1

Ch 2. Motion in
a Straight Line
Definitions
“Dinophysics : Velocity-Raptor”
1. Kinematics - Motion
Kinetic Energy - Energy associated with motion

2. Motion in physics is broken down into categories

a.) Translational Motion - motion such that an object moves from one
position to another along a straight line.
b.) Rotational Motion - motion such that an object moves from one
position to another along a circular path.
c.) Vibrational Motion - motion such that an object moves back and
forth in some type of periodicity.

Example: Diatomic Molecule Moving Through Space.

Vibrational

Rotational

Translational
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Speed
1. Speed - How fast an object is moving regardless of what direction it is
moving.

Distance Traveled
Speed =
Change in time

Example 1. Traveling from your parking space at Conestoga to New York

City and back to Conestoga. Find your avg. speed.
y(mi)
One way travel = 130 mi. back
Total Distance Traveled = NY
260 mi. up
Total time elapsed = 5.2 hrs. Conestoga x(mi)
or (5 hrs 12 min)

Average Velocity and Displacement

Displacement - Change in position (straight line distance with direction)
Must specify a coordinate system.
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Example: Cartesian coordinate system

=
y(m) xi initia = Initial Position
x l
=
xf fina = Final Position
x l

xi= 2m xf= 6m x(m)

x1 x2

“Delta” Gives the direction

∆x = Change in x = x −x =6 m - 2 m = + 4 m x

f i
Delta x is the displacement

Avg. Velocity - How fast an object is moving and in what direction it is

moving.

Average Velocity = Change in position

Change in time

Average Ve
locity = ∆ x = xf − xi
∴
∆ t tf − ti

Notation for Displacement & Vel. Example Problem

 = x “hat”, and has a value of one. The sole purpose of x
x  is to
indicate the direction
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Example Problem:
A particle initially at position x = 5 m at time t= 2 s moves to
position x = -2 m and arrives at time t = 4 s.
a.) Find the displacement of the particle.
b.) Find the average speed and velocity of the particle.

y(m)

x(m)

Example Problem 1 revisited

Example 1. Traveling from your parking space at Conestoga to New York
City and back to Conestoga. The straight line distance from Conestoga to Y
is 97 mi.
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y(mi)

One way travel = 130 mi. back

Total Distance Traveled = 260 mi. NY
up
Travel time Con. to NY = 2.6 hrs.
0 Conestoga 97 x(mi)
Travel time NY to Con. = 2.6 hrs.

a.) What was the avg. speed from Conestoga to NY?

b.) What was the avg. velocity from Conestoga to NY?
c.) What was the avg. speed for the round trip?
d.) What was the avg. velocity for the round trip?

Note: Speed in PATH DEPENDENT

Velocity is PATH INDEPENDENT. It only depends on the initial and
final positions.

Scalar vs. Vector Quantities

Scalar - Quantity that has magnitude only.
- Mass - Speed
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- Length - Energy
Vector - A quantity that has both magnitude and direction.
- Position - Acceleration
- Velocity - Forces

Example: Length vs. Position

Pt. B Pt. A

-6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 x(m)

As measured from the origin the length to pt. A is 3m.

To specify the Pt. A in space you must reference it to the origin and
then Pt. A = + (3 m) x

or, the Position Vector A = + (3 m) x

 = x “hat”, and is called a unit vector in the x-direction. It has a

x
magnitude of one (hence the name unit) and is used solely to
specify direction.

Position vs Time Graph

x Y1 Y2
Time (s) Position (m) Position (m)
0 0 0
1 1 5
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2 4 10
3 9 15
4 16 20
5 25 25

Position vs. Time

30
Position (m) (x-coord.)

25

20
Movement 2
15

10 Movement 1

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Time (sec)
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Position vs. Time Graph for a Complete Trip

300

250
B C
200
D
Position (m)

150

100

50
A F
0

-50

-100
E
-150
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time (s)

x y
Time (s) Position (m)
Find the average velocity as the object
0 0 moves from:
10 200
20 200
a.) A to B b.) B to C c.) C to D.
25 150 d.) A to E
45 -100
60 0

Velocity vs. Time (Constant Velocity)

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Position Function
8 ∆t
7
6
5
x(m)

4
3
∆x
2
1
0
0 1 2 3 4 5
t(sec)

∆x Area!
v ave =
∆t

Velocity Function
4

3
v (m/s)

1 ∆x
0
0 1 2 3 4 5
t(sec)
Velocity vs. Time Graph for a Complete Trip
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300

250
B C
200
D
Position (m)
150

100

50
A F
0

-50

-100
E
-150
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time (s)

25
A B
20
15
10 E F
Velocity (m/s)

5
B C
0
-5
-10 C D E
-15 D

-20
-25
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time (s)

Instantaneous Velocity
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v
r ∆x x ( t f ) − x ( t i )
Recall: v avg = = xˆ (Average velocity)
∆t t f − ti

 m 2  m 4
Consider the function x(t): x( t) = 3 m +  10  t -  0.5 4  t
 s 
2  s 

r 50.5 m-35.0 m m
A. v avg = = 10.3 xˆ 2 s < t < 3.5 s ∆t = 1.5 sec
3.5 s - 2.0 s s

r 39.7 m-35.0 m m
B. v avg = = 23.5 xˆ 2 s < t < 2.2 s ∆t = 0.2 sec
2.2 s - 2.0 s s

60 60 slope = 23.5 m/s

50 slope = 10.3m/s 50

40 40
x(m)

x(m)
30 30

20 20

10 10

0 0
0 1 2 3 4 0 1 2 3 4
t(sec) t(sec)
A. B.

