Kinematics of Particles

EE007-3-1-ESDM / VE2

Engineering Statics & Dynamics

TOPIC & STRUCTURE OF THE
LESSON

• Concept of kinematics
• Constant acceleration
• Variable acceleration
• Erratic motion
• Circular motion
• Relative motion

EE007-3-1-Engineering Statics & Dynamics Ch5-Kinematics of particles Slide 2

LEARNING OUTCOMES

• At the end of this topic, YOU should be able

to:
• Apply concept of dynamics to particles and rigid
bodies. (C3, PLO2)

EE007-3-1-Engineering Statics & Dynamics Ch5-Kinematics of particles Slide 3

KEY TERMS YOU MUST BE ABLE
TO USE
• If you have mastered this topic, you should be able to use
the following terms correctly in your assessments: -
– Kinematics
– Displacement
– Distance
– Velocity
– Speed
– Average speed
– Acceleration
– Relatiove motion

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Kinematics of a particles

1.1 Introduction

Dynamics
The study of object in motion and forces and their relation with motion.

Kinematics
The description and analysis of the motion of the object without the consideration of the forces
and couple that cause them

Kinetics
The science that deals with the effects of forces on the motion of material bodies

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Kinematics of a particles

1.1 Rectilinear Motion

Rectilinear motion concerns a motion of a particle in a straight line.

1.2 Constant Acceleration

In this section, the rectilinear motion is considered to have a constant acceleration, that is, the rate
of change of the velocity is constant. In kinematics, there are three important perimeters to be
considered:

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Kinematics of a particles
Displacement, s (m) Note
The difference of position of a particle.  Since all displacement, velocity and
acceleration are vector units, they must

Velocity, v (ms-1) have magnitudes and directions.

 Displacement is considered negative if
The rate of change of the displacement or a measure
the particle is moving in the opposite
of how fast is the moving object.
direction from reference direction.
s f  si
v  Velocity is taken as negative if the
t
particle is moving in the opposite
sf and si are the final and initial displacement of the
direction.
particle respectively.
 The velocity is zero when the particle
stops/ momentarily stops moving.
-2
Acceleration, a (ms )  Acceleration is taken as negative when
The rate of change of the velocity. the particle is slowing down or
vu decelerating.
a
t  Acceleration is zero when the particle is
v and u are final and initial speed respectively. The moving with a constant speed.
relationship between the acceleration, velocity ad
the displacement can be summarized as follows.
v  u  at
v 2  u 2  2as
1
s  ut  at 2
2

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Kinematics of a particles
Example Note
-1
A ball is thrown vertically upward with a speed of 15ms  The only acceleration acts on the
from a 60m height building. Determine; particle is the gravitational acceleration
i) Maximum height of the ball, from the ground.  Taken all upward motion is positive,
ii) Time it takes to reach the maximum height. therefore, the acceleration is negative.
iii) Total time taken by the ball before it reaches the
ground. ii) The time taken to reach the maximum

height is
Solution
v u
The kinematics of the ball can be represented as follows a
t
0  15
9.81 
t
t  1.53s
15ms-1

iii) Time taken from the maximum height to

h the ground is
60m
1
s  ut  at 2
2
1
71.4679  0   9.81 t 2
2
t  3.82s

i) Maximum height is when the particle is momentarily

Total time is summation of the time taken
at rest, i.e. v = 0.
by the ball to reach the maximum height and
v 2  u 2  2as the time taken from the maximum height to
0  152  2  9.81 h  60  the ground. Total travelling time is
h  71.47m 3.82  1.53
 5.34s

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Kinematics of a particles

Example Note
A jet, travelling at 180kmh-1 accelerates at 1.6ms-2 for  The acceleration and the initial velocity
15s. What is its speed at the end of the 15s, and how far are not in the same unit. Remember to
did it travel during that time? convert all units to a common unit!
 For distance travelled, the use of the
Solution formula
Initial speed, u 1
s  ut  at 2
180 2
u ms -1
3.6 will give similar result
u  50ms -1
Distance travelled
Since the acceleration is constant, the speed after 15s is v 2  u 2  2as
v  u  at
74ms  2  50ms  2  2 1.6ms  s
-1 -1 -2

v  50ms -1  1.6ms -2 15s 

s  930m
-1
v  74ms

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Kinematics of a particles

1.2.1 Graphical Interpretation

The motion of a particle can also be represented by graphs other than mathematical equations.
This is done when the motion is erratic and continuous mathematical equations are hard to obtain.
Graphical representation can be used for constant as well as variable accelerations.

