MechYr1 Chapter 11 ::

Variable Acceleration
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Last modified: 5th August 2018

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Functions of time
constant no acceleration
acceleration

Up to now, the acceleration has

velocity
constant
always been constant in any deceleration

particular period of time…

time
Our velocity-time graph can
 
be any shape we want! We
However,
  it’s possible to specify either the 1 3 can use an expression in

velocity
displacement, velocity or acceleration as any   =
𝑣 𝑡 terms of to give a certain
2 shape.
function of time (i.e. an expression in terms of ).
This allows the acceleration to constantly change.
time

The
  velocity-time graph of a body is [Textbook]
  -1 A body moves in a straight line such that its velocity,
shown above, where . ms , at time seconds is given by . Find
(a) What is the velocity after 4 seconds (a) The initial velocity
have elapsed? (b) The values of when the body is instantaneously at rest.
(b) How many seconds have elapsed (c) The value of when the velocity is 64 ms-1.
when the velocity of the body is ms- (d) The greatest speed of the body in the interval .
1
?
d
a When
b
  ms-1. ? 24

a  ms
-1 or . ? 2 6

? c or
?
(4,-8)
By the symmetry of a quadratic graph,
 
minimum occurs when .
b s
? ? ms-1
By inspection, greatest velocity is 24 ms -1
within the range .
Exercise 11A
Pearson Stats/Mechanics Year 1
Page 184

Classes in a rush (or Further Mathematicians) may wish to skip this exercise.
 Using Differentiation
  Chapter 9, we saw that velocity is the rate of change of displacement (i.e. the
In
gradient). But in Pure, we know that we can use differentiation to find the gradient
function:
Memory Tip: I picture
 interchanging
  𝑑𝑠 and   𝑑𝑣 𝑑 𝑠 2 between as
𝑣= ? 𝑎= =? 2 differentiating to go
𝑑𝑡 similarly… 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 downwards and
integrating to go upwards:
velocity is the rate of acceleration is the rate of
change of displacement change of velocity 𝑑
∫ 𝑣𝑑𝑡  
𝑑𝑡
A
  body moves in a straight line such that . Initially (i.e. when ), the displacement of  
the body from some fixed point O on the line is 50m. Find: 𝑑
∫ 𝑎𝑑𝑡  
a) The initial velocity of the body   𝑑𝑡
b) The values of t when the body is at rest (We will do integration a
c) The acceleration of the body when t = 5s bit later)
d) The displacement of the body when t = 6s (we cover integration later)

a Initially,
  c  
? When ,
?
b When the body is at rest,
d    
and
?
? at
Test Your Understanding

Pudding
  the Cat’s displacement from a house, in metres, is where is in
seconds.
(a) Determine the velocity of the cat when .
(b) At what time will the cat be instantaneously at rest?
(c) What is the cat’s acceleration after 5 seconds?

a  
When , ms-1
?
When ,

b s
?
When , ms-2

c
?
Key Phrases

• At rest: v = 0

• Returns to starting position: s = 0

• Constant Velocity: a = 0

• Total Distance: Area beneath graph - Integrate

Exercise 11B
Pearson Stats/Mechanics Year 1
Page 185-186
 Maxima and Minima Problems
 
Recall from Pure that at minimum/maximum points, the gradient is 0. We could
therefore for example find where the velocity is minimum/maximum by finding
when (i.e. when the acceleration is 0). Similarly, we can find the maximum and
minimum values for displacement and acceleration.
A
  particle P, moves in a straight line such that its velocity, at time , is given by:
where
 a) Find the difference between the maximum and minimum velocities over this time interval
b) Sketch a velocity-time graph for the motion of P
c) Find the maximum acceleration over this time interval

a Find
  the turning points where . b Sketch
  a cubic graph: c  
Shape: -ve cubic
Roots: (out of range, other
Max when
so two roots not real)
v-intercept:

? ? i.e. when ?
(min)
(max)

Difference between velocities =

Test Your Understanding
A
  dolphin escapes from Seaworld and-1 its velocity as it a At
  the maximum velocity,
speeds away from the park, is (in ms ), until it
reaches its maximum velocity, and then subsequently
remains at this velocity. ?
(a) When does the dolphin reach its maximum ms -1

velocity?
(b) What is this maximum velocity?
b
?
Edexcel M2 June 2013 Q3a,b

a
?
b

?
Test Your Understanding
A
  particle P, moves in a straight line. After t seconds, its distance, s m from its starting point A, when t = 0, is given by:
where

a) Show that the particle never returns to its starting point

b) Find the distances from A at which the particle is instantaneously at rest
c) Find the acceleration of the particle at time t = 3s

a When
  c  
We can use the calculator to find the roots,
or factorise . At , ?
?
The roots of the quadratic are not real, so
the particle never returns to its starting
point.

b The particle is at rest when .

when
i.e. when and
?
At
At
Exercise 11C
Pearson Stats/Mechanics Year 1
Page 187-188
Using Integration
Differentiating (with respect to time) gets us from displacement to velocity, and from
  𝑑
∫ 𝑣𝑑𝑡  
𝑑𝑡 velocity to acceleration.
  So naturally, integrating (with respect to time) gets us from acceleration to velocity, and
𝑑 from velocity to displacement. As mentioned earlier, it’s helpful to picture the graph on
∫ 𝑎𝑑𝑡  
  𝑑𝑡 the left, where we move down to differentiate and up to integrate.

A particle P, moves in a straight line. At t seconds its acceleration is (6t + 12)ms -1. When t = 0, P is at the
point A and its velocity is 3ms-1.
a) Find an expression for the velocity of P in terms of t
b) Find the distance travelled between times t = 3 and t = 5

a   Recall in Pure Year 1 that we can find

When the constant of integration by using

? known values.

The distance travelled between and is

b
The displacement is positive for all
positive values of t here, but you should
? check for negative displacement values
when being asked to find the distance
travelled.
Further Example

[Textbook]
  A particle travels in a straight line. After seconds its velocity, ms-1, is given by , . Find the distance
travelled by the particle in the third second of its motion.

𝑣 
 
Distance travelled is 14 m.

? 2
  3
𝑡
   
 Test Your Understanding
Edexcel M2 June 2015 Q6

Warning: recall that if the curve goes above and below

 the -axis, we need to find each area separately.

a
?

b
c
?

?
Exercise 11D
Pearson Stats/Mechanics Year 1
Page 189-191
Constant acceleration formulae
  Chapter 9, we work out the various formulae by using a velocity-time graph.
In
But it’s also possible to derive all of these using integration, provided that we consider
that acceleration is constant.

 Given a body has constant acceleration , initial velocity and its initial
displacement is 0 m, prove that:
(a) Final velocity:
(b) Displacement:

a Note that is a constant not a variable, so integrates as such.

 Just as , we find
 
When , therefore
?
Integrating again:
b
Since when ,

Again, because is fixed, we can treat it as a constant.

 
?
Exercise 11E
Pearson Stats/Mechanics Year 1
Pages 192-193
The End