1.2 Motion (Kinematics)

Topic 1.
2 :Kinematics
Main Sections of Topic 1.2
2 of 22 © Boardworks Ltd 2009

Contents
Sr. Learning Outcome Rating
1 Define speed and calculate average speed and distinguish between speed and velocity
2 Plot and interpret a speed–time graph or a distance–time graph

3 Define and calculate acceleration using change of velocity /time taken
4 Recognize from the shape of a speed–time graph when a body is

– at rest
– moving with constant speed
– moving with changing speed
5 Calculate the area under a speed–time graph to work out the distance travelled for motion with
constant acceleration
6 Recognize motion for which the acceleration is not constant
7 Demonstrate understanding that acceleration and deceleration are related to changing speed
including qualitative analysis of the gradient of a speed–time graph
8 Understand deceleration as a negative acceleration
9 Describe qualitatively the motion of bodies falling in a uniform gravitational field with and
without air resistance (including reference to terminal velocity)
10 State that the acceleration of free fall for a body near to the Earth is constant
Rate yourself out of 5 at we have finished learning this topic to check your
understanding.

Kinematics
• Kinematics is a branch of physics that describes

relative position, distance, displacement, speed,
velocity, acceleration and the use of distance vs. time
and speed vs. time graphs

Distance and Displacement
What is the difference between distance and

displacement?

Distance and Displacement
Distance is the actual path taken from one point to another.
Finish
Star
t
Displacement is the minimum distance between two points –

straight line distance.

Kinematics
What is the difference between distance and

N
displacement?
8m
A B
5m
An ant crawls from point A to point B along the curved

path shown.
• Distance (d) = 8 metres
• Displacement (s) = 5 metres East

Directions and their Signs
Up or
North
y +
Left - + Right
or West x or East
-
Down
or South
Different Types of Speeds

Speed- Practice Question
• A man runs after a bus. The bus is travelling at an

average speed of 5 m/s. The man runs 25 m in 6 s. Does
he catch the bus?

Practice Question
• A man runs after a bus. The bus is travelling at an

average speed of 5 m/s. The man runs 25 m in 6 s. Does
he catch the bus?
Answer: The man’s average speed is 25 ÷ 6 = 4.2 m/s.

So he will not catch a bus moving at 5 m/s.

Exam Style Question

Displacement Time Graphs
Displacement
t
Time
What can be determined from this graph?

What does the Gradient
indicate?
What does the Area under the Graph
indicate?

Displacement
t
Time

indicate? Uniform linear velocity
What does the Area under the Graph
indicate? Nothing, tbh
1
2
distance
Gradient = Δ
Δy/Δx y
Note: “Δ” is the Greek letter, “Delta”,
which means “change in”
Δ
time
x
1
6 Displacement Time Graphs
• All of the graph below are example of constant
speed. faster speed
Gradient = Speed = Δd
Δt Δd
distance Δd
Δt
Δt
Δd slower speed
Δt
Δd
Δt
time

Exam Style Question

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1
9 Distance-Time graphs- Summary
The horizontal
straight line shows
that the object is
• sdsdsdds stationary at
particular distance.
Straight lines
slanting downward
show objects
moving towards the
• A curved line shows an starting point at a
object whose speed is steady speed.
changing as time goes by.
• If Curves upwards then
Speed is increasing
• If Speed is increasing that
means body is accelerating.
Can you have Negative Distance or Speed?
A Scalar quantity can never have a negative value as it has

no direction.
Distance and speed can only be graphed positively.
Consider a ball thrown into the

air.
Where will its speed be the
biggest?
Where will its speed be zero? Speed
Graph its speed during the flight.
Time
Measuring Speed
In order to measure speed we need to know Distance and

Time. There are Various methods to calculate Speed.
• Light Gates
• Ticker Timer
• Motion Sensors

Measuring Speed
In order to measure speed we need to know Distance and

Time. There are Various methods to calculate Speed.
• Light Gates
• Ticker Timer
• Motion Sensors

Velocity
Average velocity = Displacement

time taken
v = s
t
Note: Distance moved in specific direction is the

Displacement. Displacement is the straight line distance
between two points with a direction. Displacement is a Vector
(MUD)ie 100km East
Instantaneous velocity is measured over very small time.

Average velocity is the gradient of the curve.
Instantaneous velocity is the tangent to the curve.

Remember the ball thrown up into the air?
• Consider a ball thrown up into the air.

• Where will its speed be the biggest?
• Where will its speed be zero? Speed
On the right is it’s speed time flight.
Time
• Where will its velocity be the biggest?
• Where will its velocity be zero?
• Where will the velocity be smallest?
Velocity
Graph its velocity during the flight.
Time

Displacement–time graphs

Acceleration – a change in velocity
Velocity changes when there is a change in its magnitude
(i.e. a change in speed), a change in its direction, or
both.
So acceleration can include:
 speeding up
 slowing down (deceleration)
 changing direction (e.g.
centripetal acceleration)
So even though a geostationary satellite is travelling in a

circle at a steady speed, it is actually accelerating as it
constantly changes direction!

