Chapter 4: Physics

- Explore the kinematics of a particle moving in two dimensions

- Will help us examine the motion of everything
- Projectile motion and uniform circular motion are special cases of motion in two dimensions

4.1 THE POSITION, VELOCITY, AND ACCELERATION VECTORS

- there is a position vector r, drawn from origin to particle

- at time ti the particle is at point A, r1 is its position vector
- at time tf the particle is at point B, r2 is its position vector
- as r1  r2, Δt= tf - ti
- the displacement vector Δr = rf - ri (EQUATION 4.1)
- the magnitude of this displacement vector is less than the segment connecting the two points
sometimes
- you have to use full vector notation instead of + and – sings to indicate the direction of motion
- the average velocity (vavg) of a particle during the time interval= the displacement of a particle
divided by the time interval
Δr
- vavg= (EQUATION 4.2)
Δt
- multiplying or dividing the vector by a positive scalar quantity only changes the magnitude of the
vector, not its direction
- displacement is a vector quantity and time interval is a positive scalar quantity, then the average
velocity is a vector quantity directed along Δr
- the average velocity is independent of the path taken
- average velocity is proportional to displacement, which depends only on the initial and final position
vectors and not on the path taken
- avg velocity is 0 if displacement is 0
- the direction of the displacement approaches that of the line tangent to the path (the derivative)
r
⃗
- the instantaneous velocity v is the limit of the average velocity Δr⃗ /Δt= d (EQUATION 4.3)
dt
- the magnitude of the instantaneous velocity vector v= |⃗v| of a particle is the speed of the particle, a
scalar quantity
- the average acceleration a avg of a particle is defined as the change in its instantaneous velocity
⃗
v divided by the time interval Δt
vector Δ ⃗
Δ ⃗v
a avg=
⃗ (EQUATION 4.4)
Δt
Δ ⃗v d ⃗v
- the instantaneous acceleration a
⃗ is defined as the limiting value of the ratio =
Δt d t
- when a partice accelerates:
1. magnitude of the velocity vector (the speed) may change with time as in straight line (1D)
motion
2. the direction of the velocity vector may change with time even if its magnitude remains
constant as in 2D motion along a curved path
3. both the magnitude and the direction of the velocity vector may change simultaneously

4.2 TWO DIMENSTIONAL MOTION WITH CONSTANT ACCELERATION

 - we investigated 1D of a particle under constant acceleration
- two dimensional motion, where acceleration= constant in both magnitude and direction
- the position vector for a particle moving in the xy plane can be written as:
- ^ y ^j (EQUATION 4.6)
r⃗ =x i+
- v⃗ = vxi^ + vy ^j (EQUATION 4.7)
- Because the acceleration a of the patice is assumed constant, so its components a x and ay are also
constants
- v x= ⃗
⃗ vi + ⃗a t (EQUATION 4.8)
- Xf= xi + vxit + ½axt2; Yf= vyt + ½ ayt2
1 2
- r f =⃗
The final position vector ⃗ r i + v⃗i t + ⃗a t
2

4.3 PROJECTILE MOTION

- The object moves in a curved path and returns to the ground

- Projectile motion must be analyzed with two assumptions: (1) the free fall acceleration is constant
over the range of motion and is directed downward, and (2) the effect if air resistance is negligible.
- the path of a projectile, a trajectory, is always a parabola
- the expression for the position vector :
1
o r f =⃗
⃗ v i t + g⃗ t 2 (EQUATION 4.10)
ri + ⃗
2

- The x and y
components of the velocity of the projectile are vxi= vi cos θ and vyi= vi sin θ (EQUATION 4.11)
- r i=0
If vector is launched from the origin for ⃗
- The projectile motion is modeled to be the superposition of two motions: (1) motion of a
particle under constant velocity in the horizontal direction and (2) motion of a partice under
constant acceleration (free fal) in the vertical direction

Horizontal Range and Maximum Height of a Projectile

 - If a projectile is launched from the origin at t i=0 with a positive vyi component and returns to the
same horizontal level
- Two points are esp interesting to analyze: the peak point with Cartesian coordinates (R/2, h), and the
end point has coordinates (R, 0)
- The distance R is the horizontal range of the projectile and the distance h is its max height
- h is determined by noting that at vy=0 (the peak), and you can use the y component of EQ4.8 to
find the time at which the projectile reaches the peak:

vyf= vyi + ayt

0= vi sin θi - gt
v i sinθ
t=
g
- an expression of h in terms of the magnitude and direction of the initial velocity vector:
v 2i sin 2 θ
- h= (EQUATION 4.12)
2g
- final time= 2 (time required to reach its peak)

