Chapter 1: Motion and Ticker Timers

A candidate should be able to:

1. Define the following:

● A scalar as a physical quantity with magnitude only.
● A vector as a physical quantity with magnitude and direction.
● Position relative to a reference point and understand that position can be positive and
negative.
● Distance as the length of the path travelled.
● Displacement as the change in position from the initial to the final position.
● Speed as the rate of change of distance.
● Velocity as the rate of change of position. (Or the rate of change of displacement)
o Distinguish between average velocity and instantaneous velocity and constant
velocity.
● Acceleration as the rate of change of velocity.

2. Problems
● Solve constant speed problems using the formula 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 =

● Solve constant velocity problems using the formula 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 =

● Solve constant acceleration problems using the formula

𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 − 𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦
𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 =
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
● Use motion diagrams to describe motion

3. Investigations
● Investigate a person running 100m by measuring the time at fixed intervals and
calculating the speed
● Calculate speed and acceleration from a ticker timer
● Use motion sensors to recreate graphs of motion for moving objects.

4. Graphs of Motion (only in one direction)

● Plot simple graphs of motion from a ticker timer investigation.
● Plot distance vs time graphs from a description of motion.
● Plot speed vs time graphs from a description of motion.
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 ● Calculate the gradient of a distance-time graph and compare with the speed calculation.
● Calculate the gradient of a speed-time graph and compare with acceleration calculation.
● Describe the motion of an object given a speed-time graph.

TEXTBOOK REFERENCE: All about Physics – Chapter 2

SECTION 1: DEFINITIONS

1.1. Vectors and scalars

Imagine that you are an airline pilot flying from Johannesburg to Cape Town. You know that you
must fly a distance of 1200km, but if you didn’t know which direction to go in, you would soon get
lost! In order to describe your motion, you need both the magnitude of the flight, and the direction
in which to travel.

1.1.1 A physical quantity with magnitude only is a scalar.

1.1.2. A physical quantity with magnitude and direction is a vector.

We will now consider examples of both quantities.

1.2. Position, distance and displacement (Resources: Mind action series and openpress)

1.2.1. Position is a measurement of a location, with reference to an origin.

It is the place where the object is located.

Consider the following example of the position of a ball relative to the ground, i.e. the ground is the
origin or reference point. We will consider any position above the ground to be positive, at the
ground the position will be 0, and below the ground the position will be negative.

10 m above the ground:

+10 m

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At ground level (0 m above the ground)

0m

10 m below the ground

-10 m

Depending on the origin, one side will be positive and the other negative. You can choose either,
as long as you are consistent.

1.2.2. Distance is the length of the path taken by the object.

Units of distance include meters (m) or kilometres (km). It is the actual length of the path
along which the object travels.

The distance from Peter’s house to school is 5km.

1.2.3. Displacement is the change in position of an object. Peter’s displacement is 1,2 km in the
direction of the school.

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Differences between Distance and Displacement:

Distance Displacement
1. Depends on the path 1. Independent of the path taken
2. Always positive 2. Can be positive or negative

Check your understanding:

1. Devon walks in a straight line to the shop, which is 680 m from his house. Halfway home
he remembers that he had to get eggs for his mom and he goes back to buy them before
he goes home.

a. What is the distance from Devon’s house to the shop?

b. When he stopped and remembered about the eggs, what was his
displacement from his house?
c. What is the total distance that he walked?
d. What is his total displacement?

1.3. Speed

Average speed is the total distance travelled over a time interval and is measured in meters per
second (m.s-1):
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 (𝑚) 𝑑
𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 = =
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 (𝑠) 𝑡

1.4. Velocity

Velocity is the rate of change of displacement.

The velocity must include magnitude and direction. Eg. 5 m.s-1 East

𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 (𝑚) 𝑠

𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 = =
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 (𝑠) 𝑡

For Peter on page 5, we can calculate his velocity and speed in the following way if it took him 20
minutes to get there:

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Speed = Distance / time = 5000m / (20x60)s = 4,17 m/s or 4,17 m.s-1

Velocity = Displacement / time = 1200m / (20x60)s = 1,0 m/s or 1,0 m.s-1 towards the school.

Note: Remember to convert your units to meters and seconds before you start calculating.

Note the difference between speed and velocity: speed is a scalar and contains only magnitude,
velocity is a vector and contains both magnitude and direction.

