Chapter 3

Uniformly Accelerated
Motion

Topic Outline
Distance and displacement
Speed and velocity
Average and instantaneous velocity /
accelaration
One dimensional motion (Kinematic
equations)
Freely falling bodies
Projectile motion
Horizontal range and maximum height of
projectile
Range of projectile

Distance and Displacement

If a particle is moving, we can easily
determine its change in position. The
changes is represented in term of space in
any common measurement unit.

home

school

Distance
Distance is how far something travels
along its path. It is a scalar quantity.

3 km

home

school

Distance
For example, you walk to school and back
every schooling day. Your distance
travelled is 6 km.

3 km
6 km
3 km
home

school

Displacement
The displacement of a particle is defined
as its change in position. It is a vector
quantity.
If we take the previous situation back,
your displacement is actually zero.
Final position
Initial position

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school

Displacement
x x f xi
Displacement is givenby:
We use the Greek letter to denote a
large change in a quantity, that are
significantly big enough to be measured.
From this definition we see that x is
positive if
xf is greater than xi and negative if xf is
less than xi .

Speed, Velocity and Acceleration

Speed = how fast youre going
Velocity = how fast youre going in
a certain direction
Acceleration = how fast your
velocity is changing (in a direction)

Speed
The speed of a particle, a scalar
quantity, is defined as the total
distance traveled divided by the
total time it takes to travel that
distance.
SI unit for speed is meters per
-1
totaldistance
second (ms
).
Speed
totaltime

Speed
Example: A swimmer travels one
complete lap (back and forth) in a pool
that is 50 meters long. The first leg is
covered in 20.0 seconds, the second leg
is covered in 25.0 seconds. What was her
average speed for the lap?

totaldistance
Speed
totaltime
50 50 100
1

2.22 ms
20 25 45

Velocity
The velocity of a particle, a vector
quantity, is defined as the total
displacement divided by the total
time it takes to travel.
SI unit for velocity is also meters per
second (ms-1), but the direction of
the movement is stated.
displaceme
nt x
Velocity , v

totaltime
t

Velocity
Example: A ball is thrown to the air until
it reaches the height of 5 meter before it
falls back to the persons hand. Time
taken for it to reach the throwers hand is
10 second. What is the velocity of the
ball?

totaldisplaceme
nt
Velocity
totaltime
0
1

0 ms
10

Average Speed and Velocity

The average speed and velocity is
calculated using the same formula
as shown on few previous slides.
Some books use the term average
more to show the huge changes
made by the moving particles.

Exercise #1
A car travelled 100 km/hour East for
5.00 seconds, then reversed, and
moved West for 3.00 seconds at
speed of 50.0 km/hour. Assuming
that East points towards the
positive direction, find:
i) Average velocity
ii) Average speed.

Answer
100 km/h for 5 s
50 km/h for 3 s

First, find the displacement and the distance

travelled by the car.
Displacement: Blue line red line
Distance: Blue line + red line

Answer
For blue line: Change km/h to m/s

For red line: Change km/h to m/s

Answer
Average

velocity:
Average speed:

Average Acceleration
The average acceleration of the particle
is defined as the change in velocity vx
divided by the time interval t during
which that change occurred:

v x v xf v xi
ax

t
t f ti

Acceleration has dimensions of length

divided by time squared. The SI unit of
acceleration is meters per second
squared (m/s2).

Instantaneous Velocity and Speed

Often we need to know the velocity of a
particle at a particular instant in time,
rather than over a finite time interval.
For example, even though you might
want to calculate your average velocity
during a long automobile trip, you
would be especially interested in
knowing your velocity at the instant you
noticed the police parked in front of
you.

Instantaneous Speed
The instantaneous speed of a
particle is defined as the magnitude
of its instantaneous velocity.
For example, if one particle has a
instantaneous velocity of +25 m/s
along a given line and another
particle at -25 m/s along the same
line, both have instantaneous speed
of 25 m/s.

Instantaneous Velocity
Instantaneous velocity vx equals the
limiting value of the ratio x/t as t
approaches zero:
lim x dx
v x t 0

t dt

This is also equal to the gradient / slope

of tangent at that particular time.

Exercise #2

Find the runner's

instantaneous
velocity at t = 1.00
s.

Position and
time for a
runner.
t(s)
x(m)
1.00
1.00
1.01
1.02
1.10
1.21
1.20
1.44
1.50
2.25
2.00
4.00
3.00
9.00

Instantaneous Acceleration
In some situations, the value of the
average acceleration may be different
over different time intervals.
It is therefore useful to define the
instantaneous acceleration as the limit of
the average acceleration as t approaches
zero.

v x dv x
lim
a x t 0

t
dt

Instantaneous Acceleration
The instantaneous acceleration equals
the derivative of the velocity with
respect to time.
2

dv x d dx d x
ax

2
dt
dt dt
dt

Exercise #3

The velocity of a particle moving

along the x axis varies in time
according to the expression vx = (40 5t2) m/s, where t is in seconds.
(a)Find the average acceleration in the
time interval t = 0 to t = 2.0 s.
(b)Determine the instantaneous
acceleration at t = 2.0 s.

Answer
a)

v x v xf
ax
=
t
tf

v xi
ti

20 _ 40
=
= _ 10m / s 2
2

b)
dv x
ax =
= _ 10t m / s 2 at t = 2 s; a x = _ 20m / s 2
dt

One Dimensional Motion

If the acceleration of a particle
varies in time, its motion can be
complex and difficult to analyze.
However, a very common and simple
type of one-dimensional motion is
that in which the acceleration is
constant.

