Accelerated Motions

By : Beatrix, Feilicia, Michelle, Sharon (11S)

Introduction
 - Increase in speed
- Vector quantity
What is Acceleration?
- Newton's second law

- Rate of change of velocity

- Acceleration = Velocity/ Time How to Calculate
- Or a = V2 - V1/T2 - T1 Acceleration?
- Unit => m s -2
Deducing Acceleration

We can determine a body’s acceleration by

observing its velocity-time graph.

The gradient of a velocity-time graph is the

acceleration of the body.
A straight line with a positive slope indicates a
constant acceleration.
How large or small the
magnitude of an acceleration
is can be determined from the
slope of the line.

A steeper slope would

represent a greater
acceleration.
When the line on the graph
is a horizontal straight line, it
means that the velocity is
constant and that there is no
acceleration at all.

a=0
When the line on the graph
is a straight but negative-
sloped line, it means that
there is a negative
acceleration. We can also
call this deceleration.
When the line on the graph
is not straight but a curve, it
means that the acceleration
is not constant but rather,
the acceleration is changing.
Formula of Acceleration
Deducing Displacement

Similar to acceleration, we can determine the

displacement of a body by looking at its velocity-
time graph. The area under a velocity-time graph
represents the displacement of the body.
Worked Example
The total displacement of this body would be the area of the
triangle. The area of a triangle can be obtained by ½ x b x h.
Hence, the displacement would be ½ x 5 x 20 = 15m
 Measuring Velocity and Acceleration

Airbags in cars has an accelerometer at the heart of its system which

detects large accelerations and decelerations. The acceleration
sensor consists of two rows of interlocking teeth. In the event of a
crash, these move to one another and this generates a voltage which
triggers the release of the airbag.
How does an Airbag work?
In the case of a head-on collision, a car usually stops fast.
The body of the driver, however, doesn't. It follows
Newton's second law: its momentum continues until an
outside force brings it to a stop. An airbag actually lowers
the impact by stretching the blow out over a longer period of
time. It also spreads the impact over a larger area of the
body. That way, no single area (forehead, chin, neck) bears
the brunt of it. That's why airbags inflate and then quickly
deflate—to gradually bring the driver's momentum to rest.
Determining Velocity and Acceleration in the
Laboratory
1. Light Gates
The computer records the time for the first ‘interrupt’ section
of the card to pass through the light beam of the light gate. If
we know the length of the interrupt, we can work out the
trolley’s initial velocity. This is repeated again to give the final
velocity.

Light gates are used because of their accuracy. They can be

set to react very quickly when the beam is broken which
eliminates human reaction time errors.
2. Ticker-timer
The tape is first divided into sections and the ticker-timer is
set for intervals of 0.02s. Each section represents 0.10s. The
length of each section gives the trolley’s displacement in
0.10s, from which the average velocity of during this time
can be found. This can be repeated for every section of the
tape.

To find the acceleration, use the formula :

3. Motion Sensor
The motion sensor sends out a series of ultrasonic pulses.
These pulses reflect from nearby objects and return to a
detector.

The computer software which handles the data provided by

the motion sensor can calculate the acceleration of trolley.
However, because it deduces velocity from measurements of
position, and then calculates acceleration from values of
velocity, its precision is relatively poor.
The Equations of Motions

There are a set of equations which allows us to calculate the

quantities involved when an object is moving with a
constant acceleration.
There are four equations of motions :
FR I E N D LY R E M I N D E R
Please keep in mind that these equations can only
be used under two conditions :

1. the motion of the body should be in a straight

line.
2. if accelerating, the acceleration should be
constant.
How do we use these equations?

1. First, write down the quantities which are

known and the quantity that we want to find.
2. Next, choose the equation which links these
quantities and substitute the values.
3. Calculate the unknown quantity
Deriving the Equations
of Motions
 Equation 1 : v = u + at

- This equation only talks about the

acceleration, time,
the initial and the final velocity.
- Acceleration = Change in velocity/Time
Taken
- Therefore, Acceleration = (Final Velocity-
Initial Velocity) / Time Taken
v is the final velocity
- Hence, a = v-u /t or at = v-u
u is the initial velocity
- So, we have: v = u + at
a is the acceleration
t is the time
 Equation 2: s = ((u+v)/2) × t

