Kinematics

Written by YJ Soon (yjsoon@ri.sch.edu.sg)

for the Raffles Institution Sec 3 GE Physics Programme
30 July 2006

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-

NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License. To view a copy of this
license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ or send
a letter to Creative Commons, 543 Howard Street, 5th Floor, San
Francisco, California, 94105, USA.

1. Definitions

Term Definition Scalar or Symbol

vector
Distance Total length travelled by an object Scalar
Displacement Distance travelled in a given Vector s, unit: m
direction from a reference point
Speed Distance travelled per unit time, or Scalar
rate of change of distance
Velocity Rate of change of displacement Vector v, unit: m s-1
Average speed Total distance travelled divided by Scalar
total time taken
Average Total displacement divided by total Vector
velocity time taken
Acceleration Rate of change of velocity Vector a, unit: m s-2
Elephant* A large herbivorous mammal, Vector
Elephas maximus of south-central
Asia or Loxodonta africana of
Africa, having thick, almost hairless
skin, a long, flexible, prehensile
trunk, upper incisors forming long
curved tusks of ivory.

* Important!

2. Graphs

There are three graphs you need to know: displacement-time (s-t) graphs, velocity-time (v-t)
graphs, acceleration-time (a-t) graphs. Keep in mind that in all three cases, the y-values are
vector quantities, and hence can be positive or negative.

What do the graphs look like in various situations?

Page 1 of 5
 Not moving (pointless, but amusing)
s/m v/m s-1 a/m s-2

t/s t/s t/s

Constant positive velocity

s/m v/m s-1 a/m s-2

t/s s/m t/s t/s

Constant positive acceleration

s/m v/m s-1 a/m s-2

t/s s/m t/s t/s

Figure 1: A chicken calling you a chicken.

Page 2 of 5
 Constant negative acceleration
s/m v/m s-1 a/m s-2

t/s

t/s t/s

A stone thrown vertically upwards off a cliff.

th = time at highest point, where velocity = 0 m s-1
s/m v/m s-1 a/m s-2
th
t/s

th

t/s
-10

th t/s

Important Notes

The area under the velocity-time graph at a certain time t will give the displacement up to
that time t.

The gradient of the velocity-time graph at a certain time t will give the acceleration at that
time t.

In fact, considering the above graphs’ layout, the area under any graph at a certain time t will
give the value of the graph to the left at that same time. Similarly, the gradient of any graph at
a certain time t will give the value of the graph to the right at that same time.

3. Equations

These equations only apply in situations with constant acceleration. Take care when
applying these equations to solving problems that involve objects shifting between constant
accelerations (e.g. a potato starts from rest, accelerates at 5 m s-2, then moves at a constant
velocity before decelerating at 3 m s-2) – make sure you define your initial and final velocity
properly!

Page 3 of 5
Reminder of symbols: v – final velocity, u – initial velocity, s – displacement, t – time, a –
acceleration. When given a problem, list them out then apply one of the following
nonsensically large equations to solve the problem:

Nonsensically large equations

v=u+at
2 2
v =u +2as
2
s=ut+!at
The large font is to aid your memorisation. I hear repetition also helps, so:

v=u+at v=u+at v=u+at v=u+at

v = u2 + 2 a s
2
v = u2 + 2 a s
2
v = u2 + 2 a s
2
v = u2 + 2 a s
2

s = u t + ! a t2 s = u t + ! a t2 s = u t + ! a t2 s = u t + ! a t2

v=u+at v=u+at v=u+at v=u+at

v = u2 + 2 a s
2
v = u2 + 2 a s
2
v = u2 + 2 a s
2
v = u2 + 2 a s
2

s = u t + ! a t2 s = u t + ! a t2 s = u t + ! a t2 s = u t + ! a t2

v=u+at v=u+at v=u+at v=u+at

v2 = u2 + 2 a s v2 = u2 + 2 a s v2 = u2 + 2 a s v2 = u2 + 2 a s
s = u t + ! a t2 s = u t + ! a t2 s = u t + ! a t2 s = u t + ! a t2

4. Terminal velocity
v/ms-1
In the absence of air resistance, an object will continue
to accelerate at a rate of 10 m s-2 until its descent is
interrupted. See the velocity-time graph to the right,
which represents an object dropping from rest and
free-falling (where downwards velocity is taken as
positive). The gradient of the graph is 10 m s-2.

t/s

Page 4 of 5
v/ms-1

The graph on the left (admittedly a terrible-looking

curve, but I think you get the idea) now shows the
velocity-time graph of an object falling with air
resistance acting on it. The falling object, initially
accelerating at 10 m s-2, experiences decreasing
acceleration due to the resistive force of air until finally
t/s it reaches a constant velocity, called terminal velocity.

END

Page 5 of 5