Motion

1. Introduction
In this page get class 9 motion notes in easy to understand language. This
chapter is studied under class 9 physics. Concept of motion is the foundation to all physics. you
must have learned about motion and types of motion in physics from your previous classes. Here
in class 9 physics chapter 8 of NCERT book we will study this topic in some more detail.

○ In our daily life, we see lots of things moving around, for example cars passing through
from one place to another, people riding on a bicycle and many more like this.
○ In scientific terms an object is said to be in motion ,if it changes its position with the
passage of time and if it does not change its position with the passage of time then it is said
to be at rest.
○ Both the motion and rest are relative terms for example mobile kept on the table is resting
at its position but it is moving in the sense as earth is rotating on its axis. So for a person
seeing mobile from earth it is at rest and for a person on moon earth seems to change its
position with time and so mobile is moving.
○ Simplest case of motion is ​rectilinear motion​ which is the motion of the object in a straight
line
○ In our description of the object, we will treat the object as a point object.
○ Objects under consideration can be treated as point objects if the size of the object is much
smaller than the distance traveled by it in reasonable time duration for example the length
of a motor car traveling a distance of 500km can be neglected w.r.t. distance traveled by it.
●

2. Motion along a straight line

○ The simplest type of motion is the motion along a straight line.

○ Two different quantities ​Distance​ and ​Displacement​ are used to describe the overall
motion of an object and to locate its final position with reference to its initial position at a
given time.
○ Distance​ in physics, is the length of the path (the line or curve) described by an object
moving through space. Distance is independent of direction. Thus, such physical quantities
that do not require direction for their complete description are called ​scalars​.
○ When a body moves from one position to another the shortest distance between the initial
and final position of the body along with its direction is known as ​displacement​.
Displacement has both direction and magnitude for its complete description and hence
such physical quantities are called vectors.
○ The distance traveled by a moving body cannot be zero but the final displacement of a
moving body can be zero.
○ If a body covers equal distances in equal intervals of time then it is said to be having
uniform motion​.
○ If a body covers unequal distances in equal intervals or equal distances in unequal intervals
then the body is said to have ​non-uniform motion​.
● Concept Map of Motion in General

​Test your Knowledge about concept of motion

​Fill in the blanks
​1. ​__________________ and ______ are used to describe the overall motion of an object and to
locate its final position with reference to its initial position at a given time.
​2. ​Physical quantities that do not require direction for their complete description are called ______
​3.​ When a body moves from one position to another the shortest distance between the initial and
final position of the body along with its direction is known as _______
​4.​ Displacement has both direction and magnitude for its complete description and these physical
quantities are called a _____
​5.​ The distance travelled by a moving object cannot be zero but the final _______ of a moving
object can be zero.
​6.​ when the object covers unequal distances in equal intervals or equal distances in unequal
intervals then motion is said to have ____ motion.
​7.​ when the body covers equal distances in equal intervals of time then it is said to be having
_____________________.

​3. Speed

○ Speed​ is defined as the total distance travelled by the object in the time interval during
which the motion takes place. SI unit of speed is meter per second. So,

where s is the distance traveled by the body and t is the time taken by the body to travel
distances.
○ Speed of a body gives us the idea how slow or fast that body is moving.
○ The ratio of total distance to total time taken by the body gives its average speed. The
speed of a body at a given instant is its instantaneous speed.

○ A body is said to have constant or uniform speed if it travels equal distance in equal
intervals of time.
● Concept Map of Speed

4. Velocity

○ The rate of change of displacement of a body with the passage of time is known as
velocity​ of the body. Velocity of an object is measured in meters per second in SI units.
So,

○ Velocity is nothing but the speed of an object moving in a ​definite direction​.