- Displacement is the area under the

velocity–time graph, which the object’s
average velocity is half-way between u
and v, so the object’s average velocity,
calculated by averaging its initial and final,
can be defined as, “(u-v)/2”.
- This is a rectangle, and so we have:
displacement= average velocity × time
taken.
- So, the final rearrangement is s is the displacement
u is the initial velocity
“s = ((u+v)/2) × t”
v is the final velocity
t is the time
 Equation 3: s= ut+1/2at^2

- In the graph, v is the final velocity of the

body and other variables have their usual C B
significance.
- Acceleration (a)= (v-u)/t =>v-u=a (explained
in eq.1)
A E
- And then, distance travelled in time t = Area
of trapezium OABD
=Area of rectangle OAED + Area of triangle O D
ABE
=>S=OA*OD +1/2 BE*AE
s is the distance
=u*t+1/2*(v-u)*t
u is the initial velocity
- But from equation 1, “v-u=at”
=u*t+1/2*(at)*t a is the acceleration
- Therefore, s=ut+1/2at^2 t is the time
Uniform and non-uniform
acceleration
The term of uniform and non-uniform acceleration

Uniform acceleration Non-uniform acceleration

If the velocity of the particle Non uniform acceleration

changes at a constant rate, then means If the change in velocity
this rate is called the uniform in equal intervals of time is not
acceleration or constant the same, then the object is said
acceleration. to be moving with variable
acceleration.
 Uniform and non-uniform acceleration graph
comparison

Example of uniform acceleration Example of non-uniform acceleration

Acceleration caused by gravity
 If you drop a ball or stone, through a
1 multiflash photograph, You can see
2
that the ball’s velocity increases as it
3
falls because the spaces between the
4 images of the ball increase steadily. The
ball is accelerating. As you can see the
5
space between the labelled 1 ball
movement and the labelled 2 ball
6
movement is very short, but between
the labelled 6 ball movement and the
7
labelled 7 ball movement has many
space. This shows that the ball is
accelerating
Determining g
Measuring g

We can measure the”g” :

1. Using an electronic timer

2. Using a ticker timer
3. Using a light gate
Motion in two
dimensions –
projectiles
 A curved trajectory

A bouncing ball shows the trajectory or path

of a projectile.

When the ball thrown at an angle, the force

acting on it is only weight. It speeds up as it
falls. At the same time it moves steadily to
the right. After it bounces, the ball moves
slower, because the vertical motion is
affected by gravity force, which is its weight.
When it falls it has an acceleration of g, which
 Component of vector

If an vector has a constant velocity v at an angle θ ,

then we say that this velocity has two effects or
components, vN in a northerly direction and vE in an
easterly direction. These two components of velocity
add up to make the actual velocity v.

If the angle is between x-axis and vector, then you can

calculate vN using sin θ and vE using cos θ.

And vice versa.

To find the component of any vector (e.g. displacement,
velocity, acceleration) in a particular direction, we can use
the following strategy:

Step 1 Find the angle θ between the vector and the direction
of interest.

Step 2 Multiply the vector by the cosine of the angle θ.

So the component of an object’s velocity v at angle θ to v is

equal to v cos θ
 Example
F = 10.2N θ = 30°

To find the horizontal and vertical force. Use this formula to find
the forces :

Fx = F x cosθ Fx =10.2 x cos30 = 8.83 N

Fy = F x sinθ Fy = 10.2 x sin30 = 5.1 N

If there's more than one Force use this formula to find resultant
force R=√x2+y2

To find the angle use this formula tanθ=Ry/Rx

Understanding
projectiles
Up and Down A stone is thrown upwards with an
initial velocity of 20ms−1.

It is important to use a consistent

sign convention here. We will take
upwards as positive, and
downwards as negative. So the
stone’s initial velocity is positive,
but its acceleration g is negative.
We can solve various problems
about the stone’s motion by using
the equations of motion.
 How high?
How high will the stone rise above ground level of
the cliff?
As the stone rises upwards, it moves The relevant equation of motion is v 2 = u2+2as.
more and more slowly – it decelerates, Substituting values gives:
because of the force of gravity. At its
02 = 202+2×(−9.81)×s
highest point, the stone’s velocity is zero.
So the quantities we know are: 0 = 400−19.62s

initial velocity = u = 20ms−1 s = 400

19.62
final velocity = v = 0ms−1 = 20.4m≈20m

acceleration = a = −9.81ms−2 The stone rises 20m upwards, before it starts

to fall again.
displacement = s = ?
 How long?
How long will it take from leaving your hand for the stone
to fall back to the clifftop?

