Chapter 2

Motion along a Straight

Line
 Motion

Two assumptions.
 The motion under consideration may be vertical,
horizontal, or on a slope but is in a straight line.

 The moving object is a particle or behaves like a

particle i.e. there is no rotation.
 Position 1 Position 2

x2 or x(t2)
x1 or x(t1)

- origin +
(reference for motion)

• Motion – a change in position, relative to a reference

frame
• The change in position is measured by displacement.
• Remember, displacement is a vector.
• Motion is relative – depends on the reference frame; there
is no absolute reference frame so no absolute motion.
 Position and Displacement

Position is measured by x or y relative to the

origin (zero position).
Typically, x is used for horizontal motion and
y is used for vertical motion.
We choose a convenient origin and a
positive direction.
The opposite direction is the negative
direction.
 Position and Displacement

Displacement is the Change of Position.

 x = x2 – x1 (using magnitudes of the position and displacement
vectors)
 represents the change in a quantity.
The displacement is independent of the position of
the origin of co-ordinates. (but it depends on the
state of motion of the origin)
The displacement is an example of a vector
quantity. (more about it later)
 Average Velocity

The average velocity is defined by

Displaceme nt  x x2  x1 x f  xi
vave    
Elapsed Time t t 2 t1 t f ti
Alternative notations:
x x0 x x0
vave  vave  (if to=0)
t t0 t
Graphical representation of motion
 Instantaneous Velocity
 x dx
v  Lim 
t  0  t dt
v is obtained by differentiating the position
function with respect to time.
v is the slope of the x - t graph.
The sign of v gives the direction of the
velocity at that instant.
 Velocity
Instantaneous Velocity at a given time –
slope of the tangent to the curve at that time

x
Positive Slope
Positive Velocity
Negative Slope
Negative Velocity

t
 Average Acceleration

Average acceleration =
Change in Velocity  v
a ave  
Elapsed Time t

v2  v1
aave 
t 2  t1
 Instantaneous Acceleration
Instantaneous acceleration (or simply “acceleration”) is

 v dv
a  Lim 
 t  0 t dt

dv d  dx  d x 2
a    2 Second Derivative
dt dt  dt  dt
Differentiation

x  bt m

dx m 1
v  mbt
dt

 m  1 m b t
dv m2
a
dt
 Constant Acceleration
Equations of motion

Acceleration = Average acceleration

 v v  v0 v  v0
a  a ave    (Usually we can
t t  t0 t0 take to=0)

v  v 0  at
v = v0 + at
Constant Acceleration

Average velocity =

 x x  x0 x  x0
vave   
t t  t0 t0

x  x 0  v av g t
 Constant Acceleration
Equations of motion

Since the velocity varies linearly

with time (constant acceleration),
vavg  12 v  v0 
v = v0 + at
vavg  12 v0  at  v0   v0  12 at
Hence
x  x 0  v avg t  x 0  v 0 t  2 at
1 2

Note: this “trick” is valid only for constant acceleration

Constant Acceleration
Equations of motion

x = x0 + v0 t + ½ at 2

v = v0 + at
 Constant Acceleration
A third equation may be derived
v = v0 + at v  v0
t
a
 v  v0  1  v  v0 
2

x  x 0  v 0 t  2 at  x 0  v 0 
1 2
  2 a 
 a   a 
 2 v 0 v  2 v 0 2  v 2  2 v v0  v 0 2   v 2  v0 2 
x  x 0     x0  
 


 2a   2a 

v 2 = v0 2 + 2 a (x – x0) (Also called Galilei’s formula)

For today!