Answer Key for Take Home Quiz 3: Displacement and Velocity

2.2 We have a shearwater that is taken from its nest, flown to a release point 5150 km away, and
released from captivity. The shearwater then flies back to its nest, arriving 13.5 days later. Let us then
make a table of quantities that are given and that we are to derive:

Position of nest Position of release Time of travel Average velocity Average velocity
point from release point of bird from of bird
to nest release point to throughout the
nest entire journey
0 5150 km 13.5 days TBD TBD

Having stated the quantities that are given in the problem and the quantities that are to be determined,
let us now proceed in solving the problem.

a. We want to determine the average velocity of the shearwater in flying from the release point,
located 5150 km away from its nest, back to its nest, located at x=0 . Given that it takes 13.5
days (as mentioned in the table of quantities known and unknown) for the shearwater to fly
back to its nest from its release point, we can then compute for the average velocity at this leg
of the journey as follows:

( )( 1000 )( )
x f −xi 0−5150 km −5150 km 5150 km m 1 day m
∆ v 2 →1= = = =− =−4.42
t f −t i 13.5 days 13.5 days 13.5 days 1 km 86400 s s
b. For the entire journey, the shearwater is taken from its nest and flies back to it. Hence, its net
displacement is ∆ x=0, and consequently the shearwater’s average velocity for the entire
journey is ∆ v=0 .

2.8. In this problem, we have a bird, flying due east, whose displacement is given by the following
equation:

x ( t )=28.0 m+ 12.4 ( m
s ) ( m
t− 0.0450 3 t 3
s )
We want to determine the bird’s instantaneous velocity at t = 8.00 s. To do this, we first recall the
definition of the instantaneous velocity:

∆x x ( t +∆ t )−x ( t )
v ( t )= lim = lim
∆ t →0 ∆ t ∆ t →0 ∆t
Substituting the equation for the bird’s displacement into the equation of instantaneous velocity,
and simplifying the resulting equation, we obtain the following mathematical expression:

v ( t )= lim
x ( t +∆ t )−x ( t )
= lim
( (
28.0 m+ 12.4
m
s ) ( m
s ) 3
)( ( m
) (
( t+ ∆t )− 0.0450 3 ( t +∆ t ) − 28.0 m + 12.4 t − 0.0450
s
∆ t →0 ∆t ∆ t →0 ∆t

Therefore, we end up with the following equation for the instantaneous velocity of the bird:
 v ( t )=12.4
m
s ( m
s ) m
s ( m
− 0.0450 3 ( 3 t 2 ) =12.4 − 0.135 3 t 2
s )
We then let t = 8.00 s in this equation to find the bird’s instantaneous velocity at this instant of time:

v ( t=8.00 s )=12.4
m
s ( m
) m m
− 0.135 3 ( 8.00 s )2=12.4 −8.64 =3.76
s s s
m
s

2.11. For this problem, we are given the following graph of a moving object’s position as a function of
time:

We are asked to determine the object’s instantaneous velocity at the points (A) – (G) on the graph using
the data provided by the graph.

To solve this problem, we recall the following concepts:

a. An object’s instantaneous velocity, or velocity at a given instant of time, is the slope of the line
tangent to its position – time graph (x – t graph), at that instant of time.
b. If the x – t graph is a straight line over an interval of time, then the object’s velocity over that
time interval is constant, and the slope of that straight line is equal to the object’s instantaneous
velocity at any instant of time within that time interval.
c. If the x – t graph is a horizontal straight line over an interval of time, then the slope of the graph
over that interval of time is equal to zero, and consequently, the object’s velocity over that time
interval, and at any instant of time within that interval, is equal to zero.

Having said that, we then determine the lines tangent to the x – t graph given at the seven points (A)
– (G) indicated on the graph. However, in doing so, we make the following observations:

a. The x – t graph is a straight line from t = 0 to t = 3 s, with the slope of the graph over that
interval of time being
 x 2−x 1 40 m−20 m 20 m m
m=v av = = = =6.67
t 2−t 1 3 s−0 3s s
b. The x – t graph is also a straight line from t = 3 s to t = 5 s, with the graph being horizontal. As
such, over the interval of time from t = 3 s to t = 5 s, the slope of the graph is
m=v av =0
c. The x – t graph from t = 5.0 s to point F in the graph (which is at an instant of time t past 6.0 s) is
also a straight line. Since t = 6.0 s lies in this time interval, we can get the slope of the graph for
this interval as follows:
x 2−x 1 0 m−40 m m
m=v av = = =−40
t 2−t 1 6 s−5 s s
d. While the x – t graph from t = 6 s to t = 9 s is not straight (and is, in fact, roughly parabolic), the
line tangent to the x – t graph at point G is horizontal, since G is the point at the lowest part of
the graph in this interval of time (i. e. it is the minimum of the graph). Therefore, the slope of
the tangent line at this point of the curve is m = 0.

