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displacement =
Positionfinal - Positioninital
Example
A physics teacher walks 4 meters East, 2 meters
South, 4 meters West, and finally 2 meters North.
Even though the physics teacher has
walked a total distance of 12 meters,
her displacement is 0 meters.
During the course of her motion, she
has "covered 12 meters of ground"
(distance = 12 m).
Yet, when she is finished walking, she
is not "out of place" – i.e., there is no
displacement for her motion
(displacement = 0 m). Displacement,
being a vector quantity, must give
attention to direction.
The 4 meters east is canceled by the
4 meters west; and the 2 meters south
is canceled by the 2 meters north.
Example:
Tommy walks from home (0m) to school
which is 4.55 m North of his house. What
is his displacement?
∆d = df – di
= 4.55m – 0m
= 4.55 m N or +4.55m
Example:
A dog is digging up a garden 21 m east of
his house. He is scared off by a cat and
ends up under a tree 6.5 m east of his
house. What is his displacement?
∆d = df – di
= 6.5 m – 21m
= -14.5 m (or 14.5 m west)
Some examples of vector addition….
Distance
Distance (d) – how far an object travels.
Does not depend on direction.
Scalar or vector quantity? Scalar
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
cm
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
cm
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
cm
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
cm
Distance: 3 cm
Displacement: +3 cm
The positive gives the ant a direction!
Displacement
Find the ant’s displacement again.
Remember, displacement has direction!
- +
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
cm
Distance: 3 cm
Displacement: -3 cm
Displacement
Find the distance and displacement of the
ant.
- +
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
cm
Distance: 7 cm
Displacement: +3 cm
Displacement vs. Distance
Example of distance:
The ant walked 3 cm.
Example of displacement:
The ant walked 3 cm EAST.
An object’s distance traveled and its
displacement aren’t always the same!
Distance vs. Displacement
You drive the path, and your odometer goes up
by 8 miles (your distance).
Your displacement is the shorter directed
distance from start to stop (green arrow).
start
stop
Motion in Dimensions
1 dimension 2 dimension
Distance/length is Distance/length is
measured in ONE measured in TWO
direction (left to right dimensions (north and
OR north to south) east OR south and
west)
Practice Problem 1
An athlete runs around a track that is 100 meters
long three times, then stops.
What is the athlete’s distance and displacement?
Distance = 300 m
Displacement = 0 m
Why?
Practice Problem 2
A whale swims due east (from 0km) a
distance of 5km, turns around and goes
due west for 2km and finally turns around
again and heads 4km due east.
What is the total distance traveled?
•It speeds up
•It slows down
•It changes direction
Velocity Practice
What is the velocity of a car that traveled a
total of 75 kilometers in 1.5 hours from
Florida to New Jersey?
Speed Vs Velocity
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
cm
Distance traveled: 7 cm
Displacement: +3 cm
Average speed: (7 cm) / (5 s) = 1.4 cm/s
Average velocity: (+3 cm) / (5 s) = +0.6 cm/s
Distance vs. Time Graph
Important Graphing Information
1. Draw your axes
2. Label your axes
3. Choose your intervals
4. Choose appropriate spacing
between intervals.
5. Plot your data
6. Draw a line best fit
7. Give your graph a title
Graphs show relationships
A good way to show a Distance
relationship between two
variables is to use a
graph.
Distance
A graph makes it easy to
see if changes in one
variable cause changes
in the other variable (the
effect).
The distance vs. time graph
Distance To graph data, you
put time on the
horizontal (x) axis –
this is your
independent
Distance
variable.
Distance goes on
the vertical (y) axis
– this is your
dependent variable.
The distance vs. time graph
Distance vs. time data Distance
6
5
Distance (meters)
4
3
2
1
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Time (seconds)
object is not moving,
Distance-Time Graph
25
constant speed
Distance (meters)
20
15
10
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Time (seconds)
Fast,
steady
speed Increase
speed
Constant stationary
speed
Change
direction at a
constant rate
Terry, Jade and Jerome Raced. Plot their data on
a distance vs. time graph
How to determine total average speed
by looking at a line graph
1. Find total distance (ending distance)
2. Divide by total time (ending time)
t
Comparing speeds on a Distance –
Time Graph
1. Find the average
speed of each line.
2. Compare the steepness
of each line.
Changing Direction
Example: Car takes turn (can be at constant
speed)
Calculating Acceleration
Units of acceleration:
m/s2
A bicyclist started from rest along a straight path.
After 5s, his speed was 8m/s. What was his
acceleration during the time?
Fv Iv
a
t
Can we find time?
A car accelerates at a rate of 3.0 m/s2. If its original
speed is 8.0 m/s, how many seconds will it take the car
to reach a final speed of 25.0 m/s?
Fv Iv
t
a
25.0m /s 8.0m /s
t
3.0m /s2
t 5.7s
Can we find Final Velocity?
A motorcycle traveling at 25m/s accelerates at a rate of
7.0m/s2 for 6.0 seconds What is the final speed of the
motorcycle?
Fv Iv
a
t
Graphing Acceleration
Speed – Time Graphs
Shows how SPEED changes over
time
X axis = TIME
Y axis = SPEED
Object at Rest
Slowing Down
Problem 1: An object moves from point A to point
B to point C, then back to point B and then to point
C along the line shown in the figure below.