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    3.1 Position Function PDF

    Uploaded by

    Henry Magday
    The document discusses position, velocity, and acceleration for objects moving along an axis. It defines average speed and velocity and explains how to calculate them from a position equation. Velocity is the derivative of position and accounts for direction, while speed is the absolute value of velocity. Acceleration is the derivative of velocity. An example calculates the velocity and acceleration functions for a particle from its position equation, and determines the direction of motion, and if velocity and speed are increasing or decreasing at a given time. Instantaneous velocity is defined as the velocity at a particular instant, which can be found by plugging a time value into the velocity function derived from the position equation.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    3.1 Position Function PDF

    Uploaded by

    Henry Magday
    50 views5 pages
    The document discusses position, velocity, and acceleration for objects moving along an axis. It defines average speed and velocity and explains how to calculate them from a position equation. Velocity is the derivative of position and accounts for direction, while speed is the absolute value of velocity. Acceleration is the derivative of velocity. An example calculates the velocity and acceleration functions for a particle from its position equation, and determines the direction of motion, and if velocity and speed are increasing or decreasing at a given time. Instantaneous velocity is defined as the velocity at a particular instant, which can be found by plugging a time value into the velocity function derived from the position equation.

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    3.1 Position function.pdf

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    The document discusses position, velocity, and acceleration for objects moving along an axis. It defines average speed and velocity and explains how to calculate them from a position equation. Velocity is the derivative of position and accounts for direction, while speed is the absolute value of velocity. Acceleration is the derivative of velocity. An example calculates the velocity and acceleration functions for a particle from its position equation, and determines the direction of motion, and if velocity and speed are increasing or decreasing at a given time. Instantaneous velocity is defined as the velocity at a particular instant, which can be found by plugging a time value into the velocity function derived from the position equation.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    50 views5 pages

    3.1 Position Function PDF

    Uploaded by

    Henry Magday
    The document discusses position, velocity, and acceleration for objects moving along an axis. It defines average speed and velocity and explains how to calculate them from a position equation. Velocity is the derivative of position and accounts for direction, while speed is the absolute value of velocity. Acceleration is the derivative of velocity. An example calculates the velocity and acceleration functions for a particle from its position equation, and determines the direction of motion, and if velocity and speed are increasing or decreasing at a given time. Instantaneous velocity is defined as the velocity at a particular instant, which can be found by plugging a time value into the velocity function derived from the position equation.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 5

    Position function

    A common application of derivatives is the relationship between speed,


    velocity and acceleration. In these problems, you’re usually given a
    position equation in the form “x = ” or “s(t) = ”, which tells you the object’s
    distance from some reference point. This equation also accounts for
    direction, so the distance could be negative, depending on which direction
    your object moved away from the reference point.

    Average speed of the object is

    distance
    average speed =
    time

    Average velocity of the object is

    change in position s(b) − s(a)


    =
    change in time b−a

    To find velocity, take the derivative of your original position equation.


    Speed is the absolute value of velocity. Velocity accounts for the direction
    of movement, so it can be negative. It’s like speed, but in a particular
    direction. Speed, on the other hand, can never be negative because it
    doesn’t account for direction, which is why speed is the absolute value of
    velocity. To find acceleration, take the derivative of velocity.

    Example

    Suppose a particle is moving along the x-axis so that its position at time t is
    given by the formula

    168
    5
    s(t) = 3t 2 + 8t − 2t 2

    Compute its velocity and acceleration as functions of t. Next, decide in


    which direction (left or right) the particle is moving when t = 1 and whether
    its velocity and speed are increasing or decreasing.

    To find velocity, we take the derivative of the original position equation.


    3
    v(t) = s′(t) = 6t + 8 − 5t 2

    To find acceleration, we take the derivative of the velocity function.

    15 1
    a(t) = v′(t) = s′′(t) = 6 − t2
    2

    To determine the direction of the particle at t = 1, we plug 1 into the


    velocity function.
    3
    v(1) = 6(1) + 8 − 5(1) 2

    v(1) = 9

    Because v(1) is positive, we can conclude that the particle is moving in the
    positive direction (toward the right).

    To determine whether velocity is increasing or decreasing, we plug 1 into


    the acceleration function, because that will give us the rate of change of
    velocity, since acceleration is the derivative of velocity.

    15 1
    a(1) = 6 − (1) 2
    2

    169
    3
    a(1) = −
    2

    Since acceleration is negative at t = 1, velocity must be decreasing at that


    point.

    Since the velocity is positive and decreasing at t = 1, that means that


    speed is also decreasing at that point.

    Instantaneous velocity

    We use the term “instantaneous velocity” to describe the velocity of an


    object at a particular instant in time. Given an equation that models an
    object’s position over time, s(t), we can take its derivative to get velocity,
    s′(t) = v(t). We can then plug in a specific value for time to calculate
    instantaneous velocity.

    Example

    Given an object’s position equation,

    s(t) = 5t 3 + 2t − 8

    where s is measured in meters and t is measured in seconds,

    1. What is the object’s velocity when t = 0?

    2. What is the object’s velocity when t = 25?

    170
    3. If the motion begins at 8:45 a.m., what is the velocity at 8:51 a.m.?

    First we need to find the derivative of s(t).

    s′(t) = v(t) = 15t 2 + 2

    To find velocity when t = 0, we’ll plug t = 0 into v(t).

    v(0) = 15(0)2 + 2

    v(0) = 2

    Velocity at t = 0 is 2 m/s.

    To find velocity when t = 25, we’ll plug t = 25 into v(t).

    v(25) = 15(25)2 + 2

    v(25) = 9,377

    Velocity at t = 25 is 9,377 m/s.

    8:45 a.m. is when motion begins, which means that time corresponds with
    t = 0. The question asks for velocity after 6 minutes have passed, at 8:51
    a.m., but in our position equation, t is measured in seconds. We’ll convert
    minutes into seconds.

    ( 1 min )
    60 s
    t = (6 min)

    t = 360 s

    171
    Now we can plug t = 360 into v(t).

    v(360) = 15(360)2 + 2

    v(360) = 1,944,002

    The velocity at 8:51 a.m. is 1,944,002 m/s.

    172

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