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Conceptsofacceleration,averagevs.instantaneousvelocity
Contrastgraphsofobjectsundergoingconstantvelocityandconstantacceleration
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Defineinstantaneousvelocity(slopeoftangenttocurvein x vs.tgraph)
Distinguishbetweeninstantaneousandaveragevelocity
Defineacceleration,includingitsvectornature
Motionmapnowincludesaccelerationvectors
2.
Multiplerepresentations(graphical,algebraic,diagrammatic)
Introducestackofkinematiccurves
positionvs.time(slopeoftangent=instantaneousvelocity)
velocityvs.time(slope=acceleration,areaundercurve=changeinposition)
accelerationvs.time(areaundercurve=changeinvelocity)
Relatevariousexpressions
3.
UniformlyAcceleratingParticlemodel
Kinematicalpropertiesofobjectsundergoinguniformlyacceleratedmotion
r
r
Derivethefollowingrelationshipsfrom x vs.tand v vs.tgraphs
r
r v
a
t
r r
r
v v0 at
r
r r
v f vi a t
r r r
r
x x0 v0t 12 at 2
r
r r
r
x f xi vi t 12 at 2
r
r
r r
v f2 vi2 2ax
definitionofaverageacceleration
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linearequationfora x vs.tgraph
generalizedequationforanytitotfinterval
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parabolicequationforan x vs.tgraph
generalizedequationforanytitotfinterval
timeindependentequation
4.
Analysisoffreefall
5.
Software
ConceptualKinematicsTutorial
GraphsandTracks(PhysicsAcademicSoftware)
Equivalentonlineversionsareavailable
SEQUENCE
1.WheelLab:Motionofanobjectonanincline;instantaneousvelocity;slopesoftangents;Tangent
Practice
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2.Worksheet1af:UniformlyAcceleratedMotionWorksheet.Relatetheaveragevelocityforatimeinterval( v
r
)totheinstantaneousvelocity( v )atthemiddleofthattimeinterval.
3.Worksheet2a:AcceleratedMotionRepresentations
4.Worksheet2b:StacksofKinematicCurves
5.Quiz1:Stacksofxt,vt,andatgraphs
6.DeploymentLabs:Freefallandtopoftheflight;Fancartmotion
7.Worksheet3:QuantitativeAccelerationProblems
8.Quiz2:Velocityvs.TimeGraphs
9.FreefallofWileECoyotePlanetNewtonia
10.FreefallofWileECoyoteNewtoniasMoon
11.ReviewSheet
12.UniformlyAcceleratedParticleModelTest
Pre-lab discussion
Letawheelrolldownaninclinedrailandaskstudentsforobservations.Recordallobservations.
Toproceed,theymustmentionsomethingtotheeffectthattheballspeedsupasitrollsdown.
Toobtainafinerdescription,askstudentswhichobservationsaremeasurable.Makesurethey
includetheobservationthattheballspeedsupasitrollsdowntherail.(Donotletthemstatethe
ballacceleratessincewehaven'tdefinedaccelerationyet!)
Askthemhowtheycanmeasurespeeddirectly.Leadthemtotheconclusionthattheycannot,
butthattheycanmeasurepositionandtime.Note:SincethislabissosimilartotheBBlaband
othermotionlabs,thisshouldbeamatterofreviewtomostofthem.
Studentsshouldmarkthepositionoftheobjectatequaltimeintervals.
Timeshouldbeplottedastheindependentvariable.
Onekeydifferencebetweenthislabandthepastmotionlabsisthatthewheelmuststartfrom
position0withavelocityof0.Studentsdontneedtoknowwhyyet.Theyshouldbetoldtomakea
markonthetapenearthetopofthetracktocallposition0.Uponhearingabeatofthemetronome,
theywillreleasethewheelfromrest.Marksforpositionshouldbemadeonsubsequentbeats.
SpeedingUpWheelLab
Purpose:todevelopgraphical,mathematical,diagrammatical,andverbalrepresentationsforanobject
thatstartsfromrestandgraduallyincreasesinspeed.
Wheelandaxle
Procedure:
Lineonwheelmustpoint
downtheincline.
paperstriponboard
besidepipes
pipes
bricks
Useamarkeronthepapertapetomarkthepositionoftheaxleatequaltimeintervals.
Notre Dame Modeling Project 2012
IMPORTANT:Yourfirstdotmustbefortime=0,position=0,andvelocity=0.
