Kinematics

 Kinematics is the study of relationships

among position, speed, acceleration which
do not consider the forces involved. (i.e.
without regard to the causes of the motion.)

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Displacement

 A body moves from one position to another

position. Displacement is a vector quantity
includes both magnitude (distance) and direction.
For example :
A point was displaced 30 m due east and
then 40 m due north, its final
displacement, being the sum of these
two, would be 50 m 538’ north of east.
This would indicate the resultant
displacement of the point relative to the
starting position.
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Speed and Velocity
 Speed - is defined as the distance travelled in
unit time. It has only magnitude but not direction;
it is thus a scalar.
 Velocity - is defined as the distance travelled in
unit time in a given direction. Hence, it is a
vector.
 Speed and velocity are both denoted by v and
are given by the same equation.
s
v (where s is the distance travelled
in time t.)
t 4
 Average velocity is to define velocities
which cannot be maintained constant for a
given period of time.

Total distance travelled

Average velocity 
Total time taken

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Followings are the unit commonly used to present
speed and velocity：

 meter per second (m/s) 

This is recommended in SI system

 kilometer per hour (km/hr)

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 Conversion of units:
e.g. convert 36 km/hr to m/s
Ans:
36  1000
= 10 m/s
60  60

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Acceleration and Deceleration (or
Retardation)
 Acceleration - When a body is moving
with increasing velocity. Acceleration is
defined as the rate of increase of velocity
and it is a vector, or defined as rate of
change of velocity with time.
 Deceleration - When a body is moving
with decreasing velocity. Decelerations are
regarded as accelerations with a minus
sign. 8
 Common units of acceleration and
deceleration are :
meter per second per second (m/s2) 
(This is recommended)
millimeter per second per second (mm/s2)

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Graphs
a) Velocity-Time Graph
If the velocity of a body at different times is
plotted against the time, the graph obtained
is a velocity-time graph.

Constant velocity,
i.e. acceleration zero

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Uniform acceleration
Body starting from rest

Slope =
m = constant
n

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 Constant acceleration
Body having an initial
velocity u

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Constant deceleration
From an initial velocity u
 larger than 90

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Velocity-time graph for varying
velocity.
The acceleration at any point
may be obtained by constructing
the tangent to the curve at that
point and finding its slope.
If the angle  is greater 90, the
body is undergoing deceleration.
Area under the curve is the
distance travelled by the body in t
seconds.
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Graphs
 b) Acceleration-Time Graph
If the acceleration of a body at different times
is plotted against the time, the graph
obtained is an acceleration-time graph.

The area under the curve = the

velocity of a body at t1

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Equations of Uniformly
Accelerated Motion (Linear)
S = ½ (u + v) t
v=u+at
S = u t + ½ a t2
v2 = u2 + 2 a S

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where the notation is :
S Displacement
u Initial velocity
v Final velocity
a Acceleration
t Time

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Example 1
A car starting from rest, attains a velocity of
10 m s-1 in 5 s. Calculate the acceleration
and the distance travelled in this time.
Given: u = 0, v = 10 m/s t = 5 s
Using: v = u + a t

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 10 = 0 + 5 a
a = 2 m/s2
Using: v2 = u2 + 2 a s
102 = 0 + 2 (2) s
s = 25 m
Thus, the acceleration of the car is 2 m/s2 and the
distance travelled in this time is 25 m.

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Example 2
When a racing car is speeding at 66 m/s , the brakes are
applied and it slows down uniformly to 22 m/s in 5 s.
Determine (a) the deceleration produced by the application
of the brakes, (b) the distance covered during the 5th
second.
(a) Given : u = 66 m/s, v = 22 m/s, t = 5 s
Using : v = u + a t
22 = 66 + 5a
a = - 8.8 m/s2
(Negative sign indicates deceleration)
Thus, the deceleration produced by the application of the
brakes is 8.8 m/s2.
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(b) The “5th second” means the time interval between t = 4 s
and t = 5 s
Distance covered in the 5th second
= distance covered in 5 s – distance covered in 4 s

using : s = u t + ½a t2
[66(5) + ½(-8.8)(52)] － [66(4) + ½(-8.8)(42)]
= 26.4 m
Thus, the distance covered in the 5th second is 26.4 m.

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Example 3
A particle moving with uniform acceleration passes
three posts A, B, C on a straight line. The distance
of separation between A and B is 60 m, while that
between B and C is 80 m. The particle takes 6 s to
go from A to B and 5 s to go from B to C. From
these observations, determine the acceleration of
the particle and its distance from A when its
velocity is 22 m/s.

