MathematicsCode 9709

Kinematics of motion in a straight line

What this topic asks you to be able to do

  • understand what distance and speed mean as scalar quantities, together with displacement, velocity and acceleration, which are vector quantities
  • sketch and interpret displacement–time and velocity–time graphs, knowing in particular that a displacement–time graph's gradient gives velocity, a velocity–time graph's gradient gives acceleration, and the area beneath a velocity–time graph gives displacement
  • apply calculus to simple problems about displacement, velocity and acceleration, differentiating and integrating with respect to time as needed
  • apply suitable formulae for straight-line motion with constant acceleration