Raymond A.

Serway
Chris Vuille

Chapter 2
Motion in One Dimension
 Contents

1. Position, Displacement
2. Velocity
3. Acceleration
4. Motion Diagram
5. 1-Dimensional Motion with Constant Acceleration
Equations of Kinematics
6. Freely Falling Body
An example of constant acceleration

contents
 Dynamics
• The branch of physics involving the motion of
an object and the relationship between that
motion and other physics concepts
• Kinematics is a part of dynamics
– In kinematics, you are interested in the description
of motion
– Not concerned with the cause of the motion

Introduction
 Quantities in Motion
• Any motion involves three concepts
– Displacement
– Velocity
– Acceleration
• These concepts can be used to study objects
in motion

Introduction
 Brief History of Motion
• Sumaria and Egypt
– Mainly motion of heavenly bodies
• Greeks
– Also to understand the motion of heavenly bodies
– Systematic and detailed studies
– Geocentric model

Introduction
 “Modern” Ideas of Motion
• Copernicus
– Developed the heliocentric system
• Galileo
– Made astronomical observations with a telescope
– Experimental evidence for description of motion
– Quantitative study of motion

Introduction
 Position
• Defined in terms of a frame of reference
– A choice of coordinate axes
– Defines a starting point for measuring the motion
• Or any other quantity
– One dimensional, so generally the x- or y-axis

Section 2.1
 Displacement
• Defined as the change in position
– x  xf  xi
• f stands for final and i stands for initial
– Units are meters (m) in SI

Section 2.1
 Displacement Examples
• From A to B
– xi = 30 m
– xf = 52 m
– x = 22 m
– The displacement is positive,
indicating the motion was in
the positive x direction
• From C to F
– xi = 38 m
– xf = -53 m
– x = -91 m
– The displacement is negative,
indicating the motion was in
the negative x direction

Section 2.1
Displacement, Graphical

Section 2.1
 Vector and Scalar Quantities
• Vector quantities need both magnitude (size)
and direction to completely describe them
– Generally denoted by boldfaced type and an
arrow over the letter
– + or – sign is sufficient for this chapter
• Scalar quantities are completely described by
magnitude only

Section 2.1
 Displacement Isn’t Distance
• The displacement of an object is not the same
as the distance it travels
– Example: Throw a ball straight up and then catch it
at the same point you released it
• The distance is twice the height
• The displacement is zero

Section 2.1
 Speed
• The average speed of an object is defined as the
total distance traveled divided by the total time
elapsed
𝑝𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ (𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒)
𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 =
𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑝𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒

𝑑
𝑣=
𝑡

Speed is a scalar quantity

Section 2.2
 Speed, cont
• Average speed totally ignores any variations in
the object’s actual motion during the trip
• The path length (distance) and the total time
are all that is important
– Both will be positive, so speed will be positive
• SI units are m/s

Section 2.2
 Path Length vs. Displacement
• Magnitude of Displacement depends only on
the endpoints

The displacement does not depend on what

happens between the endpoints
• Path length (or distance) will depend on the
actual route taken

Section 2.2
 Velocity
• It takes time for an object to undergo a displacement
• The average velocity is rate at which the
displacement occurs

• Velocity can be positive or negative

– t is always positive
• Average speed is not the same as the average
velocity
Section 2.2
 Velocity continued
• Direction will be the same as the direction of the
displacement, + or - is sufficient in one-dimensional
motion
• Units of velocity are m/s (SI)
 Other units may be given in a problem, but generally will
need to be converted to these
 In other systems:
 US Customary: ft/s
 cgs: cm/s

Section 2.2
 Speed vs. Velocity

• Cars on both paths have the same average velocity since

they had the same displacement in the same time interval
• The car on the blue path will have a greater average speed
since the path length it traveled is larger

Section 2.2
Graphical Interpretation of Velocity
• Velocity can be determined from a position-
time graph
• Average velocity equals the slope of the line
joining the initial and final points on the graph
• An object moving with a constant velocity will
have a graph that is a straight line

Section 2.2
 Average Velocity, Constant
• The straight line
indicates constant
velocity
• The slope of the line is
the value of the average
velocity

Section 2.2
 Notes on Slopes
• The general equation for the slope of any line
is

– The meaning of a specific slope will depend on the

physical data being graphed
• Slope carries units

Section 2.2
 Average Velocity, Non Constant
• The motion is non-
constant velocity
• The average velocity is
the slope of the straight
line joining the initial
and final points

Section 2.2
 Instantaneous Velocity
• The limit of the average velocity as the time interval
becomes infinitesimally short, or as the time interval
approaches zero

• The instantaneous velocity indicates what is

happening at every point of time
– The magnitude of the instantaneous velocity is what you
read on a car’s speedometer

Section 2.2
Instantaneous Velocity on a Graph
• The slope of the line tangent to the position
vs. time graph is defined to be the
instantaneous velocity at that time
– The instantaneous speed is defined as the
magnitude of the instantaneous velocity

Section 2.2
 Graphical Instantaneous Velocity
• Average velocities are
the blue lines
• The green line (tangent)
is the instantaneous
velocity

Section 2.2
 Acceleration
• Changing velocity means an acceleration is
present
• Acceleration is the rate of change of the
velocity