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Kinematics of a particles
Velocity versus time plot

 The particle speeding up

 Slope = dv/dt = acceleration
 Constant slope = constant acceleration
 Positive slope = accelerating
Velocity (ms-1)
The particle is moving
with constant velocity. The
acceleration = zero

The acceleration is
negative, i.e. decelerating

Velocity = 0, the particle

is either stationary or
momentarily stops.

t1 t2
Time (s)
Initial velocity The displacement by the
when the particle particle between t1 and t2
starts the motion.

The particle is accelerating The particle is decelerating

in opposite direction in opposite direction

Figure 2.1 Velocity versus time plot

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Kinematics of a particles

Acceleration versus time plot

Acceleration (ms-2)

Particle is moving with a

constant acceleration.
The slope is da/dt
which is physically
meaningless at this
stage.

Time (s)
Acceleration is zero, the particle
moves with a constant velocity. Negative acceleration i.e. the
particle is decelating.

Figure 2.2 Acceleration versus time plot

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Kinematics of a particles

Displacement versus time plot

Displacement (m)
 Slope is ds/dt = velocity. Velocity = 0. the particle is
 Constant slope = constant stationary.
velocity

Negative slope, the particle

is moving in the opposite
direction.

Time (s)
The particle starts from a The particle is back to its
reference point original position

Figure 2.3 Displacement versus time plot

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Kinematics of a particles
Exercise Note
The velocity versus time graph for a particular vehicle is  The plot is the velocity versus time. The
shown. slope of the plot is the acceleration.
i) State the period of time when the vehicle is  It can be seen from the figure, the
accelerating and calculate the magnitude of the vehicle starts from rest and accelerating
acceleration. within 5 seconds and then moves at a
ii) Draw the acceleration versus time graph for the constant velocity.
vehicle between 0s to 20s.
iii) Draw the displacement versus time graph for the Solution

vehicle between 5s to 20s and determine the total i) The vehicle is accelerating within 0s to 5s.

distance travelled. The magnitude of the acceleration is

50ms -1  0
a
v (ms-1) 5s
a  10ms -2
50

ii) The acceleration versus time plot is

time (s)
0 5 20

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Kinematics of a particles
a (ms-2) Note
10  As can be seen from v-t plot, the
acceleration is constant within 5
seconds period. After that the magnitude
time (s)
0 5 20 of the acceleration is zero.
 Between 5s to 20s, the velocity of the
iii) vehicle is constant, therefore s-t plot,
the slope is a positive constant with
s (m)
875 equals to 50ms-1

125

time (s)
0 5 20

From plot, the total distance travelled is 875m

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Kinematics of a particles
.1.2 Variable acceleration
In previous section, the motion is restricted to have a constant acceleration. In most cases, the
acceleration of the motion is not always constant. Therefore in this section, a general approach
will be discussed. From definition, the velocity is
ds
v (0.1)
dt

The acceleration is defined as

dv
a (0.2)
dt

Substituting equation (0.1) into equation (0.2)

d 2s
a 2
dt (0.3)
ads  vdv

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Kinematics of a particles

Example Note
A particle moves in a straight line and its velocity is  For the position, integration without the
defined as limit can be used, however there should


v  8t 2  3 ms -1  be a constant in the answer. The
constant can be determined by using
Determine its acceleration and its position after 3
initial conditions. For example
seconds. Assume t = 0s, s = 0m.
8t 3
s  3t  A
3
Solution
Acceleration Position
d
a
dt
8t 2
3  v
ds
 8t 2  3
dt
-2
a  16t ms
 
s t

when t = 3s;
s0
ds   8t 2  3 dt
t0

3
8t 3
a  16 3   48ms -2
s0   3t
3 0

s  81m

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Kinematics of a particles

1.2 Curvilinear Motion

Curvilinear motion is a motion of a particle along a curved path that lies in a single plane.

v’

P’
r’ a
v
O
r s v’ v
r

Figure 2.4 Particle moves in curvilinear motion

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Kinematics of a particles

Consider the motion of a particle along a plane curve as shown in Figure 2.4. At time t the
particle is at position P which is located by the position vector r measured from 0. At time t + Δt,
the particle is at P’ located by the position r’. The displacement of the particle during the time Δt
is Δr and is given by
Δr  r'  r (0.1)

The distance actually travelled by the particle as it moves along the curve path is Δs. The average
velocity is
r
v av  (0.1)
t
The instantaneous velocity is
r dr
v  lim 
t  0 t dt (0.2)
 r

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Kinematics of a particles

Note that the velocity v is always a vector tangent to the path of the particle. The magnitude of v
is called speed v, and it is a scalar quantity.
ds
v v 
dt (0.1)
 s

Note
dr
 r  s  v  v
dt
dr dr
  r
dt dt

The average acceleration of the particle between A and A’ is defined as

v
a av  (0.2)
t
where v  v ' v .

