (s)
0 2 6

What is the total distance travelled by the van

at t = 6 s? 31
32
 Table 2.1: Equations for motion in a straight
line under constant acceleration

Equation Information given by equation

v  v0  at Velocity as a function of time
1 2 Displacement as a function of
x  v0t  at
2 time
Velocity as a function of
v  v  2ax
2 2
0
displacement
Note: Motion is along the x-axis. At t = 0, the velocity of
the particle is v0.

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 Exercise 6
• A car starts from rest and accelerates at
10.0 ms-2 for a distance of 400 m.

(a) How long does it take to travel this

distance?

(b) What is the final speed of the car?

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 Exercise 7
• A truck’s speed increases uniformly from 15
km/h to 60 km/h in 20 s. Determine (a) the
average velocity (b) the acceleration and (c)
the distance traveled, all in units of meters
and seconds.

37
 Exercise 8
• A car moving at 30 m/s slows uniformly to a
speed of 10 m/s in a time of 5 s. What is the
acceleration of the car? What is the distance it
moves in the third second?

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 2.6 Freely falling bodies

Observation: two
different weights
dropped
Galileo discovered simultaneously
the law of falling from the Leaning
objects Tower of Pisa hit
the ground at
approximately the
same time.

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 Freely falling bodies

Magnitude of
Definition: Any the free-fall
object moving acceleration :
freely under Examples: symbol g.
the influence of Objects those
gravity alone, released from g decreases
regardless of rest. with increasing
its initial altitude, and
motion. varies slightly
with latitude.

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 Table 2.2: Kinematics equations can be applied

Equation Information given by equation

v  v0  at Velocity as a function of time

1 2 Displacement as a function of
x  v0t  at
2
time
Velocity as a function of
v  v  2ax
2 2
0 displacement
Note: Motion is along the x-axis. At t = 0, the velocity of
the particle is v0.

•Defined “up” as the +y-direction and to use y as the

position variable. The acceleration a   g  9.80 m/s2 41
 Exercise 9
• A ball is thrown upward from the edge of a
cliff. If the initial velocity is 20 ms-1,
calculate

(a) The height reached after 2 seconds

(b) The maximum height

(c) The time taken to reach 25 m below the

initial point of projection.

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 Exercise 10
• A boy throws a ball up towards the sky. The
initial velocity of the ball is 25 ms-1 when it
leaves his hand.

(a) What is the maximum height that the ball

reaches?
(b) How long does it take to reach the highest
point?
(c) What is the position of the ball at t = 1.0 s?

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• A ballast bag is dropped from a balloon that is
280 m above the ground and rising at 14 m/s.
Find the maximum height reached by the bag,
its position and velocity 5s after it is released,
and the time at which it hits the ground.

50
• As the ball falls towards the ground, its
velocity
a) Increases
b) decreases
c) remains constant
d) becomes zero

51
• If we get a straight line with positive slope
then its acceleration is
A. Increasing
B. decreasing
C. zero
D. constant

52
 Conceptual Question
• If the velocity of a particle is nonzero, can the
particle’s acceleration be zero?
• If the velocity of a particle is zero, can the
particle’s acceleration be nonzero?
• If a car is traveling eastward, can its
acceleration be westward?

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 Try these Qs on your own
From an elevated point A, a stone is projected
vertically upward. When the stone reaches a
distance h below A, its velocity is double of what
it was at a height h above A. Show that the
greatest height obtained by the stone above A
is 5h/3.

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The relation describes the
displacement of a particle in one direction,
where is in meters and in seconds. Find the
displacement when the velocity is zero.

55
An elevator of height h ascends with constant
acceleration a. When it crosses a platform, it has
acquired a velocity u. At this instant a bolt drops
from the top of the elevator. Find the time for
the bolt to hit the floor of the elevator.

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