DataTables:
Lowincline(onebrick)
Heightofraisedend=______
Highincline(twobricks)
Heightofraisedend=______
Time (s)
Position (m)
Graphs:
Createapositiontimegraphforeachsetofdataindividually.Doanynecessarytestplots.Print.Save
yourgraphstothecomputer.
Next,printeachpositiontimegraphindividuallysothatitistheonlythingonthepage,inlandscape
orientation.(UseFile>PrintGraph)
Ifwheelsandaxlesarentavailable,othersetupscanbeusedsuchasacartrollingdownatrack,
abowlingballrollingdownanaccessramp,oradiscandaxlerollingdownarampoftwoparallel
piecesofconduitpipe.Justmakesuretheobjectmovesslowlyenoughforstudentstoaccurately
markpositionandtime.
Timingvariationscouldincludeusingwaterclocks,pendulumsandmetronomesinadditionto
stopwatches.Callingtheunitoftimesomethinglikebeatsinsteadofticksreducesconfusion
betweenunitsandvariableswhendoingmathematicalanalysis.
Twoanglesofinclinationshouldbeused.Positiontimedatacanbeplottedononesetofaxes.
Butinstructstudentstomakethegraphalargeaspossibleandtoorientthegraphsothatthelong
sideofthepaperisthetimeaxis.
Wheel Lab Graphs of Position vs. Time, Velocity vs. Time and Position vs. Time 2
Post-lab discussion
Fromthelab,thestudentshavethefollowinggraph:
r
x(cm)
t(s)
Focusthewhiteboarddiscussionontheirexperimentalprocedureandtheverbalinterpretationofthe
parabolicxtgraph.Studentsshouldbeabletodescribethatthedisplacementduringeachtimeinterval
increasesovertheprevioustimeinterval.Sincetheobjecttravelsgreaterdistancesineachsuccessive
timeinterval,thevelocityisincreasing.
Post-lab extension
Discussion
Contrastthexvstgraphforthislabwiththeoneobtainedinunit1.
Unit1
Unit2
One can speak of the average velocity as the slope of the graph (above left) because the slope of a
straight line is constant. It doesn't matter which two points are used to determine the slope.
On the other hand, one could speak of the average velocity of the object in the graph to the right, but
since the object started very slowly and steadily increased its speed, the term average velocity has
little meaning.
r
x
t
Whatwouldbemoreusefulistohaveawayofdescribingtheobject'sspeedatagiveninstant(oras
Aronstermsit:clockreading).Todevelopthisidea,youmustshowthat,asyoushrinkthetime
intervaltoverwhichyoucalculatetheaveragevelocity,thesecant(lineintersectingthecurveattwo
points)morecloselyresemblesthecurveduringthatinterval.
r
x
r
x
r
x
r
x
Thatis,theslopeofthesecantgivestheaveragevelocityforthatinterval.Astheintervalgetsshorter
x
x
andshorter,thesecantmorecloselyapproximatesthecurve.Thus,theaveragevelocityofthisinterval
t
becomesamoreandmorereasonableestimateofhowfasttheobjectismovingatanyinstantduringthis
t
t
t
t
t
interval.
Asoneshrinkstheinterval,ttozero,thesecantbecomesatangent;theslopeofthetangentisthe
averagevelocityatthisinstant,orsimplytheinstantaneousvelocityatthatclockreading.
r
x
Student activity
Usingthepositionvs.timegraphsthestudentsproducedinthelab,studentsshould
constructatleastfivetangentstothecurveanddeterminetheslopeofeachtangent.Thisis
thereasonstudentsmadegraphsaslargeaspossiblewithtimeonthelongsideofthe
paper.Thestudentsshouldthenmakeanewgraphofinstantaneousvelocityvstime.
r
r
Aplotofinstantaneousvelocity( v ,insteadof v )vstimeshouldyieldastraightline.Theslopeofthis
r
v r
lineis r a .Thatis,thechangeinvelocityduringagiventimeintervalisdefinedtobetheaverage
t
acceleration.Studentsneedtounderstandtheunitsforacceleration.Inthislab,theunitsfortheslope
ofthegraphwillbe centimeters / beat / beat .Studentsmustbeabletostatethataslopeof5cm/b/bfor
example,meansthatthewheelsvelocitychanged5cm/bforeachbeatoftime.Manytimes,cm/b/bis
writtenascm/b2.Itwillreduceconfusioniftheaccelerationisstatedascentimetersperbeatperbeat
evenifitiswrittenascm/b2.
