LINEAR MOTION

UNDERSTANDING
LINEAR MOTION
 Define distance and displacement
 Define speed and velocity
 Define acceleration and deceleration
 Calculate speed, velocity and acceleration/deceleration
 Solve problem on linear motion using the equation of motion
 Determine distance, displacement and velocity from a displacement-time
graph
 Determine distance, displacement, velocity and acceleration from a
velocity-time graph

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 CONCEPTUAL MAP

LINEAR MOTION

Represented by Solve
Problems Using

Motion Graph Equations of Motions

Linear motion is referred to as motion along a straight

line path 3
 Distance and Displacement

Distance Displacement

Distance is the total path length Displacement is the distance

traveled from one location to between two locations measured
another. along the shortest path connecting
them, in a specified direction.

Distance is a scalar quantity. It Displacement is a vector

has magnitude but no direction. quantity. It involves both
magnitude and direction
The SI unit of distance and displacement is meter (m)

Distance = 100 m

A B
Displacement = 70 m 4
 EXERCISE 1
1. A student drive his motorcycle to shop, on the way to his school
a) What is the distance he had to drive to reach to his school?
b) What is the displacement of the school from the house?

After school the student drove back to his house without crossing the
shop.
c) what is the total distance he had to drive to reach back to his house?
d) what is the total displacement he drove back to his house?

5 km 6 km

shop

8 km 5
house school
 SPEED AND AVERAGE SPEED
Speed is the distance traveled per unit time.
Speed can also be define as the rate of change of distance.
The average speed of a body is calculated by:

Speed = Distance traveled, s (m)

Time taken, t (s)

Average speed = Total distance traveled, s (m)

Time taken, t (s)

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 DIFFERENT FORMS OF
SPEED:
 Uniform speed: A body is said to be moving with a
uniform speed if it covers equal distance in equal
time interval.
 Non-uniform: a body is said to be moving with a
variable speed if it covers unequal distance in the
same time intervals.
 Instantaneous speed: If the speed of a body changes
continuously with time, its speed at any instant is
known as the instantaneous speed.

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 VELOCITY
Velocity is the speed in a given direction. It is defined as the
rate of change of displacement.

The average velocity of a body is calculated by:

Average velocity = Total displacement, s (m)

Time taken, t (s)

Both speed and velocity have the same SI unit. They are measured in
meter per second or m s-1.

Speed is a scalar quantity and it has magnitude but no

direction whereas velocity is vector quantity which has
both magnitude and direction.

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 Different forms of velocity:
 Uniform Velocity: if a body travels equal distances in
equal interval of time in a particular direction, the
body is said to be moving with uniform velocity.
 Non- Uniform Velocity: if a body moves unequal
distance in equal interval of time or it moves equal
distances in equal interval of time but its direction of
motion changes ,such as circular motion ,the velocity
is said to be variable velocity.

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 EXERCISE 2
1. The world record for the 100 meter events was broken by Maurice Greene
in 1999. His record time was 9.79 s. What was the average speed for the
race?

2. A car starts from rest and accelerates uniformly at 3 ms-1. Calculate

a) its velocity after 4 s
b) its displacement after 6 s

3. Diagram shows the graph of movement of an object

V (ms-1)

t (s)
0 1 2 3 4

a) What is initial velocity of the object?

b) What is the total distance of the movement of the object?
c) What is the average velocity of the object?
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ACCELERATION AND DECELERATION
Acceleration is defined as the rate of change of velocity

It can be written as:

Acceleration = Change of velocity

Time taken

= Final velocity (v) – Initial velocity (u)

Time taken
or, a=v–u
t

When the velocity of an object changes with time, an object is said to be

accelerating.
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ACCELERATION AND DECELERATION
 Acceleration is a vector quantity. The SI unit
for acceleration is meter second per second
or ms-2

 The acceleration is positive if the velocity

increases with time. The acceleration is
negative if the velocity decreases with time.

