Kinematics

Teacher: Xu Tianlong
Introduction
Kinematics is the science of describing the
motion of objects using words, diagrams,
graphs, and equations.

The goal of kinematics is to develop mental models

to describe the motion of real-world objects.

We will learn to describe motion using:

1. Words
2. Diagrams
3. Graphs
4. Equations
 Describing Motion with words
The motion of objects can be described by words.

Even a person without a background in physics has a collection

of words, which can be used to describe moving objects. For
example, going faster, stopped, slowing down, speeding up, and
turning provide a sufficient vocabulary for describing the
motion of objects.

In physics, we use these words as the language of kinematics.

1. Distance and Displacement
2. Speed and Velocity
3. Acceleration
These words which are used to describe the
motion of objects can be divided into two
categories.

The quantity is either a vector or scalar.

1. Scalars are quantities which are described

by a magnitude only.

2. Vectors are quantities which are described

by both a magnitude and a direction.
 Distance Displacement

Distance refers to the total Displacement refers to the

length of travel distance moved in a
irrespective of the particular direction.
direction of the motion. It is the object's overall
change in position.

It is a scalar quantity. It is a vector quantity.

SI unit: metre (m) SI unit: metre (m)
Other common units: Other common units:
kilometre (km), centimetre kilometre (km), centimetre
(cm) (cm)
 Distance vs. Displacement
• You drive the path, and your odometer goes up (your
distance).
• Your displacement is the shorter directed distance
from start to stop (green arrow).

start

stop
Example 1
A student walks 4 m East, 2 m South, 4 m West, and finally 2 m
North.

Total distance = 12 m

During the course of his motion, the total length of travel is 12 m.

Total displacement = 0 m

When he is finished walking, there is no change in his position.

The 4 m east is “canceled by” the 4 m west; and the 2 m south is
“canceled by” the 2 m north.
 Speed Velocity

Speed is the rate of change Displacement is the distance

of distance. travelled in a specific
direction.
It is a scalar quantity.
Velocity is defined as the rate
of change of displacement.

It is a vector quantity.

distance travelled change in displaceme nt

Speed  Velocity 
time taken time taken
Instantaneous Speed and Average Speed

As an object moves, it often

undergoes changes in speed.

The speed at any instant is known

as the instantaneous speed.
(From the value of the
speedometer)

The average speed of the entire journey can be calculated:

Total distance travelled

Average Speed 
Total time taken
 Speed Vs Velocity

An object is moving in a circle at a constant speed of 10 m s-1.

We say that it has a constant speed but its velocity is not constant.
Why?

Direction of Motion

The direction of the object keeps changing.

 Acceleration

• An object whose velocity is changing is said to accelerate.

• If the direction and / or speed of a moving object changes, the
object is accelerating
• Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity
 Acceleration
Acceleration is a vector quantity

SI unit: ms-2

Acceleration = change in velocity

time taken

where a = acceleration, v =final velocity, u = initial

velocity and t = time.

v-u
a 
t
 Describing Motion with Graphs
1.Plot and interpret a distance-time graph and a speed-time graph.

2. Deduce from the shape of a distance-time graph when a body is:

(a) at rest
(b) moving with uniform speed
(c) moving with non-uniform speed

3. Deduce from the shape of a Velocity-time graph when a body is:

(a) at rest
(b) moving with uniform speed
(c) moving with uniform acceleration
(d) moving with non-uniform acceleration

4. Calculate the area under a speed-time graph to determine the distance

travelled for motion with uniform speed or uniform acceleration.
 Distance-time Graph
A car has travelled past a lamp post on the road and the distance of the
car from the lamp post is measured every second. The distance and the
time readings are recorded and a graph is plotted using the data. The
following pages are the results for four possible journeys:
The gradient of the distance-time graph gives the speed
of the moving object.
 Velocity - Time Graph
• The gradient of the
velocity-time gradient
gives a value of the
changing rate in velocity,
which is the acceleration
of the object.
• The area below the
velocity-time graph gives
a value of the object's
displacement.
 Analysing Velocity - Time Graph

• Uniform Velocity • Uniform Acceleration

 Analysing Velocity - Time Graph
• Uniform deceleration • Increasing acceleration
 Analysing Velocity - Time Graph

Decreasing acceleration
 How do you find the gradient of velocity-time graph?

You need to select two points on the graph,

for example (x1,y1) and (x2,y2).
Once you have selected the points you put
then into the equation m=(y2-y1)/(x2-x1)
 m = the gradient
• The gradient represents the acceleration.
• In other words, We take the vertical reading from the
graph where the acceleration finishes and divide it by
the horizontal reading where the acceleration finishes.
Example 1
Area under a speed-time graph
The figure below shows the speed-time graph of a car travelling with a
uniform speed of 20 ms-1. The distance travelled by the car is given by:
Distance = speed x time = 20 x 5
= 100 m
The same information of distance travelled can also be obtained by
calculating the area under the speed-time graph.
The area under a speed-time graph gives the distance travelled.
Example 3 - Question
Example 3 - Solution
 Uniformly accelerated motion

•Free fall is motion with

no acceleration other
than that provided by
gravity.
In other words………
• A free-falling object is an object
which is falling under the sole
influence of gravity.
• Any object which is being acted
upon only be the force of gravity is
said to be in a state of free fall.
 Free Fall
Any object which is moving and being acted upon only be
the force of gravity is said to be "in a state of free fall.“
 all objects fall freely at g = 9.81 m s-2 when near the
earth and air resistance is negligible.
 speed of a free-falling body increases by 9.8 m s-1 every
second or when a body is thrown up, its speed decreases
by 9.8 m s-1 every second.

Although the acceleration due to gravity is considered

constant, it tends to vary slightly over the earth since the
earth is not a perfect sphere.
 Examples
• Examples of objects in Free fall
 Throwing a ball into the air and the ball will rise first
then start to fall in the absence of air resistance.

• Examples of objects not in Free fall

 Standing on the ground: the gravitational acceleration
is counteracted by the normal force from the ground.
 Questions to answer !

• “Doesn't a more massive

object accelerate at a greater
rate than a less massive
object?" "Wouldn't an
elephant free-fall faster than
a mouse?"
 Force of gravity means the dog accelerates

To start, the dog is falling slowly (it has not had

time to speed up).

gravity

There is really only one force acting on the dog,

the force of gravity.

The dog falls faster (accelerates) due to this

force.
 Gravity is still bigger than air resistance

As the dog falls faster, another force becomes

Air resistance
bigger – air resistance.

The force of gravity on the dog of course stays the

same
gravity

The force of gravity is still bigger than the air

resistance, so the dog continues to accelerate (get
faster)
 Gravity = air resistance
Terminal Velocity
As the dog falls faster and air resistance
increases, eventually the air resistance
Air resistance
becomes as big as (equal to) the force of
gravity.

The dog stops getting faster (accelerating) and

falls at constant speed.
gravity

This velocity is called the terminal Velocity

 Terminal Speed
The dog will continue to fall at constant speed (called the
terminal speed) until………….

Air resistance

air resistance = gravity

gravity