Motion Descriptors

Lesson 8.
Motion Descriptors
Learning Competency
At the end of this lesson, the given DepEd learning

competency should be met by the students.
Describe the motion of an object in terms of distance

or displacement, speed or velocity, and acceleration
(S7FE-IIIa-1).
Learning Objective
At the end of this lesson, the learner should be able to

Describe the motion of an object in terms of distance
or displacement, speed or velocity, and acceleration.
We can see a lot of moving objects
such as this boy who jumped into
the sea.
Earth is also in motion because it
rotates in its own axis and revolves
around the sun.
We know that
objects move, but
how can we
scientifically
describe its
motion?
Try it!
Warm-Up
Introduction to Motion
Study the picture.

Try it!
Warm-Up
Introduction to Motion
1. How far is the dog from the tree originally?
2. Before they started moving, what is the original distance between the dog
and the ball?
3. If the dog runs a distance of 2 meters in one second, how far will it be from
the tree after 5 seconds?
4. Suppose the ball covers a distance of 1 meter in one second, how much
distance can it cover in 5 seconds?
Learn about It
Motion of an Object
Consider the image below:
Different positions of a truck at varying time intervals.

Learn about It
Motion of an Object
● How an object moves is described relative to something else.
● Describing motion requires a point of reference (reference frame).
● In other words, the distance travelled by an object, how fast the object is
travelling, and the direction in which the object travels to, is measured with
respect to a point of reference.
Learn about It
Describing the truck’s motion:
Different positions of a truck at varying time intervals.
● If the 0 m-mark at time t = 0 s is the point of reference, after 2 seconds, the

truck traveled a distance of 20 meters.
● If the 20 m-mark is considered as a point of reference, the truck covered a
distance of 10 meters after a second.
Learn about It
Distance vs. Displacement

● Distance is the total length traveled by an object.
● Displacement is defined by the change in position from its starting point to

the final point.
Learn about It
Distance vs. Displacement
Refer to the image below:
The displacement of a ball after being rolled several times.

Learn about It
Distance Explained
The displacement of a ball after being rolled several times

● Scenario: A ball was rolled 2 meters to the right, 1 meter to the left, and 2
meters to the right.
● Total distance travelled by the ball: 2 m + 1 m + 2 m = 5 m.
Learn about It
Displacement Explained
The displacement of a ball after being rolled several times

● Change in the ball’s position from the start is only 3 meters.
● Displacement of the ball: 3 meters to the right (direction must be
considered)
Learn about It
Speed
● Speed measures how far an object travels over a given amount of time.
● It is measured as distance per unit of time.
○ Example, if a car travels 300 kilometers in 3 hours, you say that the car
travels with a speed of 100 km/hr (300 km / 3 hrs).
○ Other units: miles per hour (mph) and meters per second (m/s)
Learn about It
Velocity
● Speed is simply a positive number measured in distance per

unit of time.
● Meanwhile, velocity is used to indicate both how fast an
object moves and the direction in which the object is moving
to.
Learn about It
It can be generalized that speed is the distance traveled per

unit of time whereas velocity is a measure of the
displacement traveled per unit of time.
Learn about It
Acceleration
● In our everyday observation of motion, the rate at which objects move is not
always the same.
● For instance, the speed of a ball at the moment you drop it from a certain
height is different from its speed the moment it touches the ground.
Learn about It
Acceleration
● Also, you can observe that if you toss the ball upwards, its speed gradually
decreases until it momentarily stops on a certain peak.
● These instances, along with many other “speeding up” and “slowing down”
phenomena, are called acceleration.
Learn about It
Acceleration
A ball accelerates after being dropped from a certain height.

Learn about It
Acceleration
● Acceleration is defined as the change in velocity per unit of time.
● Therefore, acceleration also considers the direction of motion.
● In one-dimensional motion (motion along a straight line), plus (+) and minus
(–) signs are used to indicate the direction of the acceleration.
Learn about It
Acceleration
● The sign is dependent on the motion of the object and point of reference.
● The plus sign is used for the positive x direction (rightward motion) and
minus sign for the negative x direction (leftward motion).
Learn about It
Signs of Acceleration
The sign of the acceleration of the car depends on the change of its velocity.
Key Points
● Distance
the length of the path traveled by an object
● Displacement
the change in position of an object from initial to final point
● Speed
a measure of how fast an object travels in a given time
● Velocity
a measure of the displacement of an object over a given time interval
considers both the speed and the direction of the moving object
Key Points
● Acceleration
defined as the change in velocity per unit of time
○ When an object is speeding up, the acceleration is in the same

direction as the velocity.
○ When an object is slowing down, the acceleration is in the opposite
direction of the velocity.
Check Your Understanding
Write T if the statement is true and F if it is false.
1. Distance and displacement both describes the length of the path traveled
by an object.
2. Speed describes how fast an object moves.
3. The sign of the acceleration of an object is negative if it is speeding up.

Bibliography
Giancoli, Douglas C. Physics: Principles With Applications (6th ed). Jurong, Singapore: Pearson Education,
Inc., 2007.
Hewitt, Paul G. Conceptual Physics (10th ed). New York: Pearson Addison Wesley, 2006.
Young, H. and Freedman, R. Sears and Zemansky's University Physics (with Modern Physics) (12th ed.). USA:
Pearson Education, 2008.

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Lesson 8.

At the end of this lesson, the given DepEd learning

Describe the motion of an object in terms of distance

At the end of this lesson, the learner should be able to

Study the picture.

Consider the image below:

Different positions of a truck at varying time intervals.

Describing the truck’s motion:

Different positions of a truck at varying time intervals.

● If the 0 m-mark at time t = 0 s is the point of reference, after 2 seconds, the

Distance vs. Displacement

● Displacement is defined by the change in position from its starting point to

Distance vs. Displacement

Refer to the image below:

The displacement of a ball after being rolled several times.

The displacement of a ball after being rolled several times

The displacement of a ball after being rolled several times

● Speed is simply a positive number measured in distance per

It can be generalized that speed is the distance traveled per

A ball accelerates after being dropped from a certain height.

○ When an object is speeding up, the acceleration is in the same

Write T if the statement is true and F if it is false.

2. Speed describes how fast an object moves.

3. The sign of the acceleration of an object is negative if it is speeding up.

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