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Kinematics of a particles

Therefore the instantaneous acceleration is

v dv
a  lim 
t 0 t dt (0.1)
v

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Kinematics of a particles

y v a
ay
vy
j ax
rx vx
P
r ry
i x
O

Figure 2.5 Rectangular component of a curvilinear motion

The curvilinear motion previously can be expressed in x and y components by using the unit
vectors i and j. Thus
r  rx i  ry j
v  r  rx i  ry j (0.1)
a  v  r  rx i  ry j

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Kinematics of a particles

As noted before, the direction of the velocity is always tangent to the path. Therefore

v 2  vx 2  v y 2
v  vx 2  v y 2
vx (0.1)
tan  
vy
a  ax 2  a y 2

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Kinematics of a particles

1.3.1 Application of Curvilinear Motion: Projectile motion

y
vy
v
vx vx
v
vy v vy
θ x
vx

Figure 2.6 Projectile motion

Assumption
i. Aerodynamic drag is neglected
ii. Acceleration due to the gravity is constant, g = 9.81 ms-2 and its direction is always vertically
downward.

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Kinematics of a particles
The acceleration components are
ax  0 a y   g (0.1)

The acceleration is x-axis is always zero since no drags. Therefore, the particle has always
constant velocity in x-axis.
Since acceleration is constant

vx  u x v y  u y  gt
sx  sx0  u xt 1 2 (0.2)
s y  s y0  u y t  gt
2

v y 2  u y 2  2 g s y  s y0 
Note:
u x  u cos 
u y  u sin 

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Kinematics of a particles
1.4 Normal and Tangential Coordinates (n-t)

Other way to describe a motion of a particle along a curvilinear motion is using normal and
tangential coordinates. This method is usually used when the path of the motion is known. They
are measured along the tangent t and normal n to the path of the particle. Considering et and en are
unit vector in tangential and normal coordinate respectively.

et

en t
vA a
an
A at
at
a
an
ρ
n B vB
O en
et

Figure 2.7 n-t coordinates of motion

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Kinematics of a particles
From Figure 2.7, t is the direction of the tangent to the path and is taken as positive in the
direction of increasing s, n is the direction perpendicular to t and directed to towards the center of
the curvature. the velocity. The velocity is always in the direction tangent to the path s, thus,

v  vet (0.1)
where
ds
v  s
dt

Differentiating the velocity vector with respect to time gives acceleration

d d
a v   ve t 
dt dt (0.2)
a  ve t  v et

Since
s v
et   en  en  en
 

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Kinematics of a particles

Therefore
v2
a  en  v et


Note
The acceleration has two components in normal and tangential directions. an = v2/ρ is the normal
acceleration and it is the rate of change of the direction of the velocity vector. It acts towards the
center of the curvature. at  v is the tangential acceleration and it is the rate of change of the
speed of the particle along the path.

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Kinematics of a particles
One special case of plane curvilinear motion is circular motion.

t at
v

P
an

n
θ
r

Figure 2.8 Circular motion

In circular motion, the radius of curvature ρ becomes a constant radius of the circle r, therefore,
the velocity and the acceleration components for the circular motion of the particle P become

v  r
v2
an   r 2  v (0.1)
r
at  v  r

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Kinematics of a particles
Example Note
A car is cruising along a curved path with a speed of  The acceleration a is the total
-1 -2
80kmh as shown. If the total acceleration is 5ms , acceleration.
determine the radius of curvature at point O and the  Remember, the velocity is always in the
tangential component of the acceleration. direction tangent of the path.

t
The normal component of the acceleration
v
25o an  a sin 25  5 sins 25
O a
an  2.11ms -2

n
 The radius of curvature
v2
an 

80 / 3.6 2
Solution 2.11 

The tangential component of the acceleration   234.01m
 
at  a cos 25  5 cos 25
at  4.53ms -2

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Kinematics of a particles

A particle moves from rest along a curved path with Time taken to for 20m displacement
radius of 30m at a speed of 3t ms-1, where t is time in ds
v
seconds. Determine its speed and acceleration when it dt
20m t
has travelled by 20m 0
ds   3tdt
0

3t 2
20 
Solution 2
t  3.65s

The velocity at 20m

30m
v  3t
v  3  3.65   10.95ms -1
3t ms-1

20m

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Kinematics of a particles

Acceleration at 20m
at  v
at  3ms -2
v2 10.952
an  
r 30
an  4ms -2

Total acceleration

a an 2  at 2  32  42
a  5ms -2

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Kinematics of a particles
3.1 Pulley systems
Pulley systems refers to a motion of particles attached to each other using an inextensible cord as
shown in Figure 3.1.