∆ t (sec) vave (m/s)

1 17.5
0.2 23.45
0.01 23.98
0.001 23.998

Define: The instantaneous velocity at time ti is the slope of the line

tangent to the curve X(t) at the time ti.

The instantaneous velocity at the time t = ti is the limiting value we get by

letting the upper value of the tf approach ti. Mathematically this is
expressed as:
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 dX( t)  X( t f ) − X( t i ) 
v( t ) = = lim  
dt t f → ti  t f − ti 


The velocity function v( t) is the time derivative of the position function X( t)
. Differentiation (Calculus)

Acceleration
When the instantaneous velocity of a particle is changing with time, the
particle is accelerating
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v v v −v
∆v
a avg = = f i xˆ (Average Acceleration)
∆t t f − ti

v m/s m
Units: avg = s = 2
a
s

Example: If a particle is moving with a velocity in the x-direction given

by
  m 
v(t) = 3 3 
t2

 s 
a.) What is the average acceleration over the time interval 6 s ≤ t ≤ 12 s

Example: Instantaneous Acceleration

Velocity vs. Time time (s) vel. (m/s)

0 -10
35 1 -2
30 2 -5
25
3 5
velocity (m/s)

20
4 12
15

10
5 14
5 6 12
0 7 21
-5 8 30
-10
0 2 4 6 8 10
-15
3≤ t ≤ 6
time (s)

a.) Find aavg. over the time interval 5 ≤ t ≤ 8

b.) What is the acceleration at time t = 6 s ?

c.) What is the acceleration when the velocity of the particle is zero?
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Positive and Negative Accelerations

v(m/s)
D
C

B E
t (s)

F
A
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A→B:

B→C:
We make the assumption that the acceleration does not change.
Near the surface of the earth, (where most of us spend most of
a(m/s2) our time) the acceleration due to gravity is approximately
constant ag = 9.8 m/s2
C→D:
a

D→E:

0
E→F:ti = 0 tf = t t (s)

vf = vi + a t 1.
Area! Slope!
v(m/s)

vf
Special Case: Constant Acceleration
vi

0
ti = 0 tf = t t (s)
Area! Slope!

x(m)
xf

xi
1 2
xf = xi + v i t + at 2.
ti = 0 tf = t 2
t (s)
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Solving for the 3rd constant acceleration equation

Solve equation 1 for t and substitute t into equation 2 to get the following
equation.

v 2f = vi2 + 2 a ∆x 3.
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FREE-FALL ACCELERATION
(9.8 m/s2 = 32 ft/s2)
Consider a ball is thrown straight up.
It is in “Free Fall” the moment it leaves you hand.

Plot y(t) vs. t for the example above.

y(t)

t/2 tf
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Plot v(t) vs. t

t/2 tf

FINAL NOTES ON CH 2.

Remember , when going between the following graphs

x(t)

v(t) Area
Slope
Under
Curve
a(t)
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Problem Solving with the constant acceleration equations

1. Write down all three equations in the margin

2. a = − 9.8 m/s for free fall problems
2

3. Analyze the problem in terms of initial and final sections.

CH 2 Describing Motion: Kinematics in 1-D

Practice Questions
_______1. A car starts from Hither, goes 50 km in a straight line to Yon, immediately turns
around, and returns to Hither. The for this round trip 2 hours. The magnitude of the
average velocity of the car for this round trip is:
A. 0
B. 50 km/hr
C. 100 km/hr
D. 200 km/hr
E. Cannot be calculated without knowing the acceleration

_______2. An object starts from rest at the origin and moves along the x axis with a constant
acceleration of 4 m/s2. Its average velocity as it goes from x = 2 m to x = 8m is:
A. 1 m/s
B. 2 m/s
C. 3 m/s
D. 5 m/s
E. 6 m/s

_______3. A ball is in free fall. Its acceleration is:

A. Downward during both ascent and descent
B. Downward during ascent and upward during descent
C. Upward during ascent and downward during descent
D. Upward during both ascent and descent
E. Downward at all times except at the very top, when it is zero

_______4. The coordinate-time graph of an object is a straight line with a positive slope. The
object has:
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A. Constant displacement
B. Steadily increasing acceleration
C. Steadily decreasing acceleration
D. Constant velocity
E. Steadily increasing velocity

_______5. A car accelerates from rest on a straight road. A short time later, the car decelerates to a
stop and then returns to its original position in a similar manner. Which of the
following graphs best describes the motion?
x x x x x

t t t t t

A B C D E

Answers: 1.A 2.E 3.A 4.D 5.E