PHYSICS 1L03 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Dependent And Independent Variables, Cartesian Coordinate System, Micrograph
21 Mar 2018
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Most basic motion is constant motion along a straight path. In order to describe a direction you need a reference point (origin) Coordinate system: needs origin/scale/positive direction, positions measured relative to origin, scale indicates units numbers are associated with, positive direction allows student to move towards origin rather than away. Numerical value of x-position tells you how far object is from origin. Means position on x-axis has both magnitude and a direction. Velocity is a vector that describes how much motion an object has in a particular direction: more commonly known as speed (positive scalar that describes how much motion an object has, without any associated direction) Average velocity depends on displacement whereas average speed depends on the distance travelled. Average velocity: vavg = x/t = (x2-x1)/(t2-t1) Instantaneous velocity: velocity at a particular instant in time, magnitude of it is an object"s instantaneous speed, this is why speed is a positive scalar, v = lim x/t.
