INTRODUCTION TO ONE-DIMENSIONAL KINEMATICS

Objects are in motion everywhere we look. Everything from a tennis

game to a space-probe flyby of the planet Neptune involves motion.
When you are resting, your heart moves blood through your veins. And
even in inanimate objects, there is continuous motion in the vibrations
of atoms and molecules. Questions about motion are interesting in and
of themselves: How long will it take for a space probe to get to Mars?
Where will a football land if it is thrown at a certain angle? But an
understanding of motion is also key to understanding other concepts in
physics. An understanding of acceleration, for example, is crucial to the
study of force.
Displacement

Position - In order to describe the motion of an object, you must first be able to describe its position—
where it is at any particular time. More precisely, you need to specify its position relative to a convenient
reference frame. Earth is often used as a reference frame, and we often describe the position of an
object as it relates to stationary objects in that reference frame.

Displacement - If an object moves relative to a reference frame (for example, if a professor moves to the
right relative to a white board or a passenger moves toward the rear of an airplane), then the object’s
position changes. This change in position is known as displacement. The word “displacement” implies
that an object has moved, or has been displaced.
 A professor paces left and right while lecturing. A passenger moves from his seat to the back of the
Her position relative to Earth is given by x. The +2.0 plane. His location relative to the airplane is given by . The
displacement of the professor relative to Earth is displacement of the passenger relative to the plane is
represented by an arrow pointing to the right. represented by an arrow toward the rear of the plane. Notice
that the arrow representing his displacement is twice as long as
the arrow representing the displacement of the professor (he
moves twice as far).
Distance

Although displacement is described in terms of direction, distance is

not. Distance is defined to be the magnitude or size of displacement
between two positions. Note that the distance between two
positions is not the same as the distance traveled between them.
Distance traveled is the total length of the path traveled between two
positions. Distance has no direction and, thus, no sign. For example,
the distance the professor walks is 2.0 m. The distance the airplane
passenger walks is 4.0 m.
Misconception Alert: Distance Traveled vs. Magnitude of Displacement

It is important to note that the distance traveled, however, can be greater than the
magnitude of the displacement (by magnitude, we mean just the size of the
displacement without regard to its direction; that is, just a number with a unit). For
example, the professor could pace back and forth many times, perhaps walking a
distance of 150 m during a lecture, yet still end up only 2.0 m to the right of her starting
point. In this case her displacement would be +2.0 m, the magnitude of her
displacement would be 2.0 m, but the distance she traveled would be 150 m. In
kinematics we nearly always deal with displacement and magnitude of displacement,
and almost never with distance traveled. One way to think about this is to assume you
marked the start of the motion and the end of the motion. The displacement is simply
the difference in the position of the two marks and is independent of the path taken in
traveling between the two marks. The distance traveled, however, is the total length of
the path taken between the two marks.
Making Connections: Real-World Connection

These cyclists in Vietnam can be described by their position relative to buildings and a canal. Their
motion can be described by their change in position, or displacement, in the frame of reference.
PROBLEM:
A cyclist rides 3 km west and then turns around and rides 2 km east. (a) What is their
displacement? (b) What distance do they ride? (c) What is the magnitude of their
displacement?
Vectors, Scalars, and Coordinate Systems

A vector is any quantity with both magnitude and direction. Other examples of vectors include a velocity
of 90 km/h east and a force of 500 newtons straight down. Displacement is an example of a vector
quantity.

The direction of a vector in one-dimensional motion is given simply by a plus or minus sign. Vectors are
represented graphically by arrows. An arrow used to represent a vector has a length proportional to the
vector’s magnitude (e.g., the larger the magnitude, the longer the length of the vector) and points in the
same direction as the vector

