2022-24 syllabus By: The SULTAN

Kinematics
Kinematics is the study of motion and the relationship between quantities such as
displacement, velocity, and acceleration.

 Equations of motion
 Definitions of distance, displacement, speed, velocity, and acceleration
 Scalar quantities
 Remember scalar quantities only have a magnitude (size)
o Distance: the total length between two points
o Speed: the total distance travelled per unit of time
 Vector quantities
 Remember vector quantities have both magnitude and direction
o Displacement: the distance of an object from a fixed point in a specified
direction
o Velocity: the rate of change of displacement of an object
o Acceleration: the rate of change of velocity of an object

Equations

Equations linking displacement, velocity

and acceleration
Average speed = total distance/total time

 Graphs of motion
 Three types of graphs that can represent motion are displacement-
time graphs, velocity-time graphs and acceleration-time graphs.
 On a displacement-time graph:
o displacement-time graph shows how the displacement of an object (from a point)
varies over time
o The gradient is velocity (Negative gradient is returning back to the starting point)
o A horizontal line means object is stationary/at rest
o A straight line/slope means constant velocity
o A curved line means that the velocity is changing and it is accelerating
o If the gradient increases the object is speeding up (accelerating)
o If the gradient decreases the object is slowing down (decelerating)

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o If the line is going down, the object is moving backwards

o If the distance is zero, it is back at the starting point
o Gradient =y2−y1 / x 2−x 1 = velocity (m/s or ms-1)

 On a velocity-time graph:
o A Velocity-time graph shows how the velocity (or speed) of an object changes over
time
o The gradient is acceleration (Negative
gradient i.e. negative acceleration is
deceleration)
o If the line is horizontal, the velocity is
constant
o If the line slopes upwards then
the object is accelerating(speeding up)
o If the line goes down then the object
is decelerating (slowing down)
o If the speed is zero, it is at rest
o The area under the graph is the
displacement
In this case(right) it’s a trapezium so area= 0.5(a+b)h
o A curved line means that the acceleration is changing, because the gradient of the
line changes.
2 -2
o Gradient = y2 −y1 / x 2 −x 1 =Acceleration (m/s or ms )
o Note: constant acceleration = uniform acceleration, similar meaning
Linear motion is motion across a straight line on a speed time graph(for
which acceleration is constant)

 On an acceleration-time graph…
o slope is meaningless
o the y-intercept equals the initial acceleration
o a zero slope (horizontal line) represents an object undergoing constant acceleration
o the area under the curve equals the change in velocity

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How displacement, velocity and acceleration graphs relate to each other

 Deriving (the kinematic) equations of motion

 The kinematic equations of motion are a set of five equations which can
describe any object moving with constant/uniform acceleration
 They relate the five variables:
o s = displacement
o u = initial velocity
o v = final velocity
o a = acceleration
o t = time interval
 It’s important to know where these equations come from and how they
are derived:

A graph showing
how the velocity of
an object varies
with time

This equation is
used when there’s
no displacement (s)

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The average velocity is halfway between u and v

This equation is used when there’s no acceleration (a)

The two terms ut and ½at2 make up the area under the graph
This equation is used when there’s no final velocity (v)

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This final equation can be derived from two of the others

This equation is used when there’s no time (t)

1 2

3 4

Summary of the four equations of uniformly accelerated motion

 The fifth equation is derived similarly, but this time without including
initial velocity (u):
Deriving it using the first and second equations: v = u + at; make u
subject, so
2
u = v-at… in the other equation s = ut + 1/2at , you just substitute u with
v-at, so it becomes
2 2 2
s = (v-at)t + 1/2at ; then expand and simplify it; s = vt – at + 1/2at ;
then you get
5. s = vt – 1/2at2

 Solving Problems with Kinematic Equations

 Step 1: Write out the variables that are given in the question, both
known and unknown, and use the context of the question to deduce any
quantities that aren’t explicitly given
o e.g. for vertical motion a = ± 9.81 m s–2 , an object which starts or finishes at rest will
have u = 0 or v = 0
 Step 2: Choose the equation which contains the quantities you have
listed

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o e.g. the equation that links s, u, a and t is s = ut + ½at2

 Step 3: Convert any units to SI units and then insert
the quantities into
the equation and rearrange algebraically to determine the answer
Worked Example
The diagram shows an arrangement to stop trains that are travelling too
fast.

Trains coming from the left travel at a speed of 50 ms-1. At marker 1, the driver
must apply the brakes so that the train decelerates uniformly in order to pass
marker 2 at no more than 10 ms-1.
The train carries a detector that notes the times when the train passes each
marker and will apply an emergency brake if the time between passing marker 1
and marker 2 is less than 20 s.
How far from marker 2 should marker 1 be placed?

Another example

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 Acceleration of Free Fall Experiment

 A common experiment to determine acceleration of a falling object
which can be carried out in the lab
Apparatus
o Metre rule, ball bearing, electromagnet, electronic timer, trapdoor

Apparatus used to measure g

 Method
o When the current to the electromagnet switches off, the ball drops and the timer
starts
o When the ball hits the trapdoor, the timer stops
o The reading on the timer indicates the time it takes for the ball to fall a distance, h
o This procedure is repeated several times for different values of h, in order to reduce
random error
o The distance, h, can be measured using a metre rule as it would be preferable to use
for distances between 20 cm – 1 m
Analysing data
 To find g , use the same steps as in the problem solving section
 The known quantities are
o Displacement s = h
o Time taken = t
o Initial velocity u = 0
o Acceleration a = g
 The equation that links these quantities is
o s = ut + ½ at2
o h = ½ gt2

Using this equation, deduce g from the gradient of the graph
of h against t2

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Sources of error
 Systematic error: residue magnetism after the electromagnet is switched
off may cause the time to be recorded as longer than it should be
 Random error: large uncertainty in distance from using a metre rule with
a precision of 1mm, or from parallax error

 Projectile Motion

 The trajectory of an object undergoing projectile motion consists of

a vertical component and a horizontal component
o These need to be evaluated separately
 Some key terms to know, and how to calculate them, are:
o Time of flight: how long the projectile is in the air
o Maximum height attained: the height at which the projectile is momentarily at
rest
o Range: the horizontal distance travelled by the projectile

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How to find the time of flight, maximum height and range

 Remember: the only force acting on the projectile, after it has been
released, is gravity

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 There are three possible scenarios for projectile motion:

o Vertical projection
o Horizontal projection
o Projection at an angle

Let’s consider each in turn:

Worked Example 1
To calculate vertical projection(free fall)
A science museum designed an experiment to show the fall of a feather in a
vertical glass vacuum tube.
The time of fall from rest is 0.5 s.

Continuation of question next page…

What it the length of the tube, L?

Worked Example 2

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To calculate horizontal projection

A motorcycle stunt-rider moving horizontally takes off from a point 1.25 m above
the ground, landing 10 m away as shown.
What was the speed at take-off?

Worked Example 3

To calculate projection at an angle

A ball is thrown from a point P with an initial velocity u of 12 m s -1 at 50° to the
horizontal.
What is the value of the maximum height at Q?

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 Exam Tip
Make sure you don’t make these common mistakes:
o Forgetting that deceleration is negative as the object rises
o Confusing the direction of sin θ and cos θ
o Not converting units (mm, cm, km etc.) to metres

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