Kinematics Flashcards
Kinematics
deals with the description of how an object moves, must be given relative to some reference frame
displacement
change in position of an object
Average speed
distance traveled divided by the elapsed time or time interval Delta
T
time interval or delta t
the time period over which we make our observations
average velocity
displacement over the time interval, delta x over delta t
instantaneous velocity
magnitude is the same as instantaneous speed, the average velocity taken over an infinitesimally short time period
acceleration
change in velocity per unit time
average acceleration
change in velocity over the time interval, delta v over delta t
Instantaneous acceleration
Average acceleration taken over an infinatesimally short time interval
Acceleration due to gravity
Constant downward acceleration if air resistance can be ignored
Slope of a graph
Equivalent to the slope of the tangent line at any point, on a graph of position vs time the slope is velocity on a graph of velocity vs time the slope is acceleration