 Negative acceleration is also called

deceleration or retardation.
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 Different forms of acceleration:
 Uniform acceleration :the acceleration is said to
be uniform when equal changes in velocity
takes place in equal interval of time. The
motion of a body under free fall is an example
of this.
 Variable acceleration: If the changes in velocity
are not same as same time interval ,the
acceleration is said to be varriable.

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EQUATION OF LINEAR MOTION

The equations used in linear motion involve two kinds of motion:

 Motion with constant velocity (zero acceleration)
 Constant change in velocity (constant acceleration)
Acceleration uniformly, = gradient of graph
= positive value

Velocity, v( ms-1 )

Final velocity v

t v – u = at

Initial velocity, u
u

0 Time (s)
Time, t 14
 EQUATIONS OF LINEAR MOTION
• The summary of equations is given below

Motion with constant Motion with constant

velocity acceleration
vav = s vav = u + v
t 2
s = vav x t S=(u+v)xt
2

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 Some problems…….
 1. A car acquires a velocity of 20m/s in 10 sec starting from
rest. Calculate a) the acceleration b) the average velocity, c)
the distance traveled.
 2. A car initially at rest moving with a constant acceleration of
0.5 ms-2 and travels a distance of 25 m. Find a) its final
velocity and b) the time taken.
 3. A car , initially at rest , starts moving with constant
acceleration of 2 ms-2. Calculate the velocity acquired and the
distance traveled in 5 sec.
 4. A bullet initially moving with a velocity of 20 ms-1 strikes a
target and comes to rest after penetrating a distance of 10 cm.
Calculate the deceleration caused by the target on bullet.

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 EXERCISE 3
1. Figure shows the path traveled by a cyclist. He started his journey from O,
moved a distance of 150 m to East towards A and then moved a distance 200
m to North towards B. The cyclist took about 25 s to complete his journey
Determine
B
(a) the total distance traveled
(b) the displacement from O
250 m
(c) the average speed of the cyclist 200 m
(d) the average velocity of the cyclist
O
A
150 m

2. A lorry is moving in a straight road at a velocity of 10 ms-1. It then speeds up

uniformly to a velocity of 30 ms-1 in 4 s. Immediately after this, the brake is
applied and the lorry slows down uniformly and stops in the next. Calculate
the acceleration of the lorry in the first 4 s and the last 5s.

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 Displacement-Time Graph
Displacement / cm Displacement / cm

Time / s Time / s

Zero gradient – object stationary Increasing gradient – Increasing velocity

Displacement / cm
Displacement / cm

Time / s Time / s

Fixed gradient – Uniform velocity Decreasing gradient – decreasing velocity

 Velocity-Time Graph
Velocity / cms-1 Velocity / cms-1 Velocity / cms-1

Time / s Time / s Time / s

Uniform velocity, Uniform acceleration
zero acceleration Uniform deceleration

Velocity / cms-1 Velocity / cms-1 Velocity / cms-1

Time / s Time / s Time / s

Increasing acceleration Decreasing acceleration Decreasing deceleration

• Acceleration = gradient of the graph Displacement = area under the graph

 Velocity-time graphs
1) Upwards line =
80 4) Downward line =

60
Velocity
m/s
40

20

0 10 20 30 40 50 T/s

2) Horizontal line = 3) Upwards line =

 EXERCISE
1. A car starts from rest at time t = 0 s and moves along a straight
road.
The figure below shows velocity-time graph of the car from t = 0
to 200 s? v (ms-1)
(a) Describe the motion of the car from t = 0 to 200 s.
(b) Find the acceleration of the car in 30
I) the first 20 s
ii) the last 10 s s1 s2 s3
0 t (s)
(c) Find the distance traveled by the car when the car 20 is 190 200
i) accelerating
ii) moving with constant velocity
iii) decelerating

2. The velocity-time graph of the motion is shown in below figure.

 Give an explanation for each line P, Q and R.
 Calculate the acceleration for the first 2 s?
Calculate thev (ms )
total displacement of an object.
-1


Q
5
P
R

t (s)
0 2
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 Terminal Velocity
Consider a skydiver:
1) At the start of his jump the air
resistance is _______ so he
_______ downwards.