Some physical quantities, like distance, either have no direction or none is specified. A scalar is any
quantity that has a magnitude, but no direction. For example, a temperature, the 250 kilocalories (250
Calories) of energy in a candy bar, a 90 km/h speed limit, a person’s 1.8 m height, and a distance of 2.0
m are all scalars—quantities with no specified direction. Note, however, that a scalar can be negative,
such as a temperature. In this case, the minus sign indicates a point on a scale rather than a direction.
Scalars are never represented by arrows.
Coordinate Systems for One-Dimensional Motion
In order to describe the direction of a vector quantity, you must
designate a coordinate system within the reference frame. For one-
dimensional motion, this is a simple coordinate system consisting of
a one-dimensional coordinate line. In general, when describing
horizontal motion, motion to the right is usually considered
positive, and motion to the left is considered negative. With vertical
motion, motion up is usually positive and motion down is negative.
In some cases, however, it can be more convenient to switch the
positive and negative directions. For example, if you are analyzing
the motion of falling objects, it can be useful to define downwards
as the positive direction. If people in a race are running to the left, it
It is usually convenient to consider
is useful to define left as the positive direction. It does not matter as
motion upward or to the right as
long as the system is clear and consistent. Once you assign a positive (+) and motion downward
positive direction and start solving a problem, you cannot change it. or to the left as negative (-).
PROBLEM:
A person’s speed can stay the same as they round a corner and changes direction. Given this
information, is speed a scalar or a vector quantity? Explain.

SOLUTION:
Speed is a scalar quantity. It does not change at all with direction changes; therefore, it has
magnitude only. If it were a vector quantity, it would change as direction changes (even if its
magnitude remained constant).
Time, Velocity, and Speed

Time - As discussed in Physical Quantities and Units, the most fundamental physical quantities are
defined by how they are measured. This is the case with time. Every measurement of time involves
measuring a change in some physical quantity. It may be a number on a digital clock, a heartbeat, or
the position of the Sun in the sky. In physics, the definition of time is simple—time is change, or the
interval over which change occurs. It is impossible to know that time has passed unless something
changes

Elapsed time is the difference between the ending time and beginning time,

For simplicity’s sake:

Velocity
Your notion of velocity is probably the same as its scientific definition. You know that if you have a large
displacement in a small amount of time you have a large velocity, and that velocity has units of distance
divided by time, such as miles per hour or kilometers per hour.

Notice that this definition indicates that velocity is a vector because displacement is a vector. It has both magnitude
and direction.
 A more detailed record of an airplane
passenger heading toward the back of
the plane, showing smaller segments of
his trip.

Solve for the distance and displacement.

Instantaneous velocity is the average velocity at a specific instant in time (or over an
infinitesimally small time interval).
Speed

In everyday language, most people use the terms “speed” and “velocity” interchangeably.
In physics, however, they do not have the same meaning and they are distinct concepts.
One major difference is that speed has no direction. Thus speed is a scalar. Just as we need
to distinguish between instantaneous velocity and average velocity, we also need to
distinguish between instantaneous speed and average speed.

Instantaneous speed is the magnitude of instantaneous velocity. For example, suppose the
airplane passenger at one instant had an instantaneous velocity of −3.0 m/s (the minus
meaning toward the rear of the plane). At that same time his instantaneous speed was 3.0
m/s. Or suppose that at one time during a shopping trip your instantaneous velocity is 40
km/h due north. Your instantaneous speed at that instant would be 40 km/h—the same
magnitude but without a direction. Average speed, however, is very different from average
velocity.

Average speed is the distance traveled divided by elapsed time

We have noted that distance traveled can be
greater than the magnitude of displacement.
So average speed can be greater than average
velocity, which is displacement divided by time.

Example:

If you drive to a store and return home in half

an hour, and your car’s odometer shows the
total distance traveled was 6 km, then your During a 30-minute round trip to the store, the total
average speed was 12 km/h. Your average distance traveled is 6 km. The average speed is 12 km/h.
The displacement for the round trip is zero, since there
velocity, however, was zero, because your was no net change in position. Thus the average velocity
displacement for the round trip is zero. is zero.
(Displacement is change in position and, thus,
is zero for a round trip.) Thus average speed is
not simply the magnitude of average velocity.
Another way of visualizing the motion of an object is to use a graph. A plot of position or of velocity as a
function of time can be very useful. For example, for this trip to the store, the position, velocity, and speed-
vs.-time graphs are displayed in the following graphs. (Note that these graphs depict a very simplified model
of the trip. We are assuming that speed is constant during the trip, which is unrealistic given that we’ll
probably stop at the store. But for simplicity’s sake, we will model it with no stops or changes in speed. We
are also assuming that the route between the store and the house is a perfectly straight line.)

Note that the velocity for the return trip is negative.