- r=
v 2 sin2 θ (EQUATION 4.13)
g
- maximum value of R from Equation 4.13 is Rmax= v2/g
- max value of sin 2θ is 1, and so R is max when θ= 45o

4.4 THE PARTICLE IN UNIFORM CIRCULAR MOTION

- when an object moves in a circular path with constant speed v, it has uniform circular motion, still
has a acceleration
- a= dv/dt
- acceleration can occur in two ways: a change in the magnitude of the velocity and by a change in the
direction of the velocity
- the velocity is tangent to the path of the object and perpendicular to the radius of the circular path
- the acceleration can only have a component perpendicular to the path, which is toward the center of
the circle
- vf= vi + Δv and make a triangle that helps us analyze the motion
- angle Δθ btw the two position vectors is the same as the angle btw the velocity vectors b/c velocity
vector is perpendicular to the position vector
o two triangles are similar

- ac=
v 2 (EQUATION 4.14) called a centripetal acceleration (center seeking)
r
- subscript on the acceleration symbol reminds us that the acceleration is centripetal
- its convenient to describe the motion of a particle moving with constant speed in a circle of radius r
in terms of the period T, which is defined as the time interval required for 1 complete revolution of
the particle
- in time interval T the particle moves a distance of 2πr, which is = to the circumference of the
particle’s circular path
2 πr
- T= (EQUATION 4.15) is the period of circular motion
v
4.5 TANGENTIAL AND RADIAL ACCELERATION

- Consider the motion of a particle along a smooth, curved path where the velocity changes both in
direction and in magnitude
- The velocity vector is always tangent to the path, and acceleration vector is at the same angle to the
path
- For the path of a curved particle, with 3 points (A,B,C) we draw dashed circles that represent the
curvature of the actual path at each point
- The radius of the circles is equal to the paths radius of curvature at each point
- a r +⃗
a⃗ = ⃗ at (EQUATION 4.16), the total acceleration
- The tangential acceleration component causes a change in the speed v of the particle
o Parallel to the instantaneous veolocity and its magnitude is given by:

at= |dvdt| (EQUATION 4.17)

- The radial acceleration component arises from a change in direction of the velocity vector,

Ar= -ac = -
v 2 (EQUATION 4.18)
r
- r is the radius of the curvature in the path
- the direction of the centripetal acceleration is toward the center of the circle representing the radius
of the curvature (indicated by a negative sign)
- the direction is opposite that of the radial unit vector r, which always points away from the origin at
the center of the circle
- because ar and at are perpendicular component vectors of a, it follows that the magnitude of a is a=
2 2
√ a +a
r t
- ar is large when the radius of curvature is small and small when r is large
- the direction of at is either in the same direction as v if v is increasing or opposite v if v is decreasing
- in uniform circular motion, if v is constant, at=0, and acceleration is completely radial
o uniform circular motion is a special case of motion along a general curved path

4.6 RELATIVE VELOCITY AND RELATIVE ACCELERATION

- observers with respect to the origin of the Cartesian coordinate system, different observations for
different observers
- velocity and position changes depending on the reference point
- vAB= -vBA
- rPA= rPB + vBAt ( EQUATION 4.19)
- uPA= uPB + vBA (EQUATION 4.20)
- Equation 4.19 and 4.20 are called Galilean transformation equation; u is used for particle velocity
- They relate the position and velocity of a particle as measured by observers in relative motion
- When relative velocities are added, the inner subscripts(B) are the same and the outer ones (P, A)
match the subscripts on the velocity on the left of the equation
- Observers see different velocities but same acceleration when v BA is constant
- If you take the derivative of equation 4.20 with respect to time, we verify this
- VBA is constant, d/dt of that= 0
- The acceleration of the particle measured by an observer in one frame of reference is the same
as measured by another observer in one frame of reference is the same as that measured by
any other observer moving with constant velocity relative to the first frame