Speed, Velocity and Acceleration
Linear Motion
• Motion is easy to recognize but can be hard to
describe
• The following quantities are used to describe
motion: speed, velocity and acceleration
• Each of these is a rate. A rate is a quantity
divided by time.
• Motion along a straight line is sometimes
called linear motion.
All Motion is relative
• All motion is relative to a reference.
• This means that we describe motion of an
object relative to some other object
• In our environment, the reference for motion
is the earth’s surface, and speeds are
measured relative to the earth
• The earth moves at 107,000 km/h relative to
the sun
Speed
• Speed is a measure of how fast something is moving.
• It is the rate at which a distance is covered
• Units of speed could be: km/h, m/s, mi/h, ft/s
• In physics we use units of m/s for speed
• s = d/t
distance
speed d
time
s t
Instantaneous Speed
• Instantaneous speed is speed at any instant in
time.
• A speedometer measures speed in ‘real time’
(the instantaneous speed).
Average Speed
• Average speed is the average of all
instantaneous speeds; found simply by a total
distance/total time ratio
• The average speed of a trip:
total distance
average speed
elapsed time
Velocity and Speed
• In physics we distinguish between speed and velocity:
• Speed refers to how quickly an object moves (a scalar quantity).
• Velocity is defined as speed in a given direction or rate of
change of position (displacement over time). v = x/t
• Velocity refers to both the speed and direction of motion of an
object (a vector quantity).
• Negative velocity means the object is moving in the opposite
direction
• Motion at constant velocity means that both the speed and
direction of an object do not change.
• In a car, we can change the velocity three ways: gas pedal to
speed up, brake to slow down or steering wheel to change
direction
Velocity Triangle
• Speed and velocity triangles are similar
because v = x/t
• Find the equation for displacement, and time
using the triangle
• x=vxt
• t = x/v x
v t
Velocity Questions
1) How far does Bob run if he maintains an average
velocity of 3 m/s for 10 s?
2) List three ways you can change the velocity of your
car.
3) Is it possible to go around a corner without
changing velocity? Explain.
4) One car is going 25 miles/hr north, another car is
going 25 miles/hr south. Do they have the same
velocity? Explain.
Acceleration
• For its velocity to change, an object must
accelerate.
• An object accelerates whenever its speed or
direction or both change.
• Acceleration may be positive (increasing speed)
or negative (decreasing speed).
• Acceleration is a measure of how quickly the
velocity changes: a = v/t
change of velocity
acceleration
time interval
Acceleration at constant speed
• An object moving in a circle at constant
speed is always accelerating (changing
direction).
Solving Acceleration Problems using
Acceleration Triangle
• If you have starting and ending velocity or speed,
find that before you use the triangle.
• If not, use triangle to find change in velocity (v),
then find initial or final velocity
• v = ending velocity – starting velocity
v
a t
More Acceleration Equations
• The equations x = v x t and d = s x t can only be used
when the is no acceleration (velocity is constant)
• If there is an acceleration and the starting velocity is
zero, the following equations must be used for distance
or displacement: x = ½ at2 and d = ½ at2
• If there is an acceleration, and the starting velocity is
zero, the following equation describes the velocity at
any time: v = a x t or v = at
• Note: If the starting velocity is not zero we use the equations: v =
v0 + at and x = v0t + ½ at2 but student in this class will not be
required to use these equations
Acceleration Questions
1) A dragster going at 15 m/s increases its velocity to
25 m/s in 4 seconds. What is its acceleration?
2) The driver of a car steps on the brakes, and the
velocity drops from 20 m/s to 10 m/s in a time of 2
seconds. Find his acceleration.
3) Find the acceleration of a car that travels at a
constant velocity of 45 Km/hr for 10 s.
4) Challenge: Calculate the velocity of a skateboarder
who accelerates from rest for 3 seconds down a
ramp at an acceleration of 5 m/s2.
Free fall, an example of
acceleration
• Free fall is when an object is falling being
affected only by gravity. That means NO air
resistance.
Free Fall – All objects fall at the same rate
• If you drop a coin and a feather at the
same time you will notice that the coin
reaches the ground way before the
feather.
• However, if you were to take the air
out of the container you would find
that the coin and feather fall together
and hit the bottom at the same time!
Acceleration due to gravity, g
• Newton told us that every object with mass attracts every other
object with mass and the size of the attraction depends on the
mass of each object and the distance between the objects
• We don’t feel the attraction of most objects because their mass
is small relative to the Earth which has a huge mass.
• The Earth pulls so that objects experience an acceleration of
about 10 m/s2. This acceleration is given a special letter, g.
• g = 10 m/s2 This number is important, remember it!
• So during each second an object is in free fall, its velocity
increases by 10 m/s. If the object experiences air resistance its
velocity won’t increase as fast because air resistance will slow it
down.
Challenge Question
• Suppose someone throws a ball
straight upward with a speed of 30
m/s and at the same time throws one
straight down with a speed of 30 m/s.
Which ball will be traveling faster
when it hits the ground, the one
thrown straight upward or the one
thrown straight down? Assume there
is no air resistance.
Time and velocity for an object in free fall
v = gt
g t
Time and Distance for an object in free fall
d = ½ gt2
2d
t
g
Free Fall Questions – How Fast?
1) When a ball is thrown straight down, by how much does speed increase
each second on Earth?
2) When a ball is thrown straight up, by how much does speed decrease each
second?
3) In free fall, do a feather and a ball fall side by side? Explain.
4) An apple falls freely from rest for 8 s on Earth, find its speed at 8 s.
5) Suppose a rock is dropped on a planet where the acceleration due to
gravity it 5 m/s2, by how much would the speed change each second?
6) If a rocket on the planet in #5 falls from rest for 3 s, what is its speed at the
end of the 3 s interval?
7) Challenge: Find g on a planet where a rock has a velocity of 120 m/s after
6s of free fall.
Free Fall Questions – How Far?
1) For a freely falling rock does the distance fallen each second stay the
same, increase with time, or decrease with time?
2) A ball is dropped from rest and freely falls for 6 s. How many meters has it
fallen in 6 s?
3) A ball is thrown straight upward and travels 5 m until it reaches the top of
its path.
a) How far will it fall before it reaches its initial position?
b) How long will it take to fall that distance?
c) How long will the ball be in the air?
4) A ball is thrown straight up and returns to Earth 6 s later.
a) Find its speed at the top of its path.
b) Find its acceleration at the top its path.
c) How long does it take to reach the top of its path?
d) How fast is it traveling when it returns to Earth?
e) Challenge: What is its maximum height?
Additional Free Fall Review
1) If one had only a stopwatch, could one
determine the initial speed of a ball
launched vertically upward from the earth’s
surface? Explain.
2) With only a stopwatch, could one
determine how high the ball travels before
it stops? Explain.
Motion Graphs – Position vs. Time
constant, rightward (+) velocity of +10 m/s
a rightward (+), changing velocity - that is, a car that is moving
rightward but speeding up or accelerating
Motion Graphs – Velocity vs. Time
constant, rightward (+) velocity of +10 m/s
a rightward (+), changing velocity - that is, a car that is moving
rightward but speeding up or accelerating
Motion Graph Questions
1) What do you think might be happening in this graph?
2) What do you think position
and velocity graphs of free
fall motion might look
like? Try to sketch them.
Sources
• http://rigel.physics.unr.edu/faculty/phaneuf/c
lassinfo/index100.html
• Conceptual Physics by Paul Hewitt
• Hs-staffserver.stjames.k12.mn.us/~schisa/
PowerPoint/Physics/3Chapter2.ppt
