SOLID MECHANICS
DYNAMICS
PRE-REQUISITE STUDIES TUTORIAL 1
LINEAR AND ANGULAR DISPLACEMENT, VELOCITY AND
ACCELERATION
This tutorial is essential for anyone studying the group of tutorials on beams.
• Essential pre-requisite knowledge for Edexcel HNC Mechanical
Principles UNIT 21722P.
• Essential pre-requisite knowledge for the Engineering Council Diploma
Exams D209 Mechanics of Solids and D225 Dynamics of Mechanical
Systems.
• Essential pre-requisite knowledge for the Engineering Council
Certificate Exam C105 Mechanical and Structural engineering.
• Covers part of the syllabus for the Engineering Council Certificate Exam
C103 Engineering Science.
On completion of this tutorial you should be able to
• Define linear motion.
• Explain the relationship between distance, velocity, acceleration and time.
• Define angular motion.
• Explain the relationship between angle, angular velocity, angular acceleration and time.
• Explain the relationship between linear and angular motion. © D.J.DUNN

1

1.

LINEAR MOTION

1.1

MOVEMENT or DISPLACEMENT

This is the distance travelled by an object and is usually denoted by x or s. Units of distance are metres.
1.2

VELOCITY

This is the distance moved per second or the rate of change of distance with time.
Velocity is movement in a known direction so it is a vector quantity. The symbol is v or u and it may be expressed in calculus terms as the first derivative of distance with respect to time so that v = dx/dt or u = ds/dt. The units of velocity are m/s.
1.3.

SPEED

This is the same as velocity except that the direction is not known and it is not a vector and cannot be drawn as such.
1.4.

AVERAGE SPEED OR VELOCITY

When a journey is undertaken in which the body speeds up and slows down, the average velocity is defined as TOTAL DISTANCE MOVED/TIME TAKEN.
1.5.