MOTION IN A PLANE

POSITION VECTOR

The vector which represent the position of a particle.


If r represents the position vector of a particle as shown, then

r  rx ˆi  ry ˆj

r  x ˆi  y ˆj
when x and y are the coordinates of the particle.

y
Magnitude r  x 2  y 2 and tan  
x
DISPLACEMENT VECTOR

Let the particle moves from P to P ' the displacement vector

1
   
r  r '  r

r  (x ' ˆi  y ' ˆj)  (xiˆ  yj)
ˆ

r  (x ' x)iˆ  (y ' y)ˆj

r  x ˆi  y ˆj

x  displacement along x direction

y  displacement along y direction

r  ( x)2  ( y)2

VELOCITY VECTOR

Let r be the displacement vector of a particle in a time interval t , then the average velocity vector

 r xiˆ  yjˆ
Vav  
t t

 x
Vav  ˆi  y ˆj  V ˆi  V ˆj
x y
t t
where Vx is the x-component of velocity.
Vy is the y-component of velocity.

Direction of average velocity is in the direction of displacement vector r .

Magnitude of velocity Vav  Vx2  Vy2

Instantaneous velocity
 
 r dr
V  lim 
t 0 t dt

 dx
V ˆi  dy ˆj  V ˆi  V ˆj
x y
dt dt
The direction of velocity at any instant or at any point on the path of an object is tangential to the path
at that point and is in the direction of motion

2
 Vy
tan  
Vx

V 
or   tan1  y 
 Vx 

V  Vx2  Vy2

ACCELERATION VECTOR

Let V be the change in velocity in a time interval t, then the average acceleration,
  
 V V  u (Vx ˆi  Vy ˆj)  (ux ˆi  uy ˆj)
aav   
t t t

 V  ux  ˆ  Vy  uy ˆ
 x  i   t j
 t   

 V Vy
aav  x ˆi  ˆj  a ˆi  a ˆj
x y
t t

Vx
ax   x-component of acceleration
t

Vy
ay   y-component of acceleration
t
Instantaneous acceleration

 V dVx ˆ dVy ˆ
a  lim  i j
t 0 t dt dt

a  a x ˆi  a y ˆj

dVx d2 x dVy d2 y
ax   ay  
dt dt 2 dt dt 2
In one dimensional motion, the velocity and acceleration are in the same straight line. However, for
motion in two or three dimensions, velocity and acceleration vectors may have any angle between 00
and 1800 between them.
MOTION IN A PLANE WITH CONSTANT VELOCITY
In two dimensional two coordinators change during motion. When velocity is constant displacement
 
Vector r  V t
If motion is in x – y plane, then,

3
 
r  (Vx ˆi  Vy ˆj) t
 
r '  r  Vx t ˆi  Vy t ˆj

(x ' x) ˆi  (y ' y) ˆj  Vx t ˆi  Vy t ˆj

 x ' x  Vx t (1 D motion along x-direction)

y ' y  Vy t (1 D motion along y-direction)

MOTION IN A PLANE WITH CONSTANT ACCELERATION
acceleration vector
 
 v u   
a or v  u  a t
t
If the motion is in x-y plane

v x ˆi  v y ˆj  (ux ˆi  uy ˆj)  ( a x ˆi  a y ˆj)

 (ux ˆi  a x t) ˆj  ( uy ˆi  a y t) ˆj

 v x  ux  a x t (1 D motion along x direction)

and v y  uy  a y t (1D motion along y-direction)

 
   u  v 
displacement vector r '  r  
 2  t
 
  
   u  (u  at 
r '  r    t
 2 

   at 2
r '  r  ut 
2

   a t2
r 'r ut 
2
If motion is in x-y plane, the above equation in component form is :

ax t 2
x '  x  ux t 
2

ay t 2
y '  y  uy t 
2
The above equations shows that, the motion in a plane can be treated as two separate simultaneous
one-dimensional motions with constant acceleration along two perpendicular directions.

4
 RELATIVE MOTION
Relative Motion
Motion of a body can only be observed, when it changes its position with respect to some other body.
IN this sense, motion is a relative concept. To analyze motion of a body say A, therefore we have fix
our reference Relative position, Relative velocity and Relative Acceleration.
 