○ The velocity of an object can be uniform or variable. It can be changed by changing the
object’s speed, direction of motion or both.
○ So velocity of a body is a ​vector quantity​ involving both distance and displacement
whereas speed of a body is a ​scalar quantity​ and it only has magnitude and does not
have specific direction.
 ○ Thus a body is said to be moving with ​uniform velocity​ if it covers equal distances in equal
intervals of time in a specified direction.
○ A body is said to be moving with non uniform velocity if it covers unequal distances in equal
intervals of time and vice-versa in a specified direction or if it changes the direction of
motion.
○ The velocity of a body can be changed in two ways first by changing the speed of the body
and second by changing the direction of motion of the body by keeping the speed constant.
Also both speed and direction of the body can be varied in order to change the velocity of
the body.
○ When velocity of the object changes at a uniform rate, then average velocity is given by the
arithmetic mean of initial velocity and final velocity for a given period of time. That is,
​Average Velocity=​u+v2
○
Where ​u​is the initial velocity of the object and ​v​is the final velocity of the object.
● Concept Map of Velocity
5. acceleration

○ Acceleration is a measure of the change in the velocity of an object per unit time and
mathematically it is given as

○ If the velocity of an object changes from an initial value u to the final value v in time t, the
acceleration a is given by,
​a=​v−ut
○
and this kind of motion is called accelerated motion.
○ A body has uniform acceleration if it travels in a straight line and its velocity increases by
equal amounts in equal intervals of time for example freely falling bodies, motion of the ball
rolling down the inclined plane etc.
○ A body has non uniform acceleration if its velocity increases or decreases by an unequal
amount in equal intervals of time.
○ If acceleration is in the direction of the velocity then it is positive acceleration and if it is in
the direction opposite to the direction of velocity then it is negative and the negative
acceleration is termed retardation.
○ SI unit of acceleration is ms​-2​.
● Concept Map of Acceleration

​Speed, velocity and acceleration test questions

​Fill in the Blank Questions
1.​ __________________ is defined as the total distance traveled by the body in the time interval
during which the motion takes place.
​2.​ __________________ unit of speed is m/s
​3.​ The ratio of total distance to total __________________ taken by the body gives its average
speed.
​4.​ The rate of change of displacement of an object with the passage of time is known as
__________________ of the object.
​5.​ velocity of a body is a vector quantity involving both distance and __________________
whereas speed of a body is a scalar quantity and it only has magnitude and does not have specific
direction.
​6.​ A body is said to be moving with uniform velocity if it covers equal distances in equal intervals
of time in a specified __________________.
 ​ .​ A object is said to be moving with non uniform velocity if it covers unequal distances in equal
7
intervals of time and vice-versa in a specified direction or if it
changes the direction of __________________.
​8.​ If acceleration is in the __________________ of the velocity then it is positive acceleration and
if it is in the __________________ opposite to the ___________
_______ of velocity then it is negative and the negative acceleration is termed retardation.

​True and False Statement

​1.​ Acceleration is a measure of the change in the speed of an object per unit time
​2.​ A body has Non Uniform acceleration if its velocity increases or decreases by an unequal
amount in equal intervals of time.
​3.​ When velocity of the object changes at a uniform rate, then average velocity is given by the
arithmetic mean of initial velocity and final velocity for a given period of time.
​4.​ The velocity of a body can be changed in two ways first by changing the speed of the object
and second by changing the direction of motion of the body by keeping the speed constant.
​5.​ The odometer in the car measures the velocity of the car
​6.​ An object is said to have constant or uniform velocity if it travels equal distance in equal
intervals of time.
​7.​ A body has uniform acceleration if it travels in a straight line and its velocity increases by equal
amount in equal intervals of time

​6. Equations of uniformly accelerated motion

○ There are three equations of bodies moving with uniform acceleration which we can use to
solve problems of motion
● First Equation of motion
○ The first equation of motion is ​v=u+at
● , where v is the final velocity and u is the initial velocity of the body.
● First equation of motion gives velocity acquired by body at any time ​t
● Now we know that acceleration

so, a=​v−ut
●
and, at=v−u
rearranging above equation we get first equation of motion that is
v=u+at
○
● Second Equation of motion
○ Second equation of motion is
​s=ut+​12​at​2
●
where ​u​ is initial velocity, ​a​ is uniform acceleration and ​s​ is the distance traveled by body in time
t​.
● Second equation of motion gives distance traveled by a moving body in time ​t
● .
● To obtain second equation of motion consider a body with initial velocity ​u
● moving with acceleration a for time ​t​ its final velocity at this time be ​v​. If body covered distance ​s
in this time ​t​ , then average velocity of the body would be

