Physics Intro & Some Physics Quantities

Kinematics Vector - quantity with both magnitude (size) and direction

Scalar - quantity with magnitude only
•Quantities •Velocity
Vectors: Scalars:
•Units •Acceleration • Displacement • Distance
•Vectors •Kinematics • Velocity • Speed
• Acceleration • Time
•Displacement •Graphing Motion in 1-D • Momentum • Mass
• Force • Energy

Mass vs. Weight Vectors

Vectors are represented with arrows
Mass
• The length of the • The arrow points in
• Scalar (no direction) arrow represents the the directions of the
• Measures the amount of matter in an object magnitude (how far, force, motion,
how fast, how strong, displacement, etc. It
Weight etc, depending on the is often specified by
• Vector (points toward center of Earth) type of vector). an angle.

• Force of gravity on an object

5 m/s
On the moon, your mass would be the same,
but the magnitude of your weight would be less. 42°

Units SI Prefixes
Units are not the same as quantities!
Quantity . . . Unit (symbol) Little Guys Big Guys
• Displacement & Distance . . . meter (m)
• Time . . . second (s) pico p 10-12 kilo k 103
• Velocity & Speed . . . (m/s) nano n 10-9 mega M 106
• Acceleration . . . (m/s2)
micro µ 10-6 giga G 109
• Mass . . . kilogram (kg)
• Momentum . . . (kg·m/s) milli m 10-3 tera T 1012
• Force . . .Newton (N) centi c 10-2
• Energy . . . Joule (J)

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 Kinematics definitions
• Kinematics – branch of physics; study
of motion
• Position (x) – where you are located
Distance vs. Displacement
• You drive the path, and your odometer goes up
by 8 miles (your distance).
• Your displacement is the shorter directed
distance from start to stop (green arrow).
• What if you drove in a circle?

• Distance (d ) – how far you have start

traveled, regardless of direction
• Displacement (∆x) – where you are in
relation to where you started
stop

Speed, Velocity, & Acceleration Speed vs. Velocity

• Speed (v) – how fast you go
• Velocity (v) – how fast and which way;
the rate at which position changes
• Average speed ( v ) – distance / time
• Acceleration (a) – how fast you speed
up, slow down, or change direction;
the rate at which velocity changes
• Speed is a scalar (how fast something is
moving regardless of its direction).
Ex: v = 20 mph
• Speed is the magnitude of velocity.
• Velocity is a combination of speed and
direction. Ex: v = 20 mph at 15° south of west
• The symbol for speed is v.
• The symbol for velocity is type written in bold: v
or hand written with an arrow: v

Speed vs. Velocity Acceleration

• During your 8 mi. trip, which took 15 min., your Acceleration – how fast you speed up, slow
speedometer displays your instantaneous speed,
which varies throughout the trip. down, or change direction; it’s the rate at
• Your average speed is 32 mi/hr. which velocity changes. Two examples:
• Your average velocity is 32 mi/hr in a SE t (s) v (mph) t (s) v (m/s)
direction.
0 55 0 34
• At any point in time, your velocity vector points
tangent to your path. 1 57 1 31
• The faster you go, the longer your velocity vector. 2 59 2 28
3 61 3 25

a = +2 mph / s a = -3 m/s
s
= -3 m/s 2

2
Velocity & Acceleration Sign Chart Acceleration due to Gravity
VELOCITY Near the surface of the This acceleration
Earth, all objects
-
vector is the
A + accelerate at the same
rate (ignoring air
same on the way
C up, at the top,
C resistance). and on the way
E Moving forward; Moving backward; down!
L + a = -g = -9.8 m/s2
E Speeding up Slowing down 9.8 m/s2
R
A
T
I - Moving forward; Moving backward; Interpretation: Velocity decreases by 9.8 m/s each second,
meaning velocity is becoming less positive or more
O Slowing down Speeding up negative. Less positive means slowing down while going
N up. More negative means speeding up while going down.

Kinematics Formula Summary Kinematics Derivations

For 1-D motion with constant acceleration:
a = ∆v/ ∆t (by definition)
• vf = v0 + a t a = (vf – v0) / t
vf = v0 + at
• v = (v0 + vf )/ 2
a vg

1
v = (v0 + vf )/2 will be proven when we do graphing.
av g

• ∆x = v0 t + 2 a t 2½

∆x = v t = ½ (v0 + vf) t = ½ (v0 + v0 + a t) t

• vf2 – v02 = 2 a ∆x
1
∆x = v0 t + 2 a t 2
(derivations to follow)
(cont.)

Kinematics Derivations (cont.) Sample Problems

vf = v0 + at t = (vf – v0)/a 1. You’re riding a unicorn at 25 m/s and come to
a uniform stop at a red light 20 m away.
1 2
∆x = v0 t + at What’s your acceleration?
2
1
∆x = v0 [(vf – v0)/a] + 2
a[(vf – v0)/a] 2 2. A brick is dropped from 100 m up. Find its
impact velocity and air time.
vf2 – v02 = 2a ∆x
3. An arrow is shot straight up from a pit 12 m
Note that the top equation is solved for t and that below ground at 38 m/s.
expression for t is substituted twice (in red) into the
∆x equation. You should work out the algebra to prove a. Find its max height above ground.
the final result on the last line. b. At what times is it at ground level?

