Honors Physics

Unit 1: Kinematics

  • Scalar: Only contains magnitude.

  • Vector: Contains magnitude and direction.

Quantities of Scalar & Vector

Scalar

Vector

Speed (v)

Displacement (d)

Distance (d)

Velocity (v)

Mass

Acceleration (a)

Temperature

Momentum/ Impulse

Energy

Weight

Time (t)

Electric/ Magnetic Field

Force

Important Vocab

  • Distance: Is a scalar quantity, is how much ground an object has covered.

  • Displacement: A vector quantity how far out of place an object is. The overall change in position.

  • Instantaneous Speed: The speed of an object at a specific moment.

  • Acceleration: The rate at which velocity changes. Speeding up=Positive, Slowing down= Negative, Change in direction= Turning.

  • Decelerating: Decrease in velocity

Position- Time Graph (PT)

  • Position (also known as distance) is labeled on the y axis.

  • Time is labeled on the x axis.

  • This graph calculates the velocity.

  • Formula: Y2-Y1/ X2-X1

  • A horizontal line means the object is at rest.

  • A curved line means the object is accelerating.

  • A diagonal line means the object is moving at a constant speed.

Velocity - Time Graph (VT)

  • Velocity is labeled on the y axis.

  • Time is labeled on the x axis.

  • This graph calculates acceleration.

  • A horizontal line means constant velocity.

  • Diagonal line means acceleration (up= positive acceleration, downward= negative acceleration)

  • If the velocity is at 0, the object is at rest.

  • Same slope formula (Vf-Vi/ Tf-Ti).

Formula’s

Speed (v)= Distance/ Time

Velocity (v)= Displacement/ Time

Acceleration (a)= Vf-Vi/ Tf-Ti

Distance: 1/2(a) (t²)