INSTRUCTION/DELIVERY:

Average acceleration as the ratio of the change in velocity to the elapsed time.
Instantaneous acceleration as the time derivative of velocity
Instantaneous acceleration as the second time derivative of position
Derivation of kinematic equations for 1d-motion under constant acceleration
Change in velocity as product of average acceleration and time elapsed
Change in velocity as an area under the acceleration vs. time curve and as an integral
Focus on Kinematics: Motion in 1 Direction
The acceleration of a moving object is a measure of its change in velocity. Discuss how to
calculate the average acceleration from the ratio of the change in velocity to the time duration of
this change.

The formula for the Instantaneous Acceleration (a) is almost the same, except that we need to
indicate that we’re interested in knowing what the ratio of Δv to Δt approaches as Δt approaches
zero. Discuss that the instantaneous acceleration is the first derivative of the velocity with respect
to time:

Formula for the Instantaneous Acceleration

Thus, given the displacement as a function of time, the acceleration can be calculated as a function of
time by successive derivations:

Given a constant acceleration, the change in velocity (from an initial velocity) can be calculated from the
constant average velocity multiplied by the time interval.

Special case: Motion with Constant Acceleration

Derive the following relations (for constant acceleration):
Based on the definitions of the average velocity and average acceleration, we can derive an expression for
the total displacement and the initial and final velocities:
∆𝑣
𝑎𝑎𝑣 =𝛥𝑡 → Δv = 𝑎𝑎𝑣 Δt

𝑣1 + 𝑣2
EQUATION 1: 𝑎𝑎𝑣 = 2
∆𝑣
𝑎𝑎𝑣 =𝛥𝑡 → Δv = 𝑎𝑎𝑣 Δt
EQUATION 2:
𝑣2 - 𝑣1 = 𝑎𝑎𝑣 Δt
EQUATION 3:
𝑣1 + 𝑣2
Δv= Δt
2
𝑣1 + 𝑣2 𝑣2 − 𝑣1
Δx= 2 𝑎
𝑣22 −𝑣12
EQUATION 4 : Δx= 2𝑎
The resulting expression for the total displacement can be re-arranged to derive an
expression for the final velocity, given the initial velocity, acceleration and the total displacement
travelled:
𝑣22 −𝑣12
: Δx= 2𝑎
𝑣22 = 2𝑎 Δx+ 𝑣12
EQUATION 5:
𝑣 2 = √2aΔx + 𝑣12

From Eqn2 and Eqn3, the total displacement (from an initial position to a final
position) can be derived as a function of the total time duration (from an initial time to a final time) and
the constant acceleration:
𝑣1 = aΔx- 𝑣2

𝑎𝛥𝑡−𝑣2 + 𝑣2
Δv= Δt
2
1
Δv = 2 𝑎(𝛥𝑡)2
EQUATION 6:
1
𝑣2 - 𝑣1 = 2 𝑎(𝛥𝑡)2