Chapter 1

The Study of Motion

Units
We can classify almost all quantities in terms

of the fundamental physical quantities:

Length Mass Time

L M T

For example:
Speed has units L/T (miles per hour)

Units, contd
SI (Systme International) Units: MKS:
L = meters (m) M = kilograms (kg) T = seconds (s)

CGS:

L = centimeters (cm) M = grams (g or gm) T = seconds (s)

Units, contd
British (or Imperial) Units:
L = feet (ft) M = slugs or pound-mass (lbm) T = seconds (s)

We will use mostly SI but we need to know

how to convert back and forth.

Units, contd
The back of your book provides numerous

conversions. Here are some:

1 inch 1 m 1 mile 1 km

= = = =

2.54 cm 3.281 ft 5280 ft 0.621 mi

Units, contd
We can use these to convert a compound

unit:

Converting units
Look at your original units. Determine the units you want to have. Find the conversion you need. Write the conversion as a fraction that

replaces the original unit with the new unit.

Example
Problem 1.1
A yacht is 20 m long. Express this length in feet.

Example
A yacht is 20 m long. Express this length in feet.

ANSWER:

Example
How many liters are in a five gallon bucket? There are four quarts in a gallon.

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Example
How many liters are in a five gallon bucket? There are four quarts in a gallon.

ANSWER:

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Metric prefixes
Sometimes a unit is too small or too big for a

particular measurement. To overcome this, we use a prefix.

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Metric prefixes, contd

Power of 10 1015 1012 109 106 103 10-2 10-3 10-6 10-9 10-12 10-15 Prefix peta tera giga mega kilo centi milli micro nano pico femto Symbol P T G M k c m n p f
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Metric prefixes, contd

Some examples:
1

centimeter = 10-2 meters = 0.01 m 1 millimeter = 10-3 meters = 0.001 m 1 kilogram = 103 grams = 1,000 g

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Frequency and period

We define frequency as the number of

events per a given amount of time. When an event occurs repeatedly, we say that the event is periodic. The amount of time between events is the period.

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Frequency and period, contd

The symbols we use to represent frequency

are period are:

frequency: period:

They are related by

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Frequency and period, contd

The standard unit of frequency is the Hertz

(Hz).
It

is equivalent to 1 cycle per second.

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Example
Example 1.1
A mechanical stopwatch uses a balance wheel that rotates back and forth 10 times in 2 seconds. What is the frequency of the balance wheel?

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Example
Example 1.1
A mechanical stopwatch uses a balance wheel that rotates back and forth 10 times in 2 seconds. What is the frequency of the balance wheel? ANSWER:

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Speed
Speed is the rate of change of distance from

a reference point. It is the rate of movement. It equals the distance something travels divided by the elapsed time.

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Speed, contd
In mathematical notation,

So we can write speed as

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Speed, contd
The symbol is the Greek letter delta and

represents the change in. As the time interval becomes shorter and shorter, we approach the instantaneous speed.

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Speed, contd
If we know the average speed and how long

something travels at that speed, we can find the distance it travels:

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Speed, contd
We say that the distance is proportional to

the elapsed time:

Using the speed gives us an equality, i.e., an

equal sign, so we call v the proportionality constant.

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Speed, contd
Note that speed is relative.
It

depends upon what you are measuring your speed against.

Consider someone running on a ship.

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Speed, contd
If you are on the boat, she is moving at

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Speed, contd
If you are on the dock, she is moving at

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Example
When lightning strikes, you see the flash almost immediately but the thunder typically lags behind. The speed of light is 3 108 m/s and the speed of sound is about 345 m/s. If the lightning flash is one mile away, how long does it take the light and sound to reach you?

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Example
ANSWER: For the thunder:

For the flash:

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Velocity
Velocity is the speed in a particular direction. It tells us not only how fast (like speed) but

also how fast in what direction.

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Velocity, contd
In common language, we dont distinguish

between the two.

This

sets you up for confusion in a physics class.

During a weather report, you might be given

the wind-speed is 15 mph from the west.

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Velocity, contd
The speed of the wind is 15 mph. The wind is blowing in a direction from the

west to the east. So you are actually given the wind velocity.

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Vector addition
Quantities that convey a magnitude and a

direction, like velocity, are called vectors. We represent vectors by an arrow.

The

length indicates the magnitude.

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Vector addition, contd

Consider again someone running on a ship.
If

in the same directions, the vectors add.

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Vector addition, contd

Consider again someone running on a ship.
If

in the opposite directions, the vectors subtract.

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Vector addition, contd

What if the vectors are in different directions?

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Vector addition, contd

The resulting velocity of the bird (from the

birds velocity and the wind) is a combination of the magnitude and direction of each velocity.

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Vector addition, contd

We can find the resulting magnitude of the

Pythagorean theorem.

b
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Vector addition, contd

Lets find the net speed of the bird?
(Why didnt I say net velocity?)

