Dr. Vitaly A.

Shneidman, Phys 111, 3rd Lecture

III. 2D MOTION

A. Introduction: Derivatives of a vector

~r(t) = (x(t) , y(t)) = x(t)~i + y(t)~j (30)

d dx dy dx dy
~r = , = ~i + ~j (31)
dt dt dt dt dt
d2 d2 x d2 y d2 x~ d2 y~

~r = , = 2i+ 2j (32)
dt2 dt2 dt2 dt dt

B. General

Position:

~r = ~r(t) (33)

Average velocity:

~r
~vav = (34)
t
(see Fig. 9).

Instantaneous velocity:

~v = lim ~vav (35)

t0

Average acceleration:

~v
~aav = (36)
t
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 Instantaneous acceleration:

~a = lim ~aav (37)

t0

y
100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

x
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

FIG. 9: Position of a particle ~r(t) (blue line), finite displacement ~r (black dashed line) and the
average velocity ~v = ~r/t (red dashed in the same direction). The the instantaneous velocity at
a given point is tangent to the trajectory.

C. ~a = const

~v = ~a t

or with t0 = 0

~v = ~v 0 + ~a t (38)

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 Displacement:

1
~r = ~r0 + ~v0 t + ~a t2 (39)
2
(The above can be proven either by integration or by writing eq. (38) in components and
using known 1D results).

D. ~a = ~g (projectile motion)

1. Introduction: Object from a plane

Given: H, V (horizontal). Find: L, v upon impact.

From y-direction
p
t= 2H/g

From x-direction
L = V t = ...

From y-direction
vy2 = v0y
2
+ 2gH

From x-direction
vx = const = V

v 2 = vx2 + vy2 = vx2 + v0y

2
+ 2gH = v02 + 2gH

General: Select x-axis horizontal, y-axis vertical.

ax = 0 , ay = g (40)

From eq. (38) written in components one has

vx = v0,x = const , vy = v0,y gt (41)

with

v0,x = v0 cos , v0,y = v0 sin (42)

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 Displacement:

x = x0 + v0,x t (43)
1
y = y0 + v0,y t gt2 (44)
2

Note:
2
v0,y
ymax y0 = (45)
2g
v0,x v0,y
xmax = (46)
g

Range:

v02
R = 2xmax = sin (2) (47)
g
Note maximum for = /4.

Trajectory: (use x0 = y0 = 0). Exclude time, e.g. t = x/v0,x . Then

v0,y 1 x2 g
y=x g 2 = x tan 2 2
x2 (48)
v0,x 2 v0,x 2v0 cos
This is a parabola - see Fig. 10.

E. Uniform circular motion

1. Preliminaries

Consider motion sround a circle with a constant speed v. The velocity ~v , however, changes
directions so that there is acceleration.

Period of revolution:

T = 2r/v (49)

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 y
5

x
2 4 6 8 10

FIG. 10: Projectile motion for different values of the initial angle with a fixed value of initial
speed v0 (close to 10 m/s). Maximum range is achieved for = /4.

with 1/T - frequency of revolution. Angular velocity (in rad/s):

= 2/T = v/r (50)

2. Acceleration

Note that ~v is always perpendicular to ~r. Thus, from geometry vectors ~v (t + t) , ~v (t)
and ~v form a triangle which is similar to the one formed by ~r (t + t) , ~r(t) and ~r. Or,
|~v | |~r|
=
v r

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 |~v | v |~r|
a = lim = lim
t0 t r t0 t

Or

a = v 2 /r = 2 r (51)

3. An alternative derivation

We can use derivatives with the major relation

d d
sin(t) = cos(t) , cos(t) = sin(t) , (52)
dt dt
One has
~r(t) = (x, y) = (r cos t, r sin t)
d~r
~v (t) = = (r sin t, r cos t)
dt

d~v
= r 2 cos t, r 2 sin t = 2~r

~a = (53)
dt
which gives not only magnitude but also the direction of acceleration opposite to ~r, i.e.
towards the center.

FIG. 11: Position (black), velocities (blue) and acceleration (red) vectors for a uniform circular
motion in counter-clockwise direction.

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 F. Advanced: Classical (Galileos) Relativity

New reference frame:

~ =R
R ~ 0 + V~ t , V~ = const (54)

New coordinates, etc.:

~ = ~r V~ t R
~r = ~r R ~0 (55)

~v = ~v V~ (56)

Example: Projectile with vx 6= 0 and new ref. frame with V~ = (vx , 0).

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