ABU DHABI INDIAN SCHOOL, BRANCH-1, AL WATHBA

Grade -9
PHYSICS
MOTION – Notes (2024-25)
• Motion - An object which changes its position with respect to a fixed point is said to be in motion.
• An object can be at rest as well as in motion, with respect to two different reference points, at the
same time. So, the states of rest and motion are relative terms.
• Reference point- A fixed point with respect to which an object changes its position is known as a
reference point.

Distance and Displacement

• The distance travelled by an object is the length of the actual path covered by the object during
motion. It is a scalar quantity.
• The displacement of an object in motion is the shortest distance between the initial position and the
final position of the object. It is a vector quantity.

• Distance travelled is always positive.

• Displacement may be positive, negative or zero.
• Distance travelled is always greater than or equal to displacement.
• Displacement is always less than or equal to the distance travelled.
• Both distance and displacement have the same units as meter.

Scalar and Vector Quantities

• A scalar quantity describes a magnitude or a numerical value.
e.g. Distance, volume, density, speed, energy, mass, time etc..
• A vector quantity describes the magnitude as well as the direction.
e.g. Displacement, velocity, acceleration, momentum, force, weight etc..

Uniform and Non-uniform Motion

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 • An object is said to be in uniform motion if it travels equal distances in equal intervals of time,
howsoever small the intervals may be.
• An object is said to have non-uniform motion if it travels unequal distances in equal intervals of
time.

Speed
• The speed of a body is defined as the distance travelled by the body in unit time. The SI unit of
speed is metre/second (m/s).

• If ‘s’ is the distance travelled by a body in time ‘t’, then its speed ‘v’ is given as

• The speed of a body is a scalar quantity. It can be zero or positive but can never be negative.
• If a body covers equal distances in equal time intervals, howsoever small the intervals may be,
then it is said to have uniform speed (or constant speed).
• If a body covers unequal distances in equal time intervals, however small the intervals may be,
then it is said to have non-uniform speed (or variable speed).
• For bodies moving with non-uniform speed, we describe the rate of motion in terms of their
average speed.

Velocity
• Velocity of a body is defined as the distance travelled by the body in unit time in a given
direction.
• The SI unit of velocity is the same as that of speed, i.e. metre/second (m/s).

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 • Velocity of a body is a vector quantity. It can be positive, negative or zero.
• A body is said to be moving with uniform velocity (or constant velocity) if it travels along a
straight line, covering equal distances in equal intervals of time, howsoever small these intervals
may be.
• A body is said to be moving with non-uniform velocity (or variable velocity) if it covers unequal
distances in a particular direction in equal intervals of time or if the direction of motion of the
body changes.
• When the velocity of a body is changing at a uniform rate over a period of time, the average
velocity for that time period is given by the arithmetic mean of the initial and final velocity of the
body.

• Average Velocity (in case of non-uniform motion)-

Average Velocity = Total Displacement / Total Time taken

Acceleration
• Acceleration of a body is defined as the rate of change of its velocity with time.

Where ‘u’ is initial velocity, ‘v’ is final velocity, ‘a’ is the acceleration of the body and ‘t’ is time
taken for change in velocity.
• Acceleration is a vector quantity. It can be positive, negative or zero. The SI unit of acceleration is
meter per second square (m/s2).
• If the velocity of a body increases, then the acceleration is positive. If the velocity of a body
decreases, then the acceleration is negative. Negative acceleration is called retardation.
• If acceleration occurs in the direction of velocity, then it is taken as positive and when it is
opposite to the direction of velocity, it is negative
• A body is said to possess uniform acceleration if it travels in a straight line and its velocity
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 increases or decreases by equal amounts in equal intervals of time.
• A body is said to possess non-uniform acceleration if its velocity changes by unequal amounts in
equal intervals of time.
Distance–Time Graph
• The distance–time graph of a body moving with uniform speed is a straight line.

• Speed of a body can be obtained from the slope of the distance–time graph.
• Let s1 and s2 be the distance travelled by the object in time t 1 and t2, respectively. Here (s2 – s1)
gives the distance travelled by the body in time interval (t2 – t1).

• The distance-time graph of a body moving with non-uniform speed is a curved line with a variable
slope indicating variable speed.

Distance – time graph for a stationary object

• The graph in case the object is stationary (means the distance is constant at all time
intervals) – Straight line graph parallel to x = axis

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Velocity–Time Graph
• The velocity–time graph of a body moving with uniform velocity/ constant velocity is a straight
line parallel to the time axis.

• The magnitude of displacement or distance travelled by the body is equal to the area enclosed by
the velocity–time graph and time axis.

• The velocity–time graph of a body moving with uniform acceleration is a straight line inclined to
the time axis.

• The slope of the velocity–time graph represents the acceleration of the body.

• The area enclosed by the velocity–time graph and time axis gives the distance travelled by
the body.

• The velocity-time graph of a body moving with non-uniform acceleration can have any shape,
indicating variable speed.

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 (i) If the velocity –time graph is parallel to the time axis, the body moves with constant velocity.
(ii) The slope of velocity- time graph= Acceleration of the body.
(iii) Area under velocity –time graph= magnitude of the displacement of a body.

Velocity time graph of an object moving with uniform decreasing velocity:

Equations of Motion
The three equations of motion of a body moving along a straight line with uniform acceleration are

Where ‘u’ is the initial velocity of the body which moves with uniform acceleration ‘a’ for time t, ‘v’
is the final velocity and ‘s’ is the distance travelled by the body in time t.
Uniform Circular Motion
• When a body moves along a circular path with a uniform speed, its motion is called uniform
circular motion.
• Examples: Motion of the Moon around the Earth, a cyclist moving in a circular track at constant
speed
• In uniform circular motion, although the speed remains constant, the direction of motion and
velocity change continuously. Thus, uniform circular motion is an accelerated motion.
• The external force needed to make a body travel in a circular path is known as centripetal force.
• The circumference of a circle of radius ‘r’ is given by 2 r. If a body takes ‘t’ seconds to go once
around the circular path of radius ‘r’, then its velocity ‘v’ is given by

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