SA SB

A B

Figure 3.1 Simple pulley system

Since the total length of the cord/cable remains constant,

s A  sB  l (0.1)

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Kinematics of a particles

where sA, sB and l are length of cable A, B and total length respectively. Differentiate equation
Error! Reference source not found. to obtain velocity
v A  vB  0
(0.1)
v A   vB

In similar manner the acceleration of the particle is

a A   aB (0.2)

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Kinematics of a particles

Example Note
Two blocks A and B are connected by pulley systems.  Determine the total length of cord.
Determine the A if the block B moves upward with a Ignore the length of the cord across the
speed of 6ms-1. pulley as this remains constant.
 Differentiate to obtain the velocity and
acceleration.

Solution
Total length of the cord
3s A  sB  l

Differentiate to obtain the velocity

B A
3v A  vB  0
3v A  6ms -1  0
v A  2ms -1

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Kinematics of a particles

3.2 Relative Motion

y A

Y
rA i rA/B

x
B j
rB
X

Figure 3.2

Consider two moving particles A and B on a separate curvilinear motions in a given plane.
Assume the motion of the particle A is observed from B, therefore, the position A is measured
from a set of translating axes x–y attached to particle B. The position vector of A as measured
from B is
rA/ B  xi  yj (0.1)

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Kinematics of a particles

where A/B denotes A relative to B. The absolute position of B is rB, measured from the origin of
the fixed axes X –Y. Therefore the absolute position of the particle A is determined by the vector

rA  rB  rA/ B
or (0.1)
rA/ B  rA  rB

Thus the velocity and the acceleration

r A  r B  r A / B v A  v B  v A/ B
(0.2)
rA  rB  rA / B a A  aB  a A/ B

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Kinematics of a particles

If A is chosen to be the reference point

rB  rA  rB / A
vB  v A  vB / A (0.1)
aB  a A  aB / A

Therefore
rB / A  rA / B v B / A  v A/ B a B / A  a A / B (0.2)

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Kinematics of a particles
Example Note
Passenger in the jet transport A flying east at speed of  800kmh-1 is absolute velocity of plane
-1
800 kmh observe a second jet plane B that passes under A.
the transport horizontal flight. Although the nose of B is  The absolute velocity of the plane B is
pointed in the 45o northeast direction, plane B appears to pointing in 45o northeast direction.
the passenger A to be moving away from the transport at  Plane B appears to the passenger A, this
the 60o angle as shown. Determine the true velocity of B. statement means that the motion of B
with relative to A or B/A.
B  The relative velocity and the absolute

60 o velocity of B can be found using

trigonometry method.
-1
45o 800kmh
v A  800i
A
  
v B  v B cos 45o i  vB sin 45o j 
   
v B / A   vB / A cos 60 o i  vB / A sin 60o j
Solution
The reference axes are situated on A
From v B  v A  v B / A
v B  v A  vB/ A
v B   
cos 45o i  vB sin 45o j 

Draw the triangle

  
800i  vB / A cos 60o i  vB / A sin 60o j 

Separate i and j term

vB vB/A
vB cos 45o  800  vB / A cos 60o
o o
45 60 vB sin 45o  vB / A sin 60o
vA
Solving simultaneously yields
By using the sine rule vB / A  586kmh 1
vB vA vB  717kmh 1
o
 o
sin 60 sin 75
vB  717kmh 1

The absolute velocity of B can also be found using vector

algebra method

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QUICK REVIEW QUESTIONS

• What is difference between distance and

displacement
• What is difference between velocity and speed

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SUMMARY OF MAIN TEACHING
POINTS

• Position
• Distance
• Displacement
• Velocity
• Speed
• Constant acceleration
• Variable acceleration
• Circular motion
• Relative motion
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QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION

Q&A

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WHAT WE WILL COVER NEXT

• Kinetics

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