Motion in One

Dimension

Topics

Distance and Displacement

Speed and Velocity
Acceleration
Motion with Constant Acceleration

Falling Objects

One-Dimensional
Motion

To simplify the concept of motion, we

will first consider motion that takes
place in one direction.
Things can move forward and
backward, but not left and right
One example is the motion of a
commuter train on a straight track.
To measure motion, you must choose a
frame of reference.

Definitions

Frame of reference: a system for

specifying the precise location of
objects in space and time

In the train example, any station

along the route serve as a frame
of reference.

Unless stated otherwise, giving somethings speed means

relative to the earths surface.

Speed of car A relative to the ground =

40 m/s
- Speed of car B relative to the ground =
30 m/s
- Speed of car A relative to car B =
10 m/s
(car A is moving AWAY from car B)
- Speed of car B relative to car A =
-10 m/s
(car B is moving TOWARD car A)

Before describing motion, you

must set up a coordinate
system
define an origin and a positive
direction.

x0

Distance
The

total length traveled by

an object.

How

far have you walked? is

a typical distance question.
The SI unit of distance is the
meter (m).

Displacement
When things start moving, the length
of a straight line drawn from the
objects initial position to its final
position is its displacement
Displacement is a change in position.
Displacement is not always equal to
the
distance travelled.

Displacement

In one dimension

x x f xi
Change in position along x-axis = (final position on x-axis) (initial position on x-axis)

Motion in One
Dimension

Same concepts apply to any axis!

Space shuttles instead of trains

y y f yi
Change in position along y-axis = (final position on y-axis) (initial position on y-axis)

Sign Convention

When dealing with motion in one

dimension, the object only has two
direction to travel. These two directions
are specified by using + and signs.

If the sign of the motion is + the object

is moving in the +x direction. Likewise,
if the sign of the motion is - the object is
moving in the -x direction.

If you drive from your friends

house to the grocery store and
then to your house, your 2.1 mi
displacement is
and the distance10.7
youmi.
have
travelled is

Practice Problem:
Two tennis players approach the net to
congratulate one another after a game. a) Find the
distance and displacement of player A. b) Repeat
for player B.

a) Distance = 5 m
because A moves in +x direction
b) Distance = 2 m
because A moves in -x direction

Practice Problem:
If x is the displacement of a particle,
and d is the distance the particle traveled
during that displacement, which of the
following is always a true statement?
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)

d = |x|
d < |x|
d > |x|
d > |x|
d < |x|

Practice Problem

A particle moves from x = 1.0 meter to

x = -1.0 meter.
1. What is the distance d traveled by
the particle?
2. What is the displacement of the
particle?

VELOCITY
VS
SPEED

Velocity and Speed

Velocity describes motion with both a

direction and a numerical value (a
magnitude).

Speed has no direction, only magnitude.

Average speed is equal to the total

distance travelled divided by the time
interval.

Average Velocity

Average velocity is the total displacement

divided by the time interval during which the
displacement occurred.

changeinposition
displacement
averagevelocity=
=
changeintime
timeinterval

vavg

x f xi
x

t
t f ti

Velocity and Speed

distance traveled
average speed =
time of travel

Keep in mind
POSITIVE AND
NEGATIVE QUANTITIES
ARE JUST DIRECTIONS
IN MOTION PROBLEMS!

Examples
1. If we travel 320 km in 4 hours,
a) what is our average speed?
Ans: S= d/t = 320 km/4 h = 80 km/h.
b) If we drive at this average speed for 5
hours, how far will we go?
Ans: d = st = (80 km/h)( 5 h) = 400 km.
c) If we drive at this average speed, how long
it will take us to drive 5000 km?
Ans: t= d/s = (1600 km)/(80 km/h)=20 h

Examples
2. A plane flies 600 km away from its base at

200 km/h, then flies back to its base at 300

km/h.

a) What

is its average speed?

Answer:
b) What is its average velocity?
total distance traveled, d = 2 x 600 km = 1200 km;
Average velocity, vavg =
total time spent ( for the round trip),
tdisplacement/time
= (600 km/200 km/h) + (600 km/300 km/h) = 3 h
+ 2 h = 5 h. = 0 km/5 h = 0 km/h.
Average speed, s = d/t = 1200 km/5 h = 240 km/h.