Let two bodies represented by particles A and B at positions defined by position vectors rA and rB ,
   
moving with velocities v A and v B and accelerations a A and aB with respect to a reference frame S.
For analyzing motion off terrestrial bodies the reference frame S is fixed with the ground. The vectors

r B/ A denotes position vector of B relative to A.
Following triangle law of vector addition, we have

  
r B  r A  r B/ A ...(i)
 
First derivatives of rA and rB with respect to time equals to velocity of particle A and velocity of particle

B relative to frame S and first derivative of r B / A with respect to time defines velocity of B relative to A.
  
v B  v A  v B/ A ...(ii)
 
Second derivatives of rA and rB with respect to time equals to acceleration of particle A and acceleration

of particle B relative to frame S and second derivative of r B/A with respect to time defines acceleration
of B relative to A.
  
aB  a A  aB/ A ...(iii)
In similar fashion motion of particle A relative to particle B can be analyzed with help of adjoining figure.
You can observe in the figure that position vector of A relative to B is directed from B to A and therefore
     
r B/ A   r A /B , v B/ A   v A /B and a A /B   a A /B
The above equations elucidate that how a body A appears moving to another body B is opposite to
how body B appears moving to body A.

5
Relative velocity
Relative velocity of a particle A with respect to B defined as the velocity with which A appears to move
if B is considered to be at rest.

V A  Velocity of A with respect to ground

V B  Velocity of B with respect to ground
Then velocity of A with respect to B is given by
  
v AB  v A  vB
Similarly velocity of B with respect to A is given by
  
v BA  v B  v A
Example
     
v AB  v A  v B v BA  v B  v A

A 10 m/s B 2 m/s  10 ˆi  2iˆ    

 2iˆ  10 ˆi

find vAB and vBA  8 ˆi   8 ˆi

 
v AB  8m / s vBA  8m / s
Note :
If two particles are moving in the same direction, then the magnitude of their relative velocity is the
difference of individual velocities

v AB  v A  v B

Example
A 10 m/s B 2 m/s

find vAB and vBA

     
v AB  v A  v B v BA  v B  v A

   
 10 ˆi  2iˆ 
 2iˆ  10 ˆi 
 12 ˆi   12 ˆi
 
v AB  12 m / s vBA  12 m / s
Note :
If two particles are moving in the opposite direction, then magnitude of their relative velocity is the sum
of their of individual velocities

v AB  v A  v B

6
Relative acceleration
It is the rate at which relative velocity is changing Acceleration of A with respect to B is given by

  
d v AB d  
a AB 
dt

dt

v A  vB 
d  d 
 vA  vB
dv dv
 
 a A  aB
  
a AB  a A  aB
Short cut to find relative velocity
A 10 m/s B 2 m/s

How we need to find the relative velocity

i.e. velocity of A with respect to B
For that keep ‘B’ at rest and give its velocity to A in the opposite direction
2 m/s 10 m/s B

A (rest )

8 m/s B

A (rest )

So relative velocity is 8 m/s

Example
10 m/s

A 10 m/s
B
Find vAB and vBA
     
   
v AB  v A  v B  10 ˆi  10 ˆj    
v BA  v B  v A  10 ˆj  10 ˆi
 
v BA  102  (10)2  10 2 m / s v BA  102  ( 10)2  10 2 m / s

Example

 
Velocity of A is ˆi  ˆj m / s. Velocity of A w.r.t. B is 2iˆ  3 ˆj. Then the actual velocity of B is
  
v A  ˆi  ˆj vB  ? v AB  2 ˆi  3 ˆj
  
v AB  v A  v B
  
v B  v A  v AB

   
 ˆi  ˆj  2iˆ  3ˆj   ˆi  2jˆ

7
River-Boat Problems
In river-boat problems we come across the following three terms:
drift of the boat x = vxt

vr w
x
v br


v r = absolute velocity of river..

vbr = velocity of boatman with respect to river or velocity of boatman in still water..

and v b = absolute velocity of boatman.
 
Here, it is important to note that vbr is the velocity of boatman with which he steers and v b is the
actual velocity of boatman relative to ground.
  
Further, v b  v br  v r
Now, let us derive some standard results and their special cases.

A boatman starts from point A on one bank of a river with velocity vbr in the direction shown in Fig.

River is flowing along positive x-direction with velocity v r . Width of the river is w, then
  
v b  v r  v br

Therefore, v bx  v rx  v brx  v r  v br sin 

and v by  v ry  v bry  0  v br cos   v br cos 

Now, time taken by the boatman to cross the river is:

w w
t 
v by v br cos 

w
or t  v cos 
br

Further, displacement along x-axis when he reaches on the other bank (also called drift) is:

8
 w
x  v bx t   v r  v br sin  
v br cos 

w
or x   v r  v br sin  
v br cos 

Three special cases are:

(i) Condition when the boatman crosses the river in shortest interval of time.
From Eq. (i) we can see that time (t) will be minimum when   0o , i.e., the boatman should steer his
boat perpendicular to the river current.

w
Also, tmin  v as cos   1
br

(ii) Condition when the boatman wants to reach point B, i.e., at a point just opposite from where
be started (shortest path).

  
v b  v r  v br

v b  v br2  v r2

w w
t 
vb v br  v r2
2

In this case, the drift (x) should be zero.

