PhysicsCode 5054
Motion
What this topic asks you to be able to do
- Define speed as how far something travels in each unit of time, and define velocity as how much its displacement changes in each unit of time
- Recall the equation speed = distance / time and use it in calculations
- Recall average speed = total distance travelled / total time taken and use this equation when calculating
- Define acceleration as the change in velocity in each unit of time; recall acceleration = change in velocity / time taken and use this equation
- Give the meaning of uniform acceleration and of non-uniform acceleration, and outline instances of each
- Know that deceleration means a negative acceleration, and apply this idea when calculating
- Draw sketches and plots of distance–time and speed–time graphs, and interpret them
- Determine, from the way a distance–time graph is shaped, the times at which an object is (a) stationary (b) travelling at a constant speed (c) accelerating (d) decelerating
- Determine, from the way a speed–time graph is shaped, the times at which an object is (a) stationary (b) travelling at a constant speed (c) travelling with a constant acceleration (d) travelling with an acceleration that changes
- State that, close to the Earth's surface, the acceleration of free fall g of an object stays roughly constant, at about 9.8m/ s2
- Calculate an object's speed by finding the gradient of its distance–time graph
- Work out the distance travelled, by finding the area under a speed–time graph, for motion at constant speed or with constant acceleration
- Find acceleration by way of the gradient of a speed–time graph