Thanks to visit codestin.com
Credit goes to www.scribd.com

Scribd
Upload
113 views12 pages

Position, Displacement, Velocity, and Acceleration

This document provides an overview of key concepts in engineering mechanics: position, displacement, velocity, and acceleration. It defines each concept and distinguishes between them. Position refers to the location of an object. Displacement is the change in position between two points in time. Velocity is the rate of change of position over time. Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity over time. The document explains each concept using diagrams and precise definitions.

Uploaded by

PRATHU SINGH
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
113 views12 pages

Position, Displacement, Velocity, and Acceleration

This document provides an overview of key concepts in engineering mechanics: position, displacement, velocity, and acceleration. It defines each concept and distinguishes between them. Position refers to the location of an object. Displacement is the change in position between two points in time. Velocity is the rate of change of position over time. Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity over time. The document explains each concept using diagrams and precise definitions.

Uploaded by

PRATHU SINGH
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 12

Position, Displacement, Velocity,

and Acceleration
Dr. Jacob Moore
Associate Professor of Engineering
Penn State Mont Alto

mechanicsmap.psu.edu
Position, Displacement, Velocity and
Acceleration
• In engineering mechanics, the concepts of
position, displacement, velocity, and
acceleration are used to describe the motion
of a body.
• You may have heard of these concepts before,
but it’s important to know exactly what we
mean by each concept, as they have very
specific definitions within engineering.

2
Position
• The concept of position, is simply the location
of a body.
– For a particle, this refers to the location of the
body itself.
– For an extended body (often just called a rigid
body) it will usually refer to the location of the
center of mass of the body.

3
Position
• Generally, there are two ways to describe the position of a body,
we can use a distance and direction from a known point, or we
can describe a location in terms of distances along set
coordinate axes.
• In either case it is important that we clearly identify the origin
location and the axes we are using.

y y

r
y
𝜃
x x 4
Position in 3D
• In three dimensions, we still have either a distance and
direction or the coordinate axes options, but we will need
two angles for a direction, or we will need distances in
three coordinate directions.
y

r
y
ϕ
x
x
θ
z
z 5
Displacement
• The displacement of a body is simply the change
in position of a body between two points in time.
• This will be a vector quantity having magnitude
and direction.
y
𝑡1 Disp
x1 lace
m ent
x2
𝑡2
y1 y2

x
6
Displacement
• Another important aspect of displacement is
the issue of path independence, meaning that
the displacement is always the direct route
from location one to location two, regardless
of the path taken

𝑡1 𝑡1

𝑡2 𝑡2

7
Velocity
• Next is velocity, which is the change in position
over the change in time, or more accurately the
rate of change of position over the rate of
change in time at any given instant.

• Over any finite period of time, the average


velocity will be the change in position (or
displacement), over the change in time.

8
Velocity
• It’s important to note, that just like
displacement, velocity is a vector quantity,
having both a magnitude and a direction.
• If we just specify the magnitude of the velocity
vector, that is the speed of the body.

⃗
𝑣

9
Acceleration
• Finally, we have the acceleration, which is the
rate of chance of the velocity over the rate of
change of time.

• Since velocity itself is the rate of change in


position over the rate of change in time, the
acceleration is also the double derivative of the
change in position over the change in time.

10
Acceleration
• Just as with displacement and with velocity,
acceleration is a vector quantity, meaning
that is has a magnitude and direction.
⃗
𝑎

• With accelerations being a change in velocities


over time, accelerations occur whenever the
speed changes or whenever the direction the
velocity changes.
11
Thanks for Watching

See other engineering mechanics


videos and access the full tool at…

mechanicsmap.psu.edu

You might also like