 x0

w
or  v r  v br sin   v cos   0
br

or v r  v br sin 

9
 1  v r 
vr
or sin   v or   sin  
br  v br 

1  v r 
Hence, to reach point B the boatman should row at an angle   sin   upstream from AB.
 v br 

Further, since sin   1

So, if v r  vbr , the boatman can never reach at point B. Because if v r  v br , sin   1 or   90o and
it is just impossible to reach at B if   90o . Moreover it can be seen that vb = 0 if vr = vbr a n d
  90o . Similarly, if v r  v br , sin   1, i.e., no such angle exists. Practically it can be realized in this
manner that it is not possible to reach at B if river velocity (vr) is too high.
(iii) Shortest path
Path length travelled by the boatman when he reaches the opposite shore is

s  w 2  x2
Here, w = width of river is constant. So for s to be minimum modulus of x (drift) should be minimum.
Now two cases are possible.

1  v r 
When vr < vbr; In this case x = 0, when   sin  
 v br 

v 
or smin  w at   sin1  r 
 v br 

dx
When vr > vbr : In this case x is minimum, where 0
d

d  w 
or   v r  v br sin    0
d  v br cos  

or  v br cos2    v r  v br sin    sin    0

or  v br  v r sin   0

1  v br 
or   sin  v 
 r 

v br
or sin  
vr

10
Aircraft Wind Problems
 
This is similar to river boat problem. The only difference is that vbr is replaced by v aw (velocity of
 
aircraft with respect to wind or velocity of aircraft in still air), v r is replaced by v w (velocity of wind)
    
and v b is replaced by v a (absolute velocity of aircraft). Further,, v a  v aw  v w . The following example
will illustrate the theory.
Example
A man can row a boat with 4 km/h in still water. If he is crossing a river where the current is 2 km/h.
(a) In what direction will his boat be headed, if he wants to reach a point on the other bank directly
opposite to starting point?
(b) If width of the river is 4 km, how long will the man take to cross the river, with the condition in part (a)?
(c) In what direction should be head the boat if he wants to cross the river in shortest time and what is
this minimum time?
(d) How long will it take him to row 2 km up the stream and then back to his starting point?
Solution:

(a) Given, that v br  1km / h and v r  2km / h

v  2  1
  sin1  r   sin1    sin1    30o
 v br  4 2

Hence, to reach the point directly opposite to starting point he should head the boat at an angle 30o
with AB or 90o + 30o = 120o with the river flow.
(b) Time taken by the boatman to cross river
w = width of river = 4 km
vbr = 4 km/h and   30o

4 2
t o
 h
4 cos 30 3

(c) For shortest time   0o

w 4
and t min  v cos0o  4  1h
br

Hence, he should head his boat perpendicular to the river current for crossing the river in shortest
time and this shortest time is 1 h.
11
(d) t  t CD  tDC

CD DC 2 2 1 4
or t  v  v  v  v  4  2  4  2  1  3  3 h
br r br r

THE MAN AND THE RAIN PROBLEM

The aim is to determine the angle at which the man should hold the umbrella to prevent himself from
wetting.
    
Here, vr = velocity of rain w.r.t. ground v rm  v r  v m  v r  (  v m )
vm = velocity of man w.r.t. ground umbrella must be hold against the relative velocity vrm
vrm = velocity of rain w.r.t. man
The answer to the problem is that he should hold the umbrella in the direction from where the rain
appears to be falling.
1. The man is stationary and the rain is falling at his back at an angle  with the vertical.

2. The man starts moving forward. The relative velocity of rain w.r.t. man shifts towards vertical direction
(not away from it as a general misconception may be).

| v m |  | v r sin  | = horizontal component of rain velocity..

12
3. As the man further increases his speed, then at a particular value, the rain appears to be falling
vertically.

| v m |  | v r sin  |

vm
sin  
vr

vm
tan   v rm  v r2  v m2
v rm

4. If the man increases his speed further more, then the rain appears to be falling from the forward
direction.

| v m |  | v r sin  |

5. Rain is falling vertically downward.

     
v rm  v r  v m ; v rm  v r    v m 

vm vm
tan   sin  
vr ; v rm

v rm  v r2  v m2

13
VELOCITY OF APPROACH
Velocity of approach (vapp.) of particle A w.r.t. B is the component of the relative velocity of A w.r.t. B
along the line joining A and B and is directed towards B.
1. It’s rate of decrease of separation if A is moving towards B.
2. If velocity of approach is constant then.

initial separation
time of collision  velocity of approach

3. If vapp. is variable and t0 = time taken for collision then

t0

initial separation s0   v app. dt

0

ILLUSTRATIVE CASES

Example
A river has width 120 metre. Velocity of river is 10 m/s. Velocity of boat in still water is 12 m/s. The
boat is rowed perpendicular to river flow.
Find a) actual velocity of boat
b) time taken to cross the river
c) drift
 
Here   90o  is the angle between v mr and v r v r  10 m / s d = 120 m vMR = 12 m/s

v M  v MR
2
 v R2  2v MR v R cos   122  102  2  12  10  cos   244 m / s

d 120
t   10 sec
vMR sin 90 12  1

d 120 120
x   vMR cos   vR   12  cos 90  10   10   100metre
v MR sin  12  sin 90 12
Example
A man can swim at the rate of 5 km/hr in still water a 1 km wide River flows at the rate of 3 km/hr. The
man wishes to swim across the river directly opposite to the starting point.

