Kinematics

Kinematics: The study of moving objects without reference to force.

Types of Motion:

1. Uniform Motion - Constant speed and direction

1. Non-uniform Motion - varying speed and/or direction

Types of Physical Quantities

1. Scalar - a measurement having only magnitude and a unit

1. Vector- a measurement having magnitude, a unit and a direction.

Some Very Basic Physical Quantities

Position

To define an objects position, one requires three pieces of information:

Origin/Reference Point, Distance from origin and angle from origin

Example:

Displacement

• a displacement is a change in position and can be easily calculated if you know the initial and final position of the object.

• the total displacement of an object can be calculate by adding up a series of displacements that the object has travelled.

Examples

1. A car moves from 5.0 km [N] of the school to a position 25.0 km [N] of the school.Calculate the cars displacement.

1. A car moves from 6.0 km [W] of the school to a position 4.0 km [E] of the school.Calculate the cars displacement:

1. A student walks 15.0 km [N] and then 22.0 km [S]. Calculate the students total displacement.

Final position

• the final position of an object can easily be calculated if you know the initial position of the object and the displacement it has travelled.

Velocity

• Velocity is a vector quantity. Velocity is defined as the displacement of an object in a unit of time.

Average velocity

• The average velocity of an object is simply calculated by dividing the total displacement travelled by the object, by the time taken.