physics / Classical Mechanics / free

Kinematics

Describe motion with position, velocity, and acceleration before asking what causes it.

one-dimensional motionx = x₀ + v₀t + ½at²
position x(t)0time

Kinematics describes what motion does. It does not explain the force that produced the acceleration:that is the boundary between this model and dynamics.

position21.0 m
velocity10.0 m/s
acceleration2.0 m/s²

Position is the accumulated story of velocity; velocity is the accumulated story of acceleration. Their graph slopes are related, not interchangeable.

04 / PRACTICE

Make the idea yours.

0 / 3 checked

Use the model, then answer without looking back. Each check isolates one decision a learner should be able to make after this lesson.

CHECK 1 / 3

What is the slope of x(t)?