Distance travelled by the body is

From first equation of motion

​v=u+at
So putting first equation of motion in above equation we get ,
s=​u+u+at2​×t=​(2u+at)t2​=​2ut+at​2​2
Rearranging it we get
s=ut+​12​at​2
○
● Third equation of motion
○ Third equation of motion is
​v​2​=u​2​+2as
● where ​u​ is initial velocity, ​v​ is the final velocity, ​a​ is uniform acceleration
and ​s​ is the distance travelled by the body.
● This equation gives the velocity acquired by the body in traveling a distance ​s
● .
● Third equation of motion can be obtained by eliminating time t between first and second equations
of motion.
So, first and second equations of motion respectively are
​v=u+at
● and ​s=ut+​12​at​2
Rearranging first equation of motion to find time t we get
t=​v−ua
Putting this value of t in second equation of motion we get
s=​u(v−u)a​+​12​a(​v−ua​)​2

s=​uv−u​2​a​+​a(v​2​+u​2​−2uv)2a​2

s=​2uv−2u​2​+v​2​+u​2​−2uv2a
 Rearranging it we get
​v​2​=u​2​+2as

● These three equations of motion are used to solve uniformly accelerated motion problems and
following three important points should be remembered while solving problems
○ if a body starts moving from rest its initial velocity ​u=0
●
● if a body comes to rest i.e., it stops then its final velocity would be ​v=0
1.
2. If a body moves with uniform velocity then its acceleration would be zero.
○
● Test yourself for Equations of uniformly accelerated motion
​.​The __________________ equation of motion is v=u+at , where v is the final velocity and u is
1
the initial velocity of the body.
​2.​Second equation of motion is s=ut+1/2at​2​ where u is initial velocity, a is uniform acceleration and
s is the ____________
______ travelled by body in time t.
​3.​ Third equation of motion is v​2​=u​2​+2as where u is initial velocity, v is the final velocity, a is
__________ and s is the distance traveled by the body.

​7. Graphical representation of motion

○ A graph is a pictorial representation of the relation between two sets of data of which one
set is of dependent variables and the other set is of independent variables.
○ To describe the motion of an object, we can use line graphs. In this case, line graphs show
dependence of one physical quantity, such as distance or velocity, on another quantity,
such as time.
● Distance Time Graphs
○ The change in the position of an object with time can be represented on the distance-time
graph.
○ In this graph, time is taken along the x-axis and distance is taken along the y-axis.
○ Distance time graphs of a moving body can be used to calculate the speed of the body as
they specifically represent velocity.
○ The distance time graph for a body moving at uniform speed is always a straight line as
distance travelled by the body is directly proportional to time as shown below in the figure
1.
○ The distance time graph for a body moving with non uniform speed is a curve and is shown
below in the figure 2.
 ○ The distance time graph is parallel to the time axis when the object is at rest and is
shown below in figure 3.

○ To calculate speed of the body from distance time graph say at point A first draw a
perpendicular AB on time axis and a perpendicular ​AC
● on distance axis so that ​AB
○ represents the distance travelled by the body in time interval OB and since we know that

● Velocity time graphs

○ The variation in velocity with time for an object moving in a straight line can be represented
by a velocity-time graph.
○ In this graph, time is represented along the x-axis and the velocity is represented along the
y-axis.
○ The product of velocity and time give displacement of an object moving with uniform
velocity. The area enclosed by the velocity-time graph and the time axis will be equal to the
magnitude of the displacement.
○ If a body moves with a constant velocity then velocity time graph for this body would be
straight line parallel to time axis as shown below in the figure 5

○ The velocity time graph of uniformly changing velocity is shown in figure 6 and is a straight
line. We can find out the value of acceleration using the velocity time graph.
○ For calculating acceleration at time corresponding to point R draw a perpendicular RP from
point R as shown in figure 6 and we know that

Here change in velocity is represented by PR and time taken is equal to OR. So,

which is equal to the slope of the velocity time graph. So we conclude that the slope of the
velocity time graph of the moving body gives its acceleration.
○ The distance traveled by moving body in a given time will be equal to area of triangle OPR
as shown in figure 6

so,

○ When the velocity of a body changes in an irregular manner then the velocity time graph of
the body is a curved line.
● 8. Equations of motion by graphical method
○ We already know about equations of motion when an object moves along a straight line
with uniform acceleration. We already know how to derive them but these equations can
also be derived by graphical method.
● a. Equation for velocity time relation
○ Consider the velocity-time graph of an object that moves under uniform acceleration as
shown below in the figure 7.
○ From this graph, you can see that initial velocity of the object is ​u
● (at point A) and then it increases to ​v​ (at point B) in time ​t​. The velocity changes at a uniform rate
a​.
● Again from figure it is clear that time ​t
● is represented by OC , initial velocity ​u​ by OA and final velocity of object after time ​t​ by BC.

