


The primary difference between this curve and those on the previous graph is that this curve actually curves. In contrast to the previous examples, let's graph the position of an object with a constant, non-zero acceleration starting from rest at the origin. when two curves coincide, the two objects have the same position at that time.the "y" intercept is the initial position.The height of a curve tells you nothing about its slope. Note that the initial position being zero does not necessarily imply that the initial velocity is also zero. If it were a race, then the contestants were already moving when the race began, since each curve has a non-zero slope at the start. This graph could represent a race of some sort where the contestants were all lined up at the starting line (although, at these speeds it must have been a race between tortoises). Since each of these graphs has its intercept at the origin, each of these objects had the same initial position. Thus velocity corresponds to slope and initial position to the intercept on the vertical axis (commonly thought of as the "y" axis). (The independent variable of a linear function is raised no higher than the first power.)Ĭompare the position-time equation for constant velocity with the classic slope-intercept equation taught in introductory algebra. Even a straight line is called a curve in mathematics.) This is to be expected given the linear nature of the appropriate equation. (Any kind of line drawn on a graph is called a curve. Note first that the graphs are all straight. Three different curves are included on the graph to the right, each with an initial position of zero. Let's begin by graphing some examples of motion at a constant velocity. Graphs of motion come in several types depending on which of the kinematic quantities (time, position, velocity, acceleration) are assigned to which axis. Graphs are often the best way to convey descriptions of real world events in a compact form. Sometimes you need a picture to show what's going on - a mathematical picture called a graph. Since, as I rightly pointed out, "no object has ever traveled in a straight line with constant acceleration anywhere in the universe at any time" these equations are only approximately true, only once in a while.Įquations are great for describing idealized situations, but they don't always cut it. You should recall that the three (or four) equations presented in that section were only valid for motion with constant acceleration along a straight line. Think back to the previous section on the equations of motion. When it comes to depth, nothing beats an equation. All of these relationships can now be written in a single equation. Galileo's description of an object moving with constant speed (perhaps the first application of mathematics to motion) required one definition, four axioms, and six theorems. Equations can easily contain the information equivalent of several sentences. Electrons in solids.Modern mathematical notation is a highly compact way to encode ideas.Electromagnetic Oscillations and Alternating ♼urrent.Current electromotive force and resistance.Application of atmospheric and liquid pressure.The distance moved is numerically equal to the area of the figure OABC (a trapezium). 3.5 shows the velocity-time graph for the previous problem, in which OA, AB and BC represent the three stages of the motion respectively. The distance moved in the first stage may be found by substituting in the secondįig. Find the maximum speed reached in km/h and the total distance covered in metres. First stage u = 0 m/s a = 2 m/s2 Substituting in the first equation of motion, Acceleration from velocity-time graph The brakes are then applied and the vehicle uniformly retarded to rest in 5 s. It then maintains a constant speed for half a minute. (Acceleration due to gravity = 9.8 m/s”) When working problems of this type the reader is recommended to extract the data given in the question and write them down against the appropriate symbols before attempting to substitute in one of the equations of motion.Ī car starts from rest and is accelerated uniformly at the rate of 2 m/s2 for 6 s. Neglecting air resistance, find: (a) the maximum height reached (b) the time taken before it reaches the ground. Acceleration from velocity-time graph Acceleration from velocity-time graphīy a process of reasoning similar to that used in the section above relating to the distance-time graphs, it may be shown that,Ī stone is thrown vertically upwards with an initial velocity of 14 m/s.
