Motion & Forces

Describing Motion
 Motion
 Speed & Velocity
 Newton’s First Law

 Newton’s First Law of Motion

 An object at rest will remain at rest
and an object in motion will continue
moving at a constant velocity unless
acted upon by a net force.
constant velocity
net force
motion
 Motion
 Problem:
 Is your desk moving?

 We need a reference point...

 nonmoving point from which motion is
measured
 Motion
 Motion
 Change in position in relation to a reference
point.

Reference point

Motion
 Motion and Position
 You don't always need to see something
move to know that motion has taken
place.
 A reference point is needed to
determine the position of an object.
 Motion occurs when an object changes
its position relative to a reference
point.
 The motion of an object depends on the
reference point that is chosen.
 Motion
• Distance
• Distance describes how far an object
has moved.
• The SI unit of length or distance is the
meter (m). Longer distances are
measured in kilometers (km).
• Shorter distances are measured in
centimeters (cm).
 Motion
• Displacement is the distance and
direction of an object's change in
position from a reference point.
• Suppose a runner jogs to the 50-m
mark and then turns around and runs
back to the 20-m mark.
• The runner travels 50 m in the original
direction (north) plus 30 m in the
opposite direction (south), so the total
distance she ran is 80 m.
 Motion
Problem:
 You are a passenger in a car stopped at a
stop sign. Out of the corner of your eye,
you notice a tree on the side of the road
begin to move forward.
 You have mistakenly set yourself as the
reference point.
 Speed & Velocity
 Speed d
 rate of motion s t
 distance traveled per unit time

distance
speed 
time
 Calculating Speed
 The SI unit for distance is the meter
and the SI unit of time is the second
(s), so in SI, units of speed
 Sometimes it is more convenient to
express speed in other units, such as
kilometers per hour (km/h).
 Speed & Velocity
 Instantaneous Speed
 speed at a given instant
 Average Speed
 the total distance traveled divided by the
total time of travel

total distance
avg. speed 
total time
 Instantaneous Speed
 A speedometer shows how fast a car is
going at one point in time or at one
instant.
 The speed shown on a speedometer is
the instantaneous speed. Instantaneous
speed is the speed at a given point in
time.
 Changing Instantaneous
Speed
 When something is speeding up or
slowing down, its instantaneous speed is
changing.
 If an object is moving with constant
speed, the instantaneous speed doesn't
change.
 Speed describes only how fast
something is moving
 To determine direction you need to
know the velocity
 Speed & Velocity
 Problem:
 A storm is 10 km away and is moving at a
speed of 60 km/h. Should you be worried?

 It depends on
the storm’s
direction!
 Speed & Velocity
 Velocity
 speed in a given direction
 can change even when the speed is
constant!
 Calculations
 Your neighbor skates at a speed of 4 m/s. You
can skate 100 m in 20 s. Who skates faster?

GIVEN: WORK:
d = 100 m s=d÷t
t = 20 s
s = (100 m) ÷ (20 s)
s=?
d s = 5 m/s

s t You skate faster!

 Calculations
 Sound travels 330 m/s. If a lightning bolt
strikes the ground 1 km away from you, how long
will it take for you to hear it?

GIVEN: WORK:
s = 330 m/s t=d÷s
d = 1km = 1000m t = (1000 m) ÷ (330 m/s)
t=?
t = 3.03 s
d
s t
 Graphing Motion
Distance-Time Graph  slope = speed

A  steeper slope =
faster speed
 straight line =
no motion
B  flat line =
constant speed
 Single point =
instantaneous speed
 Graphing Motion
 Who started out faster?
Distance-Time Graph  A (steeper slope)
 Who had a constant
A speed?
 A
 Describe B from 10-20
min.
B  B stopped moving

 Find their average

speeds.
 A = (2400m) ÷ (30min)
A = 80 m/min
 B = (1200m) ÷ (30min)
B = 40 m/min
 Graphing Motion
Distance-Time Graph
400
 Acceleration is
indicated by a curve
300 on a Distance-Time
graph.
Distance (m)

200

 Changing slope =
100 changing velocity

0
0 5 10 15 20
Time (s)
 Graphing Motion
Specify the time period
Speed-Time Graph when the object was...
3  slowing down
 5 to 10 seconds

 speeding up
 0 to 3 seconds
2
Speed (m/s)

 moving at a constant
1
speed
 3 to 5 seconds
0
0 2 4 6 8 10
 not moving
 0 & 10 seconds
Time (s)