14
 a) Along what direction he must swim?
b) What is his resultant velocity?
c) Time taken to cross the river
vMR = 5 km/hr
d = 1 km
vR = 3 km/hr
d 1 1
t   hour  15 minutes
v 2
MR v 2
R 5 3
2 2 4

v M  v MR
2
 v R2  52  32  4 km / hr

 v  3
  cos1  R   cos1    127o
 v MR   5 
  angle made with the direction of river flow..
 127o downstream or 53o upstream.
Sample
A man can swim at a speed 5 km/h in the still water. He wants to cross a 1600 m wide river flowing
at 4 km/h. He keep himself at an angle 127o with river flow, while swimming. Find the time he takes to
cross the river, also find the distance travelled by him along the flow.
vMR = 5 km/h
d = 1600 m = 1.6 km
vR = 4 km/h
  127  90  370

d 1.6 1.6
t    0.4 hour
v MR cos  5  sin 37 4
5
5

d 1.6
x   vR  v MR sin     4  5  cos 37  
vMR cos  5  sin37

 3  1.6
 5  4   1 0.4  0.4km  400m
 5  5 4
5

15
Example
A man starts swimming at time t = 0 from point A on the ground and he wants to reach the point B
directly opposite the point A. His velocity in still water is 5 m/s and width of river is 48 m. River flow

velocity u varies with time is given by u  t 2 m/s. He always tries to swim in particular fixed direction

1 24
with river flow (given sin  74o )
25

a) direction in which he should make stroke and the time taken by the man to cross the river
Trajectory of path

Horizontal motion Vertical motion

vel  vR  v MR sin  vel = v MR cos   5cos 

v x  t  5sin  disp = 48
2

dx t 48
  5sin  t
dt 2 5cos 

dx  t dt  5sin dt
2
Integrate

t2
x  5sin t
4
drift t = 0
x=0

t2
 5sin t
4

16
 t  20 sin 

48
20 sin  
5cos 

100 sin  cos   48

50  sin 2  48

sin 2  24
25

2  74o

  37 o
Rain Umbrella problems

vR - velocity of rain

v M - velocity of man

v RM - velocity of rain with respect to man
  
v RM  v R  v M
Example
The rain is falling vertically downward with velocity 6 m/s and man is moving horizontally with velocity
8 m/s. Find the velocity of rain with respect to man?

 
v R  6 ˆj  6ˆj

v M  8iˆ
  
v RM  v R  v M  6ˆj  8iˆ

| v RM | v RM  62  82  10 m / s
Note:

Take man at rest

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 
Angle made by umbrella with vertically = angle made by v RM with vertical.
Example
A man is walking due west with a velocity 3 km/h and rain appears to be falling vertically, with a
velocity 4 km/h. Find the velocity of rain with respect to the ground.

W E

S

v M  3iˆ

v RM  4iˆ
  
v RM  v R  v M
  
v R  v RM  v M  4ˆj  3iˆ

v R  | v R |  42  32  5 km / h
Example
A standing man observes rain falling with velocity 20 m/s at an angle 30o with the vertical. Find the
velocity with which the man should move so that the rain appears to fall vertically to him.


   
v R  20 sin30 ˆi  20 cos 30 ˆj

v R  10iˆ  10 3ˆj

v M  a ˆi
  
 
v RM  v R  v M  10iˆ  10 3ˆj  aiˆ

 10  a  ˆi  10 3 ˆj
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 vRM is vertical so no horizontal component.
 horizontal comp = 0.
10 + a = 0
a = –10

v M  aiˆ  10iˆ

v M  | v M |  10 m / s

Aircraft wind Problems

This is similar to river boat problem.
 
v MR is replaced by v AW (velocity of aircraft with respect to wind)
 
v R is replaced by v W (velocity of wind)
Relative Motion between two Projectiles
Consider two projectiles projected simultaneously.

1st projectile is seen from second projectile, for that second projectile makes at rest

Since acceleration is zero both horizontal and vertical component remains constant. Therefore it looks
like a straight line
Note

If u1 cos 1  u 2 cos 2

then it will be a vertical straight line

If u1 sin 1  u 2 sin 2

then it will be a horizontal straight line and they will collide after some time

 Condition for collision is u1 sin 1  u 2 sin 2

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