2) As his speed increases his air

resistance will _______

3) Eventually the air resistance will be

big enough to _______ the
skydiver’s weight. At this point
the forces are balanced so his
speed becomes ________ - this is
called TERMINAL VELOCITY

Words – increase, small,

constant, balance, accelerates
 Terminal Velocity
Consider a skydiver:

4) When he opens his parachute the

air resistance suddenly ________,
causing him to start _____ ____.

5) Because he is slowing down his air

resistance will _______ again
until it balances his _________.
The skydiver has now reached a
new, lower ________ _______.

Words – slowing down, decrease,

increases, terminal velocity, weight
 Velocity-time graph for terminal
Velocity velocity…
Parachute opens –
diver slows down
Speed
increases…

Terminal
velocity
reached…
Mo on
n the
O

Time
New, lower terminal Diver hits the ground
velocity reached
Summary

The gradient of a velocity-time graph gives the acceleration

The area under a velocity-time graph gives the displacement

h
Area of a triangle  baseheight  b h
2 2
b

Area of a trapezium  sum of parallel sides  distance between them

2

b  (a  b) h
a 2

h
 EXERCISE 5
1. Figure 3.1 shows a displacement-time graph
D/m for a moving object.
a) What is the displacement of the object after
3 seconds?
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a) What is the velocity of the object during
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i) the first 3 seconds
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ii) the next 3 seconds?
0 t/s a) Plot the velocity-time graph for the object
1 2 3 4 5 6

Figure 3.1
2. The velocity-time graph for a car traveling along
a straight line is shown in figure 3.2.
a) What is the acceleration of the car during the
part of the journey represented by
v/ms-1 i) OA
A B ii) AB
iii) BC
b) What is the total distance traveled by the car?
c) Calculate the average velocity of the car for its
C whole journey?
o t/s
10 20 30 40 50 60 d) Plot the acceleration-time graph for the whole
journey covered by the car
 Why have speed limits?
Speed limits are an important
part of road safety. They aim
to prevent drivers from driving
at speeds that are unsuitable
and unsafe.

The speed limit of a particular

road depends on a range of
factors, such as how straight or curved it is, and its location.

The faster a vehicle is driving, the longer it will take to stop –

the overall distance this takes is the stopping distance.

stopping distance = thinking distance + braking distance

Stopping distances
What affects thinking distance?
The thinking distance is the distance a vehicle travels in the
time it takes for a driver to react to a situation and apply the
brakes.

What factors will affect thinking distance?

other drugs and

some medicines
alcohol

distractions, tiredness
such as
mobile phones
speed
 What affects braking distance?
The braking distance is the distance a vehicle takes to stop
once the driver has applied the brakes.

What factors will affect braking distance?

weather

condition of
tyres/brakes

condition of road
speed
 Some problems…………
1. A train starts from rest & accelerates uniformly at 100 ms-2 10 sec. It
then maintains a constant velocity for 20 sec .The brakes are then
applied and the train is uniformly retarded. It comes to rest in 5 sec.
draw a velocity-time graph & use it to find:
a) The maximum velocity reached
b) the deceleration in the last 5 sec
c) total distance traveled .
d) The average velocity.

2. A stone is thrown vertically upwards with an initial velocity of 40 ms-1

. Taking g=10 ms-2 , draw a velocity-time graph of the motion till it
reaches back to ground. Use the graph to find the maximum height
reached by the stone . What is the net displacement & total distance
covered by the stone ?
Notice that acceleration and velocity
often point in different directions!!!

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Whether the Forces are balanced
or unbalanced ?

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Going round in circles

 Speed may be constant

 But direction is continually
changing
 Therefore velocity is
continually changing
 Hence acceleration takes place
Uniform Circular Motion

 Motion in a circular path at constant speed.

• Velocity is changing, thus there is an acceleration!!

• Velocity is tangent to the path of the object
• Acceleration is perpendicular to velocity
• Centripetal acceleration is towards the center of the circle
• r is radius of circle
 Centripetal Force

What provides the cpforce in each case ?

 Centripetal force can be fun

30/05/23