Distance
and
Displacement
I. Motion
A. Movement – change in position
B. How do you know something moves? Motion
is a relative term
1. You can see it happening (observe)
2. Use a frame of reference
a. Sun, moon, stars
b. People standing beside the road
c. Cars moving down the hi-way
d. Seasons – warmer and colder temps
A. Distance – length between two points
1. Use appropriate units…
a. Ex: Mississippi River
Appropriate – 3780 km
Inappropriate – 3,780,000,000,000 μm
B. Displacement – length between two
points and the direction of motion
(vector)
1. Ex: 5 miles north of Rock Rapids
2. Shortest length between points start
and finish
Speed
A. Def - How fast something
moves (rate of change)
B. Requirements for speed
1. Distance traveled – 30
meters, 30 miles, 30 inches.
2. Time – how long it took to
move a certain distance. – 3hrs,
3 min, 3 ms.
C. Calculating speed
1. Formula =
Speed = Distance V = Speed
Time D = Distance
T = Time
D. 3 Types of Speed
1. Instantaneous speed = speed at
one moment
a. Ex: What is the instantaneous
speed according to the
speedometer?
→ 35 mph
2. Constant Speed = speed that
does not change over a period of
time.
a. Ex: setting Car Ride to School
the cruise on a 70
car at 55 mph.
60
Speed (mph)
50
40
30
20
10
0
b. Ex: What is
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
Time (Sec)
the constant
speed of the
car in the
following
graph?
3. Average Speed
a. Def – the total distance divided by
the total time.
b. Ex: A deer walked 5 m in 10 min, 8
m in 23 min, and 7 m in 7 min. What
was its average speed?
→5+8+7=20 meters
→ 10 + 23 + 7 = 40 min
→ formula v = d/t
→20 meters / 40 min
→ .5 meters / min
E. Distance Time Graph
1. Def – seeing the motion of
an object over time.
Water Aerobic Distance (meters)
1400
1200
Distance (m)
1000
800
600
400
200
0
0 20 40 60 80
Time (min)
Seatwork:
1. A car traveled 325 km in 4.5 hours. What was its
average speed in km/hr? What was its
average speed in m/s?
2. A train speed along at 50 km/h for 8.25 hours.
What was its distance in km? What was its
distance in meters? What was its distance in
mm?
3. How many hours would it take for a car to
travel 450 km at a rate of 35 km/hr?
II. Speed vs. Velocity
A. Use same formula
→ velocity = distance / time
B. Uses different labels
→Speed – how fast something moves
1. Ex: a tornado is moving 15 mph.
→Velocity – how fast something moves in a
certain direction.
1. Ex: a tornado is moving 15 mph to
the north.
C. Examples
1. 2 motorcycles traveling down the interstate
Speed in opposite directions at 70 mph? Speed
/ Velocity?
Velocity2. 2 bikers traveling 70 mph along a path in the
same northern direction? Speed
/ Velocity?
Speed 3. 2 walkers walking down the road side by
side at 5 mph? Speed /
Velocity?
4. What is the velocity of an object that travels
70 miles in 1.5 hours from Rock Rapids
towards Sioux City? 46.7 mph South
D. In class Questions
1. What is the velocity of an airplane that
is traveling from Mexico to Canada. It
traveled 1400 miles in 4.5 hours?
311 mph North
2. What is the velocity of a tornado that is
traveling from Omaha to Des Moines. It
took 5.75 hours and traveled 200 miles?
34.8 mph East
Acceleration
A. Def – rate of changing velocity
1. Ex: a dragster
→ idle → green light → leaps forward →
faster → faster → drag chute → slower →
slower → stops.
2. Change of Velocity
a. Speed changes
b. Direction changes
B. Formula
1. Acceleration = velocity(final) – velocity(initial)
time
2. *Always squared*
→ m/s2, mph2, km/hr2…
C. Examples
1. A car’s velocity changes from 0 m/s to
30 m/s 10 seconds later. Calculate the
car’s average acceleration.
30 m/s - 0 m/s
10 sec
→ 3 m/s2
1. As a roller coaster starts down a hill, its
speed is 10 m/s. 3 seconds later, its
speed is 32 m/s at the bottom of the hill.
What is the roller coaster’s acceleration?
2. A bullet is fired from a gun. Its final
velocity is 750 m/s. It traveled this
distance in 0.75 seconds. What is the
bullets acceleration?
