Chapter 2

Motion in 1-Dimension
Position,
Displacement and
distance traveled
Position: Location of particle with

respect to some reference point.
Displacement of a particle:
xf final position
Its change in position: x x f xi
xi: initial position
Dont confuse displacement with the distance traveled.

Example: What is the displacement and the total distance traveled of a baseball player
hitting a homerun?
Displacement is a vector: It has both, magnitude and direction!!

Total distance traveled is a scalar: It has just a magnitude
Velocity and speed
Average Velocity of a particle:

x x: displacement of particle
vx
t t: total time during which displacement occurred.
Average speed of a particle: total distance

average speed
total time
Velocity is a vector: It has both, magnitude and direction!!

Speed is a scalar: It has just a magnitude
Blackboard example 2.1:
The position of a car is measured every

ten seconds relative to zero.
A) 30 m
B) 52 m
C) 38 m
D) 0 m
E) - 37 m
F) -53 m
Find the displacement, average velocity
and average speed between
positions A and F.
Instantaneous velocity and speed
x dx
vx lim
t 0 t dt
Instantaneous velocity is the derivative of x with respect to t, dx/dt!
Velocity is the slope of a position-time graph!
The (instantaneous) speed (scalar) is defined as the magnitude of its (instantaneous) velocity (vector)
Blackboard example 2.2
10
A particle moves along the x-axis. Its
coordinate varies with time according to the 8
displacement (m)
expression: 6
4
x
2 2
x (4 ms ) t (2 2 ) t
m
0
s
t
-2
-4
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4
time (s)
(a) Determine the displacement of the particle in the time intervals t=0 to t=1s and t=1s to
t=3s.
(b) Calculate the average velocity during these two time interval.
(c) Find the instantaneous velocity of the particle at t = 2.5s.
(d) i-clicker: What is the instantaneous velocity at 1s (graph)?
A.) 0 m/s B.) 0.5 m/s C.) 1 m/sD.) indeterminate
Acceleration
When the velocity of a particle (say a car) is changing, it is accelerating
(can be positive or negative).
The average acceleration of the particle is defined as the change in
velocity vx divided by the time interval t during which that
change occurred.
v x v xf v xi
ax
t t f ti
The instantaneous acceleration equals
the derivative of the velocity with respect to time (slope
of velocity vs. time graph).
v x dv x
a x lim
t 0 t dt Units: m/sec2
Because vx = dx/dt, the acceleration

can also be written as:
dvx d dx d 2 x
ax 2
dt dt dt dt
Worksheet:
Find the
appropriate
acceleration
graphs
parabola
Conceptual black board example 2.3
Relationship between acceleration-time graph and

velocity-time graph and displacement-time graph.
Notice that acceleration and velocity
often point in different directions
One-dimensional motion with constant acceleration
v xf v xi a x t *Velocity as function of time
x f xi (vxi vxf )t
1
2
Position as function of time and velocity
1 2
x f xi v xi t a x t *Position as function of time
2
vxf vxi 2ax ( x f xi )
2 2
Velocity as function of position
These four kinematic equations can be used to solve any problem

Derivations: Book pp. 32-34
involving one-dimensional motion at constant acceleration.
Black board example 2.4
The driver of a car slams on the brakes when he sees a

tree blocking the road. The car slows uniformly
with an acceleration of 5.60 m/s2 for 4.2s, making
skid marks 62.4 m long ending at the tree. With
what speed does the car then strike the tree?
Freely falling objects
In the absence of air resistance, all objects fall towards the earth with
the same constant acceleration (a = -g = -9.8 m/s2), due to gravity.
i-clicker:
You throw a ball straight up in the air. At

the highest point, what are the velocity
and the acceleration of the ball?
A.) a=0; v=0
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

B.) a=-9.8m/s2 v0
(from Wikipedia)
C.) a=-9.8m/s2 v=0
Black board example 2.5
A stone thrown from the top of a building is

given an initial velocity of 20.0 m/s
straight upward. The building is 50 m
high. Using tA = 0 as the time the stone
leaves the throwers hand at position A,
determine:
(a) The time at which the stone reaches its
maximum height.
(b) The maximum height.
(c) The time at which the stone returns to
the position from which it was thrown.
(d) The velocity of the stone at this instant
(e) The velocity and and position of the
stone at t = 5.00 s.
(f) Plot y vs. t; v vs. t and a vs. t

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Motion in 1-Dimension

Position: Location of particle with

Dont confuse displacement with the distance traveled.

Displacement is a vector: It has both, magnitude and direction!!

Average Velocity of a particle:

Average speed of a particle: total distance

Velocity is a vector: It has both, magnitude and direction!!

The position of a car is measured every

Because vx = dx/dt, the acceleration

Relationship between acceleration-time graph and

v xf v xi a x t *Velocity as function of time

These four kinematic equations can be used to solve any problem

The driver of a car slams on the brakes when he sees a

You throw a ball straight up in the air. At

A.) a=0; v=0

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

A stone thrown from the top of a building is

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