Understanding Kinematics Kinematics is the branch of physics that deals with the study of motion without considering the forces that cause it. In A Level Physic...
Kinematics is the branch of physics that deals with the study of motion without considering the forces that cause it. In A Level Physics, you will explore key concepts related to linear motion, including displacement, velocity, acceleration, and their relationships through kinematic equations and motion graphs.
Displacement is the change in position of an object measured as a vector from the starting point to the end point. Distance is the scalar measure of the length of the path taken. While displacement can be negative, distance is always positive.
Speed is the rate of change of distance with respect to time, while velocity is the rate of change of displacement with respect to time. Velocity is a vector quantity that includes both speed and direction.
Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity with respect to time. It can be positive (accelerating), negative (decelerating), or zero (constant velocity). Accelerated motion is caused by unbalanced forces acting on an object.
The graph shows the displacement, velocity, and acceleration plots for an object. From the velocity-time graph, we can see that the object initially has a constant velocity, then decelerates, and finally accelerates. The area under the velocity-time graph gives the displacement.
The kinematic equations describe the relationships between displacement (s), initial velocity (u), final velocity (v), acceleration (a), and time (t) for uniformly accelerated motion:
These equations can be used to solve problems involving linear motion, projectile motion, and relative motion.