• Units are m/s² (SI), cm/s² (cgs), and ft/s² (US

Cust)
Section 2.3
 Average Acceleration
• Vector quantity
• When the object’s velocity and acceleration
are in the same direction (either positive or
negative), then the speed of the object
increases with time
• When the object’s velocity and acceleration
are in the opposite directions, the speed of
the object decreases with time

Section 2.3
 Negative Acceleration
• A negative acceleration does not necessarily
mean the object is slowing down
• If the acceleration and velocity are both
negative, the object is speeding up
• “Deceleration” means a decrease in speed,
not a negative acceleration

Section 2.3
 Instantaneous and Uniform Acceleration

• The limit of the average acceleration as the

time interval goes to zero

• When the instantaneous accelerations are

always the same, the acceleration will be
uniform
– The instantaneous accelerations will all be equal
to the average acceleration

Section 2.3
 Graphical Interpretation of Acceleration

• Average acceleration is the slope of the line

connecting the initial and final velocities on a
velocity vs. time graph
• Instantaneous acceleration is the slope of the
tangent to the curve of the velocity-time
graph

Section 2.3
Average Acceleration – Graphical
Example

Section 2.3
Relationship Between Acceleration
and Velocity

• Uniform velocity (shown by red arrows

maintaining the same size)
• Acceleration equals zero

Section 2.4
 Relationship Between Velocity and
Acceleration

• Velocity and acceleration are in the same direction

• Acceleration is uniform (violet arrows maintain the
same length)
• Velocity is increasing (red arrows are getting longer)
• Positive velocity and positive acceleration
Section 2.4
 Relationship Between Velocity and
Acceleration

• Acceleration and velocity are in opposite directions

• Acceleration is uniform (violet arrows maintain the same
length)
• Velocity is decreasing (red arrows are getting shorter)
• Velocity is positive and acceleration is negative

Section 2.4
Motion Diagram Summary

Section 2.4
Equations for Constant
Acceleration
Missing
𝐸𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑠 # Quantity

𝑣 = 𝑣𝑜 + 𝑎 𝑡 (1) ∆𝑥

1 (2) 𝑎
∆𝑥 = 𝑣 𝑡 = 𝑣 +𝑣 𝑡
2 𝑜

1 (3) 𝑣
∆𝑥 = 𝑣𝑜 𝑡 + 𝑎 𝑡 2
2

𝑣 2 = 𝑣𝑜2 + 2 𝑎 ∆𝑥 (4) ∆𝑡

1 (5) 𝑣𝑜
∆𝑥 = 𝑣 𝑡 − 𝑎 𝑡 2
2
Section 2.5
 Notes on the equations

𝑣𝑜 + 𝑣
∆𝑥 = 𝑣 𝑡 = 𝑡
2

• Gives displacement as a function of velocity

and time
• Use when you don’t know and aren’t asked
for the acceleration

Section 2.5
 Notes on the equations

𝑣 = 𝑣𝑜 + 𝑎 𝑡
• Shows velocity as a function of acceleration
and time
• Use when you don’t know and aren’t asked to
find the displacement

Section 2.5
Graphical Interpretation of the
Equation

Section 2.5
 Notes on the equations
1
∆𝑥 = 𝑣𝑜 𝑡 + 𝑎 𝑡 2
2
• Gives displacement as a function of time,
velocity and acceleration
• Use when you don’t know and aren’t asked to
find the final velocity
• The area under the graph of v vs. t for any
object is equal to the displacement of the
object Section 2.5
 Notes on the equations

𝑣 2 = 𝑣𝑜2 + 2 𝑎 ∆𝑥
• Gives velocity as a function of acceleration
and displacement
• Use when you don’t know and aren’t asked for
the time

Section 2.5
 Example
• A European sports car dealer claims that his
product will accelerate at a constant rate from
rest to a speed of 100 km/hr in 8.00 s. What is
the speed after the first 5.00 s of acceleration?
(Hint: First convert the speed to m/s.)
 Galileo Galilei
• 1564 - 1642
• Galileo formulated the laws
that govern the motion of
objects in free fall
• Also looked at:
– Inclined planes
– Relative motion
– Thermometers
– Pendulum
Section 2.6
 Free Fall
• A freely falling object is any object moving freely
under the influence of gravity alone
– Free fall does not depend on the object’s original motion
• All objects falling near the earth’s surface fall with a
constant acceleration
• The acceleration is called the acceleration due to
gravity, and indicated by g

Section 2.6
 Acceleration due to Gravity
• Symbolized by g
• g = 9.80 m/s²
– When estimating, use g 10 m/s2
• g is always directed downward
– Toward the center of the earth
• Ignoring air resistance and assuming g doesn’t vary
with altitude over short vertical distances, free fall is
constantly accelerated motion

Section 2.6
 Free Fall – an object dropped

• Initial velocity is zero

• Let up be positive
– Conventional
vo= 0
• Use the kinematic a=g
equations
– Generally use y instead of
x since vertical
• Acceleration is g = -9.80
m/s2

Section 2.6
 Free Fall – an object thrown
downward

• a = g = -9.80 m/s2
• Initial velocity  0
– With upward being
positive, initial velocity will
be negative

Section 2.6
 Free Fall – object thrown upward

• Initial velocity is upward, so v=0

positive
• The instantaneous velocity at
Actually straight
the maximum height is zero back down
• a = g = -9.80 m/s2 everywhere
in the motion

Section 2.6
 Example
• A rock is thrown straight down with an initial
speed of 17.5 m/s from a cliff. What is the
magnitude of the rock's displacement after
1.0 s?