Related Concept Videos

Average and Instantaneous Velocity Vectors01:12

Average and Instantaneous Velocity Vectors

To calculate other physical quantities in kinematics, the time variable must be introduced. The time variable not only allows us to state where an object is (its position) during its motion, but also how fast it’s moving. The speed at which an object is moving is given by the rate at which the position changes with time. For each position, a particular time is assigned. If the details of the motion at each instant are not important, the rate is usually expressed as the average velocity v. This...
Velocity and Position by Graphical Method01:34

Velocity and Position by Graphical Method

Velocity and position can be calculated from the known function of acceleration as a function of time. The total area under the acceleration-time graph and the velocity-time graph gives the change in velocity and position, respectively. In the case of an airplane, its acceleration is tracked using the inertial navigation system. The pilot provides the input of the airplane's initial position and velocity before takeoff. The inertial navigation system then uses the acceleration data to calculate...
Instantaneous Velocity - II01:10

Instantaneous Velocity - II

Instantaneous velocity is the quantity that measures how fast an object is moving along its path. In other words, the instantaneous velocity of an object is the limit of the average velocity as the elapsed time approaches zero, or the derivative of displacement with respect to time. Like average velocity, the instantaneous velocity is a vector with the dimensions of length per unit time. Instantaneous velocity can have both positive and negative values. The instantaneous velocity can be...
Average Velocity01:12

Average Velocity

To calculate the other physical quantities in kinematics, we must introduce the time variable. The time variable allows us not only to state the position of the object during its motion, but also how fast it is moving. The speed at which an object is moving is given by the rate at which the position changes with time. For each position xi, we assign a particular time ti. If the details of the motion at each instant are not important, the rate is usually expressed as the average velocity. This...
Kinematic Equations - II01:17

Kinematic Equations - II

The second kinematic equation expresses the final position of an object in terms of its initial position, the distance traveled with the initial constant velocity, and the distance traveled due to a change in velocity. Similar to the first kinematic equation, this equation is also only valid when the acceleration is constant throughout the motion of an object.
Suppose a car merges into freeway traffic on a 200 m long ramp. If its initial velocity is 10 m/s and it accelerates at 2 m/s2, then the...
Rotation with Constant Angular Acceleration - I01:37

Rotation with Constant Angular Acceleration - I

If angular acceleration is constant, then we can simplify equations of rotational kinematics, similar to the equations of linear kinematics. This simplified set of equations can be used to describe many applications in physics and engineering where the angular acceleration of a system is constant.
Using our intuition, we can begin to see how rotational quantities such as angular displacement, angular velocity, angular acceleration, and time are related to one another. For example, if a flywheel...