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 Let ‘u’ be the initial velocity (velocity when passing
A) of the particle and ‘a’ its acceleration. Arrange
the given data as follows:
A to B A to C
s = 60 m s = 60 + 80 = 140 m
t=6s 1 t = 6 + 5 = 11 s
Using s = u t + a t2, we have respectively,
2
60 = 6 u + ½ (a) 62 and 140 = 11 u + ½ (a) 112
or, 10 = u + 3 a and 140 = 11 u + 60.5 a

On solving the simultaneous equations,

a = 1.09 m/s2
and u = 6.73 m/s
Thus, the acceleration of the particle is 1.09 m/s2. 23
When the particle has attained the final velocity of 22 m/s, we
have, with A as a reference point as before,
u = 6.73 m/s
v = 22 m/s
a = 1.09 m/s2
Using v2 = u2 + 2 a s
(22)2 = (6.73)2 + 2 (1.09) s
s = 201.2 m
Thus, the particle is 201.2 m from A when its velocity is 22 m/s.

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 Example 4
A train takes 60 s to travel from station A to station B.
Firstly, the train accelerates from rest to a speed of 25
m/s in 20 s and travels at this constant speed for 30 s.
It is then decelerated uniformly until it arrives at station
B.
(a) Draw a velocity-time graph to represent the motion.
(b) From the graph, calculate
(i) the deceleration of the train,
(ii) the total distance travelled.

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(a)

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(b) (i) t = 60 – 20 –30 = 10 s
v = u + at
0 = 25 + a (10)
a = - 25/10
= - 2.5 m/s2

(ii) the total distance travelled  (30  60 ) x 25

2
 1125 m

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Vertical Motion Under Gravity
When a body is allowed to fall freely to the ground, it
moves with a uniform acceleration produced by the
gravitational attraction the earth. This acceleration varies
from place to place on the earth’s surface. Its value is
approximately 9.81 m s-2. The small letter ‘g’ is the symbol
associated with the acceleration due to gravity. The
equations for motion due to gravity follow the same pattern
as those for linear motion, with the slight modification of
introducing ‘g’ as the acceleration , instead of ‘a’. Hence
the motion equation applied to falling bodies become:

v=u－gt
1 2
s=ut－ gt
2 Upward displacements and velocities are positive.
v2 = u2 － 2 g s Downward displacements and velocities are negative.

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 Example 5
A body is projected upwards with a velocity of 50 m/s from the top
of a tower 100 m high. Find (a) the time taken for a body to reach the
ground? (b) the velocity with which the body strikes the ground?

Given : u = + 50 m/s (upwards)

s = -100 m (ground is 100 m below top of tower)
(a)Using s = u t － 1 g t2
2 1
-100 = (50)t － ( ) (9.81)t2
t2 －10.2 t －20.4 = 0 2
t = 11.9 s

(b) using v2 = u2 － 2 g s
v2 = (50)2 －(2)(9.81)(-100)
= 4462
v = 66.8 m/s
Thus, body strikes the ground after 11.9 seconds, with a velocity of
66.8 m/s. 29
Example 6
An object is dropped from an helicopter and strikes the
ground 12 seconds later. Determine (a) the height of the
helicopter and (b) the velocity with which the body strikes
the ground. (c) if a second object had been projected
upwards from the ground with a velocity of 200 m/s at the
same instant as the first object was dropped from the
helicopter, where and when they would meet?

Given u=0
t = 12 s

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 1
(a) using s = ut － g t2
2
1
s= 0－ (9.81) (12)2
2
= -706 m

(b) using v = u－gt

= 0 －(9.81)(12)
= -118 m s-1

(c) let s1 = distance travelled by first object

s2 = distance travelled by second object

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 Equation of motion of first object:
s1 = – 1 g t 2 (since u = 0)
2

Equation of second object:

s2 = 200 t － 1 g t2 (u = +200 m/s)
2

The ground is –706 m from the helicopter, so that the

second object, have travelled S2 from ground, is
– (706 － S2) from the helicopter. When the distance
is equal to S1, the two objects will meet.
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 －(706 － s2) = s1
` 1
－706 ＋ 200 t － 2 g t2 = － 1 g t2
2

200t = 706
t = 3.53 s
Distance from ground to point of meeting:
s2 = 200 t － 1 g t2
2
1
= 200 (3.53) － (9.81) (3.53)2
2
= 645 m from the ground
Thus. The helicopter is 706 m high, and the object strikes the ground with a
velocity of 118 m/s. A second object projected upwards from the ground
with a velocity of 200 m/s would meet the first at a height of 645 m, 3.53
seconds after the instant of projection.
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