Motion in One and Two dimensions

Motion:
Motion may be defined as a continuous change of position. The simplest motion to
describe is the motion of a point along a straight line, which we shall take to coincide
with a coordinate axis. To discuss motion, let us first, define some familiar quantities.

Velocity:
Velocity is the rate of change of distance in a fixed direction. It is symbolized by v.
Unit: The SI unit of velocity is ms-1.

Average velocity:
The ratio of the displacement to the time interval is known as average velocity.
We consider a particle having along the x-axis as in figure 1. Its distance from the
origin O is described by the coordinate x, which varies with time. Suppose, at time t1,
the particle is at point P, with coordinate x1, and at time t2, it is at Q with coordinate x2.
The displacement of the particle in the time interval t = t2 - t1 is then x = x2 – x1, and
we define a well known quantity average velocity as x2 – x1 = x
P Q
x2  x1 x x
v  x1
t 2  t1 t x2
Figure 1: Average velocity
Instantaneous velocity:
The velocity of a particle at some one instant of time or some one point is known as
the instantaneous velocity and is defined as
x dx
vin  lim 
t  0 t dt
Acceleration:
The acceleration is defined as the rate of change of velocity with time. It is symbolized
by a.
Unit: The SI unit of acceleration is ms-2.

Average and instantaneous acceleration:

If v1 and v2 are the instantaneous velocities at times t1 and t2, then the average
acceleration is defined as
v2  v1 v
a 
t2  t1 t
The instantaneous acceleration a is defined as the limit of this ratio when
tapproaches zero.
v dv
a  lim 
t  0 t dt

Motion with constant acceleration:

The simplest kind of accelerated motion is the straight line motion in which the
acceleration is constant, that is, in which the velocity changes at the same rate
throughout the motion. In that case the average acceleration can be replaced by
constant acceleration a, and we have
v2  v1
a
t2  t1

1
Dr. Md. Readul Mahmud/Lecturer, SECS
PHY 101/Chapter-2
Now, let t1 = 0 and t2 be any arbitrary later time t. Let v0 represents the velocity at t = 0
(called initial velocity), and v be the velocity at later time t, then
v  v0
a
t
 v  v0  at
 v  v0  at ............ (1)
Now, from the definition of average velocity, we can write
x  x0
v
t
 x  x0  v t
v  v0
Again, the average velocity can be defined as v 
2
Substituting this in eq. (2), we get
1
x  x0 v  v0 t .......... (2)
2
 x  x0  2v0  at t
1
 v  v0  at 
2
1
 x  x0  v0t  at 2 ............. (3)
2
v  v0
Now, from eq. (1), we get t  . Substituting this value in eq. (3), gives us
a
 v  v0 
x  x0  v  v0 
1

2  a 
v 2  v0
2
 x  x0 
2a
 v  v0  2a x  x0 
2 2

 v 2  v0  2ax  x0  ............ (4)

2

Thus, we get a set of equations which represent the motion of a particle in one-
dimension and with constant acceleration.

Free falling bodies:

The most common example of motion with nearly constant acceleration is that of a
body falling towards the earth. In the absence of air resistance it is found that all
bodies regardless of their size, weight or composition, fall with same acceleration at
the same point of the earth’s surface, and if the distance covered is not too great the
acceleration remains constant throughout the fall. This ideal motion is called “free fall”.

The acceleration of a free falling body is called the acceleration due to gravity and
denoted by the symbol g. Near the earth’s surface its magnitude is approximately
9.8ms-1, and it is directed downward the center of the earth.

To obtain the equations of motion in free fall, the y- axis will be taken as positive
vertically upward. We can write down the equations by using the previous results, as

2
Dr. Md. Readul Mahmud/Lecturer, SECS
PHY 101/Chapter-2
 v  v0  gt

y
1
v  v0 t
2
1
y  v0t  gt 2
2
v  v0  2 gy
2 2

Motion in a plane:
The motion in a path that lies in a plane is called the motion in a plane. Example of
such a motion are the flight of a thrown or batted baseball, a projectile shot from a gun,
the motion of the moon or of a satellite around the earth, the motion of the planets
around the sun, etc.

Average and instantaneous velocity in plane motion:

Figure shows a particle moves along a curved path in the XY- plane and P & Q are any
two points on the path. The position of the particle at P can be described by the
displacement vector r from the origin O. r is called the position vector and is defined as

r1  iˆx1  ˆjy1
Y
After a small time t the particle is at Q, and the
change in position can be represented as

r  iˆx  ˆjy
Then the average velocity is defined as
 P r
 r
v
t r1 Q
And, the instantaneous velocity is r2
 
 r dr
v  lim  O X
t  0 t dt
Figure 2: Motion in a plane
Average and instantaneous acceleration:
The average acceleration of the plane is defined as

 v
a
t
And, instantaneous acceleration is
 
v dv
a  lim 
t  0 t dt

Motion of a projectile:
Any object that is given an initial velocity and that subsequently follows a path
determined by the gravitational force acting on it by the frictional resistance of the
atmosphere is called a projectile. The motion of a free falling body is a special case of
projectile. The path followed by a projectile is called its trajectory.

To analysis the motion of projectile we have to separate the x and y- component.

Suppose that at time t = 0, the particle is at point (x0, y0) and has velocity components
v0x and v0y. The components of acceleration is ax = 0, ay = -g. Then, we can write the
equations of motion as

3
Dr. Md. Readul Mahmud/Lecturer, SECS
PHY 101/Chapter-2
 Figure 3: Motion of projectile
vx  v0 x
x  x0  v0 xt
v y  v0 y  gt
1 2
y  y0  v0 y t  gt
2
Now, the initial velocity v0 can be represented by its magnitude v0 and the angle  it
makes with positive x- axis. In terms of these quantities, the components v0x and v0y of
initial velocity are
v0 x  v0Cos & v0 y  v0 Sin
Then setting x0 = y0 = 0, the previous equations can be written as

vx  v0 x  v0Cos …………. (1)

x  v0 x t  v0 Cos t ………… (2)
v y  v0 y  gt  v0 Sin  gt ……….. (3)

gt  v0 Sin t  gt 2 .………. (4)

1 2 1
y  v0 y t 
2 2
Maximum height of a projectile:
At the maximum height the velocity of the projectile will be zero, i.e. vy = 0. Suppose
that it will take time t to reach the maximum height. Then, from eq. (3), we get
v0 Sin  gt  0
v0 Sin
t 
g
Substituting this value of t in eq. (4), we have
2
 v Sin  1  v0 Sin 
H  ymax  v0 Sin  0   g  
 g  2  g 
v0 Sin 2
2
H 
2g

Range of a projectile:
Now, when the projectile returns to the ground, then y = 0. Suppose it needs time t1 to
return. Then, from eq. (4)

4
Dr. Md. Readul Mahmud/Lecturer, SECS
PHY 101/Chapter-2
 v0 Sin t1  1 gt12  0
2
2v Sin
 ti  0
g
Substituting this value in eq. (2), we get the range R as
 2v Sin 
R  x  v0Cos t1  v0Cos  0 
 g 
v Sin 2
2
R  0
g

Problems for practice: Exercise 5- 1, 5- 2, 5- 8, 5- 9, 5- 10, 5- 20, etc.

5
Dr. Md. Readul Mahmud/Lecturer, SECS
PHY 101/Chapter-2