Examples
Consider a trip to a friends house
370 km west (negative direction)
along a straight highway. If you left
at 10 AM and arrived at 3 PM, what is
your average velocity?
Solution:

Examples
During a race on level ground, Juno
runs
with an average velocity of 6.02 m/s
to the
east.. What is Junos displacement
after
137 s?

Acceleration

rate of change of velocity with

respect to time
How much does your velocity
change, and how fast does this
happen?

Dimensions of a

Work it out from the formula

a is measured in m/s2

Practice Problems
1.

With an average
acceleration of -1.2 m/s2,
how long will it take a
cyclist to bring a bicycle
with an initial speed of 6.5
m/s to a complete stop?
A: 5.42 s

Finding Acceleration
Example 1: In 2.5 h a car increases its speed from 60
km/h to 65 km/h while a bicycle goes from rest to 5
km/h. Which undergoes the greater acceleration? What
is the acceleration of each vehicle?
60 km/h

65
km/h

Acceleration of the car

= (65 km/h - 60
km/h)/2.5h = 2 km/h2.

2.5 h

Acceleration of the bike=

(5 km/h - 0 km/h)/2.5 =
2 km/ h2.

Relating the two

Exercise
1

A family in a car travels 450 km East in 9

hours at a constant speed. Then they travel
600 km West in 10 hours at a constant speed.
Find the

a.

speed during the first 9 hours.

velocity during the first 9 hours
displacement at t=3 hours.
speed during the last 10 hours.
velocity during the last 10 hours.
average speed during 19 hour trip.
final displacement.
average velocity during 19 hour trip.

b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.

2.

a.
b.

A car accelerates from rest (at

time t= 0 s) to 5.8 m/s in 2.3 s.
The acceleration of the car is
If the car continues accelerating
at this rate, what is the velocity
of the car at time t= 4.5 s?

3. A car slows down from a velocity at

8.3 m/s to a velocity of 5.1 m/s in 0.8 s
a. What is the acceleration of the car?
b. If the car keeps slowing down at this
rate, find the time at which the
velocity will be 2 m/s.
c. Find the time at which the car will be
at rest.
d. How much distance will your car travel
before coming to rest?

Kinematic Equations for

Linear Motion
(For constant acceleration
ONLY)

To select the appropriate equation to

solve a particular problem:
1) List what quantities are given - (will be 3)
2) List what is being asked for - (will be 1).
3) Find the equation that contains all 4
involved quantities.

1. These equations work for

motion in ANY one direction

2. If x also represents the

total distance in only 1
direction, you can replace x
with d (for distance) and then
think of vf and vi in terms of
speed rather than velocity

Practice Problem 1

A boy takes a road trip from City A

to City B. The distance between
the two cities is 50, 000 m. He
travels the first 30,000 m at a
speed of 30 m/s and the last 20,000
m at 40 m/s. What is his average
speed?

Practice Problem 2
A car going 15m/s accelerates at
5m/s2 for 3.8s. How fast is it going
at the end of the acceleration?

Practice Problem 3

A penguin slides down a glacier

starting from rest, and
accelerates at a rate of 7.6m/s2.
If it reaches the bottom of the hill
going 15m/s, how long does it
take to get to the bottom?

Practice Problems 4

A car slows from 45 m/s to 30m/s

over 6.2s. How far does it travel in
that time?

A cyclist speeds up from his 8.45m/s

pace. As he accelerates, he goes
325 m in 30s. What is his final
velocity?

Practice Problems
1. A bowling ball is thrown at a speed of
6.8m/s. By the time it hits the pins 63
m
away, it is going 5.2 m/s. What is
2. If a car decelerates at a rate of
the
4.64m/s2
acceleration?

and it travels 162m in 3s, how fast was it

going initially?

3. A train engineer notices a cow on

the
track when he is going 40.7 m/s. If
he can decelerate at a rate of
-1.4m/s2 and the cow is 500m away,
will he be able to stop in time to
avoid hitting the cow?