Linear motion is movement along a straight line.

TERMS USED IN LINEAR MOTION

1. DISTANCE~ This is the length of path covered by a body. The SI
unit is meter (m). Distance is a scalar quantity.
Consider a body moving from point A to E.
B 7m C
5m
4m
D
A E 6m

The distance covered by the body from A to E is:AB + BC + CD + DE = 22 m

2. DISPLACEMENT (S)~This is the distance covered by a body in

a specified direction. It is a vector quantity The SI unit is meter (m).
.
B 7m C
5m
4m
D
A E 6m
3m

Displacement is the shortest distance covered ie just A E= 3m.

If the body moves thro’ ABCDE and back to Athe displacement is zero.

3. SPEED~This is the distance covered per unit time.

𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞
𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝 = 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞
Speed is a scalar quantity. The SI unit is meter per second (m/s).
To convert km/h to m/s, multiply the given value by 𝟏𝟎⁄𝟑𝟔.
Convert the following in to m/s
(i) 72km/h
(ii) 180km/h
4. VELOCITY(V)~ This is the displacement covered per unit
time. Velocity is a vector quantity.
𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭
𝐕𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 =
𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞
𝐒
𝐕=
𝐭
The SI units are meter per second (m/s

FORM3 N O T E S: LI N E A R M O T I ON Pg 1
 5. ACCELERATION(a)~ This is the change in velocity per
unit time. It is a vector quantity.

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 − 𝐈𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲

𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 =
𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞
𝐕−𝐔
𝐚= Where V= Final velocity
𝐭
U= Initial velocity
The SI unit is meter per second squared (m/s2)
EXAMPLES:
(i) The velocity of a car increases from 72km/h to 180km/h in 6s. Calculate
its acceleration.
(ii) The velocity of a lorry increases from 40m/s to 160m/s in 15s. Calculate
its acceleration.
(iii) A bus starts from rest and reaches a velocity of 80m/s in 10s. Calculate its
acceleration.
NOTE : If a body is slowing down, it is said to have a
Negative acceleration/ deceleration/retardation. While de-
termining deceleration or retardation the negative sign is omitted in
the answer.
EXAMPLE:
(i) A car is brought to rest from a velocity of 40m/sin 10s. Determine its re-
tardation.
(ii) A train reduces its velocity from 180km/h to 54km/h in 5s. Determine its
deceleration.

MOTION GRAPHS
1. DISPLACEMENT-TIME (b) A body moving with uni-
GRAPHS form velocity.
The displacement changes uniformly
(a) A stationary body at equal intervals of time.
As time increases the displacement
Displacement (m)

remains the same.

Disp (m)

+ve
S

Times (s)
t
Since the displacement is a vector
quantity it can also be -ve depending Times (s)
with the observer. The velocity of the body is equal to
the gradient (slope) of the graph.
Disp (m)

𝚫𝐒
𝐕𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 =
Times (s) 𝚫𝐭
-ve

FORM3 N O T E S: LI N E A R M O T I ON Pg 2
 (c) A body accelerating.
The velocity increases with time. The
(b) A body accelerating
graph is a curve and the velocity of uniformly.
the body can only be gotten at a The velocity changes uniformly at
specific point (instantaneous) equal intervals of time.
Displacement (m)

Velocity (m/s)
S V

t t
Times (s)
Times (s)
A tangent is drawn at that point which
is equivalent to the velocity of the The gradient of this graph gives the
body at that instant point. acceleration of the body i.e.
𝚫𝐒 𝚫𝑽
𝐕𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 = 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 =
𝚫𝐭 𝚫𝒕
However if the body is decelerating The acceleration of this body is uni-
the curve bends downwards. form.
(c) A body moving with in-
Displacement

creasing acceleration.
S
(m)

t
Velocity(m/s)

V
Times
(s)
t
2. VELOCITY-TIME Times (s)
GRAPHS
The acceleration is gotten instantane-
(a) A body moving with ously at a point thru a tangent. The
uniform velocity. acceleration is non-uniform.
The Velocity remains the same as (d) Decreasing accelera-
time increases.The velocity of this tion.
body is zero
Velocity (m/s)

Velocity(m/s)

Times (s)
Times (s)

FORM3 N O T E S: LI N E A R M O T I ON Pg 3
EXAMPLE:
1. The data below shows how velocity of a lorry varies with time.
Velocity (ms-1) 0 1.6 4.0 4.8 6.4 7.5 9.6
Time (S) 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

(a) Plot a graph of velocity against time

(b) From the graph determine the acceleration of the lorry.

