Physics 110-110A

Distance

Linear measurement between 2 points (Position)

Displacement

How far the object has moved from the starting point (Vector)

-You can chose whichever direction you want to be positive or negative

Example: (West is Positive and East is negative)

Charles travels 10m East to the park and plays with his friends for 30 minutes. He then walks 15m west to his house and takes a quick nap before soccer practice. He then travels 25m east to the soccer field. What is Charles distance traveled and what is his displacement?

Total Distance: 50m Displacement: -20m

– If you were to start and end in the same place then your displacement would be 0

Throughout this first week of class I have learned many things that I am going to share with you today from the notes I have taken. I was honestly very confused to begin with but I finally got it figured it out. If you are having trouble with a subject, never give up, just keep practicing and researching!!

What is the most commonly used system of measurement used in physics?

MKS (Meter, Kilogram, Second)

I also learned how to convert mph to m/s… 40 mph= 17.9 m/s 70 mph= 31.3 m/s

Scalars: Describes magnitude only. (speed is an example)

Vectors: Describes magnitude and direction. (acceleration is an example)

Force Vectors

Below are examples

5 —> + 5—> = 10—>

5 —> + <— -5 = 0

5 —> + <— -10 = <— -5

Pythagorean Theorem for adding two vectors

Almost everyone knows what the Pythagorean Theorem is. For those of you who do not it is a^2 + b^2 = c^2

Example Question: Jim leaves his office and walks 12 km, North and then walks 12 km, East, determine Jim’s resulting displacement.

12^2 + 12^2 = R^2

144 +144 = R^2 ( Take the square root of 288 for final answer)

16.971 = R

Using Trigonometry to determine a vectors direction

SOH CAH TOA

a (x) = side adjacent to angle b (y)= side opposite to angle c (r)= hypotenuse of triangle

REMEMBER THE CALCULATED ANGLE ISNT ALWAYS THE DIRECTION!

Above are just a few things that I learned throughout this first week of online physics. It may seem difficult but after just a little bit of practice you will catch on and it’ll be like second nature to you!

The branch of science concerned with the nature and properties of matter and energy. The subject matter of physics, distinguished from that of chemistry and biology, includes mechanics, heat, light and other radiation, sound, electricity, magnetism, and the structure of atoms. – Google

Yeah… that didn’t make sense to me either. In simpler terms, physics is the study of energy and matter in space and time and how they are related to each other.