10/4/2017 MasteringPhysics: Assignment 1: Motion in 1-D

OneDimensionalKinematicswithConstantAcceleration

LearningGoal:
Tounderstandthemeaningofthevariablesthatappearintheequationsforonedimensionalkinematicswithconstant
acceleration.

Motionwithaconstant,nonzeroaccelerationisnotuncommonintheworldaroundus.Falling(orthrown)objectsandcars
startingandstoppingapproximatethistypeofmotion.Itisalsothetypeofmotionmostfrequentlyinvolvedinintroductory
kinematicsproblems.

Thekinematicequationsforsuchmotioncanbewrittenas
1 2
x(t) = x i + vi t + at ,
2

v(t) = v i + at ,

wherethesymbolsaredefinedasfollows:

x(t) isthepositionoftheparticle
xi istheinitialpositionoftheparticle

v(t)isthevelocityoftheparticle

v i istheinitialvelocityoftheparticle

aistheaccelerationoftheparticle.

Inanweringthefollowingquestions,assumethattheaccelerationisconstantandnonzero:a .
0

PartA
Thequantityrepresentedbyxisafunctionoftime(i.e.,isnotconstant).
ANSWER:

true

false

Correct

PartB
Thequantityrepresentedbyxi isafunctionoftime(i.e.,isnotconstant).
ANSWER:

true

false

Correct
Recallthatxi representsaninitialvalue,notavariable.Itreferstothepositionofanobjectatsomeinitialmoment.

https://session.masteringphysics.com/myct/itemView?view=print&assignmentProblemID=83957169 1/5
10/4/2017 MasteringPhysics: Assignment 1: Motion in 1-D

PartC
Thequantityrepresentedbyv i isafunctionoftime(i.e.,isnotconstant).
ANSWER:

true

false

Correct

PartD
Thequantityrepresentedbyv isafunctionoftime(i.e.,isnotconstant).
ANSWER:

true

false

Correct
Thevelocityv alwaysvarieswithtimewhenthelinearaccelerationisnonzero.

PartE
Whichofthegivenequationsisnotanexplicitfunctionoftandisthereforeusefulwhenyoudon'tknowordon'tneedthe
time?
ANSWER:

1 2
x = x i + vi t + at
2

v = v i + at
2 2
v = v + 2a(x xi )
i

Correct

PartF
Aparticlemoveswithconstantaccelerationa.Theexpressionv i + at representstheparticle'svelocityatwhatinstantin
time?
ANSWER:
https://session.masteringphysics.com/myct/itemView?view=print&assignmentProblemID=83957169 2/5
10/4/2017 MasteringPhysics: Assignment 1: Motion in 1-D

onlyattimet = 0

onlyatthe"initial"time

whenatimethaspassedsincetheparticle'svelocitywasv i

Correct

Moregenerally,theequationsofmotioncanbewrittenas
1 2
x(t) = x i + vi t + a (t)
2

and

v(t) = v i + a t.

Heretisthetimethathaselapsedsincethebeginningoftheparticle'smotion,thatis,t = t ti ,wheretisthecurrent
timeandti isthetimeatwhichwestartmeasuringtheparticle'smotion.Thetermsxi andv i are,respectively,thepositionand
velocityatt = ti .Asyoucannowsee,theequationsgivenatthebeginningofthisproblemcorrespondtothecaseti = 0,
whichisaconvenientchoiceifthereisonlyoneparticleofinterest.

Toillustratetheuseofthesemoregeneralequations,considerthemotionoftwoparticles,AandB.ThepositionofparticleA
dependsontimeasxA (t) = xi + v i t + (1/2)at2 .Thatis,particleAstartsmovingattimet = tiA = 0withvelocityv iA = v i ,
fromxiA = xi .Attimet = t1 ,particleBhastwicetheacceleration,halfthevelocity,andthesamepositionthatparticleAhad
attimet = 0 .

PartG
WhatistheequationdescribingthepositionofparticleB?

Hint1.Howtoapproachtheproblem
ThegeneralequationforthedistancetraveledbyparticleBis
1 2
x B (t) = x iB + viB t + aB (t) ,
2

or

1 2
x B (t) = x B (t = t1 ) + vB (t = t1 )(t t1 ) + aB (t t1 ) ,
2

sincet = t t1 isagoodchoiceforB.Fromtheinformationgiven,deducethecorrectvaluesoftheconstants
thatgointotheequationforxB (t)givenhere,intermsofA'sconstantsofmotion.

ANSWER:

https://session.masteringphysics.com/myct/itemView?view=print&assignmentProblemID=83957169 3/5
10/4/2017 MasteringPhysics: Assignment 1: Motion in 1-D

1 2
x B (t) = x i + 2vi t + at
4

xB (t) = xi + 0.5v i t + at
2

1 2
x B (t) = x i + 2vi (t + t1 ) + a(t + t1 )
4

2
xB (t) = xi + 0.5v i (t + t 1 ) + a(t + t 1 )

1 2
x B (t) = x i + 2vi (t t1 ) + a(t t1 )
4

2
xB (t) = xi + 0.5v i (t t 1 ) + a(t t 1 )

Correct

PartH
AtwhattimedoesthevelocityofparticleBequalthatofparticleA?

Hint1.VelocityofparticleA
TypeanexpressionforparticleA'svelocityasafunctionoftime.
Expressyouranswerintermsoftandsomeorallofthevariablesxi ,v i ,anda.

Hint1.Howtoapproachthispart
Lookatthegeneralexpressionforv(t)givenintheproblemintroduction.

ANSWER:

v A (t) = v i + at

Hint2.VelocityofparticleB
TypeanexpressionforparticleB'svelocityasafunctionoftime.
Expressyouranswerintermsoftandsomeorallofthevariablest1 ,xi ,v i ,anda.

Hint1.Howtoapproachthispart
Thegeneralexpressionforv B (t)is

v B (t) = v B (t = t 1 ) + aB (t t 1 ) .

Fromtheinformationgiven,deducethecorrectvaluesoftheconstantsthatgointothisequationintermsof
particleA'sconstantsofmotion.

ANSWER:

https://session.masteringphysics.com/myct/itemView?view=print&assignmentProblemID=83957169 4/5
10/4/2017 MasteringPhysics: Assignment 1: Motion in 1-D

v B (t) = 0.5v i + 2a(t t 1 )

ANSWER:

vi
t = t1 +
4a

vi
t = 2t1 +
2a

vi
t = 3t1 +
2a

Thetwoparticlesneverhavethesamevelocity.

Correct

https://session.masteringphysics.com/myct/itemView?view=print&assignmentProblemID=83957169 5/5