Insanely Super
Important
Kinematics
Terms
Kinematics
The study of the motion of
objects- does not deal with the
forces that caused the motion
Scalars
A measurement that only
gives a numerical value. NO
DIRECTION!!
 Magnitude is the fancy
physics word meaning
ONLY numerical value
 ex: Time, temperature, mass
VECTORS
 A numerical quantity AND
direction
 Ex: velocity, acceleration
 Ex: 22 m/s North
The location of an object
Displacement
 The change in position of an object
in motion.
 Distance from its origin
 A vector
Distance
• Total length traveled
• A scalar measurement
Speed (s)
 Distance traveled over a period
of time
 Does not give direction
Speed cont….
 Instantaneous: Speed at a given
moment. (radar gun)
 Average: total distance over total
time traveled
 Constant: speed does not increase
or decrease (cruise control)
Velocity (v)
 Change of displacement over
time in a given direction
*Add in direction
Velocity Cont…
Average: total distance over total
time traveled in a given direction
 Ex: 30 mph due East
 Instantaneous: Velocity at a given
moment in time
Constant: No increase or decrease
in velocity in a set direction
Initial Velocity (Vi)
Starting Velocity
Final Velocity (Vf)
 Velocity at a 2nd point or an end
point
Acceleration (a)
 Change in velocity in a given
amount of time
 Units are m/s2
Acceleration Cont…
 Average: the change in velocity divided by an
elapsed time.
 Instantaneous: acceleration at a given instant.
 Constant: Velocity is changing the same amount
each second
 Ex: Acceleration due to gravity = 9.8m/s/s