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Thegraphof v vstforthewheellab,showntotheright,islinearmeaningthat
accelerationisconstant.Iftheaccelerationisconstant,thentheaverage
accelerationfortheentiretimeintervalisequaltotheinstantaneous
accelerationatanygivenclockreading.Theequationforthelinecanbe
r
r
r
r
writtenas v = at + v 0 ,where v 0 istheyintercept.Itisimportanttodefine
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theaccelerationthisway,andthenshowexamplesof x vstgraphsinwhichtheaccelerationis
r r
negative.Accelerationwillbenegativeifthequantity v f vi isnegative.
Notre Dame Modeling Project 2012
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Onthe x vstgraphsshowntotheright,tangent
linesweredrawntoshowtheinstantaneous
r
r
r
r
v1
v
x
x
2
velocityattwodifferentclockreadings.Inboth
r r
cases, v2 v1 isnegative,yetverydifferent
situationsarebeingrepresented.Inthegraph
r
v2
ontheleft,anobjectslowsdownwhilemoving
r
v1
inthepositivedirection.Inthegraphonthe
right,theobjectspeedsupwhilemovinginthe
t
t
negativedirection.Inbothgraphs,the
accelerationisinthenegativedirection.Weadviseagainsttheuseofthetermdeceleration,because
studentsinvariablythinkthatthistermimpliesnegativeaccelerationmeansslowingdown;thetwo
conditionsarenotsynonymous.
Generalizingthelinearequationfromthevelocityvs.timegraphforanytimeintervaltitotfyields
r
r r
v f vi a t .Thedevelopmentofthisexpressionisprovidedbelowtoclarifytheuseoftasopposedtot.
Lab Summary
Atthispoint,thestudentshavesixgraphsandmultipleequationsonmultiplesheetsofpaper.Alab
summarysheetisprovidedinthematerialssothatstudentscantransferalloftheircriticalconclusions
ontoasinglesheetofpaper.
Teacher background
Theslopeisdefinedtobeaveragevelocity.
r
r
x
v
t
Theslopeisdefinedtobeaverageacceleration.
r
r
v
a
t
Eq.1
Eq.6
Equationoftheline
Equationoftheline
Eq.2
Generalizetheequationfortheintervaltitotf.
Attf:
r
r
r
x f v t f x0
Eq.3
Atti:
r
r
r
xi v t i x 0
Eq.4
Subtractequation4from3:
Eq.7
Generalizetheequationfortheintervaltitotf.
Attf:
r
r
r
v f at f v 0
Eq.8
Atti:
r
r
r
vi a t i v 0
Eq.9
Subtractequation9from8:
r r
r
x v t x0
r r
r
v at v0
r
r
r
r
r
x f xi v (t f t i ) x0 x0
r
r
r
x f xi v t
Eq.5
r
r
r
r
r
v f vi a (t f t i ) v0 v0
r
r r
v f vi a t
Eq.10
Developingtheremainingkinematicequationsinvolvesfindingtheareaunderavtgraphandalgebraic
combinationofequations.Dependingontheabilityofyourstudents,variouslevelsofguidancecanbe
providedtohelpthestudentsderivetheequationsthemselves.Dontgethunguponthealgebra.Focuson
thephysics.
Thedisplacementofauniformlyacceleratingobjectisequivalenttotheareaunderthevtgraph.Inthis
situation,weareinterestedinthedisplacementduringthetimeintervaltitotf.
AreaofregionA:
1/2heightxbase
r r
areaofatriangle
r
r v t
1 a t t
2
substitute v at
(vf vi ) (t f ti )
r
a(t)2
AreaofregionB
lengthxwidth
areaofarectangle
Thevelocityatthehorizontalaxisiszero;
r
r
(vi 0) (t f t i ) = v i t
ThetotaldisplacementisequaltoA+B.
r
r 2 r
x 12 at vit
Rearranging:
r
r r
r
xf xi vit 12 a t 2
Eq.11
Combiningequations6and11producesatimeindependentkinematicsexpression.