Check your understanding:

1. In a running warm-up, an athlete is required to run 12 laps of the track in 18 minutes.

Each lap is 400 m.

a. What is the total distance of this warm-up?

b. What is the total displacement of this warm-up?
c. What should the minimum average speed be in order the meet the requirement?
d. What is the velocity?

2. A Remove boy walks 150 m east in 40 s and then 200 m south in 1 min to get around
Burger field.

a. Calculate the total distance he walked.

b. Calculate the boy’s total displacement
c. Calculate the average speed of the boy.
d. Calculate the average velocity of the boy.

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 3. A car travels 6, 0 km along the main road in 4, 0 minutes. It then travels 2, 0 km along
a minor road in 6, 0 minutes.

Which calculation of average speed for the whole journey is correct?

A 8,0 ÷ 10,0 = 0,80 km / minute
B (6,0 ÷ 4,0 + 2,0 ÷ 6,0) ÷ 2 = 0,92 km / minute
C 10,0 ÷ 8,0 = 1,25 km / minute
D 6,0 ÷ 4,0 + 2,0 ÷ 6,0 = 1,83 km / minute

1.5. Acceleration

Acceleration is the rate of change in velocity.

𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 (𝑚. 𝑠 ) ∆𝑣

𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = =
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 (𝑠) 𝑡

𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 – 𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑣 − 𝑢

𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = =
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 (𝑠) 𝑡

When an object experiences a resultant force, the object will accelerate. We will consider only
situations where uniform acceleration occurs, in other words the acceleration does not change
over time.

The unit for acceleration is m/s2 or m.s-2. Acceleration is a vector and needs a direction.

TEXTBOOK QUESTIONS: All about Physics – Page 33 Questions

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 Check your understanding:

1. A car changes its velocity uniformly from 12 m.s-1 to 20 m.s-1 in 8 seconds.

a. Calculate the acceleration of the car.

b. If the acceleration of the car was 3,5 m.s-2 what would the final velocity of the car
be?
c. How long would it take the car to accelerate from 12 m.s-1 to 20 m.s-1 at an
acceleration of 2,8 m.s-2?

2. An athlete takes 3,2 s to accelerate uniformly to his maximum velocity of 7,8 m.s-1.
What is his acceleration?

SECTION 2: INVESTIGATIONS

2.1. Class activity:

Investigate a person running 100 m by measuring the time at 10 m

intervals and calculating the average speed for each interval. Scan the
QR code at right and follow the link to install the Google ScienceJournal
app to help with your analysis.

2.2. Ticker Timer Analysis

A ticker-timer is a timing device, which makes dots on a piece of paper at a set period or time
interval (T). When a tape is pulled through the ticker-timer, a record is made of both the distance
and the time taken for the motion. The distance is obtained by measuring the length of the tape
and the time is determined by multiplying the number of intervals by the period. When the tape is
attached to a moving object, the motion of the object can be studied from the tape.

See the tape produced by a ticker times of frequency 50 Hz below: direction of tape

The arrows show the distance travelled for each time interval. Did the distance change? ____

What can you say about the speed of the ticker tape? ____________________________

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Calculate the speed of the tape.

Now observe the next tape produced by the same ticker timer:
Direction of tape

What is the time taken between the first 2 dots? __________________

What is the time taken between the last 2 dots? __________________

Draw arrows from each dot to the next and measure the distance travelled for each time interval.

What can you say about the speed of this tape? ___________________________

Calculate the average speed of the tape between the first 2 dots (Initial speed)

Where during this time interval did the tape reach this average speed? __________________

Calculate the average speed between the last 2 dots (Final speed)

Where during this time interval did the tape reach this speed? __________________

How many time intervals are there between the initial and the final speed? _______________

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Now calculate the acceleration of the tape:

We call the speed of an object at a specific time the instantaneous speed.

2.3. Class activity:

Investigate the motion of a dynamics cart using a ticker tape.

2.4. Class activity:

Investigate the motion of a dynamics cart on a ramp using the Vernier equipment.

This experiment uses an incline and a low-friction cart. If you give the cart a gentle push up the
incline, the cart will roll upward, slow and stop, and then roll back down, speeding up. A graph of
its velocity vs. time would show these changes. Is there a mathematical pattern to the changes in
velocity? What is the accompanying pattern to the position vs. time graph? What does the
acceleration vs. time graph look like? Is the acceleration constant?

In this experiment, you will use a Motion Detector to collect position, velocity, and acceleration
data for a cart rolling up and down an incline. Analysis of the graphs of this motion will answer
these questions.

