SPEED, VELOCITY &

ACCELERATION
ACCELERATED
MOTION
Motion?
◦ Motion is an excellent topic to begin our study of physics. It is one
of the most common phenomena. We see motion in the activities
people do everyday: walking, jogging, running or riding a car to go
to school or work. Motion can also be observed in the nature:
clouds moving, raindrops falling, wind blowing the leaves of the
tree and water moving in a never ending cycle.

◦ Our first step in the study of motion is to define concepts for

motion in a straight light. Translation is the physical term for
straight-line motion. We then extend our discussion to projectile
motion.
Frame of Reference vs. Position
◦ The term position refers to the location of an object with respect to
some reference frame.
◦ What is reference frame? Reference frame is a physical entity, such
as ground, room, and building to which motion or position of an
object is being referred
◦ When an object is undergoing a continuous change in position, we
say that the object is moving. Motion is a relative term. It depends
on the reference frame where motion is being observed.
Distance vs. Displacement
◦ A distinct has to be made between distance and
displacement.
◦ A distance d refers to the actual length of path taken by an
object in moving from its initial position to its final
position.
◦ A displacement d refers to straight-line distance between
its initial and final positions, with direction toward the
final position.
◦ Distance is scalar, while displacement is vector
Speed vs. Velocity
◦ The term “Speed” and “Velocity” are used interchangeably in
everyday situations. However, in physics they have distinct
meanings. Speed is the distance that a body moves in a unit
time and speed is a scalar quantity.
◦ When the speed of body is associated with a direction, the
result is the velocity of the body. Velocity is a vector quantity.
The speed of the body is the magnitude of its velocity. The SI
unit for speed and velocity is meter per second, m/s
Formula:
◦ An object normally changes its speed while moving. Hence, it is necessary to
distinguish between average speed and instantaneous speed. The average speed
of a body is total distance it travelled divided byt the time spent in travelling
the total distance

◦ Average speed =
◦ Average speed =
◦ Average velocity =
◦ Average Velocity =
Acceleration

◦ Acceleration is defined as the rate of change of velocity of an object

with time. since it has both magnitude and direction, it is a vector
quantity. It can either positive or negative according to the
direction. The SI unit is given as m/s2.
◦ An object average acceleration over a period of time is its change in
velocity () divided by the duration of the time ()
◦ Mathematically. A = ( ) Vf-Vi/Tf-Ti
 UNIFORMLY
ACCELERATED
MOTION
Uniformly Accelerated Motion
◦ Uniformly accelerated motion is the motion of a point such
that its tangential acceleration w is constant. In the case of
uniformly accelerated rectilinear motion, the point’s
acceleration w is constant. The speed ? Of the point t sec
after uniform acceleration begins and the point’s distance s
from its initial position are determined for uniformly
accelerated motion by the equations.
◦ the motion of a point such that its tangential
acceleration w, is constant; in the case of uniformly
accelerated rectilinear motion, the point’s
acceleration w is constant. The speed v of the point t
sec after uniform acceleration begins and the point’s
distance s from its initial position-s being measured
along the point’s path-are determined for uniformly
accelerated motion by the equations.
FREE FALL
A free falling object is an object that is falling under the
sole influence of gravity. Any object that is being acted
upon only by the force of gravity is said to be in a state
of free fall. There are two important motion characteristics
that are true of free-falling objects:
Free-falling objects do not encounter air resistance.
All free-falling objects (on Earth) accelerate downwards at a
rate of 9.8 m/s/s (often approximated as 10 m/s/s for back-
of-the-envelope calculations)
Free-fall acceleration is often witnessed in a physics
classroom by means of an ever-popular strobe light
demonstration. The room is darkened and a jug full
of water is connected by a tube to a medicine
dropper. The dropper drips water and the strobe
illuminates the falling droplets at a regular rate - say
once every 0.2 seconds. Instead of seeing a stream
of water free-falling from the medicine dropper,
several consecutive drops with increasing separation
distance are seen.
PROJECTILE
MOTION
◦ Projectile motion is a form of motion in which an
object or particle (called a projectile) is thrown near
the earth's surface, and it moves along a curved path
under the action of gravity only. The only force of
significance that acts on the object is gravity, which
acts downward to cause a downward acceleration.
Because of the object's inertia, no external
horizontal force is needed to maintain the horizontal
motion.