CHAPTER-8

MOTION
What is physics?

The branch of science concerned with the nature and properties of matter and energy.

 The subject matter of physics includes mechanics, heat, light and other
radiation, sound, electricity, magnetism, and the structure of atoms.

 Since physics is study of nature, it is real. No one has the authority to frame
rules of physics. We only discover the rules that are operating in nature.

 Mathematics is the language of physics. Without knowledge of mathematics it

would be difficult to discover, understand and explain laws of nature.

 Since physics describes laws of nature. This description is quantitative and

involves measurement and comparison of physical quantities. To measure a
physical quantity we need some standard unit of that quantity.

Physical quantity- A physical quantity is a physical property of a material or system

that can be quantified by measurement.

The physical quantities are of two type-

Scalar Quantities-The physical quantities which are completely described by the magnitude
only are called scalar quantities.

Examples of scalar quantities: Physical quantities such as mass, length, area, volume,
distance, speed, work, energy, power, temperature, pressure, electric charge, electric
potential etc. scalar quantities.

Characteristics of scalar quantities:

 They can be completely described by magnitude alone.
 They can be added by simple arithmetic. For example, the total mass of 5 kg of
sugar and 5 kg of salt is 10kg.
 They cannot be plotted on a graph it is because they are not represented by any
direction. Thus, we do not know whether they should be taken on X-axis or Y-axis.

Vector Quantities

The physical quantities which are completely described only if their magnitudes and
directions are specified are called vector quantities.
 Examples of vector quantities: Physical quantities such as displacement, velocity,
acceleration, retardation momentum, force, moment of a force weight, electric
intensity, magnetic intensity etc., are vector quantities.

Characteristics of vector quantities:

 They can be completely described only by specifying the magnitude as well

as direction.
 They cannot be added by simple arithmetic. For example, a displacement
vector of 3 m towards east and 4 m towards north cannot be 7 m towards
north of east. Instead it is 5 m at an angle of 53o, north of east.
 They can be represented on graph as their direction is specified.

Graphical Representation of Vectors

The representation of vectors by line diagram is called graphic representation of vectors.

A vector quantity is completely represented by a Straight line with an arrow head, such that
the length of the line represents the magnitude of the vector and the arrow head represents the
direction of the vector.

Types of motion
According to the nature of the movement, motion is classified into three types as follows:

• Linear Motion
• Rotary Motion
• Oscillatory Motion

Linear Motion
In linear motion, the particles move from one point to another in either a straight line or a curved
path. The linear motion depending on the path of motion is further divided as follows

(i) Rectilinear Motion – The path of the motion is a straight line.

 (ii) Curvilinear Motion – The path of the motion is curved.

A few examples of linear motion are the motion of the train, football, the motion of a car on the
road, etc.

Rotatory Motion
Rotatory motion is the motion that occurs when a body rotates on its own axis
A few examples of the rotatory motion are as follows:

 The motion of the earth about its own axis around the sun is an example of rotary motion.
 While driving a car, the motion of wheels and the steering wheel about its own axis is an
example of rotatory motion.

Oscillatory Motion
Oscillatory motion is the motion of a body about its mean position. A few examples of
oscillatory motion are

• When a child on a swing is pushed, the swing moves to and fro about its mean position.
• The pendulum of a clock exhibits oscillatory motion as it moves to and fro about its mean
position.
• The string of the guitar when strummed moves to and fro by its mean position resulting in
an oscillatory motion.

UNIFORM MOTION

When a body covers equal distances in equal intervals of time, however small may be time
intervals, the body is said to describe uniform motion.

Characteristics of uniform motion

(i) The moving body covers equal distances in equal intervals of time, however small the
time intervals may be.
(ii) The graph between the distance covered and the time, is a straight line.
(iii) (iii) The motion is non-accelerated in nature.
NON – UNIFORM MOTION

When a body covers unequal distances in equal intervals of time, it is said to be moving with a
non-uniform motion.

Characteristics of non-uniform motion

(i) The body does not cover equal distances in equal intervals of time.
(ii) The graph line between distance and the time is always a curve.
(iii) The motion is accelerated in nature.
 SPEED
Speed of an object is defined as the distance travelled by it per unit time.

 In S.I system, the unit of speed is meter per second (m/s).

 For measuring larger speeds, the unit is kilometer per hour (km/hr.).
 Speed is a scalar quantity. It is because it has the magnitude, but no direction.

Types of Speed
There are four types of speed and they are:

 Uniform speed
 Variable speed
 Average speed
 Instantaneous speed

1. Uniform speed: A object is said to be in uniform speed when the object covers equal
distance in equal time intervals.
2. Variable speed: A object is said to be in variable speed when the object covers a
different distance at equal intervals of times.
3. Instantaneous speed: When an object is moving with variable speed, then the speed of
that object at any instant of time is known as instantaneous speed.
4. Average speed: Average speed is defined as the uniform speed which is given by the
ratio of total distance travelled by an object to the total time taken by the object.
 VELOCITY
The displacement covered by a body per unit time is called the velocity.

OR

The distance covered by a body per unit time in a specified direction is called the velocity.