Objectives:
● Collect position, velocity, and acceleration data as a cart rolls freely up and down an incline.
● Analyze position vs. time, velocity vs. time, and acceleration vs. time graphs.
● Determine the best fit equations for the position vs. time and velocity vs. time graphs.
● Determine the mean acceleration from the acceleration vs. time graph.
https://www.vernier.com/experiments/pwv/3b/cart_on_a_ramp/

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2.5. Practice these skills:

1. Describe the motion that produced the following ticker-tape portions. The direction of
motion is to the right.
Direction of motion

2. Calculate the speed at which the following ticker tape is being pulled through the ticker
timer. (Direction of motion to the right). Frequency is 50 Hz.

3. The following strip of ticker tape was obtained from a trolley moving down an inclined plane.
The frequency of the ticker timer is 50 Hz. The tape is marked off in 10-space intervals.
(Direction of motion to the left. Not drawn to scale)

a. Calculate the average speed of the trolley between A and C.

b. Calculate the average speed of the trolley between C and D.
c. How many time intervals are there between the speed calculated in a and the one in b?
d. Calculate the acceleration of the trolley.

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4. Calculate the acceleration of the ticker tapes. Frequency is 50 Hz.

5. Study the following section of ticker tape that was attached to an accelerating radio-controlled
car.

The distance between the 1st and 3rd dot is 4 mm and between the 3rd and 5th dot is 20 mm.
The frequency of the ticker timer is 50 Hz.
a. Calculate the time period between each dot
b. Calculate the time interval of the 1st to 3rd dot
c. Calculate the average velocity between the 1st and 3rd dot
d. Calculate the average velocity between the 3rd and 5th dot
e. Use your values to find the acceleration of the radio car

6. A ticker tape is attached to a trolley which is allowed to run down a steeply inclined runway.
The frequency of the timer is such that 100 dots are produced per second. The tape is marked
off at intervals of 10 spaces. It is found that AB = 35 mm; BC = 60 mm; CD = 84 mm;
DE = 108 mm; EF = 132 mm; FG = 156 mm. Without drawing a graph, answer the following
questions:
a. What type of motion is depicted by this result?
b. What is the average velocity between A and C?
c. What is the average velocity between E and G?
d. Which actual point on the tape has an instantaneous velocity equal to your answer
to (b)?
e. Which actual point on the tape has an instantaneous velocity equal to your answer
to (c)?
f. Calculate the acceleration of the trolley.

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 7. Joyce, mass 60 kg, slides from rest and accelerates down an inclined ice rink. She drops
ink on the ice every 2 s as she slides down. Each time she drops the ink it leaves a drop
mark on the ice. The distances between the marks on the ice are shown below for a section
of her motion.

a. Calculate the magnitude of her average velocity during the following intervals:
i. Interval AC
ii. Interval DE
b. Hence calculate the magnitude of her acceleration for the interval AE.
c. What evidence can you present from the given data to indicate that the acceleration
is probably constant during interval AE?

8. Peter and Sibu performed an experiment with a ticker timer of 50Hz. They looked a trolley
moving down an inclined plane and then coming to rest on a flat surface.

The following is a piece of the tape that they obtained during their investigation

a. What is meant by the frequency of a ticker timer?

b. What is the time between dots on the tape?
c. DESCRIBE the motion of the trolley from the top of the incline to where it comes to
rest.
d. Measure the distance between the dots marked A and B
e. Using this measurement, calculate the average speed of the tape as it moved from A
to B.

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Exam Style Question

An amateur photographer took a time–exposure photograph of an aircraft taking off at night. The
aircraft had a flashing light which made clear images on the photograph. The light flashed every
2,00 s. The photographer was able to deduce the distances that the aircraft travelled between
successive flashes. The diagram below, in which the flashes are asterisks, shows the information
obtained from the photograph (not to scale):

1. Define velocity. (2)

2. Calculate the magnitude of the average velocity between A and C. (3)
3. At which point will your answer in 2.2 be the instantaneous velocity? (1)
4. Calculate the magnitude of the average velocity between E and F. (2)
5. Define acceleration. (2)
6. Calculate the magnitude of the acceleration of the aircraft. (3)

All About Physics Page 33, Skills Practice. Assume f = 50Hz.

SECTION 3: GRAPHS OF MOTION

3.1. Distance-time graphs

Example 1:
An object starts at position 0 m and moves with a constant speed of 2 m/s. Complete the table of
his time and respective distances below.