Area under a velocity-time graph

For a velocity time graph the area un-

b
der the curve is equivalent to the dis-

velocity (m/s)
placement/distance covered by the
body.eg
velocity (m/s)

a Times (s)

Displacement = area under curve

Times (s)
𝟏
Displacement = area under curve =𝟐 h (a+b)
𝟏
= bxh
𝟐

EXAMPLES:
1. Figure shows a graph of velocity against time for a moving body.Determine
the total displacementcovered
12
9
Velocity

6
(m/s)

3
0 30 60 90 120 150 Time (s)

2. A car starts from rest and attains a velocity of 25m/s in 6s. This velocity is
maintained for the next 8s before the car is brought to rest with uniform de-
celeration in 4s. Sketch a velocity time graphand determine
(i) The displacement covered.
(ii) The average velocity for the whole journey.
3. A lorry starts from rest and accelerates uniformly for 5s to reach 30ms-1.
It then continues at this speed for the next 20s and then decelerates uni-
formly to come to stop in 6s. Sketch the graph of velocity against time for
the motion of the lorry and determine the distance covered.
4. A car initially moving at 12m/s accelerates uniformly at 3m/s2 for 6s. It
then travels at constant velocity for the next 9s. The car is then brought to
rest in another 4s. Sketch a velocity-time graph for this motion and calcu-
late the total displacementcovered.

FORM3 N O T E S: LI N E A R M O T I ON Pg 4
5. A car starts from rest and accelerates uniformly at 2m/s2 for 5 seconds. It
then travels at constant velocity for the next 3 seconds before accelerating
again at 2.5m/s2 for 2 more seconds. The car is then brought to rest in
another 4s. Sketch a velocity-time graph for this motion and calculate the
total displacement travelled.
6. A car decelerates uniformly from 20m/s to rest in 2 seconds then reverses
with uniform acceleration back to its original starting point in 2 seconds.
Sketch a velocity – time graph for the whole motion and
(i) The distance covered.
(ii) The displacement covered.
7. The figure below shows a velocity – time graph for a motor-cycle
150
Velocity (m/s)

A 6 8
2 4 10
Time (s)
-100
F
Determine
(i) The total distance covered.
(ii) The displacement of the motorcycle.

DETERMINATION OF ACCELERATION USING A

TICKER TAPE-TIMER
A ticker timer is an electrical device that vibrates at the AC mains frequency of
50Hz. As it vibrates it makes dots on a moving tape i.e. it makes 50 dots in one
second. The time interval between any two consecutive dots is 𝟏⁄𝟓𝟎= 0.02s. This
time interval is called a tick. The distance between the dots depends with the
change in velocity.ie

Uniform velocity ~Dots are equally spaced

Acceleration ~Dots gets further

Deceleration ~Dots getscloser

To determine the acceleration of a trolley, first calculate the initial velocity (U)
and the final velocity (V)e.g.
The tape in the figure below was obtained from an experiment using a timer of
frequency 50Hz

2cm 8cm

Calculate the acceleration of the body whose motion is represented in the tap

FORM3 N O T E S: LI N E A R M O T I ON Pg 5
The time btn any two consecutive t = 0.02 x (6 - 1)

dots = 𝟏⁄𝟓𝟎= 0.02seconds t = 0.02 x 5= 0.1

𝟐 𝑽−𝑼
U= = 100cm/s=1m/s 𝒂=
𝟎.𝟎𝟐 𝒕

V=
𝟖
= 400cm/s =4m/s 𝟒−𝟏
𝟎.𝟎𝟐 𝒂=
𝟎. 𝟏
The total time between all the dots is
t = 0.02 x (no of spaces – one space) a = 30m/s2

EXAMPLES:
1. The figure below shows a section of a ticker tape. The dots were made at a
frequency of 50Hz. Determine the acceleration.

