Motion in One and Two dimensions

Motion:
Motion may be defined as a continuous change of position. The simplest motion to describe is the
motion of a point along a straight line, which we shall take to coincide with a coordinate axis. To
discuss motion, let us first, define some familiar quantities.

Velocity:
Velocity is the rate of change of distance in a fixed direction. It is symbolized by v.
Unit: The SI unit of velocity is ms-1.

Average velocity:
The ratio of the displacement to the time interval is known as average velocity.
We consider a particle having along the x-axis as in figure 1. Its distance from the origin O is
described by the coordinate x, which varies with time. Suppose, at time t1, the particle is at point P,
with coordinate x1, and at time t2, it is at Q with coordinate x2. The displacement of the particle in
the time interval t = t2 - t1 is then x = x2 – x1, and we define a well known quantity average velocity
as
x2 – x1 = x
x2  x1 x P Q
v  x1 x
t 2  t1 t
x2

Figure 1: Average velocity

Instantaneous velocity:
The velocity of a particle at someone instant of time or some one point is known as the
instantaneous velocity and is defined as

x dx
vin  lim 
t  0 t dt

Acceleration:
The acceleration is defined as the rate of change of velocity with time. It is symbolized by a.
Unit: The SI unit of acceleration is ms-2.

Average and instantaneous acceleration:

If v1 and v2 are the instantaneous velocities at times t1 and t2, then the average acceleration is
defined as

v2  v1 v
a 
t2  t1 t
The instantaneous acceleration a is defined as the limit of this ratio when tapproaches zero.

v dv
a  lim 
t  0 t dt

Dr. Bablu Chandra Das

Assistant Professor Page 1 of 5
Motion with constant acceleration:
The simplest kind of accelerated motion is the straight line motion in which the acceleration is
constant, that is, in which the velocity changes at the same rate throughout the motion. In that case
the average acceleration can be replaced by constant acceleration a, and we have
v2  v1
a
t2  t1
Now, let t1 = 0 and t2 be any arbitrary later time t. Let v0 represents the velocity at t = 0 (called initial
velocity), and v be the velocity at later time t, then
v  v0
a
t
 v  v0  at
 v  v0  at ............ (1)
Now, from the definition of average velocity, we can write
x  x0
v
t
 x  x0  v t
v  v0
Again, the average velocity can be defined as v 
2
Substituting this in eq. (2), we get

x  x0 
1
v  v0 t .......... (2)
2

 x  x0  2v0  at t
1
 v  v0  at
2
1
 x  x0  v0t  at 2 ............. (3)
2
v  v0
Now, from eq. (1), we get t  . Substituting this value in eq. (3), gives us
a
 v  v0 
x  x0  v  v0 
1

2  a 
v 2  v0
2
 x  x0 
2a
 v  v0  2a x  x0 
2 2

 v 2  v0  2ax  x0  ............ (4)

2

Thus, we get a set of equations which represent the motion of a particle in one- dimension and with
constant acceleration.

Free falling bodies:

The most common example of motion with nearly constant acceleration is that of a body falling
towards the earth. In the absence of air resistance it is found that all bodies regardless of their size,
weight or composition, fall with same acceleration at the same point of the earth’s surface, and if
the distance covered is not too great the acceleration remains constant throughout the fall. This
ideal motion is called “free fall”.

Dr. Bablu Chandra Das

Assistant Professor Page 2 of 5
The acceleration of a free falling body is called the acceleration due to gravity and denoted by the
symbol g. Near the earth’s surface its magnitude is approximately 9.8ms-1, and it is directed
downward the center of the earth.

To obtain the equations of motion in free fall, the y- axis will be taken as positive vertically upward.
We can write down the equations by using the previous results, as
v  v0  gt

y
1
v  v0 t
2
1
y  v0t  gt 2
2
v  v0  2 gy
2 2

Motion in a plane:

The motion in a path that lies in a plane is called the motion in a plane. Example of such a motion
are the flight of a thrown or batted baseball, a projectile shot from a gun, the motion of the moon or
of a satellite around the earth, the motion of the planets around the sun, etc.

Average and instantaneous velocity in plane motion:

Figure shows a particle moves along a curved path in the XY- plane and P & Q are any two points
on the path. The position of the particle at P can be described by the displacement vector r from
the origin O. r is called the position vector and is defined as

r1  iˆx1  ˆjy1
After a small time t the particle is at Q, and the Y
change in position can be represented as

r  iˆx  ˆjy
Then the average velocity is defined as
 P r
 r
v
t r1 Q
And, the instantaneous velocity is r2
 
 r d r
v  lim  O X
t  0  t dt
Figure 2: Motion in a plane
Average and instantaneous acceleration:

The average acceleration of the plane is defined as


 v
a
t
And, instantaneous acceleration is
 
v dv
a  lim 
t  0  t dt

Dr. Bablu Chandra Das

Assistant Professor Page 3 of 5
Motion of a projectile:
Any object that is given an initial velocity and that subsequently follows a path determined by the
gravitational force acting on it by the frictional resistance of the atmosphere is called a projectile.
The motion of a free falling body is a special case of projectile. The path followed by a projectile is
called its trajectory.