r
r v
a
t
Eq.6
r
r
r
v f vi
v
t r ; t
r
a
a
Eq.12
r
r r
r
x f xi vi t 12 at 2
Eq.11
Rearrange:
r r
r 2
x vit 12 at
Substituteequation12intoequation11:
r
r
r
r
r r v f vi
r v f vi
1
x vi
r 2 a
r
a
a
r
Multiplybothsidesby 2a
r r
r r
r
r
r
2a x 2vi (v f vi ) (v f vi ) 2
10
Multiplyoutthetermsontheright.
r r
rr
r
r
rr
r
2a x 2vi v f 2vi2 v f2 2vi v f vi2
Simplifytherightsideofequation
r r
r
r
2ax vi2 v f2
Rearrange:
r
r
r r
v f2 vi2 2a x
Eq.13
Summaryofmathematicalmodels:
r
r v
a
t
r r
r
v v0 at
r
r r
v f vi a t
r r r
r2
x x0 v0 t 12 at
r
r r
r
xf xi vit 12 a t 2
r
r
r r
v f2 vi2 2ax
Eq.6 definitionofaverageacceleration
Eq.7 linearequationforavtgraph
Eq.10 generalizedequationforanytitotfinterval
parabolicequationforanxtgraph
Eq.11 generalizedequationforanytitotfinterval
Eq.13 algebraiccombinationofequations3and5
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Optional Post Lab Extension: Linearizing the x vs. t Graph
BeforeembarkingonthealgebraicjourneytoderiveEq.11andEq.13above,youmaywanttodofurther
analysisofthecurvedpositionvs.timegraph.Intheuniformmotionexperiments,itbecameclearthatif
thestartingpositionoftheobjectwaszeroandtheobjectmovedataconstantvelocity,thenthepositionof
theobjectwasdirectlyproportionaltothetime.Iftwiceasmuchtimeelapsed,theobjectspositionwas
twiceasfarfromzero.
Uponcompletingthegraphofpositionvs.timeforthewheellab,studentsshouldseethattherelationship
betweenthetwovariablesisdifferent.Atsomeclockreadingoft,thewheelisatpositonx.Ataclock
readingof2t,willthewheelbeat2x?Howaboutataclockreadingof3t?
Somestudentscanrecognizethattheshapeofthextgraphisparabolic.Afewofthosestudentsmight
evenrememberthegeneralformofaquadraticequation(y=Ax2+Bx+C).Butprobablynoonewillbeable
tofindthevaluesofthecoefficientsofaquadraticequationgiventhewheellabxtgraph.
Student Activity
Havestudentsaddathirdcolumntotheirwheellabdatatablesacolumn
t2.Askstudentsinwhatunitst2shouldbemeasured.Fillinthecolumnfort2
squaringtheclockreadingsinthetcolumn.Studentscannowmakeagraph
positionvs.time2.Thegraphshouldlookliketheonetotheright.
11
for
by
of
t2
Discussion
Fromthegraph,itisclearthatpositionisdirectlyproportionaltothesquareofthetime.Inother
words,ifatsomeclockreadingoft,thewheelisatpositionx,thanat2t,theobjectwillbeat4x.At
r
3t,theobjectwillbeat9x.Uponperformingamathematicalanalysisofthegraphof x vs. t 2
studentswillobtainthefollowingmathematicalmodel: xr kt 2 wherekistheslopeofthegraph.
Studentsshouldbeaskedabouttheunitsoftheslopeandwhatthoseunitsmean.Afewstudents
willnoticethattheunitsofthegrapharecm/b2.Askwhatphysicalquantityhasthoseunits.
Comparingtheslopeofthisgraphandtheslopeofthevtgraphfromthisunitshouldleadstudents
totheunderstandingthattheslopeofthext2graphisequalto1/2oftheaccelerationoftheobject.
r
r
Thus,thegeneralformoftheequationforthext2graphbecomes x 1 2 at 2 .Makeitclear,
however,thatthisrelationshipisonlytrueiftheobjectstartsfromrestatpositionzero.When
studentsaskwhathappensiftheobjectstartssomewhereelseandisalreadymovingattimezero,tell
themyouaregladthattheyaskedandthenembarkonyouralgebraicjourney.
Studentswillseethatthecreatingvelocityvs.timegraphsbyfindingtheslopeofasequenceof
tangentstothextgraphisabittedious.However,theinstantaneousvelocitycanalsobefound
mathematicallyfromasequenceofpositiontimedata.Thedesiredgoaloftheactivityistoestablish
thatforuniformlyacceleratedmotion,theaveragevelocityforatimeintervalisequaltothe
instantaneousvelocityattheclockreadinginthemiddleofthetimeinterval.Thisideaisimportant
sinceitisthesamealgorithmusedbycomputermotionanalysisprogramssuchasMacMotion,
LoggerPro,andScienceWorkshop.Studentscanusethereasoningdevelopedheretoanalyzethe
motionofapicketfencefallingthroughaphotogate.