4cm 28cm

2. Figure below shows a tape made from a ticker tape timer running at 50Hz.
Find Acceleration of the body.

10cm 40cm

3. The dots below were made by a tick- timer of 100Hz. Determine the accel-
eration of the body.

45cm
25cm

4. The tape below was obtained from an experiment using a ticker timer of
frequency 50Hz. Calculate the acceleration of the body

30cm 10cm

5. Figure below shows a piece of tape pulled through a ticker–timer of fre-

quency 100Hz by a trolley. Determine the deceleration of the trolley.

20cm 5cm

FORM3 N O T E S: LI N E A R M O T I ON Pg 6
A TEN-TICK TIMER
While using the ticker-timer the distance between two dots is usually very small to
be measured; hence a distance of ten-tick interval is measured.
For a 50Hz timer the time taken to cover 10 ticks is 0.02 x10 = 0.2seconds.
A ten-tick timer makes a dot after every ten ticks.
EXAMPLES:
1. The figure below shows a section of a tape from a ten-tick timer of fre-
quency 50Hz.Determine the acceleration of the trolley pulling the tape.

6cm 42cm

2. Figure below shows a tape made from a ten-tick timerrunning at

50Hz.Find the acceleration of the body

12cm 48cm

3. The dots below were made by a ten-tick timerof 100Hz. Determine the
acceleration of the body

20cm 50cm

4. The tape below was obtained from an experiment using a ten-tick timerof
frequency50Hz. Calculate the acceleration of the body

70cm 10cm

5. Figure below shows a piece of tape pulled through a ten-tick timer of fre-
quency 100Hz by a trolley. Determine the deceleration of the trolley.

40cm 5cm

6. The figure below shows the motion of a ticker tape through a ten-tick tim-
er whose frequency is 100Hz

A 12cm B P 32cm Q

Determine
i) Velocity at AB and PQ.
ii) Constant acceleration of the tape.

FORM3 N O T E S: LI N E A R M O T I ON Pg 7
 EQUATIONS OF LINEAR MOTION
Consider a body moving with uniform acceleration ‘a’, and the velocity increases from initial
velocity ‘U’ to final velocity ‘V’ in time ‘t’
Then
Also; from
𝑽−𝑼
𝒂=
𝒕 (𝐔 + 𝐕)
𝒂𝒕 = 𝑽 − 𝑼 𝐒= 𝐱𝐭
𝟐
Since
𝑽 = 𝑼 + 𝒂𝒕 … … 𝑬𝒒𝒏𝟏 𝐕−𝐔
𝐚=
𝐭
Since displacement Then
S = Average velocity x time.
𝐕−𝐔
𝐭=
(𝐔 + 𝐕) 𝐚
𝐒= 𝐱𝐭
𝟐
Substituting for t in (i)
But V = U + at
Hence substituting for V (𝐔 + 𝐕) (𝐕 − 𝐔)
𝐒=
(𝐔 + 𝐔 + 𝐚𝐭)
𝟐 𝐚
𝐒= 𝐱 𝐭
𝟐 𝟐𝐚𝐒 = (𝐕 𝟐 − 𝐔𝐕 + 𝐔𝐕 + 𝐔 𝟐 )
(𝟐𝐔 + 𝐚𝐭)
𝐒= 𝐱 𝐭 𝟐𝐚𝐬 = 𝐕 𝟐 − 𝐔 𝟐
𝟐