Acceleration
• a is acceleration in m/s/s or m/s2

• v is final velocity in m/s
• u is initial velocity in m/s
• t is time in s

Acceleration-Practise Question
• What is acceleration of a car which accelerates in 5 s

from 25 m/s to 35m/s.

Acceleration-Practice Question
• What is acceleration of a car which accelerates in 5 s

from 25 m/s to 35m/s.
• Answer:
=(35 – 25)/5
= 2 m/s2

1. A motorbike increases its speed to 100km/h from

a standing start in 2.9 s. What is its acceleration in
ms-2?
2. A car traveling at 20 ms-1 comes to rest in 5 s.

What is its acceleration?


Exam Style Question

3
3 Exam Style Question

Constant Acceleration Graph
u = 5ms-1
Velocity u=0
v  u  at
Time

indicate?
What does Area under the Graph

indicate?
Constant Acceleration Graph
u = 5ms-1
Velocity u=0
v  u  at
Time

indicate? Acceleration because
What does Area under the Graph
indicate?
Displacement because s = v x t
Velocity–time Graphs

Exam Style Question

Velocity–time graphs

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Acceleration–time graphs
• Area under acceleration time graph represents

change in velocity.

Exam Style Question –Acceleration Graph

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Stopping Distance
• In an emergency, a driver must bring their vehicle to a

stop in the shortest distance possible:
stopping distance = Thinking distance(td) + Braking distance(bd)
•Thinking distance is the distance a vehicle travels in the time it

takes for the driver to apply the brakes after realising they need
to stop.
•Braking distance is the distance a vehicle travels in the time

after the driver has applied the brake

Stopping Distance-Analysing speed time Graph
stopping distance = Thinking distance(td) + Braking distance(bd)

Stopping Distance-Practice Question (1)
1. What is the driver’s

reaction time?
2. What was the speed of

the vehicle before it
started to brake?
3. How long did it take the

car to stop?

Stopping Distance-Practice Question (2)
5. What distance was

travelled while the driver was
reacting (the thinking
distance)?
6. What is the braking

distance?
7. What is the total stopping

distance?
Factors affecting Thinking Distance
Reaction times vary from person to person, but are typically
0.2 s to 0.9 s. A driver’s reaction time can be affected by:
•tiredness
•drugs
•alcohol
•Distractions
Longer reaction times increase the thinking distance when

stopping from a given speed.

Exam Style Question


Simple experiment to measure reaction Time
• There are different ways to measure

reaction times.
• One simple method involves

dropping a ruler between someone’s
open thumb and forefinger.

•Apparatus:
a.100cm Ruler
b.Pen and Paper
c.Friends?
Method:
•Hold the top of the ruler with your arm stretched
out. Your fingers should be on the highest
measurement.
•Ask a friend to put their thumb and index finger

slightly open at the bottom of the ruler, with the
ruler between their fingers.
•Drop the ruler and record the measurement on

the ruler where the fingers are.

Results:
•The person with the fastest reaction

time is the one who catches the ruler at
the lowest measurement, as the sooner
the ruler is caught the less time it has
had to fall.
•Find the actual time use SUVAT

Equation (IBDP).

Factors affecting Braking Distance
The braking distance of a vehicle can be increased by:
•poor road and weather conditions, such as gravel, or

wet or icy roads - less friction between tyres and the road
•poor vehicle conditions, such as worn brakes or worn

tyres - less friction between brakes and wheels.
•more mass in the vehicle (extra passengers for example) -

the braking friction has to work for a greater distance to
remove the larger kinetic energy
The faster a vehicle travels, the greater the braking force

needed to stop it in a certain distance.

Exam Style Question

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Stopping Distance
• It is important to be able to estimate how the stopping distance

for a vehicle varies with different speeds
• It is important to note that the thinking distance is proportional to

the starting speed. This is because the reaction time is taken as
a constant, and distance = speed × time.

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Exam Style Question – Solution (1)


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Free Fall
•There are two types of Motions under action of gravity:

oWith Air Resistance
oWithout Air Resistance (also called Free Fall)
•We Need to study both of these motions for IGCSE.

Acceleration under gravity

Motion under Gravity-Acceleration of freefall
An object that falls to the ground with no forces acting on it
except gravity is said to be in freefall.
This can only occur when the effects

of air resistance are negligible.
Any object in freefall, close to the

Earth’s surface, experiences vertical
acceleration of 9.81 ms-2 downwards.
This is often denoted by the letter g.
‘Freefall’ includes both ‘rising’

and ‘falling’ motion, whether a
projectile follows a parabola or
a simple vertical line.

Motion under Gravity-Acceleration of freefall
• The acceleration of free fall for a body near to the Earth

is constant.
• As we go upwards, leaving the earth’s surface, the value
of (g) acceleration due to gravity decreases, till we reach
away space g=zero.
For Object Falling For Object thrown upwards.

Motion under Gravity –Freefall Summary
• Motion time graph

bellows show
corresponding
displacement and
acceleration time
graphs for objects
falling in free.

