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Describing and Measuring Motion (Describing motion (Motion is when the…
Describing and Measuring Motion
Describing motion
Motion is when the distance between two objects is changing.
reference points
A reference point is a place or object used for comparison determine if something is in motion. An object is in motion if it changes position relative to a reference point. Stationary objects are the best for reference points. Some reference points can be moving.
relative motion
Motion depends on your point of refernece. For example, if you are in a car thats driving, are you moving? Technically the car is moving so it depends on your point of reference.
Measuring distance
The International System of Units is the measuring system scientists all over the world use. Measuring distance is measuring length.
Calculating speed
If you know the distance an object travels in a certain amount of time, you can calculate the speed of the object. The speed of an object is the distance an object travels over a period of time.
The speed equation
speed = distance/time.
average speed
The speed of most moving objects is not constant. To calculate the average speed, divide the total distance traveled by the total time. This is average because you may be going 5 miles per hour at one point in a race and then a hill approaches and you're going 3 mph.
instantaneous speed
instantaneous speed is the rate at which an object is moving at a given instant time.
graphing motion
You can show the motion of an object on a line graph in which you plot distance versus time. The steepness of a line is called the slope. The steeper the slope, the greater the speed.
calculating slope
You calculate the slope of a line by dividing the rise by the run. Slope = rise/run
different slopes
Most moving objects do not travel at a constant speed. Many slopes are different.
describing velocity
when you know both the speed and direction of an object's motion, you know the velocity of the object. Speed in a given direction is called velocity.