1

UNIVERSITY OF GUYANA
FACULTY OF NATURAL SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS,
PHYSICS & STATISTICS
PHY 1200 – FOUNDATION PHYSICS
(1 ST SEMESTER)
LECTURE 4
(TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 11 2018)
 2

MECHANICS

Prepared by Samuel Lee – Dept. of Math, Physics & Stats, Faculty of Natural Sciences (2017/2018)
 1.7 Speed, Velocity and Acceleration
3

Introduction:
The motion of objects – baseballs, automobiles,
joggers, and even the Sun and Moon – is an
obvious part of everyday life. It was not until in the
sixteenth and seventh centuries that our modern
understanding of motion was established. Many
contributed to this understanding particularly
Galileo Galilei (1564 – 1642) and Isaac Newton
(1642 – 1727).

(Physics: Principles with Applications by Douglas Giancoli, 7th Edition, pg. 21)
 1.7 Speed, Velocity and Acceleration
4

Reference Frames and Displacement:

 Any measurement of position, distance or speed must
be made with respect to a reference frame or frame of
reference.

(Physics: Principles with Applications by Douglas Giancoli, 7th Edition, pg. 22)
 1.7 Speed, Velocity and Acceleration
5

Reference Frames and

Displacement:
 When specifying the motion
of an object, it is important to
specify not only the speed but
also the direction (north,
south, east & west and up &
down).
 A set of coordinate axes may
be used to represent a frame
of reference.
(Physics: Principles with Applications by Douglas Giancoli, 7th Edition, pg. 22)
 1.7 Speed, Velocity and Acceleration
6

Reference Frames and

Displacement:
 For 1-D motion, the x axis is the
line along which the motion takes
place.
 The position of an object at any
moment is given by the x
coordinate (vertical motion it is y).
 A distinction exists between the
distance an object has traveled and
its displacement.
(Physics: Principles with Applications by Douglas Giancoli, 7th Edition, pg. 22)
 1.7 Speed, Velocity and Acceleration
7

Reference Frames and

Displacement:
 Displacement is quantity that has
both magnitude and direction and
referred to as a vector represented
by arrows in diagrams.
 It is defined as the change in
position of an object. Displacement
is how far the object is from its
starting point.
∆𝑥 = 𝑥2 − 𝑥1
(Physics: Principles with Applications by Douglas Giancoli, 7th Edition, pg. 22)
 1.7 Speed, Velocity and Acceleration
8
Speed:
 It refers to how far an
object travels in a given
time interval, regardless
of direction.
Average Speed:
 It is defined as the total
distance traveled by an
object along its path
divided by the time taken
to travel this distance.
(Physics: Principles with Applications by Douglas Giancoli, 7th Edition, pg. 23)
 1.7 Speed, Velocity and Acceleration
9

Velocity:
 There is a distinction
between speed and velocity.
Speed is a scalar quantity,
while velocity is a vector.
Average Velocity:
 Total displacement over the
time elapsed.
𝑥2 − 𝑥1 ∆𝑥
𝑣= =
𝑡2 − 𝑡1 ∆𝑡
(Physics: Principles with Applications by Douglas Giancoli, 7th Edition, pg. 25)
 1.7 Speed, Velocity and Acceleration
10

Acceleration:
 An object whose velocity is changing is said to be
accelerating. Acceleration specifies how rapidly the
velocity of the object is changing. It is a vector
quantity.
Average Acceleration:
 It is defined as the change in velocity divided by
the time taken to make this change.
𝑣2 − 𝑣1 ∆𝑣
𝑎= =
𝑡2 − 𝑡1 ∆𝑡
(Physics: Principles with Applications by Douglas Giancoli, 7th Edition, pg. 26)
 1.7 Speed, Velocity and Acceleration
11

Acceleration:

(Physics: Principles with Applications by Douglas Giancoli, 7th Edition, pg. 26)
 1.8 Equations of Motion
12

Motion at Constant
Acceleration
Consider the motion of an
object when the magnitude
of the acceleration is
constant. Using the
definitions of average
velocity and acceleration, a
number of useful equations
may be derived.

(Physics: Principles with Applications by Douglas Giancoli, 7th Edition, pg. 28)
 1.8 Equations of Motion
13

Kinematic Equations
These equations relate
position, velocity,
acceleration and time. In
many cases, 𝑥0 = 0.
NB: x represents position
and not distance. Also
𝑥 − 𝑥0 represents
displacement and t elapsed
time.
(Physics: Principles with Applications by Douglas Giancoli, 7th Edition, pg. 29)
 END OF
LECTURE
14