To analysis the motion of projectile we have to separate the x and y- component. Suppose that at
time t = 0, the particle is at point (x0, y0) and has velocity components v0x and v0y. The components
of acceleration is ax = 0, ay = -g. Then, we can write the equations of motion as
vx  v0 x
x  x0  v0 xt
v y  v0 y  gt
1 2
y  y0  v0 yt  gt
2

Figure 3: Motion of projectile

Now, the initial velocity v0 can be represented by its magnitude v0 and the angle  it makes with
positive x- axis. In terms of these quantities, the components v0x and v0y of initial velocity are
v0 x  v0Cos & v0 y  v0 Sin

Then setting x0 = y0 = 0, the previous equations can be written as

vx  v0 x  v0Cos …………. (1)

x  v0 x t  v0 Cos t ………… (2)
v y  v0 y  gt  v0 Sin  gt ……….. (3)

gt  v0 Sin t  gt 2 .………. (4)

1 2 1
y  v0 y t 
2 2

Maximum height of a projectile:

At the maximum height the velocity of the projectile will be zero, i.e. vy = 0. Suppose that it will take
time t to reach the maximum height. Then, from eq. (3), we get
v0 Sin  gt  0
v0 Sin
t 
g
Substituting this value of t in eq. (4), we have
2
 v Sin  1  v0 Sin 
H  ymax  v0 Sin  0   g  
 g  2  g 
v0 Sin2
2
H 
2g

Dr. Bablu Chandra Das

Assistant Professor Page 4 of 5
Range of a projectile:
Now, when the projectile returns to the ground, then y = 0. Suppose it needs time t1 to return. Then,
from eq. (4)

v0 Sin t1  1 gt12  0

2
2v0 Sin
 ti 
g
Substituting this value in eq. (2), we get the range R as
 2v Sin 
R  x  v0Cos t1  v0Cos  0 
 g 
v Sin2
2
R  0
g

Problems for practice:

1. A train starts from rest at a station and accelerate at a rate of 2 m/s2 for 10 s. It then runs at
constant speed for 30 s and slows down at -4 m/s2 until it stops at the next station. Find the total
distance covered. [Ans : 750m]
2. An airplane taking off from a landing field has a run of 500m. If it starts from rest, moves with
constant acceleration and makes the run in 30 sec, with what velocity did it take off? [Ans :
33.3m/s]
3. A spaceship takes a straight-line path from the earth to the moon, a distance of about 400000
km. Suppose it accelerates at 10 m/s2 for the first 10 min of the trip, then travels at constant
speed until the last 10 min, when it accelerates at – 10 m/s2, just coming to rest as it reaches the
moon (a) What is the maximum speed attained? (b) What total time required for the trip? [ Ans
: 6000m/s, 18hrs 20min or 18hrs 45min]
4. A ball is thrown vertically upward from the ground with a velocity of 30m/s (a) How long will
it take to rise to its highest point? (b) How high does the ball rise? (a) How long after projection
will the ball have a velocity of 10 m/s upward? [Ans : 3.06 sec, 45.9 m, 2.04s ]
5. A ball rolls off the edge of a tabletop 1m above the floor and strikes the floor at a point 1.5m
horizontally from the edge of the table. (a) Find the time of flight (b) Find the initial velocity
(c) Find the magnitude and direction of the velocity of the ball just before it strikes the floor. [
Ans : (a) 0.452 sec; (b) 3.32 m/s; (c) 5.53 m/s, 53.1° below horizontal]
6. A ball is projected with an initial upward velocity component of 20m/s and a horizontal
velocity component of 25m/s. (a) Find the position and velocity of the ball after 4s (b) How
much time is required to reach the highest point? (c) How high is this point? (d) How much
time is required for the ball to return to its original level? (e) How far has it traveled
horizontally during this time? [ Ans : (a) 100m, 1.6m, 25m/s, -19.2m/s (b) 2.04sec (c) 20.4m
(d) 4.08 sec (e) 102 m]
7. A batted baseball leaves the bat at an angle of 30° above the horizontal and is caught by an
outfielder 400 ft from the plate. (a) What was the initial speed of the ball? (b) How high did it
rise? (c) How long was it in air? [Ans : (a)121.6 ft/s ; (b) 57.7 m ; (c) 3.8 sec. ]

Dr. Bablu Chandra Das

Assistant Professor Page 5 of 5