ABSTRACT
This chapter examines one-dimensional motion, i.e., motion along a line. It is sometimes the case that a particle’s motion need only to be described along one direction. Furthermore, a careful study of one-dimensional motion will be a useful foundation for understanding more general motion in higher dimensions. One fundamental assumption in the chapter is that the object being studied is a point particle. In order to mathematically describe the motion of a particle under the influence of a force, it is necessary to find the particle’s equations of motion. The equations of motion of a particle are the equations which describe its position, velocity, and acceleration as a functions of time. Equations of motion can be in the form of algebraic equations, or in the form of differential equations. The chapter focuses on one-dimensional motion, where the force vector and the particle’s displacement are along the same line.
