UNIT MOTION

Unit outcomes: After completing this unit you should be able to:
 understand concepts related to motion.
 develop skill of manipulating numerical problems related to
motion.
 appreciate the interrelatedness of all things.
 use a wide range of possibility for developing knowledge of the
major concepts with in physics.

Introduction
In this unit, you will be introduced to the
basic concepts and relationships in motion.
Motion is one of the key topics in physics.
Everything in the universe moves. We use
some basic concepts when we express
motion. These concepts are distance,
displacement, speed, velocity and
acceleration. Based on the path of a
motion, there are different types of
Galileo Galilee(1564-1642.)
motions. Motion in a straight line is one of
the forms of motion. It is the simplest
form of motion in a specific direction.

Challenging Questions
What are the contributions of Galileo Galilee to science and physics?
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 Grade 7 Physics 2 Motion

2.1 Definition of Motion

Activity 2.1
Discuss the following questions with your friends
i. What is motion?
ii. When would you say an object is at rest?
iii. Assume you are in a car and the car is moving at a certain speed. Are
you at rest or in motion?
iv. What do you understand by the term" reference frame"?

Consider your daily travel from your home to your school. When you go to the
school, your journey begins from your home. Your home is your original
position. After sometimes you will reach your school. Your school is your final
position. In this process, you are continuously changing your position. You are
increasing the gap between your present position and your home. This
continuous change of position is known as a motion. Notice that your change of
position is, observed by considering the distance from your school to home.
Your home is taken as a reference frame.

Motion is a continuous change in position of an object relative to the

position of a fixed object called reference frame.

A body is said to be at rest in a frame of

The concepts of rest
and motion are reference when its position in that reference
completely relative; a frame does not change with time. If the
body at rest in one
reference frame may be
position of a body changes with time in a
in motion in another frame of reference the body is said to be in
reference frame. motion in that frame of reference

Types of Motion
Activity 2.2
i. Observe the motions indicated in Fig 2.1.
ii. Have you noticed any difference between the motions in Fig 2.1 (a-d)?
Describe them.
iii. Group these motions, based on their path.

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Grade 7 Physics 2 Motion

a) A car moving on a straight line

b) Roundabout

c) Simple Pendulum d) Spring-mass system

Fig. 2.1 Types of motion

In Fig 2.1 (a) you observe that a car is moving on a straight road. Its path is a
straight line.

Fig 2.1 (b) shows that the path of the moving car is a curved line.
While Fig 2.1 (c and d) show the 'to and fro' motions of an object.
Based on the path followed, a motion is classified into four types. The followings
are types of motion of a body.

1. Rectilinear motion is the motion of a body along a straight line.

Examples
• Motion of a car along a straight level road,
• A falling ball from a certain height.

2. Curvilinear Motion is the motion of a body along a curved path.

Examples
• Motion of a car around a circular path,
• The motion of a ball thrown horizontally from a certain height,
• The motion of the moon around the earth.

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 Grade 7 Physics 2 Motion
Note: Circular motion is a special case of curvilinear motion, in which the body
moves along a circular path.
3. Rotary motion is the motion of a body about an axis.
Examples
• The motion of the second or minute hand of a wrist watch,
• The motion of a wheel of a car.
4. Vibratory motion is a 'to and fro' or back and forth or up and down motion
of a body. This motion does not have constant velocity.

Examples
• The motion of a pendulum,
• The motion of objects suspended on a spring,
• Water wave, etc.

Note: Both rotary and vibrational motions are periodic motions. Periodic
motions can have constant or non-constant velocities and they repeat
themselves.
Activity 2.3
Write down some examples of motion for each type from your daily
experiences. Discuss them with your classmates, how they are different.
Types of motion Practical Examples
1. Rectilinear • .
2. Curvilinear • .
3. Circular motion • .
4. Vibrational motion • .
5. Rotary motion • .

 Check point 2.1
 1. State at least four types of motion, and give practical examples
 for each type.
2. Define what a motion is.


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Grade 7 Physics 2 Motion
2.2 Motion Along a Straight Line

Motion along straight line path is known as a rectilinear motion.

Activity 2.4
• Discuss about the common features of motion along a straight line.

