Chapter 3: Motion in a Straight Line

Introduction
Mechanics: Mechanics is the branch of science concerned with the behavior of physical
bodies when subjected to forces or displacements, and the subsequent effects of the
bodies on their environment. It is a branch of classical physics that deals with particles
that are either at rest or are moving with velocities significantly less than the speed of
light. It can also be defined as a branch of science which deals with the motion of and
forces on objects.
Motion: In physics, motion is a change in the position of an object with respect to time
and a reference point. Motion is typically described in terms of displacement, direction,
velocity, acceleration, and time.
Rectilinear motion: Rectilinear motion (also called linear motion) is motion along a
straight line, and can therefore be described mathematically using only one spatial
(dimension in space) dimension. The linear motion can be of two types: uniform linear
motion with constant velocity or zero acceleration; non uniform linear motion with
variable velocity or non-zero acceleration. The motion of a particle (a point-like object)
along a line can be described by its position x, which varies with t (time). An example of
linear motion is an athlete running along a straight track.
Linear motion is the most basic of all motion. According to Newton's first law of motion,
objects that do not experience any net force will continue to move in a straight line with
a constant velocity until they are subjected to a net force. Under everyday
circumstances, external forces such as gravity and friction can cause an object to change
the direction of its motion, so that its motion cannot be described as linear.
One may compare linear motion to general motion. In general motion, a particle's
position and velocity are described by vectors, which have a magnitude and direction. In
linear motion, the directions of all the vectors describing the system are equal and
constant which means the objects move along the same axis and do not change direction.
The analysis of such systems may therefore be simplified by neglecting the direction
components of the vectors involved and dealing only with the magnitude.
Neglecting the rotation and other motions of the Earth, an example of linear motion is
the ball thrown straight up and falling back straight down.
Velocity: Velocity is the rate of change of the position of an object, equivalent to a
specification of its speed and direction of motion, e.g. 60 km/h to the north. Velocity is a
vector physical quantity; both magnitude and direction are required to define it. The
scalar absolute value (magnitude) of velocity is called "speed", a quantity that is
measured in metres per second. For example, "5 metres per second" is a scalar (not a
vector), whereas "5 metres per second east" is a vector.
Acceleration: If there is a change in speed, direction, or both, then the object has a
changing velocity and is said to be undergoing acceleration.
Point object: A point particle is often used in physics. Its defining feature is that it
lacks spatial extension: being zero-dimensional, it does not take up space. A point
particle is an appropriate representation of any object whose size, shape, and structure
is irrelevant in a given context. For example, from far enough away, an object of any
shape will look and behave as a point-like object.
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Kinematics: The branch of mechanics concerned with the motion of objects without
reference to the forces which cause the motion.
Kinetics: The branch of mechanics concerned with the motion of objects without
reference to the forces which cause the motion.
Position, Path length & Displacement
Position: Position is precisely where an object is located.
Frame of reference: A frame of reference refers to a coordinate system used to
represent and measure properties of objects, such as their position and orientation, at
different moments of time. It may also refer to a set of axes used for such representation.
The intersection of the coordinate axes is called the origin and serves as the reference
point for the frame of reference. For linear motion points on the selected axis to the left
of the origin are considered negative and positive to the right.
Path length: The distance moved by the object along the straight line or chosen axis is
the path length. It is a scalar quantity having magnitude alone.
Displacement: This is the change in position of an object and is described by both
magnitude and direction, hence is a vector quantity. The magnitude of displacement
may not equal the path length traversed by an object.
Position time graphs
Stationary object
Uniform motion: The object covers equal distances in equal intervals of time.
Non-uniform motion
Average velocity and average speed
Average velocity: The change in displacement divided by the time interval in which
the displacement occurs:
t
x
t t
x x
v

=
1 2
1 2
Where
2 1
x and x are the positions of the body at times
2 1
t and t respectively.
From the diagram, the average velocity is the slope of the line P
1
P
2
:
Slope:
t
x
m Tan

= =
Average Speed: The total path length/the total time interval
Instantaneous velocity and speed
In order to define how fast an object is traveling at different instants of time we define
instantaneous velocity as velocity v of the body at an instant t. The velocity at an instant
is defined as the limit of the average velocity as the time interval becomes
infinitesimally small:
2
dt
dx
t
x
v
lt
t
=

=
0
Acceleration: Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity with time.
Average acceleration: The change of velocity divided by the time interval in question:
t
v
t t
v v
a

=
1 2
1 2
Instantaneous acceleration: The acceleration at an instant is defined as the limit of
the average acceleration as the time interval becomes infinitesimally small:
dt
dv
t
v
a
lt
t
=

