Unit 1 Notes (Blank)
Unit 1 Notes (Blank)
Unit 1 Notes (Blank)
1.1 Kinematics
Focus Question: What is the difference between a vector and scalar quantity?
Kinematics – The study of motion without regards to the forces causing the motion (The study of forces is
called dynamics).
Vectors - Scalars –
ex: ex:
Position –
Displacement – Distance –
Example C: Pikachu and Eevee are both located at the origin. At time t = 0, they both start moving. Pikachu
moves with a velocity 20 m/s. Eevee moves with a velocity of -10 m/s. Find the distance between the two after
10 s.
Acceleration
➢ Acceleration –
Example D: A family excitingly drives to Homeplus for some well-choreographed shopping. For each of the
following cases, determine the direction of the acceleration of the car.
For an object in motion, there are 5 primary kinematic quantities to describe the motion:
• 𝑣𝑖 – initial velocity
• 𝑣𝑓 - final velocity
• ∆𝑥 – change in position (displacement)
• 𝑎 - acceleration
• ∆𝑡 - change in time
When given a problem to solve for an unknown quantity, first determine the given quantities. Then find a
kinematics equation that contains both the unknown and the known quantities. Each kinematics equation
contains four of the quantities and can be classified by which quantity is not in the equation.
no acceleration:
no displacement:
no final velocity:
no initial velocity:
no time:
*These only work for uniform (constant; does not change with time) acceleration.
Example E: A 2014 Hyundai Elantra uniformly accelerates from 12 m/s to 20 m/s in 3 seconds. What distance
did it travel in that time?
Example F: A 2013 Hyundai Accent is initially traveling at 10 m/s. It accelerates uniformly at a rate of 2 m/s2
for 4 seconds. How far does the car travel during this time.
Example G: A 2000 Ford Focus is traveling at a speed of 22 m/s. The brakes can produce a maximum
acceleration of 8 m/s2. What is the minimum distance needed for the car to stop?
Example H: A jet requires 2.5 seconds of acceleration from rest to cover a 94 m distance.
a) What is the takeoff speed of the plane?
b) What was the acceleration?
Example I: An unusually athletic panda is initially running up at mountain with a speed of 𝑣 when he gets the
inspiration to speed up with uniform acceleration for a period of 𝑡 seconds. Afterwards, he is now running at a
speed of 3𝑣.
a) What distance did the panda cover during the 𝑡 seconds?
b) What was the panda’s acceleration?
AP Physics 1 Unit 1 - Kinematics
1.2 Free Fall_
Focus Question: How does the earth’s gravity affect the motion of an object?
Free Fall Acceleration
In the absence of air resistance, all objects fall with the same, constant acceleration.
Example A: A camera falls off a cliff of height 𝐻. Determine the time it takes to hit the ground if up is the
positive direction.
Example E: Choosing a coordinate system - A baseball is thrown upward with initial speed of 35 m/s. What
is its velocity at t =2 s if:
a) Up is the positive direction?
b) Down is the positive direction?
AP Physics 1 Unit 1 - Kinematics
1.3 Displacement, Velocity, and Acceleration Graphs
Focus Question: How do velocity, acceleration, and displacement change over time?
Example A: Intro to Kinematic Graphs. Graph the appropriate quantities for the scenarios given.
a) A llama gallops gracefully in the positive direction at a constant speed of 3 m/s for 3 seconds.
b) An alpaca is initially at rest. The alpaca is startled by a fierce capybara and starts running at time t =
0 at a constant acceleration of 1 m/s2 for 3 seconds.
▪ slope =
o positive slope –
o negative slope –
o no slope -
b) The velocity at t = 1 s.
c) The velocity at t = 8.
▪ Acceleration:
o positive slope –
o negative slope –
o no slope –
*velocity is positive and getting less positive or negative and getting less negative.
o If the graph is moving away from the x-axis:
*velocity is positive and getting more positive or negative and getting more negative.
▪ Displacement
Example D: Ponder the graph shown.
d) Name a time when the velocity is increasing but the speed is decreasing.
e) Name a time when the velocity is decreasing but the object is getting faster.