Time (seconds) Total Distance (m)

0
1
2
3
4
5

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Use your table to plot the graph of the distance against the time on the grid below:

1. What is the shape of the graph that you obtained for the tape produced using constant
speed?

_______________________________________________________

2. Determine the gradient of the graph.

(Indicate clearly on your graph the two points that you are using to determine the gradient
and draw the triangle to show the change in y and x values.)

3. Make a conclusion looking at the answers of (1) and (2).

____________________________________________________________________

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Example 2:
Consider the graph shown below (which shows the motion of a confused chicken) and then answer
the questions that follow:

1. Describe the motion of the chicken during the first 10 seconds:

____________________________________________________________________

2. Describe the motion of the chicken between t = 10 and t = 35 seconds:

____________________________________________________________________

3. Describe the motion of the chicken during the interval t = 35 and t = 50 seconds:

____________________________________________________________________

4. What distance has the chicken walked during the 60 seconds?

____________________________________________________________________

5. What is the chicken’s displacement during the 60 second period?

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 ____________________________________________________________________

6. Calculate the chicken’s average speed during the first 10 seconds:

____________________________________________________________________

7. Calculate the chicken’s speed during the interval t = 10 to t = 35 seconds:

____________________________________________________________________

8. Calculate the chicken’s average velocity during the last 10 seconds:

____________________________________________________________________

9. What major change happens to the chicken’s motion at t = 35 seconds?___________

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3.2. Velocity-time graphs

Example 1:

The following strip was produced by a trolley and a ticker timer of frequency 50 Hz and the points
were marked off after each 10 time intervals. A was the first dot made during the motion.

1. Determine the velocity of the trolley for interval AC:

2. At which point did the trolley reach this velocity? ______________________

3. Determine the velocity for interval DF.

4. At which point did the trolley reach this velocity? _______________________

5. Determine the acceleration of the trolley.

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 6. Transfer the information you calculated above to the table below and use the same method
to determine the velocities for points C and D to complete the table:

Position Time (seconds) Velocity (m.s-1)

B
C
D
E

7. Use the table to plot a graph of the velocity against time for the trolley.

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 8. What is the shape of the graph? ___________________________

9. Determine the gradient of the graph.

10. What was the acceleration for the trolley that you calculated in Question 5? _______

11. Now make a conclusion using the information from 8 and 9.

________________________________________________________________________

12. Calculate the area under the graph.

13. With what other value does the answer for question 12 correspond? ______________

_______________________________________________________________________

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3.3. Acceleration-time graphs

On the graph paper below, sketch an acceleration against time graph for the velocity-time
graph above.

3.4. Summary of Graphs of Motion

Graph Slope Area

s/t graph Velocity
v/t graph Acceleration Displacement

TEXTBOOK QUESTIONS: All about Physics – Page 42 (section review)

– Page 48-51 (chapter review)

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Homework Exercise 1: (Taken from Mind Action Series)
1. The position of a boy cycling along a straight horizontal road is recorded in the table below:
Position-time graph for the cyclist

1.1 Plot the position-time graph for this motion.

1.2 What is his displacement after 5 s?

________________________________________

1.3 Did he maintain a constant speed for the entire

journey? How do you know?

_________________________________________________________________________

2. A second set of data is observed for the cyclist. Position-time graph for the cyclist

2.1 Plot the position-time graph for this data.

2.2 What is his displacement after 5 s?

_____________________________________

2.3 Did he maintain a constant speed for the

entire journey? How do you know?

_________________________________________________________________________

2.4 Was he cycling faster, slower or the same speed as he was in the previous data? How do you
know?

_________________________________________________________________________

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Homework Exercise 2:
1. The table gives the velocity of a block sliding down a smooth slope.

1.1 Plot a sketch graph of the velocity against time.

1.2 Describe the motion of the block

1.3 Use the graph to determine the magnitude of the acceleration of the block.

2. A car accelerates uniformly from rest along a straight level road. It reaches a maximum speed
of 20 m.s--1 after 5 s. The driver applies brakes for 3 s to bring the car to a standstill. It slows
down uniformly. Here is a graph of its motion.

2.1 Find the magnitude of the acceleration of

the car over the first 5 s.

2.2 Find the acceleration of the car over the last

3 s.

2.3 Draw the acceleration-time graph for he

motion of the car over the whole 8 s.

3. A train moving along a straight horisontal track at 15 m.s-1 accelerates for 40 s to reach a speed
of 30 m.s-1.

3.1 Plot a velocity-time graph to show its motion.

3.2 Use the graph to determine the magnitude of the acceleration of the train.

3.3 Draw the acceleration-time graph for this motion.

4. A truck sets off from rest, accelerating uniformly along a straight level road for 5 s to reach a
velocity of 15 m.s-1. It then travels at constant velocity for another 10 s, before the driver applies
the brakes, accelerating uniformly, to bring the truck to a standstill in 20 s.

