Warm-up: Position, Velocity, Acceleration
Before doing anything strenuous, it’s important to warm up. The first section of each lab will help prepare you for the exercises to come (this section is NOT graded).
Kinematics: Warm-up
1. Consider an object that is held above the ground and dropped. It starts with an initial velocity 
(in 
). The object is also in free-fall, meaning it has a constant acceleration due to gravity (in 
). Write down the equation for velocity after a given time (in 
) as a function of initial velocity, time, and acceleration.
2. Now consider an object that begins at an initial displacement 
(in 
) with a constant velocity 
(in ). Write down the equation for displacement as a function of both time and velocity.
3.Finally, consider an object that begins at 
with a velocity 
and has a constant acceleration. You observe the object’s movement for 4 seconds. Will the object cover more distance between 
and 
or in the interval from 
and 
. Why?
Bonus: Apply your knowledge
Try these practice questions below if you want to apply the equations above to a real world example.
1. Consider an object that starts with a velocity 
and in free–fall, meaning its acceleration is given by 
in the downwards direction. Using the your formula from Question 1 of Kinematics: Warm Up, find the velocities after 1s and 4s (to one decimal place).
2. Now, consider an object begins at 
with a constant velocity 
. Using the values given in Question 2 of Kinematics: Warm Up, find the final displacement after 1s and 6s (to one decimal place).
Before moving on!
Make sure you wrote down the equations and understand all concepts discussed in the warm-up! They will be useful in the exercises to come.