OR

The speed of a body in a specified direction is called the velocity.

(i) It is a scalar quantity having symbol v .
(ii) Unit : metre/second (S.I.), cm/second (C.G.S.)

Types of velocity-
(a) Uniform velocity : A particle is said to have uniform velocity, if magnitudes as well as
direction of its velocity remains same and this is possible only when the particles moves in same
straight line without reversing its direction.

(b) Non-uniform velocity: A particle is said to have non-uniform velocity, if either of

magnitude or direction of velocity changes (or both changes).
(c) Average velocity: It is defined as the ratio of total displacement to time taken by the body

Comparison between speed and velocity

 Speed is scalar while velocity is a vector both having same units (m/s).
 Average speed or velocity depends on time interval over which it is defined.
 For a given time interval velocity is single valued while speed can have many values
depending on path followed.
 If after motion body comes back to its initial position then velocity will be zero but speed
will never become zero.
 For a moving body average speed can never be negative or zero while average velocity
can be zero or negative.
 Acceleration

Acceleration is defined as the rate of change of velocity.

Mathematically, acceleration is given as:

Suppose the velocity of a car is u at time t1. Later, at time t2, its velocity becomes v.

Change in velocity = (v − u)

Change in time = (t2 − t1)

 It is a vector quantity and its direction is given by the direction of the force causing the
acceleration.
2
 Its SI unit is m/s .

Types of acceleration-

1. Positive acceleration- The rate of change of velocity of a moving body, when the
velocity is INCREASING is called positive acceleration only and is denoted by‘a’.

2. Negative acceleration (Retardation) -The rate of change of velocity of a moving body,

when the velocity is DECREASING is called negative acceleration and is denoted by ‘−
a’.

Negative acceleration is commonly referred to as retardation or de-acceleration or

deceleration.

3. UNIFORM ACCELERATION -When a body undergoes equal changes in velocity in

equal intervals of time (however small the time intervals may be), the body is said to be
moving with uniform acceleration.

Example:-i) The motion of an object falling freely form the top of a building.

4. NON-UNIFORM ACCELERATION OR VARIABLE ACCELERATION- When a

body describes unequal changes in velocity in equal intervals of time, the body is said to
 be moving with non-uniform acceleration. A body moving with a variable velocity has
non-uniform acceleration.

Example:-
i) The motion of a bus leaving or entering the bus stop.
ii) The motion of a train leaving or entering the platform.

GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF MOTION

During motion of the particle its parameters of kinematical analysis (u, v, a, s ) changes
with time. This can be represented on the graph.
1. POSITION TIME GRAPH.

Position time graph is plotted by taking time t along x-axis and position of the
particle on y-axis.

Let AB is a position-time graph for any moving particle

It is clear that slope of position-time graph represents the velocity of the particle.
Various position – time graphs and their interpretation

2. Velocity Time Graph.

The graph is plotted by taking time t along x-axis and velocity of the particle on y-axis.

We can calculate distance ,displacement and acceleration from the graph

1. Distance and displacement : The area covered between the velocity time graph and time
axis gives the displacement and distance travelled by the body for a given time interval.
2. Acceleration: - The slope of velocity time graph gives acceleration.

Let AB is a velocity-time graph for any moving particle

Various velocity – time graphs and their interpretation

Derivation of Equations of Motion by Graphical Method:

1. First Equation of Motion (Equation for velocity time relation):

Let us consider V – T graph for a body moving under uniform acceleration and as a result of the
acceleration, its velocity increases from u to v in time t.

The slope of the V – T graph gives the acceleration of the moving object.

𝑣 − 𝑢 = 𝑎𝑡
𝑣 = 𝑢 + 𝑎𝑡 ……………………………(1)
 2. Second Equation of Motion (Equation for position time relation):

Let us consider V – T graph for a body moving under uniform acceleration and as a result of the
acceleration, its velocity increases from u to v in time t.

We know that the distance travelled s in time t is given by the area enclosed by the v – t graph
and the time axis.

3. Third Equation of Motion (equation for position velocity relation):

Let us consider V – T graph for a body moving under uniform acceleration and as a result of the
acceleration, its velocity increases from u to v in time t.

In this case also we have to find the distance travelled by the body.

Therefore, 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑑, 𝑠 = 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑧𝑖𝑢𝑚 𝐴𝐵𝐸O

 Uniform Circular Motion

When an object moves in a circular path with uniform speed, its motion is called uniform
circular motion.

 In such a case, the change in velocity is only due to the change in direction of motion of
the object.

 Because in this case the magnitude of velocity or speed is constant. Therefore, this
motion is accelerated without changing its speed.

If the radius of the circular path is r, then in one round the distance travelled by a body is equal to
the circumference of the circle. If’t’ is the time taken for completing one round and if ‘v’ is the
constant speed with which the body is moving, then

Examples of circular motion

1. A stone tied to a thread and whirled in a circular path.

2. Wheels of various vehicles rotating about their axles.
3. A satellite moving around the Earth in a circular path, at constant speed.
4. The Moon revolving around the Earth in a circular path at constant speed.