FOURTH

QUARTER
SCIENCE 9
PHYSICS
MECHANICS
•the study of the motion
of objects.
KINEMATICS
•is the science of describing the
motion of objects using words,
diagrams, numbers, graphs, and
equations.
stopped
going fast
How would you describe a
moving object?
slowing down speeding up
turning
 How would you
describe how fast an
object is moving?
Speed, Velocity, and Acceleration
To describe motion
accurately and
completely, a frame
of reference is
needed.
An object is in motion if it changes
position relative to a reference point.
• Objects that we call stationary—such
as a tree, a sign, or a building—make
good reference points.
 SCALAR VS. VECTOR
•Scalars are quantities that are fully
described by a magnitude (or
numerical value) alone.
•Vectors are quantities that are fully
described by both a magnitude and a
direction.
CHECKPOINT 1: Scalar /Vector
a. 5 m
b. 30 m/sec, East
c. 5 mi., North
d. 20 degrees Celsius
e. 256 bytes
f. 4000 Calories
DISTANCE vs. DISPLACEMENT
•Distance is a scalar quantity that refers to
"how much ground an object has covered"
during its motion.
•Displacement is a vector quantity that
refers to "how far out of place an object is";
it is the object's overall change in position.
A physics teacher walks 4 meters East, 2 meters
South, 4 meters West, and finally 2 meters North.

DISTANCE = 12 m
DISPLACEMENT = 0m
What is Speed
•It is a rate!
What does that mean?
• A change over time.
• What is the change?
•Change in position, in other words, distance.
• Standard unit: meters per second (m/s)
Speed can be calculated using the Formula
SAMPLE PROBLEM:
•A horse runs a distance of 1200
m in 40s with constant speed.
What is the speed of the horse?
VELOCITY
• is a description of an object’s speed and
direction
 Speed v. Velocity
1. How are speed and velocity similar?
They both measure how fast something is moving
2. How are speed and velocity different?
Velocity includes the direction of motion and
speed does not (the car is moving 5mph East)
3. Is velocity more like distance or
displacement? Why?
Displacement, because it includes direction.
Acceleration
Acceleration is the rate at which velocity
changes.

Acceleration can result from a change in

speed (increase or decrease), a change in
direction (back, forth, up, down left, right),
or changes in both.
In science, acceleration refers to increasing speed, decreasing
speed, or changing direction.
• A car that begins to move from a stopped position or speeds up to pass
another car is accelerating.

• A car decelerates when it stops at a red light. A water skier decelerates

when the boat stops pulling.

• A softball accelerates when it changes direction as it is hit.

Calculating Acceleration
Acceleration = Change in velocity
Total time
So…Acceleration = (Final speed – Initial speed)
Time
SAMPLE PROBLEM 1:
•A roller coaster is moving at 25 m/s
at the bottom of a hill. Three
seconds later it reaches the top of
the hill moving at 10 m/s. What was
the acceleration of the coaster?
SAMPLE PROBLEM 2:
•If a speeding train hits the brakes
and it takes the train 39 seconds to
go from 54.8 m/s to 12 m/s what is
the acceleration?