In a rectilinear motion, a body moves over a

certain distance along a straight line and
takes a certain time.

Athletes run different distances. They run

5,000 m, 10,000 m and so on. To cover these
distances they take different times. Which
distance is covered in the shortest possible
Fig.2.2 In competition different
athletes cover the same time? What do you call the distance covered
distance in different time in a unit of time?

Activity 2.5

• What do you understand by the terms ' Scalars' and ' Vectors' in relation
to motion?(Revision)

Distance: As a car moves along a straight road we can easily observe the
change of its position. What is the distance traveled by the car between the
initial and the final position?

Distance is a physical quantity which describes the length between two

points (places). It is the total path length traveled by a body.
It depends on the path followed.

To describe a distance it is not important to mention its direction. A distance

is a scalar quantity.
Observe Fig.2.3, Two persons moved from point A to point B, in different
paths: path 1 and 2. What would you say about the distance covered by the two
persons?
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 Grade 7 Physics 2 Motion

Path 2

A Path 1 B
Fig.2.3. Variation of distance with the path followed

Do you remember the units of length from the previous unit? What is the SI unit
of length? Do you think the units of length and distance are the same?

The symbol for distance is ''s''. The SI unit of distance is meter (m). Mostly, the
distance covered by a moving car or airplane or train is measured by kilometer
(km).

Fig.2.4 Football field

Challenging Questions

What is the distance around a standard football field?

Displacement ( )

Azeb walked 300 m from A to B and returned back and walked 200 m and then
stopped at C. What is her change in position from A to C?

300m
200m
•
A C B
Fig.2.5 Finding change of position

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Grade 7 Physics 2 Motion
When an object moves, it changes its position. This change of position in a
certain direction is known as a displacement. A displacement is described by its
magnitude and direction. It is a vector quantity.
As shown in Fig. 2.6. a body may move from A to B in different paths such as
path 1, path 2 and path 3. The distance of the three paths is different. However,
the displacement made is the same.

Path 1
Path 2 B
A

Path 3

Fig.2.6 Displacement is independent of the path

Activity 2.6 Discuss with your friends

Which path is the shortest? Which one of the paths has a fixed
direction throughout its motion?(Fig 2.6)

As you know all the lengths of the paths are 'distances'. Path 2 is a straight line
and it is the shortest distance between the initial and final positions of the body.
Hence, it is the displacement of the body.

This straight path having a fixed direction is said to be a displacement.

Hence a displacement is the shortest distance in a specified direction.
The SI unit of displacement is the same as the SI unit of distance that is
meter (m). The symbol of displacement is , with an arrow on the head of s.
Displacement is independent of the path followed.

In Fig 2.7, you observe that displacement is the difference between the final
position x f and the initial position x i .
a) A displacement to the right of the origin, 'O' will be a positive
displacement. That is,
s > 0 since x i < x f .
For example, starting with x i = 60 m and ending at x f = 150m, the
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 Grade 7 Physics 2 Motion
displacement is
S = x f - x i = 150 m - 60 m = 90 m, to the right.
b) A displacement to the left of the origin, 0 will be a negative displacement.
That is,
s < 0 since x i > x f .
For example, starting with x i = 150 m and ending at x f = 60m, the
displacement is
s = x f - x i = 60 m - 150 m = - 90 m (to the left direction)

c) Positions to the right of the origin are positive.

Positions to the left of the origin are negative.

a)

b)

c)

Fig.2.7 Displacement of a car at different time along x -axis

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Comparison of distance and displacement

Activity 2.7
• List down the similarities and differencec between a distance and
displacement for rectilinear motion.

Similarities Differences
Distance and Displacement

Speed (v)
Activity 2.8
Tirunsh Dibaba ran Bejing Olympic and covered 10,000 m distance in 28
minutes. Sileshi ran the same distance and it took him 24 minutes. What
were thier average speeds? Who is the fastest?

Both athlets covered the same distance in different time. From the given
informaton you can compute the distance they covered in one second. i.e.
Tirunesh covered an average distance of 5.95 m in one second. While Sileshi
covered 6.94 m in one second. Thus, the distance covered per unit time is called
speed.

