13

Chapter 3
MOTION IN A STRAIGHT LINE

Introduction
Kinematics : The branch of physics which deals with study of motion of an object
Rest : An object is said to be in rest if there is no relative change in the position of
an object with respect to time
Motion : An object is said to be in motion if there is a relative change in the
position of an object with respect to time

Think Further
Motion and Rest are completely relative states, as it completely depends on the
Frame of Reference. Example, if you are at rest with respect to earth but you
are in motion with respect to the universe as the earth is continously revolves
around sun and is in continous motion.

Distance Travelled and Displacement

C Suppose an object moves from point A to B then to C ,

then the its distance travelled which is the length of the
actual path travelled by the body is 3m + 4m = 7m
5m

4m
But, the displacement which is the shortest distance
between initial and final position can be found using
A 3m B pythagoras theorem as 5m.

Distance Travelled ( Path length ) : The length of the actual path travelled by the
body during its motion is called as Distance Travelled
Displacement : The shortest distance from the initial postion to final position is
called as Displacement. (or) It can also be defined as the length of a straight line
joining the initial and final position.

Quick Note
S.I unit for distance travelled and displacement is metre (m)
14 Difference between Distance travelled and displacement

Distance Travelled Displacement

It is the length of the actual path It is the shortest distance between
Length
travelled initial and final point
It is a Scalar Quantity It is a Vector Quantity
It can either be positive or zero It can be negative, positive and zero
It is always greater than or equal to It is always lesser than or equal to
displacement. distance travelled.

Speed and Velocity

Speed : It is defined as the distance travelled by the body in an unit time.

Distance Travelled
Speed =
Time Taken

Velocity : It is defined as the displacement in an unit time.

Displacement
Velocity =
Time Taken

Difference between Speed and velocity

Speed Velocity
Distance travelled per unit tim Displacement per unit tim
Length
It is a Scalar Quantity It is a Vector Quantity
It can either be positive or zero.
It can be negative, positive and zero.

Quick Note
-1
S.I unit for speed and velocity is m/s . And Dimension is [ L T ]
Instantaneous Velocity or Instantaneous Speed : The rate of change of position of a
body at a particular instant of time is called as Instantaneous velocity or speed.

Instantaneous velocity = lim Δx = dx

Δt 0 Δt dt
Uniform Motion : If an object moving in a straight line covers equal distances in
equal interval of time then it is said to be in Uniform motion.
Non-Uniform Motion : If an object moving in a straight line covers unequal
distances in equal interval of time then it is said to be in Non-Uniform motion.
 15
Acceleration
It is defined as the rate of change of velocity with respect to time.

change in velocity ΔV
Acceleration

= =
Time Taken Δt

Quick Note
-2
S.I unit for speed and velocity is m/s .
2 And Dimension is [ L T ]
If a body is moving with uniform velocity , then the acceleration is always zero.

Graphs

x-t graph ( displacement - time graph )

v-t graph ( velocity - time graph )

Things to Remember
Slope of displacement - time ( x-t ) graph gives velocity.
Slope of velocity - time ( v-t ) graph gives acceleration
Area under velocity - time ( v-t ) graph gives displacement.
16 Deriving Kinematic Equations for Uniformly accelerated
motion using v-t graph

Let us consider a body staring with initial

velocity ‘u‘ and moving with ‘a‘ uniform
acceleration for time ‘t‘ . Let the final
velocty be ‘v‘ and displacement be ‘s’ .
As shown in the figure.
 17

th
Distance travelled during n second of motion
18

Quick Note

Motion under gravity : If a body is dropped, it falls vertically downwards with

a uniform acceleration which is called as acceleration due to gravity. It is due to
the gravitational attraction from earth. The value of acceleration due to gravity
is same for every object dropped and it is independent of mass.

Relative Velocity

Velocity of one body with respect to an other moving body is called as is called as
relative velocity

If VA and VB are the velocities of two bodies moving in same direction, then the
velocity of A with respect to B is given by

VAB = VA - VB

If VA and VB are the velocities of two bodies moving in opposite direction, then the
velocity of A with respect to B is given by

VAB = VA + VB

Important Questions

1 Mark
Define Instantaneous velocity
Define Acceleration
What does slope of x-t graph give
What does area under x-t graph represent
What does slope of v-t graph represent
Define relative velocity
what is the initial velocity of a body falling under gravity
what is the acceleration of the body moving with uniform velocity

2 Mark or 3 Mark
Distinguish between distance travelled and displacemen
what is uniform and non-uniform motio
Draw the v-t graph for (i) uniform motion (ii) Uniform positive acceleratio
Distinguish between Speed and Velocity
Derive expression for displacement in nth second of motion.
5 Mark 19
2 1 2
1
Derive s = ut + 2 at or x o= v t + 2 at using v-t graph .
2 2 2 2
2. Derive v = u + 2as or v = vo + 2ax using v-t graph .

Numericals
A stone is dropped from top of a tower 100m height. At teh same instant another
stone is thrown vertically upward from the base of the tower with the velocity of
2
25 m/s. When and where will the two stones meet ? ( Given g = 10 m/s
A car moving along a straight road with a sppeed of 126 km/h is brought to stop
at a distance of 200m. What is the retardation of the car and how long does it
take for the car to stop
If a balloon ascending with a velocity of 9.8 m/s and a stone is dropped and it
reaches the ground in 11s. What is the height of the balloon from ground when
the stone was dropped and also find the velocity with which the stone hits the
ground
A ball is thrown vertically upwards with a speed of 20 m/s from top of a building
which is 25m high.
(a) How high will the ball rise
(b) How long will it take to reach the ground ?
A body standing on a stationary lift ( open from above ) throws a ball upwards
with the maximum initial speed he can , equal to 49 m/s.
(a) How much time does the ball take to return his hands ?
(b) If the lift starts moving up with a uniform speed of 5 m/s and the boy again
throws the ball up with the maximum speed he can, how long does the call take
to return his hands
A police van moving on a highway with a speed of 30 km/h fires a bullet at a
theif’s car speeding away in the same direction with a speed of 192 km/h. If teh
muzzle speed of the bullet is 150 m/s, with what speed does the bullet hit the
theif’s car
Two parallel rail tracks run north south. Train A moves north with a speed of 54
km/h and train B moves south with a speed of 90 km/h. What is the
(a) Relative velocity of B with respect to A ?
(b) Relative velocity ground with respect to B ?
(c) Velocity of monkey running on the roof of train A against its motion with a
velocity of 18 km/h with respect to train A as observed by a man standing on the
ground ?