Useathoughtexperimentwithsmallnumbers(anaccelerationof2m/s2)tobuildthefirsttwo
columnsofsimulatedpositionvs.timedata,leavingaspacebetweeneachrow.Utilizethe
r
r r
expression v f vi at toleadthestudentstoidentifyingtheinstantaneousvelocityateachtime.
Sincetheinitialvelocityiszero,theaveragevelocityfromt=0tot=tfishalftheinstantaneous
velocityatt=tfandthedisplacementistheaveragevelocitytimest.Forexample,att=3sthe
instantaneousvelocityis2m/s2x3sor6m/s.Theaveragevelocityfromt=0tot=3sis3m/sand
thedisplacementis3m/sx3sor9m.
t
x
vaverage
tmiddleofinterval
t
x
(s)
(m)
(m/s)
(s)
(s)
(m)
0.0
0.0
1.0
1.0
2.0
4.0
3.0
9.0
4.0
16
5.0
25
12
6.0
36
Aftercompletingthefirsttwocolumnsofdata,analyzetheresultingxtgraph.Thegoalistofind
thecorrelationbetweenaveragevelocityduringatimeintervalandinstantaneousvelocityataclock
reading.
Theaveragevelocityfromt=2stot=4s:
x 16m 4m
v
6 ms
t
4s 2s
Fromthegraph,itappearsthattheslopeofthechordconnectingt=2stot=4shasthesameslope
asthetangenttothecurveatt=3s.Theslopeofthetangentatt=3s:
x 21m 0m
v
6 ms
t
5s 1.5s
Letstrythecomparisonofaverageandinstantaneousvelocitiesonadifferentpartofthegraph.
x 36m 16m
v
10 ms
t
6s 4s
Fromthegraph,itappearsthattheslopeofthechordconnectingt=4stot=6shasthesameslope
asthetangenttothecurveatt=5s.Theslopeofthetangentatt=5s:
x 35m 0m
v
10 ms
t
6s 2.5s
Althoughtheexamplesabovedonotconstitutearigorousproof,theyprovideastrongargumentfor
thefollowingconclusion:foruniformlyacceleratedmotion,theaveragevelocityforatimeinterval
isequaltotheinstantaneousvelocityattheclockreadinginthemiddleofthetimeinterval.
Modeling Instruction 2010
13
Calculationscannowbemadetofillintherestoftablebelow:
t
(s)
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
x
(m)
vaverage
(m/s)
x
(m)
tmiddleofinterval
(s)
0.0
1.0
1.0
0.5
1.0
3.0
1.5
1.0
5.0
2.5
1.0
7.0
3.5
1.0
9.0
4.5
1.0
11.0
11
5.5
1.0
4.0
9.0
4.0
16
5.0
25
6.0
t
(s)
36
Usingtheideathattheaveragevelocityduringatimeintervalisequaltotheinstantaneousvelocity
attheclockreadinginthemiddleofthetimeinterval,aninstantaneousvelocityvstimegraphcan
produced.
Thestudentsnowhaveamathematicalwayofproducingavtgraphfromtheirmeasurementsof
positionandtime.Analyzingthevtgraphallowsdeterminationofaccelerationanddisplacement
withorwithoutaninitialvelocity.Withthisbackground,studentscanbegintheuniformly
acceleratedmotionworksheet.
Aftercompletingandwhiteboardingtheworksheet,studentsshouldrevisitthewheellab.Theynow
havethetoolstodoamuchbettergraphofvelocityvs.timethanwhentheyhadtofindslopesof
tangentlines.Theyshouldbeassignedtotaketheiroriginalpositionandtimedataforbothinclines
andmakeavelocityvs.timegraphandapositionvs.time2graph.Onthefollowingpagesareactual
dataobtainedfromawheelandaxlelabandgraphsofxt,xt2andvt.
Modeling Instruction 2010
14
15
16
6. The acceleration due to gravity (g = 9.8 m/s2) near the surface of the earth is
constant for all objects, ignoring effects of air resistance.
17