DESCRIBING MOTION

Is your
table
moving
Y ?
A reference point is needed to
describe motion. Thus, your
table is moving if your
reference point is the sun,
but not if its the earth.
A change in
position rel
ative
to a
reference
point
 Motion is determined by your particular frame of
reference. This is what is meant by relative motion.
The motion is relative to (or depends upon) your
frame of reference.

Frame of reference-any spot you are doing your

measurement from as long as it is not accelerating.
For a simple example, consider two people standing, facing each
other on either side of a North-South street. A car drives past them
heading South. For the person facing East, the car was moving
toward the right. However, for the person facing West, the car was
moving toward the left. This discrepancy is due to the fact that the
two people used two different frames of reference from which to
investigate this system.
 Frames of Reference

REVIEW
■ Object or point from which motion
is determined
■ Most common is the

earth
■ Motion is a change

in position relative to
a frame of reference
 EXAMPLES
Example 1: Standing on a back of a motionless
pickup
truck throwing apples forward at 15 m/s.
Observer on the truck: apple going forward at
15m/s
Observer on the street: apple moving forward at
Example
15m/s 2: Truck moving at 20 m/s
Observer on the truck: apple going forward at
15m/s
Observer on the street: apple moving forward at
Example
35m/s 3: Sitting at your desk, how fast are you
moving?
Relative to ground: motionless
Relative to the sun: 178,200 mi/hr
 DID YOU KNOW OR DO YOU
CARE?

Frames of reference and relative motion is

actually the reason that people get car sick.
Your brain is getting two different sets of
information about your body’s motion that
might not exactly agree with each other;
information from your eyes, and
information from your inner ear. Some
people are more sensitive to these
differences, which causes them to feel car
sick as they watch the road “whiz” by. If
you are prone to getting car sickness, try to
look forward at a point far in the distance
and stay focused on that.
■ If you are standing in one place, and
your friend walks by you, are you
moving relative to your friend?
– Is your friend moving relative to
you?
– Is either of you moving relative to
theareearth?
You moving relative to your friend, and your friend
is moving relative to you!
You are not moving relative to the earth, but your friend
is. You are both moving relative to the sun!
If you and your friend are walking down
the hall together at the same speed, in
the same direction, are you moving
relative to your friend?
Is your friend moving relative to you?
Are either of you moving relative to the
earth?
You are NOT moving relative to your
friend, and your friend is NOT moving
relative to you. You both are moving
relative to the earth
 DISTANCE
VS.
DISPLACEMENT

When moving from one position to another we

move a distance. DISTANCE is the length of a path
between two points.

DISPLACMENT is the
direction from the starting
point and the length of a
straight line from the
starting point to the
ending point
Displacement along a straight line

Car A: had a distance and displacement of 6km

Car B: went a distance of 6km but had a
displacement of just 2km
Use the diagram to determine the resulting displacement and

the distance traveled by the skier during these three minutes.

Note: He goes from A to B, then B to C, etc.
Distance is 420m and displacement is 140m
 Scalar
a quantity described by magnitude only
examples include:
time, length, speed, temperature, mass, energy

Vector
a quantity described by magnitude and direction
examples include:
velocity, displacement, force, momentum,
electric and magnetic fields
 VECTORS
They are represented graphically as arrows.
The length of the arrow corresponds
to the magnitude of the vector.
The direction the arrow points
is the vector direction.

mples include:
A = 20 m/s at 35° NE B = 120 lb at 60° SE

C = 5.8 mph/s west

What’s your Vector Victor?
■ A car travels 6 miles East and then 8 miles
North.
■ Determine the distance traveled by the car.
■ Draw and describe the displacement vector
of the car.

So the car’s 
i 8 mi N
 m
displacement is 10 
10

miles 53o N of E
53o N of E

6 mi E
 Vector Addition
vectors may be added graphically or analytically
Triangle (Head-to-Tail) Method
1. Draw the first vector with the proper length
and orientation.
2. Draw the second vector with the proper length
and orientation originating from the head of
the first vector.
3. The resultant vector is the vector originating
at the tail of the first vector and terminating
at the head of the second vector.
4. Measure the length and orientation angle of
the resultant.
 VECTORS AND SCALARS
REVIEW
Vectors have both magnitude and
direction.
Vectors can be represented by arrows.
The length of the arrow represents the
magnitude, whereas the point of the
arrow represents the direction.

A resultant vector is the “vector sum” of

two or more vectors. Think of it as the
displacement
Most all Physics quantities can be
described as either a vector or scalar
 Distance is a scalar quantity
and tells you only the
magnitude (number sum only)
of a path taken.
 Displacement is the shortest
distance between the starting
point and the end point.
Distance vs. Displacement
?
displacement

?
distance
 The track racing Granny’s go three
laps around the 1 yard track.
What distance did the Granny’s 3 yards
go?
What displacement did the Granny’s 0
experience
--They went in a circle. Starting and stopping in theyards
same place
means 0 displacement