𝟏 𝟐
𝐒 = 𝑼𝒕 + 𝐚𝒕 … … 𝑬𝒒𝒏𝟐 𝑽𝟐 = 𝑼𝟐 + 𝟐𝒂𝒔 … … 𝑬𝒒𝒏𝟑
𝟐

EXAMPLES:
1. A car is uniformly accelerated from rest to a final velocity of 150m/s in
10s. Calculate its;
(i) Displacement.
(ii) Acceleration
2. A lorry moving with a uniform acceleration of 10m/s2 covers a distance of
320m. If the initial velocity was 60m/s, calculate
(i) Final velocity
(ii) The time taken
3. A particle starts from rest and accelerates uniformly in a straight line. After
3s it is 9m from the starting point. Determine the;
(i) Acceleration.
(ii) Final velocity

FORM3 N O T E S: LI N E A R M O T I ON Pg 8
4. A body initially moving at 50m/s decelerates uniformly at 2m/s2 until it
come to rest. calculate
(i) Distance travelled
(ii) The time taken
5. A vehicle moving with an initial velocity of 20m/s is accelerated uniformly
at 5m/s2 to a final velocity of 100m/s. find the
(i) Time taken
(ii) Distance travelled
6. A lorry is brought to rest from a velocity of 30m/s at a uniform decelera-
tion of 3m/s2. Calculate
(i) The time taken
(ii) The distance covered

MOTION UNDER GRAVITY

Free fall
All bodies on or near the surface of the earth experience gravitational force of
attraction towards the centre of the earth. This force makes bodies to accelerate
towards the centre of the earth at an acceleration of approximately
g = 9.81m/s2.
However for computational purposes g is taken as 10m/s2.
This means that in the absence of air resistance all bodies independent of their
mass experience the same acceleration of 10m/s2 when released from the same
height and would reach the ground at the same time.
For a free fall all the equations of motion apply as before but ‘a’ is substituted
with ‘g’ i.e.
𝑽 = 𝑼 + 𝒈𝒕

𝟏 𝟐
𝐒 = 𝑼𝒕 + 𝐠𝒕
𝟐

𝐕 𝟐 = 𝐔 𝟐 + 𝟐𝐠𝐬
Note; since it is a free fall the initial velocity U = 0
EXAMPLES:
1. An object dropped from a tall building, attains a velocity of 6ms-1 just be-
fore hitting the ground. Calculate the height of the building.
2. A small iron ball is dropped from the top of a vertical cliff and takes 2.5s to
reach the sandy beach. Find the velocity with which it strikes the sand.
3. A stone is released from at the top of a cliff 180m high. Calculate
(i) The time it takes to hit the water
(ii) The velocity with which it hits the water.
4. A stone is released vertically downwards from a tall building. Calculate the
distance covered after 4s

FORM3 N O T E S: LI N E A R M O T I ON Pg 9
VERTICAL PROJECTION
A body undergoing vertical projection experiences negative acceleration (decelera-
tion) because it is going against gravitational pull. The body reaches a point
above, comes to rest momentarily and then starts to fall down again.
When a body is rising the acceleration due to gravity g is -VE and when falling g is
+VE.
For a body projected upwards the equations of motion become;
𝑽 = 𝑼 − 𝒈𝒕 TIME OF FLIGHT
This is the total time taken for body
𝟏 projected vertically upwards to rise to
𝐒 = 𝑼𝒕 − 𝐠𝒕𝟐
𝟐 maximum height and fall back to the
point of projection.
𝑽𝟐 = 𝑼𝟐 − 𝟐𝒈𝒔
𝟐𝑼
For a vertical projection V = 0 as it 𝑻=
comes to rest momentarily. Hence the
𝒈
time taken to reach max height is MAXIMUM HEIGHT REACHED
𝑽 = 𝑼 − 𝒈𝒕 Since V = 0
Then
𝒐 = 𝑼 − 𝒈𝒕