● From graph as given in figure 7 it is clear that ​BC=BD+DC=BD+OA

● .
So we have
v=BD+u (1)
● We should now find out the value of BD. From the velocity-time graph (Fig. 7), the acceleration of
the object is given by

which gives, ​BD=at

●
putting this value of BD in equation 1 we get
v=u+at
 ○
which is the equation for velocity time relation.

● b. Equation for position time relation

○ Let us consider that the object has travelled a distance s in time t under uniform
acceleration a. In Fig. 7, the distance travelled by the object is obtained by the area
enclosed within OABC under the velocity-time graph AB.
○ Thus, the distance s travelled by the object is given by
s​= area OABC (which is a trapezium)
s=
​ area of the rectangle OADC + area of the triangle ABD
So,
s=OA×OC+​12​)AD×BD)
●
Substituting ​OA=u​, ​OC=AD=t​ and ​BD=at​, we get
s=(u×t)+​12​×(t×at)
or,
s=ut+​12​at​2
○
which is the equation of position time relation
● c. Equation for position velocity relation
○ Again consider graphs in figure 7. We know that distance travelled by a body in time
t is given by the area under line AB which is the area of trapezium OABC. So we have

Since ​OA+CB=u+v
● and ​OC=t​, we thus have
s=​(u+v)t2
From velocity time relation
t=​v−ua
putting this t in equation for s we get
s=​(u+v)2​(​v−ua​)
or we have
v​2​=u​2​+2as
○
which is an equation for position velocity relation.
● Test your Knowledge
​Fill in the blanks​ ​1.​ The motion of an object moving at uniform acceleration can be described
with the help of three equations, the equations are _____, ______ and __________
​2.​ The change in the position of an object with time can be represented on the _______ graph.
​3.​ The distance time graph for a body moving with non uniform __________________ is a curve
 ​ .​ The motion of an object could be uniform or non-uniform depending on whether its velocity is
4
constant or __________________.
​5.​The product of velocity and time give __________________ of an object moving with uniform
velocity.
​6. ​The area enclosed by velocity-time graph and the time axis will be equal to the magnitude of
the ________
​7.​ If a body moves with a constant velocity then velocity time graph for this body would be
_____________ parallel to time axis
​8. ​The acceleration of an object is the change in velocity per __________________time.
​9.​ The value of _____________can be determined using the velocity time
graph.________________ moving body gives its acceleration.

​9. Uniform circular motion

○ When an object moves in a circular path at a constant speed then motion of the object is
called uniform circular motion.
○ In our everyday life ,we came across many examples of circular motion for example cars
going round the circular track and many more .Also earth and other planets revolve around
the sun in a roughly circular orbits
○ If the speed of motion is constant for a particle moving in a circular motion still the particle
accelerates because of the constantly changing direction of the velocity.
○ If an object moves in a circular path with uniform speed, its motion is called uniform circular
motion
○ Here in circular motion, we use angular velocity in place of velocity we used while studying
linear motion.
○ Force which is needed to make the body travel in a circular path is called centripetal force.
○ We know that the circumference of a circle of radius ​r
● is given by ​2πr​. If the body takes ​t​ seconds to go once around the circular path of radius ​r​, the
velocity ​v​ is given by
v=​2πrt

● One thing we must keep in mind is that uniform linear motion is not accelerated but uniform circular
motion is accelerated motion.
● Examples of uniform circular motion are
(a) Motion of artificial satellites around the earth
(b) Moon, the natural satellite of earth, moves in uniform circular motion round the earth.
(c) Cyclists moving on a circular track with a constant speed exhibits uniform circular motion.