Speed is a quantity that describes how fast a body moves. Its symbol is ‘’v’’
The SI unit of speed is meter per second (m/s).

In reality, a moving body does not have a uniform speed throughout its motion.
Sometimes the body will speed up, sometimes it will go at a constant speed and
at other times it may slowdown. For this reason the speed you calculate is an
average speed.

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An average speed is the total distance traveled divided by the total time
taken.
total distance traveled
Average speed = ⇒ vav =
total time taken
The SI unit of average speed is m/s.

Rearranging the formula gives

s
s = νt and t =
ν
Using the triangular symbol you can perform the above s
rearrangement of the formula
v×t
-1
The unit of speed m/s can also be written as m s .
Using the exponential expression, we write:
m 1
= m ⋅ +1 = m ⋅ s −1
s s

Activity 2.9
i. State some units of speed other than m/s.
ii. Express 1 km/hr in m/s.
iii. What is the conversion factor between m/s and km/hr?

Example 2.1

1. Tirunesh Dibaba covers a distance of 5000m in 14.5 minutes. Calculate the

average speed of Tirunesh in m/s.

Given Required Solution

s = 5000 m v av = ? S tot 5000m

v av = = = 5.75m/s
t tot 870s
t = 14.5 min = 870s

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2. A bus is moving in a straight line at a speed of 25m/s. What time does the
bus take to cover 5km?

Given Required Solution

v = 25m/s t=? v = s/t ⇒ t = s/v
s = 5km = 5000m 5000m
=
25m / s
= 200sec
3. Convert 20 m/s to km/hr.
Solution
1 m/s = 3.6 km/hr
20 m/s × 3.6 km/hr
20 m/s = x ⇒x= = 72 km/hr
1 m/s

4. Convert 60 km/hr to m/s.

Solution
1
km/h = m/s
3.6
60 km/hr = x
1
60 km/hr × m/s
x= 3.6 = 16.67 m/s
1 km/hr

Exercises

Suppose four students. Almaz, Abebe, Sofia and Gemechu are running a
100m race. Alamz takes 12s, Gemuchu takes 13s, Sofia takes 14s and Abebe
takes 15s to finish the race.

Calculate their speeds and record them on the chart given below. From the
chart find:
a) Who is the fastest runner?
b) Who is the slowest runner?
c) What can you conclude about the relationship between speed and time?

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 Grade 7 Physics 2 Motion
Distance (m) Time (s) Speed (ms-1)
Almaz
Abebe
Sofia
Gemechu

Do you notice from the above chart that the speed increases as the time decreases
to cover the same distance?
Velocity
Velocity is a physical quantity that describes how fast a body moves as well as
the direction in which it moves. Hence, velocity is a vector quantity. Its symbol

is v (v with an arrow on the head)


Velocity is the rate of change of displacement s i.e. it is the
displacement covered by the body per unit time.
displacement
Velocity =
time taken

 s
v=
t
 m
The SI unit of v is
s


Average velocity (v av ) is the total displacement divided by the total time taken.
Total displacement
Average velocity =
 Total time taken
sT
v av =
tT

Example 2.2

1. A car moves at a speed of 20m/s for 120 seconds due East. What is the
displacement of the car?

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 Grade 7 Physics 2 Motion

Given Required Solution

V = 20m/s due East S=? s
v= ⇒ s = vt
t = 120s t

S = 20m/s, East × 120 s

= 2400 m due East
= 2.4 km, due East
2. A bus is moving due north for 2 hr and covered a distance of 72 km.
What is the velocity of the bus?
Given Required Solution
s = 72 km, due North v =? s 72km
v= = due North
t = 2 hrs t 2hr
= 36 km/hr due North

Activity 2.10

• List down the similarities and differences between speed and velocity for
a rectilinear motion.
Similarities Differences
Speed and Velocity

Check point 2.2

1. What do you call a speed that has direction?
 2. What are the main features of a velocity in a uniform motion?
3. A car moves at a speed of 20m/s east ward. What is the car’s velocity in
magnitude and direction?
4. A bus travels 43 km in the first hour, 40km in the second hour and 46 km in
the third hour of its journey. Calculate its average speed.
5. The speed of an airplane is 360 km/hr, and another air plane has a speed of
120 m/s. which one of these two air planes has a greater speed?