6 8

10

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Vector addition, contd

Here are more examples, illustrating that

even if the bird flies with the same velocity, the effect of the wind can be constructive or destructive.

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Acceleration
Acceleration is the change in velocity divided

by the elapsed time. It measures the rate of change of velocity. Mathematically,

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Acceleration, contd
The units are

In SI units, we might use m/s2. For cars, we might see mph/s.

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Acceleration, contd
A common way to express acceleration is in

terms of gs. One g is the acceleration an object experiences as it falls near the Earths surface: g = 9.8 m/s2.
So

if you experience 2g during a collision, your acceleration was 19.6 m/s2.

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Acceleration, contd
There is an important point to realize about

acceleration:

It is the change in velocity.

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Acceleration, contd
Since velocity is speed and direction, there

are three ways it can change:

change

in speed, change in direction, or change in both speed & direction.

The change in direction is an important case

often misunderstood.

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Acceleration, contd
If you drive through a curve with the cruise

control set to 65 mph, you are accelerating.

Not

because your speed changes. But because your direction is changing.

There must be an acceleration because items on your dash go sliding around. More on this in chapter 2.

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Example
Example 1.3
A car accelerates from 20 to 25 m/s in 4 seconds as it passes a truck. What is its acceleration?

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Example
Example 1.3
ANSWER: The problem gives us

The acceleration is:

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Example
Example 1.3
CHECK: Does this make sense? The car needs to increase its speed 5 m/s in 4 seconds. If it increased 1 m/s every second, it would only reach 24 m/s. So we should expect an answer slightly more than 1 m/s every second.
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Example
Example 1.4
After a race, a runner takes 5 seconds to come to a stop from a speed of 9 m/s. Find her acceleration.

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Example
Example 1.3
ANSWER: The problem gives us

The acceleration is:

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Example
Example 1.3
CHECK: Does this make sense? If she was traveling at 10 m/s, reducing her speed 2 m/s every second would stop her in 5 seconds. Whats up with the minus sign?

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Centripetal acceleration
Remember that acceleration can result from a

change in the velocitys direction. Imagine a car rounding a curve. The cars velocity must keep changing toward the center of the curve in order to stay on the road.

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Centripetal acceleration
Remember that acceleration can result from

a change in the velocitys direction.

must keep changing toward the center of the curve in order to stay on the road.

Imagine a car rounding a curve. The cars velocity

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Centripetal acceleration, contd

So there is an acceleration toward the center

of the curve. Centripetal acceleration is the acceleration associated with an object moving in a circular path.
Centripetal

means center-seeking.

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Centripetal acceleration, contd

For an object traveling with speed v on a

circle of radius r , then its centripetal acceleration is

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Centripetal acceleration, contd

Note that the centripetal acceleration is:
proportional

to the speed-squared

inversely

proportional to the radius

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Example
Example 1.5
Lets estimate the acceleration of a car as it goes around a curve. The radius of a segment of a typical cloverleaf is 20 meters, and a car might take the curve with a constant speed of 10 m/s.

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Example
Example 1.5
ANSWER: The problem gives us The acceleration is:

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Example
Problem 1.18
An insect sits on the edge of a spinning record that has a radius of 0.15 m. The insects speed is about 0.5 m/s when the record is turning at 33-1/3 rpm. What is the insects acceleration?

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Example
Problem 1.18
ANSWER: The problem gives us The acceleration is:

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Simple types of motion

zero velocity
The simplest type of motion is obviously no

motion. The object has no velocity. So it never moves. The position of the object, relative to some reference, is constant.

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Simple types of motion

constant velocity
The next simplest type of motion is uniform

motion.
In

physics, uniform means constant.

The objects velocity does not change. So its position, relative to some reference, is

proportional to time.

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Simple types of motion

constant velocity, contd
If we plot the objects distance versus time,

we get this graph.

Notice

that if we double the time interval, then we double the objects distance.

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Simple types of motion

constant velocity, contd
The slope of the line gives us the speed.

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Simple types of motion

constant velocity, contd
If an object moves faster, then the line has a

larger speed. So the graph has a steeper slope.

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Simple types of motion

constant acceleration
The next type of motion is uniform

acceleration in a straight line. The acceleration does not change. So the objects speed is proportional to the elapsed time.

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Simple types of motion

constant acceleration, contd
A common example is free fall.
Free

fall means gravity is the only thing changing an objects motion.

The speed is:

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Simple types of motion

constant acceleration, contd
If we plot speed versus time, the slope is the

acceleration:

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Simple types of motion

constant acceleration, contd
For an object starting from rest, v = 0, then

the average speed is

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Simple types of motion

constant acceleration, contd
The distance is the average speed multiplied

by the elapsed time:

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Simple types of motion

constant acceleration, contd
If we graph the distance

versus time, the curve is not a straight line.

The

distance is proportional to the square of the time.

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