=
0
Kinematics equations for uniformly accelerated motion
Equation 1: This equation provides the relation between initial velocity, final velocity,
the time taken to reach it, and the acceleration.
Let the initial velocity be u, the final velocity v, time taken t, and acceleration a, then
the change of velocity = v u
The time taken for this change = t
Therefore, the rate of change of velocity, i.e., change of velocity per sec or acceleration a
= (v u)/t or v = u + at .1
Note: If there is retardation, we use a in place of a.
Equation 2: This equation provides the relation between distance traveled, initial
velocity, acceleration and time.
Let the initial velocity be u, the final velocity be v, the time taken be t, and the distance
traveled be S
Now S = average velocity time = [(u + v)/2]/t
But v = u + at {from equation 1}
Substituting for v, we get S = [(u + u + at)/2]t = ut + at
2
/2
Hence, S = ut + at
2
/2 2
The same formula can be used for retardation also, but we need to put -a in place of a.
Equation 3: This equation provides the relation between initial velocity, final velocity,
acceleration and distance.
From equation 1: v = u + at
Squaring: v
2
= (u + at)
2
v
2
= u
2
+ 2uat +a
2
t
2
= u
2
+ 2a (ut + a t
2
/2) = u
2
+ 2aS
Hence, v2 = u2 + 2aS
In case of retardation, a becomes -a
Distance traveled in the t
th
second
First find the distance in t sec and in (t-1) sec, subtract and simplify.
S
t
= ut + at
2
/2, where S
t
is the distance traveled in t sec.
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S
t-1
= u
(t-1)
+ a
(t-1)
2
/2 where S
t-1
is the distance traveled in t-1 sec.
S
t
S
t-1
= ut + at
2
/2 u(t-1) a
(t-1)
2
/2
i.e., S
tth
= ut u(t-1) + a[t
2
- (t-1)
2
]/2
= u + a(t
2
t
2
+ 2t 1)/2
= u + a(2t 1)/2
= u + a(t 1/2)
By using the above formula, we can calculate the distance traveled in any particular
second.
All freely falling bodies are subjected to a uniform acceleration. Its values at the equator
and the poles are different. Its value is usually taken to be 9.8 m / s2 which is denoted by
g. The three equations of linear motion apply to falling bodies as well. To apply, we
have to replace g for a.
Thus the three equations of motion in case of falling bodies are:
V = u + gt, S = ut + gt
2
/2, v
2
= u
2
+ 2gS
If a body is projected upwards, use -g for g.
Relative velocity
In general, when two observers measure the velocity of a moving body, they get different
results if one observer is moving relative to the other. The velocity seen by a particular
observer is called the velocity relative to the other. The velocity seen by a particular
observer is called the velocity relative to that observer, or simply relative velocity. For
straight-line motion the term velocity is used to mean the component of the velocity
vector along the line of motion; this can be positive, negative, or zero.
Consider two particles A and B moving along the same straight line as shown:
If the position coordinates x
A
and x
B
are measured from the same origin, the difference x
B
x
A
defines the relative position coordinate of B with respect to A and is denoted by x
B/A
.
Therefore: x
B/A
= x
B
x
A
or x
B
= x
A
+ x
B/A
Regardless of the positions of A and B with respect to the origin, a positive sign for x
B/A
means that B is to the right of A, and a negative sign means that B is to the left of A.
The rate of change of x
B/A
is known as the relative velocity of B with respect to A and is
denoted by v
B/A
. Differentiating Eq1 to obtain velocity:
v
B/A
= v
B
v
A
or v
B
= v
A
+ v
B/A
A positive sign for v
B/A
means that B is observed from A to move in the positive direction;
a negative sign means that it is observed to move in the negative direction.
The rate of change of v
B/A
is known as the relative acceleration of B with respect to A and
is denoted by a
B/A
. Differentiating Eq2 to obtain acceleration:
a
B/A
= a
B
a
A
or a
B
= a
A
+ a
B/A
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Note that the product of the subscripts A and B/A used in the right-hand member of
Eq1, Eq2, and Eq3 is equal to the subscript B used in their left-hand member.
Relative Motion in One Dimension
Suppose you see a bird flying north at 30 km/h. To another bird flying alongside, the
first bird seems to be stationary. In other words, the velocity of a particle depends on the
reference frame of whoever is observing or measuring the velocity. Here, a reference
frame is the physical object to which we attach our coordinate system. In everyday life,
that object is the ground. For example, the speed listed on a speeding ticket is always
measured relative to the ground. The speed relative to the policeman would be different
if he was moving while making the speed measurement.
Suppose that A (at the origin of frame A in the figure is parked by the side of a highway,
watching car P (the particle) speed past. B (at the origin of frame B) is driving along
the highway at constant speed and is also watching car P. Suppose that they both
measure the position of the car at a given moment. From the figure we see that:
x
PA
= x
PB
+ x
BA
.
The equation is read: The coordinate x
PA
of P as measured by A is equal to the
coordinate x
PB
of P as measured by B plus the coordinate x
BA
of B as measured by A.
Note how this reading is supported by the sequence of the subscripts. Taking the time
derivative of the equation, we obtain:
dt
dX
dt
dX
dt
dX
BA PB PA
+ =
Thus, the velocity components are related by:
v
PA
= v
PB
+ v
BA
.
This equation is read: The velocity v
PA
of P as measured by A is equal to the velocity v
PB
of P as measured by B plus the velocity v
BA
of B as measured by A. The term v
BA
is the
velocity of frame B relative to frame A. Here we consider only frames that move at
constant velocity relative to each other. In our example, this means that B (frame B)
drives always at constant velocity v
BA
relative to A (frame A). Car P (the moving
particle), however, can change speed and direction (that is, it can accelerate).
To relate an acceleration of P as measured by B and by A, we take the time derivative of
the equation:
dt
dV
dt
dV
dt
dV
BA PB PA
+ =
Because v
BA
is constant, the last term is zero and we have a
PA
= a
PB
.
In other words, Observers on different frames of reference that move at constant velocity
relative to each other will measure the same acceleration for a moving particle.
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