Scribd
Upload
17 views

3 - Intro To Kinematics

Uploaded by

dinrizkydwi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
17 views

3 - Intro To Kinematics

Uploaded by

dinrizkydwi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 13

Intro to Kinematics

Scalars and Vectors


 We will come across and use two different
'kinds' of measurements as we study physics:
1. Scalars
2. Vectors

 Because these two measurements have


fundamental differences we must:
a) be able to distinguish between them
b) follow different rules when using them
Scalars
 Scalar measurements tell us only the magnitude
of the quantity being measured
- Scalars numbers tell us "how many"

ex) 5m (distance, s)
10 s (time, Δt)
100 kmh-1 (speed, v)

 The symbols used to denote scalars are usually


letters
 scalars can be added, subtracted, multiplied,
divided, etc. just as ‘regular’ numbers can be
('regular' numbers are scalars…)
Vectors
 Vector measurements tell us the magnitude of the quantity
being measured and the direction over which it is be
measured
 Vector numbers tell us "how many" and "where"

ex) 5 m [left] (displacement, s)


100 kmh-1 [east] )
(velocity, v

 The symbols used to denote vectors are usually letters with


a small arrow above them
 Vectors can be added, subtracted, divided, etc. but we must
modify the process used according to the direction attached
to the quantity
 You CAN'T treat vectors like 'regular' numbers!
 we will learn how to add vectors that exist in a single
dimension in this course…
Intro to Kinematics
 before we can hope to understand the
physics of the moving world, we need to
define some important terms used in this
branch of physics
the branch of physics that deals with motion is
called kinematics
as it turns out, our universe behaves in a very
predictable fashion
 it appears to obey some very simple rules that can
be summarized in the form of mathematical
equations
 before we can understand and use these rules, we
need to be able to measure and define a few
fundamental quantities:
Distance and Displacement

 these expressions will appear in a few of


the kinematics equations we will be using
 Distance (s):
a scalar quantity that measures the space an
object moves through our three dimensional
world
is equal to the sum of the distances moved in
any and all spatial dimensions/directions
measured in SI base units called metres (m)
 Displacement ( s ):
a vector quantity that measures the space an
object moves through our three dimensional
world
is equal to the vector sum of the distances
moved in any and all spatial
dimensions/directions
measures a change in position (ie: the distance
between the starting point and the ending point)
measured in SI base units called metres (m)
Example:
An MMC student walks 200 m [E] to get
to school. After school this same
student walks 50 m [W] to get to work.
i. What is the total distance this student
walked?
ii. What is the displacement of the
student?
i.
s  200  50  250m
ii. s  200E  50W   150mE 
Time (Δt)
 whenever objects move through spatial
dimensions, they are also moving through the
dimension of time
 unlike spatial dimensions, all physical objects can only
move in one direction through time: forward!
 during our study of kinematics we will see that
the kinematics equations require that objects
moves through time
 this movement in the time dimension is represented as
the as ‘change in time” or Δt in equations
 expressed in SI base units called seconds (s)
Speed and Velocity
 Speed (v):
a scalar quantity that measures how far an
object travels (distance) in a given time
expressed in SI base units called metres per
second (ms-1)

 Velocity ( v ):
a vector quantity that measures the
displacement of an object in a given time
expressed in SI base units called metres per
second (ms-1)
Different “kinds” of Speed/Velocity
“Kind” of “Kind” of Definition
Speed Velocity
Initial speed/velocity of
u u object
 Final speed/velocity of
v v
object
 Average speed/velocity of
vavg vavg
object

v v Change in speed/velocity

Acceleration ( a )
 an object experiences an acceleration whenever
it’s velocity changes
 acceleration is equivalent to the rate of change of
velocity
 if an object’s speed remains constant (ie: doesn’t
change) the object is NOT accelerating!
 expressed in base units called metres per second2
(ms-2)
 Convention:
 if velocity “increases”, object is said to accelerate
 if velocity “decrease”, object is said to decelerate

You might also like