PHYSICS L: 7 MOTION CLASS IX

• WHAT IS MOTION?
A body is said to be in motion when it is changing its position with respect to a fixed
reference point called the origin.
Types of motion:
1. Rectilinear (along a straight line)
2. Curvilinear (along a curved path)
3. Periodic (repeated at equal intervals of time)
4. Oscillatory (to and fro motion about a fixed mean position)
5. Rotational (movement around an axis)
6. Circular (body moves around a fixed point)
7. Random (irregular movement of a body that does not follow a fixed path)

• PHYSICAL QUANTITIES: Quantities that can be measured eg. Mass, length, speed etc.
PHYSICAL QUANTITIES
S.NO.
SCALAR QUANTITIES VECTOR QUANTITIES
1. A quantity which is defined only by A quantity which is defined by a direction
magnitude (numerical value that along with the magnitude.
represents size).
2. It is independent of direction. It depends upon direction.
Eg. Time, Heat, Temperature, Density, Force, Displacement, Velocity,
Distance, Speed etc. Acceleration etc.

• DESCRIBING MOTION: To describe motion, we need to determine the position of an object.

This can be only done by using a fixed stationary object as a reference point, called Origin.
Position of the same object may vary with different reference points. For eg., my house is 5
km from the school, but 1 km from the market. Thus, it is important to choose a reference
point according to our convenience and then keeping it fixed for all future references.
• DISTANCE VERSUS DISPLACEMENT:
S.NO. DISTANCE DISPLACEMENT
1. Distance is the actual length of the Displacement is the shortest distance between
path traveled by a moving body. the final and initial positions of the moving
body, with direction.
2. It is a scalar quantity as it only has It is a vector quantity as it has a magnitude as
a magnitude. well as a direction.
3. Distance traveled by a body Displacement of a body between two points is
between two positions can take always constant (because there can only be
many values. one shortest path).
4. Distance is always positive and Displacement may be positive, zero or
cannot be zero. negative.
Eg. A car travels a distance of 50km. A car travels 50 km in a straight line in the East
Distance = 50 km direction. Displacement = 50 km towards East

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• Distance traveled by a body will always be equal or greater than the magnitude of its
displacement.
• A car starts from a point, travels 100km along a circular path and reaches back at the initial
position. Distance = 100 km; Displacement = 0
• ODOMETER is a device fitted in automobiles to measure the distance traveled by it.
• SI unit of distance is metre (m).

• UNIFORM VERSUS NON-UNIFORM MOTION

S.NO. UNIFORM MOTION NON-UNIFORM MOTION

1. A body is said to be in uniform motion
when it travels equal distances in
equal intervals of time, no matter
how small these intervals maybe.
2. Distance-time graph for uniform
motion is a straight line.
3. Speed is constant.
Eg. A car travels a distance of 50km in
every second, it is said to be in
uniform motion.
D-T
graph
A body is said to be in non-uniform
motion if it travels unequal distances in
equal intervals of time.
Distance-time graph for non-uniform
motion is a curved line.
Speed keeps changing, may increase,
decrease or even become zero in
different intervals of time.
So, it is also called Accelerated motion.
If we drop a ball from the roof, it covers
unequal distances in equal intervals of
time, it is said to be in non-uniform
motion.

• SPEED (v): The speed of a body is the distance traveled by it per unit time.
Speed (v) = Distance traveled (s)
Time taken(t)
v= s
t
• SI unit of speed is metres per second written as m/s or ms-1.

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• Speed is a scalar quantity as it is only expressed by a magnitude and has no specified
direction.
• SPEEDOMETER is a device fitted in automobiles used to measure the speed of an
automobile at any instant of time.
• TYPES OF SPEED:
1. INSTANTANEOUS SPEED: Speed of a body at a particular instant of time. Eg.
Speedometer shows the instantaneous speed.
2. UNIFORM/CONSTANT SPEED: A body has a uniform speed if it travels equal
distances in equal intervals of time, no matter how small these intervals maybe. Eg.
If a bus travels 50 km in 1 hour, 25 km in the next 30 minutes and 12.5 km in the
next 15 minutes, it is said to have a uniform speed.
For a body moving with uniform speed, the instantaneous speed is equal to the uniform
speed.
3. AVERAGE SPEED: The average speed of a body is the total distance traveled by a
body divided by the total time taken to cover this distance. It is used to measure
speed for bodies having non-uniform motion, as their speed keeps changing with
time.
Average speed (v) = Total distance traveled (s)
Total time taken (t)
Eg., A car travels 50 km in 1 hour, stops for 30 minutes and travels 50 km in the
next 30 minutes, its average speed will be total distance (100km) divided by the
total time taken (2 hours), which is 50km per hour.
For a body in uniform motion, the average speed is equal to its uniform speed.