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 Grade 7 Physics 2 Motion

2.3 Qualitative Exploration of Uniform Motion and Uniformly

Accelerated Motion
2.3.1 Uniform Motion
Activity 2.11
The motions of two bodies are measured and recorded in tables ‘A’ and 'B'.
A) s(m) 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48
t(s) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
v(m/s)

B) s(m) 4 9 15 22 30 39 49 60
t(s) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
v(m/s)

i. Calculate the speed of the two bodies and complete the tables.
ii. What is the difference between the speeds in A and B?
iii. What do you call the type of speed in A and in B

From table A you observe that when a body makes equal changes of
displacement within equal interval of time, its velocity is said to be a uniform
velocity. i.e. its speed is constant and the direction is fixed. A motion with a
s
uniform velocity is called a uniform motion. For uniform motion v = and
t
s = v ×t
Uniform motion is the motion of an object along a straight line with a
constant velocity or speed in a given direction.

Activity 2.12
Suppose an object is moving at a constant speed of 2m/s in straight line. At
the end of the first second, it travelled 2m away from its starting point. At
the end of 2 second the distance travelled is 4m. Complete the table by
filling the distance travelled in 3, 4 and 5 seconds.
t(s) 1 2 3 4 5
s(m) 2 4 --- ---- ---

Note that for a uniform motion, as the time increases the displacement also
increases. If you plot a graph of s against t using data from the above table you
will get the graph shown in Fig 2.8
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 Grade 7 Physics 2 Motion

s (meter)

8
6
4

2
time
(second)
1 2 3 4 5
Fig.2.8 Graph of s against t for motion with constant velocity

From the graph in Fig.2.8, you can find the slope of the graph.
change in displacement
The slope of the graph = '
change in time

Δs s f −s i s
= =
Δt t f − t i t
s
But by definition: v av =
t
Hence, the slope of s against t graph of uniform motion equals average velocity.

2.3.2 Uniformly Accelerated Motion

In section 2.3.1 you learnt about uniform motion. That is, where the speed is
constant and the direction is fixed in a straight line. In this section you will study
another kind of motion; in which the velocity changes uniformly.

Activity 2.13
i. Explain what it means by the change of velocity.
ii. Describe the factors which could be affected when the velocity changes.
iii. What is acceleration? How is it different from velocity?

Acceleration
Whenever the velocity of an object changes in magnitude, or direction or both
simultaneously, it is said to be accelerated.
Acceleration is a measure of how much the velocity of an object changes in a
unit of time (usually in one second).

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 Grade 7 Physics 2 Motion

Acceleration is the time rate of change of velocity.

Acceleration = change in velocity
time taken
 
 vf − vt
a=
t

The symbol for acceleration is a . It is a vector quantity

vi is the initial velocity
vf is the final velocity
t is the time taken
The SI unit of acceleration is meter/second/second = m/s2
If a body starts from rest, then the initial velocity is zero ( v i = 0). If the velocity
of a body decreases then the final velocity is less than the initial velocity. Such
motion is called decelerating. Deceleration is called a negative acceleration.
(that is v f < v i ).
If the body comes to rest then, the final velocity is zero ( v f = 0 ).

Uniformly accelerated motion is motion of an object along a straight line

with a constant increase in its velocity.

Examples 2.3

1. The speed of a car increases uniformly from 8m/s to 48 m/s in 10s . Calculate
the acceleration of the car.

Given Required Solution

a =? v f −v i
a=
vi = 8m/s t
vf = 48m/s = (48 − 8) m/s
10 s
t = 10s 40 m/s
= 10 s
a = 4 m/s2

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Grade 7 Physics 2 Motion
2. A car started from rest and accelerated uniformly and reached a speed of
20m/s after 5 s. What is the acceleration of the car?
Given Required Solution
vi = 0m/s a =? v f −v i
a=
vf = 20m/s t
t = 5 sec (20 − 0) m/s
=
5s
20 m/s
=
5s
a = 4 m/s2

3. A bus initially at rest accelerated uniformly with an acceleration of 4 m/s2.

What is the speed of the bus at the end of 5?