Exam Style Question

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Motion under Gravity- Experiment.
• The experiment shows, when all

the air has been removed from
the tube and both feather and
lead ball dropped from same
height, they both reach bottom
of the tube at the same time.
This is because all the objects
in the absence of air resistance,
accelerates towards the earth at
same rate that is 10m/s2

Motion under Gravity – With Air Resistance
• In Physics term fluid is used for anything which can flow.

Liquids and Gases are both Fluids.
• As an object moves through the fluid it experiences
resistance.
• This resistance is called Drag( Air Resistance).
Air Resistance Force
Gravitational Force

Motion under Gravity – with Air Resistance
Properties of Fluid Resistance:
•Fluid Resistance acts against the motion.
•Fluid Resistance can also be called Air Resistance if object is

moving in air. We can use the term Drag for both air and liquid.
•As the velocity of the object increases the (Drag)fluid

resistance increases. For example when cycle faster you feel
more air pushing against you.

What is terminal Velocity?
•As Object is falling it’s speed is increasing and so is Drag force.
•However, downwards gravitational still constant.
•At Terminal Velocity the downward Gravitational force is just equal to the
opposing Drag (frictional Air resistance).
•Therefore Net Force on the object is zero. When net force is Zero by using
F=ma, acceleration is also zero.
•Therefore speed becomes constant and this maximum constant speed is

called Terminal Velocity.

• Graph below is speed time graph for Object falling with air
resistance.
Fnet = Fgravity – Fdrag

resistance.
• Label Terminal Velocity on the graph.

resistance.
• Label Terminal Velocity on the graph.
• Can you draw corresponding Acceleration time graph?

Exam Style Question

• Motion time graphs below are representing motion of same

object falling with air resistance .

Exam Style Question


Motion under Gravity – Parachutist
• Notice Parachutist reaches terminal velocity twice. Can you

explain why?

Motion under Gravity – Parachutist
• Initially, as an object starts to fall the force due to gravity is greater than the air resistance
(drag). Because the downward force is greater there is a net force that causes the object to
accelerate downwards.
• As the objects speed through the air increases there is greater drag force between the
objects surface and the air particles. Therefore, the faster the object falls the greater the air
resistance (drag).
• Eventually the drag force equals the weight force. The maximum velocity reached by a
falling object is called the terminal velocity.
• Opening a parachute further increases the drag force, causing the sky diver to decelerate
(slow down).
• As the skydiver slows down, the drag force decreases until it balances the weight force once
more and a new, slower terminal velocity is reached.

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Topic 1.

2 of 22 © Boardworks Ltd 2009

2 Plot and interpret a speed–time graph or a distance–time graph

4 Recognize from the shape of a speed–time graph when a body is

3 of 22 © Boardworks Ltd 2009

• Kinematics is a branch of physics that describes

4 of 22 © Boardworks Ltd 2009

What is the difference between distance and

5 of 22 © Boardworks Ltd 2009

Distance is the actual path taken from one point to another.

Displacement is the minimum distance between two points –

6 of 22 © Boardworks Ltd 2009

What is the difference between distance and

An ant crawls from point A to point B along the curved

7 of 22 © Boardworks Ltd 2009

9 of 22 © Boardworks Ltd 2009

• A man runs after a bus. The bus is travelling at an

10 of 22 © Boardworks Ltd 2009

• A man runs after a bus. The bus is travelling at an

Answer: The man’s average speed is 25 ÷ 6 = 4.2 m/s.

11 of 22 © Boardworks Ltd 2009

12 of 22 © Boardworks Ltd 2009

What can be determined from this graph?

13 of 22 © Boardworks Ltd 2009

What can be determined from this graph?

16 of 22 © Boardworks Ltd 2009

17 of 22 © Boardworks Ltd 2009

18 of 22 © Boardworks Ltd 2009

A Scalar quantity can never have a negative value as it has

Distance and speed can only be graphed positively.

Consider a ball thrown into the

Graph its speed during the flight.

In order to measure speed we need to know Distance and

21 of 22 © Boardworks Ltd 2009

In order to measure speed we need to know Distance and

22 of 22 © Boardworks Ltd 2009

Average velocity = Displacement

Note: Distance moved in specific direction is the

Instantaneous velocity is measured over very small time.

23 of 22 © Boardworks Ltd 2009

• Consider a ball thrown up into the air.

24 of 22 © Boardworks Ltd 2009

25 of 22 © Boardworks Ltd 2009

So even though a geostationary satellite is travelling in a

26 of 22 © Boardworks Ltd 2009

• a is acceleration in m/s/s or m/s2

27 of 22 © Boardworks Ltd 2009

• What is acceleration of a car which accelerates in 5 s

28 of 22 © Boardworks Ltd 2009

• What is acceleration of a car which accelerates in 5 s

29 of 22 © Boardworks Ltd 2009

1. A motorbike increases its speed to 100km/h from

2. A car traveling at 20 ms-1 comes to rest in 5 s.

30 of 22 © Boardworks Ltd 2009

31 of 22 © Boardworks Ltd 2009

32 of 22 © Boardworks Ltd 2009

33 of 22 © Boardworks Ltd 2009

What can be determined from this graph?