Kinematics

Question 1

What is displacement and how is it represented on a graph?

Answer 1

Distance moved in a particular direction, equal to the area under a velocity-time graph

This is a vector quantity, compared to distance, which is a scalar quantity

Question 2

What is velocity and how is it represented on a graph?

Answer 2

Speed in a particular direction, equal to the gradient of a displacement-time graph

v = displacement/time

This is a vector quantity, compared to speed, which is a scalar quantity

Question 3

What is acceleration, and how is it represented on a graph?

Answer 3

The rate of change of velocity, represented by the gradient of a velocity-time graph

a = (v - u)/t

Question 4

What are the equations for uniformly accelerated motion in a straight line?

(don’t need to memorise, is on formula sheet, but be familiar with them)

Answer 4

v = u + at

s = 0.5 (u + v) t

s = ut + 0.5at²

v² = u² + 2as