Mechanics

- is a branch of physics that deals to the study of force and motion.

Motion
- is a continuous change in position with respect to a certain reference point. (Albert Einstein)

*According to Einstein- Motion is relative- “A body can be moving with respect to the first-body but at the
same time can be at rest or be moving at different speed with respect to the second-body”.

A. Uniform Motion – is a motion of the body that moves at constant velocity. (a = 0)

B. Uniformly Accelerated motion – is a motion of the body that moves in a changing velocity.(a= +, -)

Rectilinear Motion(One-dimensional motion)

- is a motion along straight-line path.
1. Distance – is a scalar quantity that describe how far “something” has traveled.( units: cm, m, km, in., ft.,
mi,etc. )
2. Displacement – is a vector quantity that describes how far “something” has traveled and in to what
direction.( d = x2 – x1, units: cm, m, km, in., ft., mi,etc. )
3. Speed – is a scalar quantity that describe how fast “something” has traveled. ( s = d/t, units: cm/s, m/s,
km/h, mi/h, ft/s, in/s, etc.)
4. Velocity – is a vector quantity that describe how fast “something” has traveled and in to what direction.
– is the change in displacement divided by the change in time( v = ∆d/∆t or d2 – d1/ t2 – t1 ),
units: cm/s, m/s, km/h, mi/h, ft/s, in/s, etc.)
5. Average Speed – is the total distance traveled divided by the total time covered. ( sav = dT/tT, units: cm/s,
m/s, km/h, mi/h, ft/s, in/s, etc.)
6. Instantaneous Speed – is the speed that “something” has at any one instant. (units: cm/s, m/s, km/h,
mi/h, ft/s, in/s, etc.) example: the speed registered by your speedometer.
7. Average Velocity – a.) vav = (v1 + v2) / 2
b.) vav = (d2 – d1) / t
8. Acceleration – is a vector quantity that define as “the rate of change of velocity” or “ the change in
velocity divided by the change in time”. a = ∆v/∆t or (v2 – v1) / (t2 – t1 ), units: m/s2, cm/s2, in/s2, ft/s2,
km/hr2, mi/hr2)

Motion in a Straight-Line Graph:

A. d-t Graph (slope of the line m = velocity v)

a.) d b.) d c.) d

t t t
- m=+=v - m=-=v - m=0=v
- the body is moving at constant - the body is moving at constant - the body is in at rest
positive velocity(uniform motion) negative velocity(uniform motion) position

B. v-t Graph (slope of the line m = acceleration)

a.) v b.) v c.) v

t t t
- m=+=a - m=-=a - m=0=a
- the body is moving at increasing - the body is moving at decreasing - the body is moving
velocity(uniformly accelerated velocity(uniformly accelerated at constant velocity
motion) motion) (uniform motion)
Problems in Rectilinear Motion:

A. Speed

1. If the continents are drifting apart at constant speed of 3 cm/yr, Africa and South America are
separated by 6.4 x 108 cm, how long has this drift been occurring?
2. Sound cause by an explosion at the oceans surface travels vertically down to the bottom, is reflected
back and return to the surface in 11.6 seconds. Calculate the depth of the ocean if sound travels at 1450
mi/s in water.
3. A woman standing in front of a cliff claps her hands and after 3.8 seconds she hears an echo. How far
is the woman from the cliff if the sound travels at 343 m/s in air?

B. Average Speed

1. A person drives for 50 min. at a speed of 28 m/s, then stops for 20 min., and finally drives for 36 m/s.
Calculate a.) the total distance traveled and b.) the average speed.
2. A train leaves a station and travels at 80 mi/h for 3.5 h and then 70 mi/h for 2 h to reach its
destination. What was the trains average speed for the entire trip?
3. An airplane flies 600 km away from its base at 200 km/h, then flies back to its base at 300 km/h.
What is its average speed?
4. A car travels at 40 km/h for 2 h, at 50 km/h at 1 h, and at 20 km/h at 0.5 h. What is the cars average
speed?

C. Acceleration

1. In 2.5 s a car increases its speed from 60 km/h to 65 km/h. While a bicycle goes from rest to 1.389
m/s. Which undergoes a greater acceleration and what is the acceleration of each vehicle?
2. A particular car can go from rest to 90 km/h in 10 s. What is its acceleration? Express your answer in
m/s2.
3. What is the acceleration of the vehicle that changes its velocity from 100 km/h to a dead stop in 10s?
4. How long does a car with an acceleration of 2 m/s2 takes to go from 10 m/s to 30 m/s?

Uniformly Accelerated Motion:

a.) v2 = v1 + at

b.) d = v1t + ½ at2

c.) d = [ (v1 + v2) / 2 ] t

d.) v22 = v12 + 2ad

Problems:

1. A car has an initial velocity of 20 m/s and an acceleration of -1 m/s. Find its
a. velocity after 10 seconds
b. velocity after 50 seconds
c. displacement after 10 seconds
d. displacement after 50 seconds
e. displacements when it comes to a stop
2. The driver of a train traveling at 30 m/s applies the brakes when he passes an amber signal. The next
signal is 1.5 km down the track and the reaches it 7 5 seconds later. Assuming uniform acceleration, find
the velocity of the train at the second signal.
3. A golf cart has an acceleration of 0.4 m/s2. What is its velocity after it has covered 10 m starting from
rest?
4. A bus moving at a speed of 20 m/s begins to slow at a rate of 3 m/s each second. Find how far it goes
before stopping.
5. A skier starts from rest and slides 9 m down a slope in 3s. In what time after starting from rest will the
skier acquire a velocity of 24 m/s? Assume constant acceleration?