Physics 1301A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Negative Number, Quadratic Function
Document Summary
Position and displacement: in one dimension, position can be described by a positive or negative number on a number line, also called a coordinate system. Position zero, the origin of the coordinate system, can be placed at any location: displacement is change in position. For motion along the x direction, displacement is designated x. Where x1 and x2 are the initial and nal positions, respectively. Average speed is the distance divided by time. Average velocity over a time interval t is de ned as the displacement divided by the time: for a round-trip, the average velocity is zero even though the average speed is not zero. Instantaneous velocity is the limit of the average velocity as the time interval becomes arbitrarily short. Velocity is the slope of the position-versus time curve. Instantaneous speed is the magnitude of the instantaneous velocity. Using calculus to find derivatives: in calculus, the derivative gives the result of the limiting procedure.