Now having made these observations, we now determine the instantaneous velocities at the points (A) –
(G) on the graph, as follows:

a. Points (A) and (B) lie on the part of the x – t graph from t = 0 to t = 3 s. Since the graph is a
straight line during this interval of time, and since we have determined the slope of the graph
over this time interval to be m = 6.67 m/s, then the instantaneous velocity of the object at
points (A) and (B) is
m
v A =v B =6.67
s
b. Point (C) lies on the part of the x – t graph from t = 3 s to t = 5 s. The graph is a straight
horizontal line during this interval of time, and has a slope of 0. Thus, the instantaneous velocity
of the object at point (C) is
vC =0
c. Points (D), (E) and (F) lie on the part of the x – t graph from t = 5 s to a little past t = 6 s. It is of
significance to note that this portion of the x – t graph, which is a straight line sloping
downwards, terminates at point (F). Since we have determined the slope of this portion of the x
– t graph to be m = -40 m/s earlier, the instantaneous velocity of the object at these 3 points is
m
v D =v E=v F =−40
s
d. Point (G) lies at the minimum of the graph, and as observed earlier, the slope of the graph at
this point is m = 0. Therefore, the instantaneous velocity of the object at this point is
vG =0

2.54. We have a lunar lander whose height above the moon’s surface as it descends is given as

(
y ( t ) =800 m− 60.0
m
s ) ( m
t+ 1.05 2 t 2
s )
We are asked to determine the following:

a. The velocity of the lander at t = 0 (or its initial velocity v 0=v (t=0)¿ .
 b. The velocity of the lander just before it reaches the surface, or its velocity when y(t) = 0.

Solution:

Let us recall the definition of the instantaneous velocity, using y instead of x since the lander is moving
vertically:

∆y y ( t+ t ∆ )− y (t)
v ( t )= lim = lim
∆ t →0 ∆ t ∆t→0 ∆t
Substituting the equation for the lander’s displacement into this equation, we find that

v ( t )= lim
y ( t +t ∆ ) − y ( t )
= lim
( 800 m− 60.0( m
s ) m
s ( 2
) m
s )( m
( t +t ∆ ) + 1.05 2 ( t + ∆t ) − 800 m− 60.0 t + 1.05 2 t 2
s ( ) ( ) )=
∆ t →0 ∆t ∆t→ 0 ∆t

We then end up with the following equation for the instantaneous velocity:

v ( t )=−60.0
m
s (
m
+ 2.10 2 t
s )
From this, we can then solve for the quantities being asked in the problem, as follows:

a. At t = 0, the lander’s velocity is

v 0=v ( t=0 ) =−60.0

m
s (
m
+ 2.10 2 ( 0 )=−60.0
s
m
s )
b. To determine the lander’s velocity upon landing, we first determine the instant of time t when
the lander lands on the moon’s surface. To do that, we set y(t) = 0 and solve for t, as follows:

y ( t ) =800 m− 60.0( m
s ) (
m
t+ 1.05 2 t 2=0
s )
We then solve for t using the quadratic formula:

( ) √( ) ( )= √
2
m m m m m2 m2
− −60.0 ± −60.0 −4 ( 800 m ) 1.05 2 60.0 ± 3600 2 −3360 2 60
−b ± √ b −4 ac s s s s
2
s s
t= = =
( )
2a m m
2 1.05 2. 10 2
s2 s
As such, we have two instants of time obtained from the quadratic equation, namely
m m m
60.0−15.5 44.5
s s s
t 1= = =21.2 s
m m
2.10 2 2.10 2
s s
m m m
60.0 +15.5 75.5
s s s
t 2= = =36 . 0 s
m m
2.10 2 2.10 2
s s
To determine which of these two instants of time are the correct values, we substitute them
into our equation for the instantaneous value:

v ( t=21.2 s )=−60.0
m
s ( m
)
+ 2.10 2 ( 21.2 s )=−15.5
s
m
s
m
(
m
)
v ( t=36.0 s )=−60.0 + 2.10 2 ( 36.0 s )=15.5
s s
m
s
However, our lander is supposed to be travelling downwards. Therefore, the correct value for
the instant of time when the lander will reach the ground is t=t 1=21.2 s . And from the
m
previous calculation, the velocity of the lander when it reaches the surface is v=−15.5 .
s