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Kinematics

Learning objectives

  • To show graphs of the three principal kinematic variables as they vary over time.
  • To graphically illustrate the successive derivatives that link the functions x, v and a.
  • To describe the motion of a body in two different ways simultaneously: via motion analysis photography and in the form of a graph

Kinematics is the branch of Mechanics that studies the motion of bodies. To better understand the movement of a body, the physicist studies the evolution over time of the following three quantities:

    1. Position
    2. Speed
    3. Acceleration

Changes over time are traced in the form of a graph. Here you will find graphs for uniform linear motion at constant speed and under conditions of a constant acceleration.
The study of the forces applied to the car shows that the sum of these forces is zero for constant speed, but not for the case of uniform acceleration.

Select from the appropriate menu the type of motion and the variable to be observed.

Click on a dot on the graph, or on a car to get information.

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