Motion along a straight line.

Expressions of displacement, speed, velocity and

accelerations, average and instantaneous quantities, Motion with constant
acceleration, motion diagrams, examples.

What Is Motion in a Straight Line?

If an object changes its position with respect to its surroundings with time, then
it is called in motion. It is a change in the position of an object over time. Motion
in a straight line is nothing but linear motion. As the name suggests, it’s in a
particular straight line, thus it can be said that it uses only one dimension.

Types of Linear Motion

The linear motion, also called the Rectilinear Motion can be of two types:

1. Uniform linear motion with constant velocity or zero acceleration

2. Non-Uniform linear motion with variable velocity or non-zero acceleration

Linear motion is the most straightforward kind of one-dimensional motion.

As Newton’s first law of motion suggests, an object will either be at rest or
continue to move in a straight line with a uniform velocity unless and until an
external force is applied to it.

You are suggested not to confuse linear motion with general motion. As we
discussed, linear motion is a one-dimensional motion. Still, in general, the motion
has magnitude and direction both, i.e. an object’s position and velocity are
described in vector quantities.

Example:

If a car travels at a speed of 60 km/hour, it will cover a 1 km/minute. In this

sense, the motion of car acceleration is uniform.
Non-uniform Motion in a Straight Line
Unlike the uniform acceleration, the body is said to have a non-uniform motion
when the velocity of a body changes by unequal amounts in equal intervals of
time—the rate of change of its velocity changes at different points of time during
its movement.

Example:

A boy is kicking a football. It might cover 4 meters in the first attempt, 6 meters
in the second change, 9 meters in the third attempt and so on as per the velocity
exerted by the boy.

Distance and Displacement

Distance travelled, or path length is the actual distance covered by the moving
object in a given interval of time. It is a scalar quantity.

The change in the position of the object along a particular direction is called
displacement.

Displacement Δx = xf – x0

xf is the final position of the object.

x0 is the initial position of the object.

The difference between your ending position (xf) and your beginning point (xo)
is known as displacement.

Displacement is a vector quantity. This means it has direction and magnitude,

and it is visually depicted as an arrow pointing from the starting point to the
ending location.

Your displacement is 5 metres north if you start in a specific location and then
move north 5 metres from where you started. Then, if you turn around and return
with a 5 m south displacement, you will have travelled a total distance of 10 m,
but your net displacement will be zero because you are back where you began.

Speed and Velocity

The time rate of change of the position of the particle is called speed. Speed
tells about how fast or how slow the particle is moving. It gives the distance
covered by the particle in unit time.

Speed is a scalar quantity, and its SI unit is m/s.

The time rate of change of position of an object in a particular direction is called

velocity. Velocity can be defined as the time rate of change of displacement.
Also, speed in a particular direction can be called velocity.

Velocity is a vector quantity with both direction and magnitude. The unit of velocity
is m/s.

Average Speed and Average Velocity

The average speed of motion of a particle is defined as the ratio of the time
travelled to the elapsed time.
Average speed = total path length/total time taken

Average velocity is defined as the total displacement by the body in time t.

Average velocity = total displacement/total time

Vavg = (Δx/Δt) = (xf – x0)/(tf – t0)

Instantaneous Velocity

If we consider an infinitesimally small time interval, we get more detailed

information. The average velocity becomes the instantaneous velocity for an
infinitesimally small interval of time or the velocity at a single moment over such
a time range.

A car’s speedometer displays the instantaneous speed. However, for calculating

the time taken to travel from one point to another, average velocity is needed.
The average velocity at a specific point in time or across an infinitesimally brief
time interval is called instantaneous velocity. The instantaneous velocity can be
found by taking limits.

𝑣=limΔ𝑡→0 Δ𝑥/Δ𝑡

Uniform Velocity

A body is said to be moving with uniform velocity if equal changes of displacement

take place in equal intervals of time, however small these intervals of time may
be. When the body moves with uniform velocity, neither the magnitude nor the
direction of velocity changes.

Acceleration
Any process in which the velocity varies is referred to as acceleration. As velocity
involves both speed and direction, a body gets accelerated when there is a
change in speed, direction or both. If there is no change in the speed or direction
of the object, there will not be any acceleration, no matter how quickly the object
moves.

A jet moving at 800 miles per hour along a straight line has zero acceleration,
despite the fact that it is moving very quickly. It will have acceleration while it
lands because the jet is slowing down.

Average acceleration is defined as the rate of change of velocity with time.

a = (Δv/Δt)= (vf – vi)/Δt

The SI unit of acceleration is m/s2.

The instantaneous acceleration is

a= lim (∆v/ ∆t)

=(dv/dv)

Uniform or Constant Acceleration

A body is said to be moving with uniform or constant acceleration if its velocity

changes by equal amounts in equal intervals of time, however small these time
intervals may be. When the body moves with constant acceleration, the
average and instantaneous acceleration of the body are equal.

Motion in one dimension examples

EXAMPLES OF ONE DIMENSIONAL MOTION.
• A car moving on a straight road.
• A person walking down a hallway.
• A sprinter running on a straight race course .
• dropping a pencil.
• throwing a ball straight up.
• a glider moving on an air track.
• a man working on a straight path.
• a train on a straight railway track
 QUESTIONS!!!
1. How long does it take an object to travel a distance of 30m from rest at a constant acceleration
of 2m/s2?

2. How far will an object travel after ten seconds if it is dropped into a bottomless pit?

3. A body moving with uniform acceleration has a velocity of 12.0 cm s when its x coordinate is
3.00 cm. If its x coordinate 2.00 s later is −5.00 cm, what is the magnitude of its acceleration?

4. An electron with initial velocity v0 = 1.50 × 105 m/s enters a region 1.0 cm long where it is
electrically accelerated. It emerges with velocity v = 5.70 × 106 ms-1. What was its acceleration,
(assumed constant)?

5. A jet plane lands with a velocity of 100 m/s and can accelerate at a maximum rate of −5.0 m/s2
as it comes to rest. (a) From the instant it touches the runway, what is the minimum time needed
before it stops? (b) Can this plane land at a small airport where the runway is 0.80 km long?
 HINTS

1. 5.48 s

2.500 m

3. The initial coordinate (x = 3.00 cm), the initial velocity (v0 = 12.0 cm/s ), the final x coordinate
(x = −5.00 cm) and the elapsed time (2.00 s). as we are told that the acceleration is constant) we
can solve for a.

Xi= 3 cm, Xf= -5 cm, V=12 cm/s

The x acceleration of the object is −16. cm s-2

4. v2 = u2+ 2as (1.62 × 1015 m/s2)

5.

The plane is decelerating. The plane will stop as quickly as possible if the acceleration does have
the value −5.0 m/s2, so we use this value in finding the time t.

t=20 s

The plane also travels the shortest distance in stopping if its acceleration is −5.0 m/s-2

x = x0 + {(u + v)/2}t

Distance=1000 m

The plane must have at least 1.0 km of runway in order to come to a halt safely. 0.80 km is not
sufficient.