One Dimensional Motion

When this is the case, the average
acceleration over any time interval equals
the instantaneous acceleration at any
instant within the interval, and the
velocity changes at the same rate
throughout the motion.

One Dimensional Motion

The equation for ax in the previous slide
can be modified to (assuming constant
ax):

This powerful expression enables us to

determine an objects velocity at any
time t if we know the objects initial
velocity (Vxi) and its (constant)
acceleration (ax).

One Dimensional Motion

Because velocity at constant
acceleration varies linearly with time,
the average velocity can be written as:

We can now formulate the displacement

of any object as a function of time.

One Dimensional Motion

Using equation:

We can substitute it into equation:

Forming the following equation

1 2
displacement ; s = vo t + at
2

One Dimensional Motion

Finally, using equations:

t=

v xf _ v xi
ax

and

1
x f _ xi = (v xi + v xf )t
2

we can obtain an expression for the final

velocity that does not contain a time
interval:

v xf _ v xi
1
x f _ xi = (v xi + v xf )(
)
2
ax

One Dimensional Motion

Resulting in the following formula:
2

v xf _ v xi
(v xf ) _(v xi )
1
x f _ xi = (v xi + v xf )(
)=
2
ax
2a x
The equation for final velocity without
time interval is:

(v xf ) 2 = (v xi ) 2 + 2a x ( x f _ xi )
2

v = vo + 2as

To Summarize

The expressions above can be used to solve any

problem involving one-dimensional motion at
constant acceleration. The choice of which
equation you use in a given situation depends on
what you know beforehand.

To Summarize

Another way to
write the equations
(which also known
as the 4 kinetics
equations).

Exercise #4
A train started from rest and accelerates at
2.0 m/s2 for 20 seconds. It then travels at a
constant speed for 10 minutes. It then
accelerate again for 5.0 seconds at the rate
of 1.0 m/s2, before slowing down at a rate of
-2.5 m/s2 until it stops.
a) What is its speed at time t = 20 seconds?
b) What is the total distance travelled by the
train for the entire journey?
c) What is the average speed for the train for
the entire journey?

Answer
First things first, draw the velocitytime graph.
Vx

?
?

20

620 625

t (s)

Answer
a) Speed at 20 s is:
v f = vi + at
= 0 + 2 m / s 2 (20 s )
= 40 m / s

Vx
?
40 m/s

20

620 625

t (s)

Answer

Speed at 625 s is:

v f = vi + at
2

= 40 m / s + 1 m / s (5s )
= 45 m / s
45 m/s

Vx

40 m/s

20

620 625

t (s)

Answer
Time taken for train to stop is:
t=

v f + vi

a
0 _ 45 m / s
=
_ 2.5 m / s 2
= 18 s

45 m/s

Vx

40 m/s

20

620 625 643 t (s)

Answer
b) Distance travelled = area under
the graph.

45 m/s
40 m/s

Vx

20

620 625 643 t (s)

Answer
c) Trains average speed is:

Free Falling Object

In the absence of air resistance, all objects
dropped near the Earths surface fall toward
the Earth with the same constant acceleration
g (also referred as gravity) measured to 9.8
m/s2
You could try this: Simultaneously drop a coin
and a cannon ball from the same height. If the
effects of air resistance are negligible, both
will have the same motion and will hit the
floor at the same time.
such motion is referred to as free fall.

Free Falling Object

A freely falling object is any object
moving freely under the influence of
gravity alone, regardless of its initial
motion.
Objects thrown upward or downward and
those released from rest are all falling
freely once they are released.
Any freely falling object experiences an
acceleration directed downward,
regardless of its initial motion.

Exercise #5

A stone thrown from the top of a building

is given an initial velocity of 20.0 m/s
straight upward. The building is 50.0 m
high, and the stone just misses the edge
of the roof on its way down. Determine:
(a) the time at which the stone reaches its
maximum height.
(b) the maximum height
(c) the time at which the stone returns to the
height from which it was thrown
(d) the velocity of the stone at this instant, and
(e) the velocity and position of the stone at t =
5s

Projectile Motion
Anyone who has observed a baseball in
motion (or, for that matter, any other object
thrown into the air) has observed projectile
motion.
The ball moves in a curved path, and its
motion is simple to analyze if we make two
assumptions:
(1) the free-fall acceleration g is constant over
the
range of motion and is directed downward
(2) the effect of air resistance is negligible

Exercise #6

A canon fires a shell at an angle of

45o to the horizontal with a speed
of 35 m/s.
(a) What is the time taken to reach the
maximum height of the trajectory?
(b) What is the maximum height of the
trajectory?
(c) What is the range of the shell?

Answer
y
V = 35 m/s

45o

(a) When the shell reaches the maximum height, it means

that the vertical velocity component, V y has reached 0.

v f = vi + at
0 = 35 sin 45 + (_ 9.81)t
t = 2.5 s

Answer (cont.)
b) The maximum height of the trajectory
is equivalent to asking the total
displacement in the y direction.

1 2
s = vo t + at
2
1
2
= 35 sin 45 (1.26) + (_ 9.81)(1.26)
2
= 16.96 m

Answer (cont.)
(c) The range of the shell is the horizontal
distance travelled by the shell. One major
assumption is made here: The total time for
the shell to move horizontally is 2t because it
is the time required for the shell to reach
maximum height (t) and for it to fall back to
the its original level (t)= t + t = 2t. Also, there
1
is no ax component.
s = v 2t + a(2t ) 2
o

1
= 35 sin 45 (2 1.26) + (0)(2 1.26) 2
2
= 62.36 m