Given Required Solution

v f −v i
a =
vi =0 vf =? t
2
a = 4 m/s vf – vi = a × t
t = 5 sec vf = a × t + vi
vf = 4m/s2 × 5s + 0
= 20m/s

Falling bodies
Activity 2.13

Discuss what happens to the motion of a stone.

i. When you throw a stone vertically upward in air.
ii. When you drop a stone from some height above the ground.

Gravity is the pulling force of the earth on a body. The first person who studied
about motion of a falling body was Galileo Galilee. He showed that all bodies
dropped from the same height fall to the earth with the same acceleration, which
is known as the gravitational acceleration ( g ). All objects falling freely in air
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 Grade 7 Physics 2 Motion
accelerates uniformly by 9.8 m/s every second.

Motion of a freely falling body is the natural example of a uniformly accelerated

rectilinear motion.

Free fall is the motion of a body under the action of the force of gravity.

2.3.3 Representation of Uniform Motion and Accelerated Motion

Qualitatively Using Table
Walk one pace every 2 seconds. This is represented
s against t
using dot plot.
Table
Dot plot for a constant velocity (Fig 2.8) t s
• • • • • . 2s 2 dot
2s 2s 2s 2s 4s 4 dot
1 dots 6s 6 dot
Velocity = = ½ dot/s
2s

distance distance
Motion of
(dot) m object’ ‘B’
6
60
50
4 40 Motion of
30 object ‘A’
20
2
10
time Time
0 2 4 6 (second) 0 1 2 3 (S)
Fig. 2.9 Average velocity = slope of Fig. 2.10 Graphs of two bodies A and B
the s against t graph travelling at different speeds.

From Fig 2.10 we calculate that:

10 20 30
v av (A) = dot/s = dot/s = dot/s = 10 dots/s
1 2s 3
20 40 60
v av (B) = dot/s = dot/s = dot/s = 20 dots/s
1 2 3

The slope with 20 dots/s has higher velocity than slope with 10 dot/s.
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Grade 7 Physics 2 Motion
This means a steep slope has higher velocity than a gradual slope.
Note that when you draw graphs of motions, you must
1. Label the axes
2. Put units clearly on both axes
3. Label each slope
4. Put their names on the graph
Calculate the slope of the graph from initial and final as well as for several
intervals. (see Fig 2.9 and 2.10)
distance
(Dot)
distance
5 (dot)
4
3
2
1
time (s) t (second )
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
b) Back ward motion
a) Forward motion
Fig 2.11 Graph of dot against t for constant velocity

Dot plot for a constant velocity (Fig 2.11 (a))

Jemila walked for 3 seconds. She then stopped for 3 seconds and started to
move. ( see Fig 2.11a)
• • • • • • • • • •
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
3 second rest
Average velocity = slope of the s against t graph
3−0  dots 
v av =  
3−0  s 
3  dot 
=  
3  s 
= 1dot/s
Graphical representation of uniformly accelerated motion
Dot plot for a uniformly accelerated motion
• • • • •
0s 2s 4s 6s 8s
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 Grade 7 Physics 2 Motion
The above dot spaces represent distances for accelerated motion every 2 seconds.
Let us see the following examples that describe a uniformly accelerated motion.
The tables are based on the motions of a bus and a car accelerating along a
straight line.

Table 1. Motion of a bus

(m/s) 0 10 20 30 40 50
t (s) 0 5 10 15 20 25
(m/s2)
Table 2. Motion of a car
(m/s) 0 20 40 60 80 100
t(s) 0 5 10 15 20 25
(m/s2)

Challenging questions
1. What are the accelerations of the bus and the car?
2. What difference do you observe from the above tables?
Motions of a bus and a car are given in Tables 1 and 2. Draw the v against t
graphs for both objects.
Slope of the v against t graph is the acceleration of the moving object.
Accelerations = slope = Change in velocity
Change in time
Acceleration of the Bus = 20 - 0m/s = 2m/s/s = 2m/s2
10 - 0 (s)
Acceleration of the Car = 40 - 0m/s = 4m/s/s = 4m/s2
10 - 0(s)
v (m/s) Motion of car

 
The slopes of s against t and v 50
Motion of bus
against t graph show velocity and 40
acceleration respectively. But the area 30
 20
under the curves of graphs of v
 10
against t and a against t gives the
total distance covered and change in 5 10 15 20 25 t (s)
velocity respectively. Fig 2.12 v against t graph for the motion
of a bus and car
.

