Describing and
Measuring Motion
How do you describe motion?
An object is in
motion when it
changes position with
respect to a reference
point or frame of
reference.
Movement depends on your
point of view
Frame of reference
What is a reference point?
Frame of Reference
A place or object used for
comparison to determine if
something is in motion
An object is in motion if it
changes position relative to a
reference point
Distance vs- Displacement
I. Distance and Displacement
a) Distance is a scalar quantity which refers
to “the amount of ground an object has
covered" during its motion.
b) Displacement is a vector quantity which
refers to “the overall change in position of the
object from start to finish”. You can think of it as
the distance “the shortest distance that the crow
flies”.
Distance vs Displacement
Distance (d) – how far an object travels.
Does not depend on direction.
Imagine an ant crawling along a ruler.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
cm
What distance did the ant travel?
d = 3 cm
Distance
Distance does not depend on direction.
Here’s our intrepid ant explorer again.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
cm
Now what distance did the ant travel?
d = 3 cm
Does his direction change the answer?
Distance
Distance does not depend on direction.
Let’s follow the ant again.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
cm
What distance did the ant walk this time?
d = 7 cm
Displacement
Displacement (x) – difference between an object’s
final position and its starting position.
Does depend on direction.
Displacement = final position – initial position
x = xfinal – xinitial
Inorder to define displacement, we need directions.
Examples of directions:
+ and –
N, S, E, W
Angles
Displacement vs. Distance
Example of distance:
The ant walked 3 cm.
Example of displacement:
The ant walked 3 cm EAST.
Anobject’s distance traveled and its
displacement aren’t always the same!
Displacement
Let’s revisit our ant, and this time we’ll find
his displacement.
- +
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
cm
Distance:3 cm
Displacement: +3 cm
The positive gives the ant a direction!
Displacement
Find the ant’s displacement again.
Remember, displacement has direction!
- +
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
cm
Distance:3 cm
Displacement: -3 cm
Displacement
Find the distance and displacement of the
ant.
- +
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
cm
Distance:7 cm
Displacement: +3 cm
Distance vs. Displacement
Jeffrey, my
distance
was 176
meters!
BE
But Billy,
G
your
IN
displacemen
t was 1
meter!
D
EN
What is the car’s distance, what is
the car’s displacement?
Thecar covered a distance of 25 km
and a displacement of 10 km, East
Distance vs. Displacement
90 ft.
Distance = 90 ft. Displacement = 90 ft.
Distance vs. Displacement
90 ft.
90 ft.
Distance = 180 ft. Displacement =127 ft.
Distance vs. Displacement
90 ft. 90 ft.
90 ft.
Distance = 270 ft. Displacement = 90 ft.
Distance vs. Displacement
90 ft. 90 ft.
90 ft. 90 ft.
Distance = 360 ft. Displacement = 0 ft.
What is the distance the physics
student travelled? What is their
displacement?
Example- A physics student walks 4 meters East,
2 meters South, 4 meters West, and finally 2
meters North.
The student covered a distance of 12 m (4m +
2m + 4m +2 m) = 12 meters
and has a displacement of O m
Displacement vs. Distance
Anathlete runs around a track that is 100 meters
long three times, then stops.
What is the athlete’s distance and displacement?
Distance= 300 m
Displacement = 0 m
Why?
Speed
Speed is the distance an object
travels per unit of time.
To calculate speed:
Speed = Distance ÷ Time
Distance is in meters (m)
Time is in seconds (s)
Speed is in meters per second
Use the Formula Triangle!
d
s t
To calculate To calculate To calculate
speed: time: distance:
s=d/ t=d/ d=s x
Example 1
A snail takes 5.0 s to crawl across the ruler.
Speed
Speed
Speed
==Distance
0.07
= 2.0
m÷m/s
÷5.0
Time
s
Speed
A car drives 100 meters in 5 seconds.
1s
2
3
4
5
100 m
What is the car’s average speed?
s = d/t
s = (100 m) / (5 s) = 20 m/s
Example 2
A car drives 250 m in one minute.
Speed
Speed
Speed
==Distance
=
2504.17
m ÷m/s
÷60
Time
s
Speed
A rocket is traveling at 10 m/s. How long does it
take the rocket to travel 30 m?
Speed
A racecar is traveling at 85.0 m/s. How far
does the car travel in 30.0 s?
Velocity
Velocity (v) – speed with direction.
velocity = displacement / time
v = d / t
Has magnitude and direction!
Magnitude – a measure that has a value
Pulling It All Together
Back to our ant explorer!
1s
2
3
4
5 - +
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
cm
Distancetraveled: 7 cm
Displacement: +3 cm
Average speed: (7 cm) / (5 s) = 1.4 cm/s
Average velocity: (+3 cm) / (5 s) = +0.6 cm/s
