Motion in One

Direction
Rectilinear Kinematics
• Refers to straight line motion. The kinematics of a particle is
characterized by specifying, at any given instant, the particle’s
position, velocity and acceleration.

Particle
• Is a body of negligible dimensions. When the dimensions of a
body are irrelevant to the description to its motion or the action
of forces on it, the body may be treated as a particle.
Distance
• Length of the path taken by an object

Displacement
• The change in its position
Speed
is a scalar quantity. If an object takes a time interval t to travel a
distance d, then

Velocity
is a vector quantity. If an object undergoes a vector displacement s
in a time interval t, then
 EXAMPLE
A runner makes a lap around a 200-m track in a time
of 25 s. What were the runner’s (a) average speed and
(b) average velocity?
Acceleration
measures the time rate-of-change of a velocity:
Uniformly Accelerated Motion Along a Straight Line
the acceleration vector is constant and lies along the line of the
displacement vector, so that the directions of v and a can be
specified with plus and minus signs. If we represent the
displacement by s (positive if in the positive direction, and
negative if in the negative direction), then the motion can be
described with the three equations for uniformly accelerated
motion:
Instantaneous Velocity
the average velocity evaluated for a time interval that approaches
zero. Thus, if an object undergoes a displacement s in a time t,
then for that object the instantaneous velocity is
Graphical Interpretations
for motion along a straight line (the x-axis) are as follows:

- The instantaneous velocity of an object at a certain time is the

slope of the displacement versus time graph at that time. It can
be positive or negative, or zero.
- The instantaneous acceleration of an object at a certain time is
the slope of the velocity versus time graph at that time.
- For constant - velocity motion, the x-versus-t graph is a straight
line. For a constant-acceleration motion, the v-versus-t graph is
a straight line.
 •
Constant Velocity

Constant Acceleration
Direction is Important
a positive direction must be chosen when analyzing motion along
a line. Either direction may be chosen as positive. If a
displacement, velocity, or acceleration is in the opposite direction,
it must be taken as negative.
 EXAMPLE 1
Change the speed of 0.200 cm/s to units of kilometers
per year.
 EXAMPLE 2
An auto travels at a rate of 25 km/h for 4 min, then at
50 km/h for 8 min, and finally at 20km/h for 2 min.
Find (a) the total distance covered in kilometers and
(b) the average speed for the complete trip in meters
per second.
 EXAMPLE 3
A truck’s speed increases uniformly from 15km/h to
60 km/h in 20 s. Determine (a) the average speed, (b)
the acceleration, and (c) the distance traveled, all in
units of meters and seconds.
 EXAMPLE 4
An object starts from rest with a constant acceleration
of 8 m/s^2 along a straight line. Find (a) the speed at
the end of 5 s. (b) the average speed of 5-s interval,
and (c) the distance traveled in the 5s
 EXAMPLE 5
A car’s odometer reads 22 687 km at the start of a trip
22 791 km at the end. The trip took 4 h. What was the
car’s average speed in kilometers per hour? In meters
per second?
 EXAMPLE 6
A runner travels 1.5 laps around a circular track in a
time of 50 s. The diameter of the track is 40m and its
circumference is 126 m. Find (a) the average speed of
the runner and (b) the magnitude of the runner’s
average velocity.
 EXAMPLE 7
A body with initial velocity 8 m/s moves along a
straight line with constant acceleration and travels
640 m in 40 s. For the 40 s interval, find (a) the
average velocity, (b) the final velocity, and (c) the
acceleration.
 EXAMPLE 8
A truck starts from rest and moves with a constant
acceleration of 5 m/s^2. Find its speed and the
distance traveled after 4 s has elapsed.
 SEATWORK
1. An auto’s velocity increases uniformly from 6 m/s to
20 m/s while covering 70 m. Find the acceleration
and the time taken.
2. A plane starts from rest and accelerates along the
ground before takeoff. It moves 600 m in 12 s. Find
(a) the acceleration, (b) speed at the end of 12 s, (c)
distance moved during the twelfth second.