Making Connections: Take-Home Investigation—Getting a Sense of Speed

If you have spent much time driving, you probably have a good sense of speeds
between about 10 and 70 km per hour. But what are these in meters per
second? What do we mean when we say that something is moving at 10 m/s? To
get a better sense of what these values really mean, do some observations and
calculations on your own:

• calculate typical car speeds in meters per second

• estimate jogging and walking speed by timing yourself; convert the
measurements into both m/s and mi/h
• determine the speed of an ant, snail, or falling leaf
PROBLEM:

A commuter train travels from Baltimore to Washington, DC, and back in 1 hour and 45 minutes.
The distance between the two stations is approximately 40 miles. What is (a) the average velocity
of the train, and (b) the average speed of the train in m/s?

SOLUTION:
Acceleration
In everyday conversation, to accelerate means to speed up. The accelerator in a car
can in fact cause it to speed up. The greater the acceleration, the greater the
change in velocity over a given time. The formal definition of acceleration is
consistent with these notions, but more inclusive.
Because acceleration is velocity in m/s divided by time in s, the SI units for
acceleration are , meters per second squared or meters per second per second, which
literally means by how many meters per second the velocity changes every second.

Recall that velocity is a vector—it has both magnitude and direction. This means that
a change in velocity can be a change in magnitude (or speed), but it can also be a
change in direction. For example, if a car turns a corner at constant speed, it is
accelerating because its direction is changing. The quicker you turn, the greater the
acceleration. So there is an acceleration when velocity changes either in magnitude
(an increase or decrease in speed) or in direction, or both
Keep in mind that although acceleration is in the direction of the change in velocity, it
is not always in the direction of motion. When an object slows down, its acceleration
is opposite to the direction of its motion. This is known as deceleration.

A plane decelerates, or slows down, as it comes in A subway train in Sao Paulo, Brazil, decelerates as
for landing in St. Maarten. Its acceleration is it comes into a station. It is accelerating in a
opposite in direction to its velocity. direction opposite to its direction of motion.
 Misconception Alert: Deceleration vs. Negative Acceleration
Deceleration always refers to acceleration in the direction opposite to the direction of the velocity.
Deceleration always reduces speed. Negative acceleration, however, is acceleration in the negative
direction in the chosen coordinate system. Negative acceleration may or may not be deceleration, and
deceleration may or may not be considered negative acceleration. For example, consider

This car is slowing down as

it moves toward the right.
This car is moving toward the This car is speeding up as it
This car is speeding up as Therefore, it has negative
left, but slowing down over moves toward the left. It
it moves toward the acceleration in our
time. Therefore, its has negative acceleration
right. It therefore has coordinate system, because
acceleration is positive in our because it is accelerating
positive acceleration in its acceleration is toward
coordinate system because it toward the left. However,
our coordinate system. the left. The car is also
is toward the right. However, because its acceleration is in
decelerating: the direction
the car is decelerating the same direction as its
of its acceleration is
because its acceleration is motion, it is speeding up
opposite to its direction of
opposite to its motion. (not decelerating)
motion.
 PROBLEM:
Calculating Acceleration: A Racehorse Leaves the Gate

A racehorse coming out of the gate accelerates from rest to a velocity of

15.0 m/s due west in 1.80 s. What is its average acceleration?

SOLUTION:
(Optional)First we draw a sketch and assign a coordinate
system to the problem. This is a simple problem, but it always
helps to visualize it. Notice that we assign east as positive and We can solve this problem by identifying
west as negative. Thus, in this case, we have negative velocity. from the given information and then calculating the
average acceleration directly from the equation
The negative sign for acceleration indicates that acceleration is toward the west. An
acceleration of due west means that the horse increases its velocity by 8.33 m/s due
west each second, that is, 8.33 meters per second per second, which we write as . This
is truly an average acceleration, because the ride is not smooth. We shall see later that
an acceleration of this magnitude would require the rider to hang on with a force
nearly equal to his weight.
Instantaneous Acceleration
Instantaneous acceleration , or the acceleration at a specific instant in time, is obtained
by the same process as discussed for instantaneous velocity in Time, Velocity, and Speed
—that is, by considering an infinitesimally small interval of time.
 PROBLEM: The next several examples consider the motion of the subway train shown

1. Calculating Displacement: A Subway Train

What are the magnitude and sign of displacements for the motions of the subway train shown in figure (a) and (b).

