Distance, Displacement, Speed, Velocity, and Acceleration in 1D (Video Notes)

A vocabulary-style set of flashcards covering distance, displacement, speed, velocity, acceleration, and related concepts from the lecture notes.

Distance

Total length of the path traveled by an object; a scalar quantity.

Displacement

The straight-line change in position from start to end; a vector with magnitude and direction.

Scalar

A quantity that has magnitude only and no direction.

Vector

A quantity that has both magnitude and direction.

Position

The location of an object along a reference axis, described by a coordinate.

Reference point

The starting point used to measure displacement.

Direction

The orientation of motion along an axis (e.g., East/West or positive/negative along an axis).

Speed

Rate of motion; distance traveled per unit time; magnitude of velocity.

Velocity

Rate of change of position; a vector with magnitude and direction.

Average speed

Total distance traveled divided by total time.

Average velocity

Total displacement divided by total time; a vector.

Uniform motion

Motion with constant velocity (no change in speed or direction).

Acceleration

Rate of change of velocity with respect to time; a vector.

Initial velocity

Velocity at the start of a time interval.

Final velocity

Velocity at the end of a time interval.

Time

A scalar quantity representing the duration of motion.

Area under a Velocity–Time graph

The area under a V–T curve equals displacement over the interval.

Slope of a Velocity–Time graph

The slope equals the average acceleration over the time interval.

One‑dimensional motion

Motion along a single straight line (1D).

Positive/Negative direction convention

Choose a positive direction; motion in that direction is positive, opposite is negative.