Rectilinear Motion or Linear Motion
Rectilinear motion, also known as linear motion, is a one-dimensional motion along a straight line. It can be described mathematically using only one spatial dimension.
Rectilinear motion can be of two types:
- Uniform linear motion: Has constant velocity
- Non-uniform linear motion: Has variable velocity
Rectilinear motion occurs only in one direction or along a single axis. All of the motion-related parameters are oriented in the same direction.
Examples of rectilinear motion include:
- A parade of soldiers.
- A train moving along a straight line.
- Hot water that falls from a coffee vending machine into the coffee cup.
- Bowling balls move rectilinearly within a lane.
- Planes moving in a straight line in the sky.
- A ball rolling down an inclined plane.
- Skaters skating down an incline.
Practice Questions on Uniform and Non-Uniform Motion
Q1. An object travels along a straight road at a constant speed of 20 m/s for 40 seconds. Calculate the total distance covered by the object during this time.
Q2. A car accelerates uniformly from rest to a speed of 30 m/s in 10 seconds. Determine the acceleration of the car and the distance it travels during this time.
Q3. A train travels from station A to station B at a constant speed of 60 km/h. If the distance between the two stations is 120 km, how long will the train take to complete the journey?
Q4. A ball is thrown vertically upwards with an initial velocity of 15 m/s. If the acceleration due to gravity is 9.8 m/s², calculate the maximum height reached by the ball and the time it takes to reach this height.
Q5. A cyclist starts from rest and accelerates uniformly at 2 m/s² for 10 seconds. He then travels at a constant speed of 10 m/s for the next 20 seconds. Determine the total distance covered by the cyclist during this time interval.
Uniform and Non-Uniform Motion
If an object moving along a straight line covers equal distances in equal intervals of time, it is said to be in uniform motion otherwise the motion is said to be non-uniform.
Uniform and Non-Uniform Motion are two types of motion based on the rate of covering distance per unit of time. In the case of Uniform Motion, the rate of covering distance per unit time is the same while in the case of Non-Uniform Motion, the rate of covering distance per unit time is different.
In this article, we will learn about Uniform Motion, Non-Uniform Motion, Graph of Uniform Motion, Graph of Non-Uniform Motion, and others in detail.
Table of Content
- Uniform Motion
- Non-Uniform Motion
- Uniform and Non-Uniform Circular Motion
- What are Uniform Circular Motion?
- What are Non-Uniform Circular Motion?