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Kinematics is the study of a body’s motion without considering the forces causing them.
Distance and displacement.
Defn: Distance travelled by a body is the length of the path covered by the body.
Distance is a scalar quantity and does not require a direction.
A body may travel between the same two points and yet travel different distances if the paths are
different.
Def: Displacement of a body is the distance travelled
measured along a straight line.
Displacement is a vector quantity and required a direction to be
complete described.
Displacement does not depend on the path covered.
Direcction of displacement if from the initial position A to the final
position B
Speed and velocity
Defn: Speed is the distance travelled per unit time
SI unit : metre per second ( m/s)
Other unit: kilometre per hour (km/h) 1 m/s = 3.6 km/h
e.g The speed of a car is 5 m/s The car covers a distance of 5 m in each 1 s interval.
Defn: Uniform or constant speed:
The speed is said to be constant when the body covers equal distances in equal time intervals.
In this example the car A has a
uniform speed of 10 m/s. The
distance travelld increases by 10 m
in 1 s.
The car B is travelling faster. It
covers 20 m every second. The
speed of car B is 20 m/s
The gradient of distance – time graph is equal to the speed of a body.
When the speed of a body
changes, the body is said to be
either accelerating or decelerating.
The car C is travelling larger
distances each second. It is
travelling with increasing speed
and is accelerating.
The gradient (or slope) of the
distance‐time graph is increasing to
indicate an increase in speed.
When the gradient decreases, the
object is decelerating. The speed of
the body decreases with time.
If a car travels 300 km from Liverpool to London in fi ve hours, its average speed is 300 km/5 h =
60 km/h. The speedometer would certainly not read 60 km/h for the whole journey but might vary
considerably from this value. We then state the average speed.
If a car could travel at a constant speed of 60 km/h for five hours, the distance covered would still be 300
km.When speed is uniform then,
Velocity
Defn: Velocity of a body is the distance travelled per unit time in a specified direction.
Velocity is a vector quantity, and required a direction. The magnitude of velocity is the speed of the body.
e.g Car A moves 10 m every second towards the right.
Car B moves 10 m every second towards the left.
They both have the same speed but opposite velocity due to their directions.
Body Speed Velocity
Car A 10 m/s +10 m/s
Car B 10 m/s ‐10 m/s
Since displacement is te distance moved in a stated direction, we can also define it as
velocity is the change in displacement per unit time.
Defn: Unform velocity
Velocity of a body is uniform or constant when the body travels equal distances in equal time while
travelling along a straight line.
Velocity changes when
1. Speed increases Accelration occurs
2. Speed decreases. Decceleration or retardation occurs.
3. Direction of motion changes Circular motion occurs.
Note: Any object travelling along a curved or circular path is accelerating since its direction of motion
changes.
Accceleration
A body is said to be acceleration if its velocity changes.
Defn: Acceleration is the change in velocity per unit time.
SI unit: metre per second squared ( m/s2)
An acceleration of 4 m/s2. the velocity changes by 4 m/s each second.
The table shows an acceleration of 5 m/s2 where the speed if changing by 5 m/s every second.
Accelerations can also be negative. They are called decelerations
The table shows that speed is decreasing by 2 m/s.
The acceleration is ‐2 m/s2 or the deceleration is 2 m/s2.
The gradient of speed – time graph is equal to the acceleration of a body.
The car E is travelling with uniform speed,
i.e there is no change in the speed.
Hence, acceleration is zero.
The gradient is zero.
The speed increases uniformly with time.
Hence the acceleration is uniform or
constant.
The gradient has a constant positive value.
For uniform deceleration, the gradient
would have a constant negative value. The
graph would be a straight line downwards.
Distance travelled is equal to area under speed‐time graph.
Graph A Graph B
Graph A: Acceleration is uniform. Speed increases uniformly from 20 m.s to 40 m/s in 5 s.
Distance travelled is calculated as area of the shaded trapezium.
Distance = ½ x (20+40) x 5 = 150 m
Graph B: Acceleration decreases to zero in 5s.
Distance is obtained by counting squares.
Questions ‐ Calculations
Questions – Graphs
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