MOTION

SPEED, VELOCITY, AND

ACCELERATION

FRAMES OF
REFERENCE
The object or point from which movement is
determined
Movement is relative to an object that appears
stationary
Earth is the most common frame of reference

QUESTION

When can you

determine how fast you
are going in a jet plane?

DISPLACEMENT
An objects displacement is the
overall distance and direction of
the objects change in position.

MOTION

Motion is a change in position relative

to a frame of reference
One way to describe motion is through
distance and direction
The SI units for distance is the meter
(m).

Larger than a meter: kilometer (km)

Shorter than a meter: centimeter (cm)
and millimeter (mm)

SPEED
Speed is described as the distance traveled in a
given amount of time

The units for speed:

meters/second (m/sec)
kilometers/hour (km/hr)
Speed that does not change is constant speed

VELOCITY
The velocity of an object is its speed in a given direction
Velocities in the same direction combine by adding
Velocities in different directions combine by
subtracting
Ex.
8 m/s West

8 m/s East

8 m/s East

8 m/s East

Ex.

POSITION VS. TIME GRAPH

We can use various graphs to describe the motions of objects.

Position (km)

Ex. Draw the position vs. time graph for the following situation:
After school you and a friend race to Caseys. It takes 3 minutes
in your rush to make the 0.5km trip. The two of you spend 5
minutes in the store. It takes you 4 minutes to travel back to
school.

Time (min)

VELOCITY VS. TIME GRAPH

We can use various graphs to describe the motions of objects.

Velocity (km/min)

Ex. Draw the velocity vs. time graph for the following situation:
After school you and a friend race to Caseys. It takes 3 minutes
in your rush to make the 0.5km trip. The two of you spend 5
minutes in the store. It takes you 4 minutes to travel back to
school.

Time (min)

INTERESTING FACT

Rockets are launched in

the same direction of
the earths rotation to
get an extra boost of
1800 km/hr to its speed

ACCELERATION
The rate of change in velocity
Acceleration is measured in
m/sec/sec
m/sec2

Formula for calculations:

DECELERATION VS. ACCELERATION

A decrease in velocity is deceleration
or negative acceleration

distance (m)

A distance-time graph for

acceleration is always a curve

time (s)

CENTRIPETAL ACCELERATION
Acceleration directed toward the center of
circular path
The velocity is not constant (even if speed
is) since the direction of object is always
changing

MOMENTUM

The momentum of an
object is equal to its mass
times its velocity
p= m x v
units:
kgm/s = kg x m/s

CONSERVING MOMENTUM

The law of conservation

of momentum states
that the total
momentum is NOT lost,
only transferred