• VELOCITY (SPEED WITH DIRECTION): Velocity of a body is the distance traveled by it per
unit time in a given direction.
Velocity (v) = Distance traveled in a given direction
Time taken
= Displacement (s)
Time taken (t)
v = s
t
• SI unit of velocity is same as that of speed, namely, metres per second written as m/s or ms-
1.

• On a curved path, a car could have uniform speed, but its velocity will keep changing with
the changing direction.
• FACTORS AFFECTING VELOCITY:
1. Change in speed of a body moving in one direction.
2. Change in direction even if the speed is constant.
3. Change in both speed and direction.
• UNIFORM/CONSTANT VELOCITY: A body is said to possess uniform velocity if it travels
equal distances in equal intervals of time along a particular direction.

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• NON-UNIFORM/VARIABLE VELOCITY: A body is said to possess a non-uniform velocity if it
travels in a particular direction with variable speed or moves with a constant speed with
change in direction.
• INITIAL VELOVITY (u): It is the velocity at the starting point of the movement.
• FINAL VELOCITY (v): It refers to the velocity with which the body was moving when last
measured.

S.NO. SPEED VELOCITY

1. It is the distance traveled by a body It is the displacement of a body per unit
per unit time. time.
2. It is a scalar quantity. It is a vector quantity.
3. It is always positive. It could be positive, zero or negative
depending upon the direction of motion
of the body.
4. Average speed of a moving body can Average velocity of a moving body can be
never be zero. zero.
Eg. 20km per hour is speed of the car. 20km per hour towards North is the
velocity of the car.

Speed and velocity are not always equal in magnitude. The speed of a body will always be equal
to or greater than the magnitude of velocity of the body.
Speed and velocity can have same magnitude only if the body keeps moving in a single straight
line i.e., it does not change its direction.

• ACCELERATION (a): Acceleration is a physical quantity that measures the rate of change of
velocity of a body. It is defined as the rate of change of the velocity of a body with time.
Acceleration (a)= Change in velocity
Time taken for change
= Final velocity (v) – Initial velocity (u)
Time taken (t)
a = v - u
t
• SI unit of acceleration is metres per second per second written as m/s2 or ms-2.
• Acceleration is a vector quantity.
• Uniform velocity: Acceleration = zero.
• Non-uniform velocity: Acceleration is positive if speed is increasing with time and negative if
speed is decreasing with time. Negative acceleration is called as retardation or deceleration.

• RETARDATION/DECELERATION: When the velocity of a body decreases with increase in

time, the body is said to be retarded and the motion is known as retardation or
deceleration. It is calculated with the same formula as acceleration. Because, u>v,
acceleration will have a negative value, the – sign indicates decrease in value.

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• UNIFORM ACCELERATION: The body is said to possess uniform acceleration if travels in a
straight line and its velocity increases by equal amounts in equal intervals of time. The
velocity-time graph for uniform acceleration is a straight line.
For eg.: (i) the motion of a freely falling body is an example of uniformly
accelerated motion.
(ii) The motion of a bicycle going down the slope of a road when the rider
is not pedaling and wind resistance is negligible, is also an example of
uniform acceleration.
(iii) The motion of a ball rolling down an inclined plane is an example of
uniform acceleration.

• NON-UNIFORM ACCELERATION: A body has a non-uniform acceleration if its velocity

increases by unequal amounts in equal intervals of time. The velocity-time graph for a body
having non-uniform acceleration is a curved line.
For eg.: The speed of a car running on a crowded city road changes continuously
but not uniformly.

• ACCELERATION DUE TO GRAVITY: When an object falls freely under the influence of earth’s
gravity, the acceleration produced in the body is called acceleration due to gravity. It is
represented by ‘g’.
g = 9.8m/s2 (a constant value)
g is maximum at the earth’s surface. As we go deeper into the earth, its value decreases and
becomes zero at the centre of the earth. It decreases as we move up away from the earth’s
surface.