4.1 Plot a velocity-time graph to show the motion of the truck over the 35 s.

4.2 Determine the acceleration of the truck during the first 5 s.

4.3 Determine the acceleration of the truck from 15 s to 35 s.

4.4 Draw the acceleration-time graph for this motion.

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Exercise 1: Displacement-Time Graphs

Draw the following displacement-time graphs

1. A boy runs across the rugby field and covers 20 m in 5 s. He then stops for 5 s and runs back
to his starting point in 10 s

2. An athlete runs 10 m in 2 s, stops, returns to the start in 5 s, then continues to walk 5 m

beyond the starting point for 5 s, stops and returns to the starting point in 5 s. He then waits
for 2 s, then runs 10 m away from the start in 1 s.

Exercise 2: Velocity-Time Graphs

1. Draw the following velocity-time graphs

1.1. A boy running at 2 m.s-1 increases his velocity to 4 m.s-1 after 2 s and to 10 m.s-1 after
4s

1.2. A boy on a bicycle moving at 10 m.s-1 comes to rest in 10 s. He remains stationary for
5 s and then accelerates to reach a velocity of 20 m.s-1 in a further 5 s.

1.3. An object slows down uniformly from 20 m.s-1 to rest in 5s.

2. A truck travelling at 10 m.s-1 accelerates and reaches a velocity of 20 m.s-1 in 20s. It

continues at this velocity for 2 minutes and then comes to rest in 1 minute, with uniform
deceleration. Study the velocity-time graph for the motion and from it determine the total
distance travelled.

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Exercise 3: Graph Exercise

1. The graph shows the displacement of a body over a time of 25 s.

1.1. Describe the motion of the body during the 25 s.

1.2. Find the velocity of the body during the first 5 s.
1.3. What is the displacement of the body after 15 s?

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2. The velocity-time graph represents the motion of a vehicle.

2.1. Describe the motion of the vehicle represented by the graph.

2.2. Determine the acceleration of the vehicle in the first 10 s

2.3. What is the velocity of the vehicle during the next 20 s?

2.4. Find the acceleration of the vehicle in the last 20 s.

2.5. Determine the distance covered by the vehicle in the 50 s.

3. The velocity-time graph represents the motion of

two cars X and Y. Car X is stationary at a robot
and as it pulls off from rest, it is passed by car Y,
which is moving at a constant velocity in the same
direction.

3.1 How long does car X take to reach the same speed as Y?
3.2 Which of the two cars is ahead after 10s, and by how much?
3.3 After how many seconds does X catch up with Y?

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Exam Style Question

The overall stopping distance of a cyclist is made up of two parts, as shown in the diagram below.
● the distance the cyclist travels during the reaction time of the cyclist (the thinking distance)
● the distance the cyclist travels after the brakes are applied (the braking distance)

A cyclist is initially riding east as shown in the velocity vs time graph below. A ball rolls in front of
the cyclist at time t = 0. The cyclist sees the ball, reacts, brakes and comes to rest.

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 a. Use the velocity vs time graph to determine the reaction time of the cyclist. (1)

b. Use the velocity vs time graph to calculate the overall stopping distance. (3)

c. Calculate the acceleration of the cyclist during braking. (4)

d. On the graph, draw a velocity vs time graph for another cyclist initially travelling 5,0 m.s-1
east that has the same reaction time and acceleration as the first cyclist. (no calculations
required) (2)

Additional Exercises:

1. A runner runs at a constant speed and the following values were recorded.
Distance 100 150 200 300 450 500 1000
(m)

Time (s) 20 30 40 60 90 100 200

a. Plot a suitable graph using the values in the table

b. Calculate the gradient of the line
c. Determine the speed of the runner
d. Calculate his speed in km / h

2. The Storms River canopy tour has 17 zip-line sections of different lengths, covering a total
distance of 1950 m (A – B).

a. If the time taken to complete the run is 4 minutes and 40 seconds, calculate the
average speed of the zip-liner.
b. Why is this said to be an average speed?
c. The last 2 sections have a combined distance of 190 m. Using the values you have
calculated, how long would it take to complete these last 2 sections?
d. Why could we not use the average velocity and the distance for each section of the run to
calculate the total time taken for the run?

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