The direction of the motion in (a) is to the right and therefore its displacement has a positive sign, whereas motion in (b) is to
the left and thus has a negative sign.
 PROBLEM: The next several examples consider the motion of the subway train shown

2. Comparing Distance Traveled with Displacement: A Subway Train

What are the distances traveled for the motions shown in parts (a) and (b) of the subway train?

Distance is a scalar. It has magnitude but no sign to indicate direction.

 PROBLEM: The next several examples consider the motion of the subway train shown

3. Calculating Acceleration: A Subway Train Speeding Up

Suppose the train in Figure (a) accelerates from rest to 30.0 km/h in the first 20.0 s of its motion. What is its
average acceleration during that time interval?

*The plus sign means that

acceleration is to the right.
This is reasonable because
the train starts from rest and
ends up with a velocity to

4. Since the units are mixed (we have both hours and seconds for time), we
need to convert everything into SI units of meters and seconds.
 PROBLEM: The next several examples consider the motion of the subway train shown

4. Calculate Acceleration: A Subway Train Slowing Down

Now suppose that at the end of its trip, the train in Figure (a) slows to a stop from a speed of 30.0 km/h in
8.00 s. What is its average acceleration while stopping?

The minus sign indicates that acceleration is to the

left. This sign is reasonable because the train
initially has a positive velocity in this problem, and
a negative acceleration would oppose the motion.
Again, acceleration is in the same direction as the
change in velocity, which is negative here. This
acceleration can be called a deceleration because
it has a direction opposite to the velocity.
PROBLEM:
5. Calculating Average Velocity: The Subway Train
What is the average velocity of the train shown below, if it takes 5.00 min to make its trip?
 PROBLEM:
6. Calculating Deceleration: The Subway Train
Finally, suppose the train in the figure slows to a stop from a velocity of 20.0 km/h in 10.0 s. What is its average acceleration?

The plus sign means that acceleration is to the right. This

is reasonable because the train initially has a negative
velocity (to the left) in this problem and a positive
acceleration opposes the motion (and so it is to the
right). Again, acceleration is in the same direction as the
change in velocity, which is positive here. This
acceleration can be called a deceleration since it is in the
direction opposite to the velocity.
Sign and Direction
Perhaps the most important thing to note about these examples is the signs of the answers. In our chosen
coordinate system, plus means the quantity is to the right and minus means it is to the left. This is easy to
imagine for displacement and velocity. But it is a little less obvious for acceleration. Most people interpret
negative acceleration as the slowing of an object. This was not the case in Problem 6, where a positive
acceleration slowed a negative velocity. The crucial distinction was that the acceleration was in the opposite
direction from the velocity. In fact, a negative acceleration will increase a negative velocity. For example, the
train moving to the left in Problem 5 is sped up by an acceleration to the left. In that case, both and are
negative. The plus and minus signs give the directions of the accelerations. If acceleration has the same sign
as the velocity, the object is speeding up. If acceleration has the opposite sign as the velocity, the object is
slowing down.

PROBLEM:
An airplane lands on a runway traveling east. Describe its acceleration.
 5. The North American and European continents are
PLATE #3 moving apart at a rate of about 3 cm/y. At this rate how
TITLE: SCALARS AND VECTORS long will it take them to drift 500 km farther apart than
they are at present?
1. Under what circumstances does distance traveled equal
magnitude of displacement? What is the only case in which 6. The planetary model of the atom pictures electrons
magnitude of displacement and displacement are exactly the orbiting the atomic nucleus much as planets orbit the
same? Sun. In this model you can view hydrogen, the simplest
atom, as having a single electron in a circular orbit
2. Does a car’s odometer measure distance traveled or
meter in diameter. (a) If the average speed of the
displacement? Does its speedometer measure speed or
electron in this orbit is known to be , calculate
velocity? Explain your answers.
the number of revolutions per second it makes about the
3. Is it possible for velocity to be constant while acceleration is nucleus. (b) What is the electron’s average velocity per
not zero? Explain. revolution?
7. A cheetah can accelerate from rest to a speed of 30.0
m/s in 7.00 s. What is its acceleration?

8. A commuter backs her car out of her garage with an

acceleration of 1.4 m/s2 . (a) How long does it take her to
reach a speed of 2.00 m/s? (b) If she then brakes to a
4. Find the following for path C in the Figure: (a) The distance stop in 0.800 s, what is her deceleration?
traveled. (b) The magnitude of the displacement from start to
finish. (c) The displacement from start to finish.