When the stone returns to the point There are two possible solutions to
from which it was thrown, its this:
displacement s is zero. So:
■ t = 0s, i.e. the stone had zero
s = 0 u = 20ms-1 a = −9.81ms-2 t = ? displacement at the instant it was
thrown

■ t = 4.1s, i.e. the stone returned to

zero displacement after 4.1s, which
is the answer we are interested in.
Vertical and
horizontal at the same
time
A ball-bearing is fired horizontally from a point 0.4m
above the ground. Its initial velocity is 2.5ms−1.

It's position at equal interval to time is shown in the

table
There are two points to pay attention from the table :

■ The horizontal distance increases steadily. This is

because the ball’s horizontal motion is unaffected by the
force of gravity. It travels at a steady velocity horizontally
so we can use v = s/t.

■ The vertical distances do not show the same pattern.

The ball is accelerating downwards so we must use the
equations of motion. (These figures have been calculated
using g = 9.81ms-2.)
To calculate the horizontal and vertical distance
separately use this equation :
You can calculate the distance s fallen using the
equation of motion s = ut+ 1/2 at2.

The horizontal distance is calculated using:

horizontal distance = 2.5×t

The vertical distance is calculated using:

vertical distance = 1/2×9.81×t2

Example
A ball is thrown with an initial velocity of 20ms−1 at an angle
of 30° to the horizontal (Figure 2.32). Calculate the
horizontal distance travelled by the ball (its range)
Step 1 : Vx = 20 x cos30°= 17.3 ms-1

Vy = 20 x sin30° = 10 ms-1

Step 2 : Time it needed to fall. Use formula s=ut+1/2at2

0 = 10t-4.905t2 t=2.04s

Step 3 : s = u x t

s = 17.3 x 20.4 s= 35 m

So the distance the ball travel is 35 m.

Test your Understanding!
Question 1
Calculate the displacement of the object.
Answer

Displacement = Area under Velocity-

Time Graph
s = Area of Triangle
s=½xbxh
s = ½ x 6 x 15
s = 45m
Question 2
Take a close look at the velocity-time graph below.
A. Increasing Acceleration - Stationary
B. Constant Velocity - Stationary
C. Increasing Acceleration - Constant
Velocity
D. Decreasing Velocity - Constant Velocity
Answer

D. Decreasing Acceleration - Constant Velocity

Question 3
Find the resultant force and the angle!
Answer
Y-axis
X-axis F1 = 1 x sin(90-30) = 0.87
F1 = 1 x cos(90-30) = 0.5 F2 = 4 x sin60 = 3.46
F2 = 4 x cos60 = 2
F3 = 2 x sin(90-30) = 1.73
F3 = 2 x cos(90-30) = 1
0.87+3.46-1.73 = 2.6
0.5+1-2 = -0.5
So Ry is 2.6 N to the north
So Rx is 0.5 N to the left

R = √0.52+2.62. R = 2.65N
Tanθ = 2.6/0.5 θ= 79.1°
Question 4

An egg falls off a table. The floor is 0.8m from

the table-top.

a Calculate the time taken to reach the ground.

b Calculate the velocity of impact with the

ground.
Answer

a) We can use the formula -> s=ut+½ x at^2

s= the distance fallen= 0.8 m, t= time taken in seconds, u=

initial velocity= 0, a = acceleration of free fall= 10ms^-2

So, 0.8= 0 x t+½ x 10ms^-2 x t^2

->0.8=5ms^-2 x t^2

->t^2=0.16

->t=0.4 s
Answer

b) We can use the formula -> s=ut+½ x at^2

s= the distance fallen= 0.8 m, t= time taken in seconds= 0.4 second, u=

initial velocity= ?, a = acceleration of free fall= 10ms^-2

So, 0.8m = (u x 0.4 s) + ½ x 10 ms^-2 x 0.4s^2

->0.8m = 0.4 s x u + 2m

-> -1.2m= 0.4 s x u

-> u= -1.2m/ 0.4s = -3ms^-1

Thank You!