3
 Multi-step Problems
x Graphing !
B 1 – D Motion
1. How fast should you throw a kumquat A
straight down from 40 m up so that its t
impact speed would be the same as a
mango’s dropped from 60 m?
Answer: 19.8 m/s C

2. A dune buggy accelerates uniformly at
1.5 m/s2 from rest to 22 m/s. Then the
brakes are applied and it stops 2.5 s
later. Find the total distance traveled.
Answer: 188.83 m
A … Starts at home (origin) and goes forward slowly
B … Not moving (position remains constant as time
progresses)
C … Turns around and goes in the other direction
quickly, passing up home

x
Graphing w/ x Tangent
C
Acceleration Lines
B
t
t

A D
On a position vs. time graph:
A … Start from rest south of home; increase speed gradually SLOPE VELOCITY SLOPE SPEED
B … Pass home; gradually slow to a stop (still moving north) Positive Positive Steep Fast
C … Turn around; gradually speed back up again heading south Negative Negative Gentle Slow
D … Continue heading south; gradually slow to a stop near the
starting point Zero Zero Flat Zero

x Increasing & x
Decreasing Concavity
t t

Increasing
Decreasing

On a position vs. time graph: On a position vs. time graph:

Increasing means moving forward (positive direction).
Concave up means positive acceleration.
Decreasing means moving backwards (negative
direction). Concave down means negative acceleration.

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x Special x Curve
Q
R
Points B
C Summary
P
t t
S
A D

Concave Up Concave Down

v>0 v>0
Inflection Pt. P, R Change of concavity
Increasing a > 0 (A) a < 0 (B)
Peak or Valley Q Turning point
Time Axis Times when you are at
P, S
Intercept “home” Decreasing v<0 v<0
a > 0 (D) a < 0 (C)

x All 3 Graphs
Graphing Animation Link
t

This website will allow you to set the initial

v
velocity and acceleration of a car. As the car
t moves, all three graphs are generated.

a
Car Animation
t

x Graphing Tips Graphing Tips

The same rules apply in making an acceleration graph from a
t velocity graph. Just graph the slopes! Note: a positive constant
slope in blue means a positive constant green segment. The
steeper the blue slope, the farther the green segment is from the
time axis.
v v

t t

• Line up the graphs vertically. a

• Draw vertical dashed lines at special points except intercepts.
t
• Map the slopes of the position graph onto the velocity graph.
• A red peak or valley means a blue time intercept.

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 Real life Area under a velocity graph
Note how the v graph is pointy and the a graph skips. In real v “forward area”
life, the blue points would be smooth curves and the green
segments would be connected. In our class, however, we’ll
mainly deal with constant acceleration. t

v “backward area”
t

Area above the time axis = forward (positive) displacement.

a Area below the time axis = backward (negative) displacement.

t Net area (above - below) = net displacement.

Total area (above + below) = total distance traveled.

v (m/s)
v “forward area”
Area 12 Area units
t t (s)

“backward area”
• Imagine approximating the area
The areas above and below are about equal, so even under the curve with very thin
though a significant distance may have been covered, the 12 m/s rectangles.
displacement is about zero, meaning the stopping point was
near the starting point. The position graph shows this too. • Each has area of height × width.
0.5 s
• The height is in m/s; width is in
x seconds.
t • Therefore, area is in meters!
• The rectangles under the time axis have negative
heights, corresponding to negative displacement.

x Graphs of a ball Graph Practice

thrown straight up Try making all three graphs for the following scenario:
The ball is thrown from
t the ground, and it lands 1. Schmedrick starts out north of home. At time zero he’s
on a ledge. driving a cement mixer south very fast at a constant speed.
v
The position graph is
2. He accidentally runs over an innocent moose crossing
parabolic.
the road, so he slows to a stop to check on the poor moose.
The ball peaks at the
t
parabola’s vertex. 3. He pauses for a while until he determines the moose is
The v graph has a
squashed flat and deader than a doornail.
a
slope of -9.8 m/s2. 4. Fleeing the scene of the crime, Schmedrick takes off
Map out the slopes! again in the same direction, speeding up quickly.
t
There is more “positive 5. When his conscience gets the better of him, he slows,
area” than negative on
turns around, and returns to the crash site.
the v graph.

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 Kinematics Practice Uniform Acceleration
∆x = 1
∆x = 3 ∆x = 5 ∆x = 7

A catcher catches a 90 mph fast ball. His t:0 1 2 3 4

x:0 1 4 9 16
glove compresses 4.5 cm. How long does it ( arbitrary units )
take to come to a complete stop? Be mindful
of your units! When object starts from rest and undergoes constant
acceleration:
• Position is proportional to the square of time.
2.24 ms • Position changes result in the sequence of odd
numbers.
Answer
• Falling bodies exhibit this type of motion (since g
is constant).

Spreadsheet Problem Relationships

• We’re analyzing position as a function of time, initial Let’s use the kinematics equations to answer these:
velocity, and constant acceleration.
1. A mango is dropped from a height h.
• x, ∆x, and the ratio depend on t, v0, and a.
• ∆x is how much position changes each second. a. If dropped from a height of 2 h, would the
• The ratio (1, 3, 5, 7) is the ratio of the ∆x’s. impact speed double?

• Make a spreadsheet delta x v0 a b. Would the air time double when dropped from
like this and determine t (s) x (m)
2
(m) ratio (m/s) (m/s ) a height of 2 h ?
what must be true 0 0 0 17.3 2. A mango is thrown down at a speed v.
about v0 and/or a in 8.66 1
order to get this ratio 1 8.66 a. If thrown down at 2 v from the same height,
25.98 3
of odd numbers. 2 34.64 would the impact speed double?
43.30 5
• Explain your answer 3 77.94 b. Would the air time double in this case?
mathematically. 60.62 7
4 138.56

3. A rubber chicken is launched straight

Re la ti ons hip s (con t.)

up at speed v from ground level.

Find each of the following if the
launch speed is tripled (in terms of
any constants and v).

a. max height 9v2 / 2g

b. hang time 6v / g
c. impact speed 3v
Answers