Chapter 2

Motion Along a Straight Line

 Learning Goals for Chapter 2
Looking forward at …
• how the ideas of displacement and average velocity help us describe
straight-line motion.
• the meaning of instantaneous velocity; the difference between velocity and
speed.
• how to use average acceleration and instantaneous acceleration to
describe changes in velocity.
• how to solve problems in which an object is falling freely under the
influence of gravity alone.
• how to analyze straight-line motion when the acceleration is not constant.

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Motion Along A Straight line
• Mechanics, the branch of physics that study the
relationships among force, matter, and motion.
• Kinematics is the part of mechanics that describe motion.
• The simplest kind of motion: a body moving along a straight
line.
• To study the dragster’s motion, we need a coordinate system.
• We treat the dragster as a particle.
• The displacement of the particle is a vector that points from P1 to P2
• The x-component of the displacement, x, is the change in the coordinate x: x = x2 - x1
 Displacement, time, and average velocity
• A particle moving along the x-axis has a coordinate x.
• The change in the particle’s coordinate is ∆𝑥 = 𝑥2 − 𝑥1
∆𝑥
• The average x-velocity of the particle is 𝑣𝑎𝑣−𝑥 =
∆𝑡

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A position-time graph
Instantaneous velocity
• The instantaneous velocity is the velocity at a specific
instant of time or specific point along the path and is given
by vx = dx/dt.
• When we use the term “velocity,” we will always mean
instantaneous rather than average velocity.
 Finding velocity on an x-t graph

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 Finding velocity on an x-t graph

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 Finding velocity on an x-t graph

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 x-t graphs

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© 2016 Pearson Education, Ltd.
March 17, 2022
 Displacement, time, and average velocity
• A particle moving along the x-axis has a coordinate x.
• The change in the particle’s coordinate is ∆𝑥 = 𝑥2 − 𝑥1
∆𝑥
• The average x-velocity of the particle is 𝑣𝑎𝑣−𝑥 =
∆𝑡

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Instantaneous velocity
• The instantaneous velocity is the velocity at a specific
instant of time or specific point along the path and is given
by vx = dx/dt.
• When we use the term “velocity,” we will always mean
instantaneous rather than average velocity.
 Average acceleration
• Acceleration describes the rate of change of velocity with time.
∆𝑣𝑥
• The average x-acceleration is 𝑎𝑎𝑣−𝑥 =
∆𝑡

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© 2016 Pearson Education, Ltd.
Thus positive x-acceleration means speeding up if the x-velocity is positive [interval (a)]
But slowing down if the x-velocity is negative [interval (d)].
Similarly,
negative x-acceleration means speeding up if the x-velocity is negative [interval (c)]
but slowing down if the x-velocity is positive [interval (b)].

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 Instantaneous acceleration

To define the instantaneous acceleration at point P1 , we take point P2 in Fig. 2.11 to be

closer and closer to P1 so that the average acceleration is computed over shorter and shorter
time intervals. Thus,

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 Finding acceleration on a vx-t graph

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 A vx-t graph

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 Motion diagrams
• Here is the motion diagram for the particle in the previous
vx-t graph.

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 A x-t graph
The second derivative of any function is directly
related to the concavity or curvature of the
graph of that function (Fig. 2.14). At a point
where the x-t graph is concave up (curved
upward), such as point A or E in Fig. 2.14a, the
x-acceleration is positive and vx is increasing. At
a point where the x-t graph is concave down
(curved downward), such as point C in Fig.
2.14a, the x-acceleration is negative and vx is
decreasing. At a point where the x-t graph has
no curvature, such as the inflection points B and
D in Fig. 2.14a, the x-acceleration is zero and
the velocity is not changing.
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 Motion with constant acceleration
• the x-velocity changes by equal amounts in
equal time intervals

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Motion with constant acceleration

• When the x-acceleration ax is constant, the average x-acceleration aav-x for any
time interval is the same as ax .
Substituting 𝑣𝑥 = 𝑣0𝑥 + 𝑎𝑥 𝑡
 Solve for t from 𝑣𝑥 = 𝑣0𝑥 + 𝑎𝑥 𝑡

Substitute into eqn 2.12

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© 2016 Pearson Education, Ltd.
 The equations of motion with constant
acceleration
• The four equations below apply to any straight-line motion with
constant acceleration ax.

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A motorcyclist heading east through a small town accelerates at a constant 4.0 m/s2 after he
leaves the city limits (Fig. 2.20). At time t = 0 he is 5.0 m east of the city-limits signpost
while he moves east at 15 m/s. (a) Find his position and velocity at t = 2.0 s. (b) Where is he
when his speed is 25 m/s?
a) Find his position and velocity at t = 2.0 s.
(b) Where is he when his speed is 25 m/s?
A motorist traveling at a constant 15 m/s passes a school crossing where the speed limit is
10 m/s. Just as the motorist passes the school-crossing sign, a police officer on a motorcycle
stopped there starts in pursuit with constant acceleration 3.0 m/s2 (Fig. 2.21a). (a) How
much time elapses before the officer passes the motorist? At that time, (b) what is the
officer’s speed and (c) how far has each vehicle traveled?
(a) How much time elapses before the officer passes the motorist?

To find the value of the time t at which the motorist and

police officer are at the same position, we set xP = xM
At that time, (b) what is the officer’s speed
March 22, 2022
Announcement
• Quiz 2 on March 24, 2022 at 12:30 – 1.00 pm.
• Topics covered will be Chapter 2.
• Open book Quiz
• Must be present in class to take the Quiz
Freely falling bodies
• Free fall is the motion of an
object under the influence of
only gravity.
• In the figure, a strobe light
flashes with equal time
intervals between flashes.
• The velocity change is the
same in each time interval, so
the acceleration is constant.
 A freely falling coin
• A one-euro coin is dropped from the Leaning Tower of Pisa and falls
freely from rest. What are its position and velocity after 1.0 s, 2.0 s,
and 3.0 s?

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 A freely falling coin
• If there is no air resistance, the downward acceleration of any freely
falling object is g = 9.8 m/s2 = 32 ft/s2.

The results are

y = -4.9 m and vy = -9.8 m/s at t = 1.0 s,
y = -20 m and vy = -20 m/s at t = 2.0 s, and
y = -44 m and vy = -29 m/s at t = 3.0 s .
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 You throw a ball vertically upward
from the roof of a tall building.
The ball leaves your hand at a point
even with the roof railing
with an upward speed of 15.0 m/s;
the ball is then in free fall. On
its way back down, it just misses
the railing. Find (a) the ball’s
position and velocity 1.00 s and
4.00 s after leaving your hand;
(b) the ball’s velocity when it is
5.00 m above the railing; (c) the
maximum height reached; (d) the
ball’s acceleration when it is at
its maximum height.
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 Find (a) the ball’s position and velocity 1.00 s and 4.00 s after leaving your hand;

t=1.00 s, y=+10.1 m, vy = +5.2 m/s

t=4.00 s, y=-18.4 m, vy = -24.2 m/s

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© 2016 Pearson Education, Ltd.
 (c) the maximum height reached;

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 (d) the ball’s acceleration when it is at its maximum height.

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At what time after being released has the ball in Example 2.7 fallen 5.00 m
below the roof railing?
At what time after being released has the ball in Example 2.7 fallen 5.00 m
below the roof railing?