Topic 4 - 1D Motion: Displacement, Velocity and Acceleration Flashcards
Dynamics
The study of motion and physical concepts (force, mass)
Kinematics
A part of dynamics that describes motion without regard to its causes
Instead of focusing on what causes motion in one direction (ie. pushing something), kinematics focuses on describing just the motion that takes place (displacement, velocity, acceleration)
What can we analyze with 1D kinematics?
- Motion along a straight line
- Need to define the starting point, and the finish/end point
- Need to define a frame of reference (ie. which direction is positive) from start to finish
- Can then analyze displacement, velocity and acceleration
Displacement (Δ𝑥)
The change in position of an object in motion from start to finish (a vector)
* Always start with a frame of reference!
* Pick a START, FINISH, and POSITIVE DIRECTION of motion!
Distance
Is magnitude (start to finish)
Path Length
Is the length of an actual path travelled from start to finish
Velocity
The change in position over time (a vector)
Speed is the magnitude of velocity
Average Speed
The total path length divided by the total time
Average Velocity
displacement divided by total time
Velocity on a graph
Instantaneous Velocity
The limit of the average velocity as time interval becomes infinitesimally small (Δ𝑡 → 0)
Acceleration
The change in velocity over time
Average Acceleration
Instantaneous Acceleration
Velocity vs. Time graph for Acceleration
Motion Diagram
Key Concepts and Equations
