Chapter 12.

KINEMATICS OF A PARTICLE

Chapter objectives:

 To introduce the concepts of position, displacement, velocity,

and acceleration.
 To study particle motion along a straight line and represent
this motion graphically.
 To investigate particle motion along a curved path using
different coordinate systems.
 To present an analysis of dependent motion of two particles.

 To examine the principles of relative motion of two particles

using translating axes.
 An Overview of Mechanics

Mechanics: The study of how bodies

react to forces acting on them.

Statics: The study of Dynamics:

bodies in equilibrium. 1. Kinematics – concerned with
the geometric aspects of motion
2. Kinetics - concerned with
the forces causing the motion
12.2. RECTILINEAR KINEMATICS: CONTINIOUS MOTION

A particle travels along a straight-line path

defined by the coordinate axis s.
1. POSITION
The position of the particle at any instant is
defined by the position vector r, or the
scalar s. Scalar s can be positive or
negative. Typical units for r and s are
meters (m) or feet (ft).
The displacement of the particle is
defined as its change in position.
Vector form: Scalar form:

D r = r’ - r D s = s’ - s
2. VELOCITY
Velocity is a measure of the rate of change in the position of a particle.
It is a vector quantity (it has both magnitude and direction). The
magnitude of the velocity is called speed, with units of m/s or ft/s.

The average velocity of a particle during a

time interval Dt is
Δr
v avg 
Δt
The instantaneous velocity is the time-derivative of position.

dr
v
dt
Speed is the magnitude of velocity:

ds
v
dt
3. ACCELERATION
Acceleration is the rate of change in the velocity of a particle. It is a
vector quantity. Typical units are m/s2 or ft/s2.

The instantaneous acceleration is the time

derivative of velocity.
dv
Vector form: a
dt
dv d 2s
Scalar form a  2
dt dt
Acceleration can be positive (speed
increasing) or negative (speed decreasing).
The derivative equations for velocity and acceleration can be manipulated
to get
a ds = v dv
4. CONSTANT ACCELERATION

Acceleration is constant (a = ac) :

v t

 dv   a dt
v0 0
c yields v  v0  ac t

s t

 ds   vdt yields s  s0  v0t  (1/ 2)ac t 2

s0 0
v s

 vdv   ac ds yields v 2  (v0 ) 2  2ac ( s  s0 )

v0 s0
 EXAMPLE 1

Given: A particle travels along a straight line to the right

with a velocity of v = ( 4 t – 3 t2 ) m/s where t is
in seconds. Also, s = 0 when t = 0.

Find: The position and acceleration of the particle

when t = 4 s.
EXAMPLE 2
 CURVILINEAR MOTION:
GENERAL & RECTANGULAR COMPONENTS
 12.4. GENERAL CURVILINEAR MOTION

A particle moves along a curve

defined by the path function, s.
1. POSITION

The position of the particle at any instant is designated by the vector

r = r(t). Both the magnitude and direction of r may vary with time.

If the particle moves a distance Ds

along the curve during time interval
Dt, the displacement is determined by
vector subtraction: D r = r’ - r
2. VELOCITY
Velocity represents the rate of change in the position of a
particle.
The average velocity of the particle
during the time increment Dt is
Dr
vavg 
Dt
The instantaneous velocity is the
time-derivative of position

dr
v
dt
The velocity vector, v, is always
tangent to the path of motion.
2. VELOCITY

Speed: the magnitude of v is called the speed

ds
v
dt

3. ACCELERATION

Acceleration represents the rate of change in the

velocity of a particle.
Average acceleration
3. ACCELERATION

If a particle’s velocity changes from v to v’ over a

time increment Dt, the average acceleration during
that increment is:

Dv v ' v
a avg  
Dt Dt
The instantaneous acceleration is the time-
derivative of velocity:

dv dr
a 
dt dt
12.5. CURVILINEAR MOTION: RECTANGULAR
COMPONENTS

Occasionally the motion of a

particle can best be described
along a path that can be
expressed in terms of its x, y, z
1. POSITION
The position of the particle can be defined at any instant by the
position vector
   
r  xi  y j  zk
The x, y, z components may all be functions of time, i.e., x = x(t),
y = y(t), and z = z(t) .

The magnitude of the position vector is:

2 2 2
r x y z

The direction of r is defined by the unit vector:

1
u r
r
 2. VELOCITY
The velocity vector is the time derivative of the position vector:
 dr d d d
v  ( xi)  ( yj)  ( zk )
dt dt dt dt
This equation reduces to
•
v  vx i  v y j  vz k
. . .
where v x  x, v y  y , v y  z
The unit vector of the velocity vector
is
The magnitude of the velocity vector is v
uv 
v
v  vx2  v y2  vz2 The direction of v is tangent to the
path of motion.
3. ACCELERATION
The acceleration vector is the time derivative of the velocity vector (the
second derivative of the position vector):
dv d 2r
a  2
 axi  a y j  azk
dt dt
where
ax  vx  
x, a y  v y  
y, az  vz  
z
The magnitude of the acceleration vector is

a  ax2  a y2  az2

 a
The unit vector of the acceleration is ua 
a
The direction of a is usually not tangent to the path of the particle.
 EXAMPLE 4
The particle travels along the path defined by the parabola
y=0.5 x2 . If the component of velocity along the axis is vx
=5t ft/s, where t is in seconds, determinte the particle’s
distance from the origin O and the magnitude of its
acceleration when t=1 s. When t=0, x=0, y=0.

y  0.5x2

o
 EXAMPLE 5
A sack slides off the ramp, shown in Fig. 12-21, with a horizontal
velocity of 12 m/ s. If the height of the ramp is 6 m from the floor,
determine the time needed for the sack to strike the floor and the
range R where sacks begin to pile up.
Solution

Coordinate System. The origin of

coordinates is established at the
beginning of the path, point A, Fig. 12-
21. The initial velocity of a sack has
components: (vA)x = 12 m/s, ( vA )y =
0, ay = -9.81 m/s2 . Since (vB)x = (vA)x
= 12 m/s, the three unknowns are (vB),
R, and the time of flight tAB.