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Challenging Questions
1. Explain the difference between velocity and acceleration.
2. Describe the difference between uniform motion and uniformly accelerated motion.
3. A body accelerates uniformly from rest at 2m/s2 for 5 seconds. Calculate its average
velocity in this time.

Check point 2.3

distance
1. What does the slope of
(m)
s against t graph stand 60
for?
40
2. What happens to a velocity in a
uniformly accelerated motion? 20
time
0 5 10 15 (s)
Fig 2.13 s against t graph

3. From the graph of Fig 2.13, answer the following questions.

a) What is the distance travel by the body in 20 second?
b) What is the time taken by it to cover a distance of 30 m?
c) What is the speed of the body?

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Grade 7 Physics 2 Motion

SUMMARY

In this unit you learnt that:

 motion is a continuous change of position relative to a reference
point. There are four types of motion. They are rectilinear,
curvilinear, rotary and vibrational motion.
 distance is the length of a path between two points
 speed is the distance travelled divided by time taken. It describes
how fast an object is moving in a unit time. When an object
moves with constant speed in a straight line, the motion is known
as Uniform rectilinear motion.
 displacement is the shortest distance in specified direction. It
has both magnitude and direction. Hence it is a vector quantity.
 velocity is the time rate of change of displacement. It has both
magnitude and direction.
 acceleration is the time rate of change in velocity
 the velocity of a body may increase or decrease with time. A
body whose velocity is increasing is said to have 'acceleration'
and a body whose velocity is decreasing is said to have
deceleration or negative acceleration. Acceleration may happen
due to:
- either change in speed, or change in direction or change in
both speed and direction simultaneously.
 uniformly accelerated motion of an object is a motion with
constant acceleration in a given duration.
 freely falling body is a practical example of a uniformly
accelerated motion on the earth.

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Review Questions and Problems

Solve the following

1. A bicyclist travels with an average velocity of 15 km/h North, for
20 minutes. What is his displacement in km?
2. A car accelerates from rest to 90km/h in 10 seconds. What is its
acceleration in m/s2?
3. An aircraft landing on an aircraft carrier is brought to a complete
stop from an initial velocity of 215 km/h in 2.7 seconds. What is its
acceleration in m/s2?
4. A certain car has an acceleration of 2.4m/s2. Assume that its
acceleration remains constant. Starting from rest, how long does
the car require to reach a velocity of 90 km/h? How far does it travel
while reaching that velocity?
5. From the graph of Fig 2.14

a) Calculate the velocity of the motion s (m)
b) What is the slope of the 30

graph equals to?

25 •
c) What is the distance traveled
20 •
when t = 6 seconds?
15 •
10 •
5 •
6. From the graph of Fig 2.15
a) Calculate the acceleration of the
0 1 2 3 4 5 t (s)
motion Fig. 2.14 Graph of s against t
b) What is the slope of the graph
equals to?
c) What is the velocity when the v
time taken is 8 seconds? m/s
•
40 •
30 •
20 •
10 •
0 1 2 3 4 5 t (s)
Fig. 2.15 Graph of v against t
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7. Data for a freely falling body is recorded as in table below : Using the
given data:

t(s) v(m/s) a) draw the graph of velocity versus time.

0 0 b) calculate the acceleration due to gravity at the
1 9. 8 place where the data are taken.
c) Is the acceleration changing or constant?
2 19.6
3 29.4
4 39.2

8. What is the relationship between velocity and acceleration?

9. How does the velocity of a freely falling body change with time? How
does the distance it has fallen change? How about the acceleration?
10. a) A car travels at a speed of 25 m/s. How far does it travel in 5 s?
b) Draw a graph showing the distance versus time for the above car.
c) What is the slope of the graph?
11. A train initially at rest, has a constant acceleration of 0.5 m/s2
a) What is its speed after 15s?
b) What would be the total time it would take to reach a speed of
25 m/s?
c) Draw the graph of speed against time for the train.

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