• AVERAGE VELOCITY: For a body with uniform acceleration, average velocity is the
arithmetic mean of the initial velocity (u) and final velocity (v) for a given period of time.
Average Velocity (v) = Initial velocity (u) + Final velocity (v)
2
Or, v=u+v
2

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• GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF MOTION:
Graphs are visual representations of data. They help to understand and interpret the data
and information represented by them at a glance. They help in establishing a relationship
between two variables.

To depict motion, we use line graphs of two types: DISTANCE – TIME (D-T) Graph and
VELOCITY – TIME (V-T) Graph.

• DISTANCE –TIME GRAPH:

1. UNIFORM MOTION: A straight line sloping upwards. Slope of the graph gives speed.

2. NON-UNIFORM MOTION: A curved line.

3. AT REST: A straight line parallel to the time axis. Velocity of a body at rest is zero.

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• VELOCITY – TIME GRAPH:
1. UNIFORM MOTION (CONSTANT VELOCITY): A straight line parallel to the time axis.
The unit of area under a velocity-time graph is same as that of displacement or
distance.

2. UNIFORM ACCELERATION: A straight line sloping upwards. The slope = acceleration.

The displacement/distance can be calculated from the area under the graph.

3. UNIFORM DECELERATION: A straight line sloping downwards.

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 4. NON-UNIFORM ACCELERATION: A curved line.

• EQUATIONS OF MOTION: There are three equatios for the motion of those bodies which
travel with a uniform acceleration.

1. FIRST EQUATION OF MOTION (Velocity Time relation):

v = u + at

where, v = final velocity of the body

u = initial velocity of the body
a = acceleration
t = time taken

DERIVATION:
Acceleration, a = v-u
t
so, at = v-u
or, v = u + at

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2. SECOND EQUATION OF MOTION (Position Time relation):
s = ut + ½ at2

where, s = distance traveled by body in time t

u = initial velovity
v = final velocity
a = acceleration

DERIVATION:
Average Velocity = u + v
2
Distance traveled = Average velocity X Time
s = (u + v) X t (I)
2
Also, from the first equation of motion, v = u + at. Putting this value of v in
equation (I), we get:
s = (u + u+ at) X t
2
Or, s = (2u + at) X t
2
Or, s = 2ut + at2
2
Or, s = ut + ½ at2

3. THIRD EQUATION OF MOTION (Position Velocity relation):

v2 = u2 + 2as
Where, u and v = initial and final velocity respectively
a = acceleration
s = distance covered in time, t

DERIVATION:
From the second equation of motion, we know that
s = ut + ½ at2 (I)
And from the first equation of motion,
v = u + at (II)
or, t=v–u
a
Putting this value of t in equation (I), we get:
s = u (v – u) + 1 a ( v – u )2
a 2 a2
or, s = uv – u + a (v + u2 - 2uv) because (v-u) 2 = v2 + u2 – 2vu )
2 2

a 2a2
or, s = uv – u2 + (v2 + u2 – 2uv)

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 a 2a
or, s = 2uv – 2u2 + v2 + u2 – 2uv
2a
or, 2
2as = v – u 2

or, v2 = u2 + 2as

POINTS TO REMEMBER:
1. If a body starts from rest, its initial velocity, u = 0.
2. If a body comes to rest (it stops), its final velocity, v = 0.
3. If a body moves with uniform velocity, its acceleration, a = 0.

• UNIFORM CIRCULAR MOTION: When a body moves in a circle, it is called circular

motion. When a body moves on a circular path, the direction of its motion keeps
changing continuously. Since the velocity changes due to continuous change in
direction, the motion along a circular path is said to be accelerated. When a body
moves on a circular path with uniform speed, its motion is called uniform circular
motion.
A force is needed to produce circular motion. This force is called centripetal force.
Uniform linear motion is not accelerated but uniform circular motion is accelerated as
there is a continuous change in direction even if the speed remains constant.
To calculate the speed of a body in uniform circular motion,
Speed, v = 2πr
t
Where, v = speed
π = 22/7 (pi, it is a constant)
r = radius of circular path
t = time taken to cover one round of the circular path

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