Describing Motion

Describing Motion

1. Distance, time & speed

   • Distance
     • length of the path travelled
   • Time
     • interval of change
   • Speed
     • distance travelled during a unit time

2. Graphing motion

   • Motion graphs are plotted on Cartesian planes
     • Axis
       • dependent axis
         • distance or speed
       • independent axis
         • time axis
     • Scale
       • value represented by the distance between marks on an axis
   • Distance vs Time
     • straight line indicates constant speed
     • gradient gives the speed
   • Speed vs Time
     • gradient gives the acceleration

3. Relative motion

   • objects traveling in the same direction
     • magnitude of relative velocity is less than velocity of both objects
     • magnitude of the relative velocity is given by the difference between the velocities of the two objects
   • objects traveling in opposite direction
     • magnitude of relative velocity is greater than the velocity of both
     • magnitude of the relative velocity is given by the sum of the two velocities
   • relative velocity is equal to (vel of object - vel of ref point)

Images and files in the map