CHAPTER 2 Forces and Motion

In this chapter, you will learn about:

Displacement, velocity, acceleration
Motion graphs
Inertia
Newtons Laws 1st, 2nd, 3rd
How forces act on objects
Gravity
Energy
Springs and Hookes Law (most important!)

2.1 Analysing linear motion

Distance and displacement
DISTANCE, d, is how far a body travels during
motion

Distance travelled is a measure of the actual distance covered during

motion.
It does not distinguish between positive and negative direction.
DISPLACEMENT, s = final position initial position

Displacement is the change in position of an object.

It takes into account the starting and finishing points.
The route taken by the object doesnt matter.
Distance is a scalar quantity while displacement is a vector
quantity

2.1 Analysing linear motion

Speed and Velocity
Speed and velocity both indicate how fast
an object is travelling.
Speed = rate of change of distance
Velocity = rate of change of
AVERAGE SPEED, s = distance travelled / time taken = d / t

displacement

AVERAGE VELOCITY, v = displacement / time taken = s / t

2.1 Analysing linear motion

Worked Example 2.1A (Textbook)
Consider Figure 2.1.
(a) What is the distance jogged by
Satish?

(b) What is his average speed?

(c) What is his average velocity?

2.1 Analysing linear motion

Example 1
The figure shows a car moving round a big roundabout
which has a radius of 70 m. Calculate:
(a) The distance moved by the car

(b)The displacement of the car

2.1 Analysing linear motion

Example 2
A cow moves 3 m to the east and then 4 m to the north.
Find the:
(a) Total distance moved by the cow

(b)Displacement of the cow

2.1 Analysing linear motion

Example 3
A car starts from point O and moved 50 m to the north in
60 seconds. The car then moves 120 m to the west in
40 seconds. Finally it stops. Calculate the:
(a) Total distance moved by the car
(b)Displacement of the car
(c) Velocity of the car
(d)Average speed of the car
(e) Speed of the car when it is moving north

2.1 Analysing linear motion

Acceleration
Acceleration is a measure of how quickly
velocity changes.
POSITIVE acceleration = Increasing velocity
(faster)
NEGATIVE acceleration= Decreasing velocity
(slowing
down) a.k.a deceleration
ACCELERATION is defined as the rate of change of velocity.
Acceleration, a = change in velocity / time = v u / t
where v is final velocity, u is the initial velocity.

2.1 Analysing linear motion

Example 4
A runner runs from the starting line and achieves a
celocity of 18 ms-1 in 3 seconds. Calculate his
acceleration.

Example 5
A car accelerates from 10 ms-1 to 50 ms-1 in 20 seconds.
What is its acceleration?

2.1 Analysing linear motion

Equations for linear motion
There are three equations for linear motion:
1. v = u + at
2. s = ut + at2
3. v2 = u2 + 2as

u = initial velocity
v = final velocity
a = acceleration
t = time taken
s = displacement

2.1 Analysing linear motion

Worked Example 2.1B (Textbook)
A skateboarder in a race is travelling at 10ms-1 as her
crosses the finish line. He then decelerates uniformly
until coming to rest over a distance of 20m.
(a) What is his acceleration as he pulls up?
(b)How long does he take to come to rest?

2.1 Analysing linear motion

2.1 Questions (Textbook)
1. A somewhat confused ant is moving back and forth
along a metre ruler.

(a) A to B
(b)C to B
(c) C to D
(d)C to E and then to D

2.1 Analysing linear motion

2.1 Questions (Textbook)
2. Swee Lee is walking in the park. She walks 300 m north
and then 100 m west, finally turning to walk 300 m
south. It takes her 5 minutes.
a) Calculate the total distance travelled
b) Calculate her average speed (ms-1 )
c) Calculate her displacement
d) Calculate her average velocity

2.1 Analysing linear motion

2.1 Questions (Textbook)
3. A car starts from rest and accelerates uniformly for 8.0
s. It reaches a final speed of 16 ms-1 .
(a) What is the acceleration of the car?

(b)What is the average velocity of the car?

(c) Calculate the distance travelled by the car.

2.1 Analysing linear motion

2.1 Questions (Textbook)
4. A new model Proton can start from rest and travel 400
m in 16 s.
(a) What is its average acceleration during this time?

(b)Calculate the final speed of the car.

(c) How fast is this final speed in km h-1 ?