Kinematics(1D) Contents

Motion Diagrams

A motion diagram represents the motion of an object by displaying its location at various equally spaced times on the same diagram. For simplicity, the object is represented by a simple shape, such as a filled circle. For example, the applet to the right displays a motion diagram for a rock dropped from the top of a building. The rock moves from top to bottom with increasing speed. The acceleration is thus in the same direction to the velocity. Click "Go" and watch the object move several times. When you have a clear idea of the motion, click "Show Displacements" to see the displacement vectors of the object from each location to the next. The increasing spacing of the successive images or equivalently, the increasing lengths of the displacement vectors, indicates that the object is speeding up. You can also observe motion diagrams for objects that are slowing down and moving with constant velocity.