𝐭=
𝐔 U2
𝐠 𝑯𝑚𝑎𝑥 =
𝟐𝒈

Note: When a body is projected upwards with a velocity U, it will hit back at the
same point with the same velocity i.e.V = U
EXAMPLES:
1. A stone is projected vertically upwards with a velocity of 40m/s from the
ground calculate;
(i) The time taken to reach max height
(ii) The time of flight
(iii) The maximum height reached
(iv) The velocity with which it strikes the ground
2. A stone was thrown vertically upwards with a velocity of 60m/s. Calculate;
(i) The time taken to reach max height
(ii) The time of flight
(iii) The max height reached
3. A ball is projected vertically upwards with a velocity of 200m/s. Calculate:
(i) Its velocity after 5seconds
(ii) Its height after 8 seconds.
(iii) The maximum height reached
4. A ball is thrown vertically upwards and returns to its starting point after 6
seconds. Calculate the maximum height reached.

FORM3 N O T E S: LI N E A R M O T I ON Pg 10
 HORIZONTAL PROJECTION
If a body is projected horizontally with an initial velocity U the horizontal velocity
remains unchanged throughout the flight until the body hits the ground ie U=V.
O
Trajectory

A R B
The path followed by the body is called the trajectory and Range(R) is the
longest horizontal distance covered by the body. The horizontal projection is never
affected by gravity hence the acceleration due to gravity g = 0.
NOTE;
- If the body is released vertically by free fall from point O, the time taken to
reach the ground at A is same as the time taken by the body to reach the
ground at B thru horizontal projection.
- For a body moving horizontally, the horizontal acceleration of the body is
zero because the horizontal force acting on it is zero. However the body
comes a stop due to air resistance.
The time taken to cover height h is same as the time taken to cover the range R
For a horizontal projection S = Ut
𝟏 Hence
𝐒 = 𝑼𝒕 + 𝐚𝒕𝟐
𝟐
𝐑 = 𝐔𝐭
Since a = 0 Where 𝐔 is the initial velocity.

EXAMPLES:
1. A ball is thrown from the top of a cliff 45m high with an initial horizontal veloc-
ity of 30m/s. calculate;
(i) The time taken by the ball to hit the ground.
(ii) The range.
(iii) The vertical velocity with which it strikes the ground.
(iv) The final horizontal velocity.
2. An airplane flying horizontally at 100m/s releases a bomb from a height of
180m. Calculate the horizontal distance traveled before hitting the ground.
3. A ball is thrown horizontally from the top of a vertical tower and strikes the
ground at a point 50m from the bottom of the tower. Given that the height of
the tower is 80m, determine the;-
i) Time taken by the ball to hit the ground
ii) Initial horizontal velocity of the ball.
4. A stone is thrown horizontally from a building 125m high. The stone hits the
ground at a point 200m from the foot of the building. Calculate the initial ve-
locity
5. An airplane is flying horizontally over a camp at 250m/s and drops a pack.
How far from the camp will the pack land if the plane was flying 300m above
the ground?

FORM3 N O T E S: LI N E A R M O T I ON Pg 11
 EXP TO DETERMINE THE ACCELERATION DUE TO GRAVITY
You are provided with the following:
- A 70cm long thread
- Stop watch
- Metre rule
- Clamp, boss and retort stand
- Pendulum bob
- Small pieces of wood

Proceed as follows:
(a) Using the provided thread, tie the Pendulum bob to be used as a pendulum
Clamp the thread so that the length of the pendulum to the centre of the
marble is 50cm as in figure 3.

Thread L=50cm

Pendulum

bob

Displace the Pendulum bob slightly horizontally. Time and record the time, t, for
20 oscillations

t = ………………..S
(ii) Repeat three times and find the average

t1=…………… t2=…………. t3=……………

Average t = …..………s

(iii) Find the periodic time of the marble

T= ………..……s

T2= …………….s2
𝐋
(b) If the oscillation of the marble is given by the formula 𝐓 𝟐 = 𝟒𝝅𝟐
𝐠
Use the values in (a) above to determine the value of g

FORM3 N O T E S: LI N E A R M O T I ON Pg 12