University Physics with Modern Physics

Fifteenth Edition

Chapter 2
Motion Along a
Straight Line

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Learning Outcomes
In this chapter, you’ll learn…
• how the ideas of displacement and average velocity help us
describe straight-line motion.
• the meaning of instantaneous velocity; the difference between
velocity and speed.
• how to use average acceleration and instantaneous
acceleration to describe changes in velocity.
• how to solve problems in which an object is falling freely under
the influence of gravity alone.
• how to analyze straight-line motion when the acceleration is not
constant.
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Introduction
• Kinematics is the study of motion.
• Velocity and acceleration are important physical quantities.
• A typical runner gains speed gradually during the course of a
sprinting foot race and then slows down after crossing the finish
line.

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Displacement, Time, and Average
Velocity
• A particle moving along the x-axis has a coordinate x.
• The change in the particle’s coordinate is x  x2  x1.
x
• The average x-velocity of the particle is v av-x  .
t

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Rules for the Sign of X-Velocity
If x-coordinate is: . . . x-velocity is:

Positive and increasing (getting Positive: Particle is moving in

more positive) +x-direction

Positive and decreasing (getting Negative: Particle is moving in

less positive) −x-direction

Negative and increasing Positive: Particle is moving in

(getting less negative) +x-direction

Negative and decreasing Negative: Particle is moving in

(getting more negative) −x-direction

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Average Velocity
• The winner of a 50-m swimming race is the swimmer
whose average velocity has the greatest magnitude.
• That is, the swimmer who traverses a displacement x
of 50 m in the shortest elapsed time t .

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A Position-Time Graph (1 of 2)

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Instantaneous Velocity
• The instantaneous velocity is the velocity at a
specific instant of time or specific point along the path
and is given by
dx
vx  .
dt
• The average speed is not the magnitude of the
average velocity!

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Finding Velocity on an X-T Graph (1 of 3)

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Finding Velocity on an X-T Graph (2 of 3)

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Finding Velocity on an X-T Graph (3 of 3)

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X-T Graphs

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Motion Diagrams (1 of 3)
• Here is a motion diagram of the particle in the
previous x-t graph.

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Average Acceleration
• Acceleration describes the rate of change of velocity
with time.
v x
• The average x-acceleration is aav - x  .
t

• Video Tutor Solution: Example 2.2

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Instantaneous Acceleration
dv x
• The instantaneous acceleration is ax  .
dt

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Rules for the Sign of X-Acceleration
If x-velocity is: . . . x-acceleration is:

Positive and increasing Positive: Particle is moving in

(getting more positive) +x-direction and speeding up

Positive and decreasing Negative: Particle is moving in

(getting less positive) +x-direction and slowing down

Negative and increasing Positive: Particle is moving in

(getting less negative) −x-direction and slowing down

Negative and decreasing Negative: Particle is moving in

(getting more negative) −x-direction and speeding up

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Finding Acceleration on a Vx-T Graph

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A Vx-T Graph (1 of 2)

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Motion Diagrams (2 of 3)
• Here is the motion diagram for the particle in the
previous vx-t graph.

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A Vx-T Graph (2 of 2)

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Motion Diagrams (3 of 3)
• Here is the motion diagram for the particle in the
previous vx-t graph.

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Motion with Constant Acceleration (1 of 2)

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Motion with Constant Acceleration (2 of 2)

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A Position-Time Graph (2 of 2)

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The Equations of Motion with
Constant Acceleration
• The four equations below apply to any straight-line
motion with constant acceleration ax.

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Freely Falling Objects
• Free fall is the motion of
an object under the
influence of only gravity.
• In the figure, a strobe light
flashes with equal time
intervals between flashes.
• The velocity change is the
same in each time
interval, so the
acceleration is constant.

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A Freely Falling Coin
• If there is no air resistance, the downward acceleration of
any freely falling object is g 9.8 m/s2 32 ft/s2 .

• Video Tutor Solution: Example 2.6

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Up-And-Down Motion in Free Fall (1 of 2)
• Position as a function of time for a ball thrown upward with
an initial speed of 15.0 m/s.

• Video Tutor Solution: Example 2.7

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Up-And-Down Motion in Free Fall (2 of 2)
• Velocity as a function of
time for a ball thrown
upward with an initial
speed of 15.0 m/s.
• The vertical velocity, but
not the acceleration, is
zero at the highest
point.

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Velocity and Position by Integration
• The acceleration of a car is not always constant.
• The motion may be integrated over many small time intervals to
t t
give v x v 0 x  ax dt and x  x0  v x dt .
0 0

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