How do I find the distance travelled by a particle?

[Cuddles]

How do I find the distance travelled by a particle? I know when it is at rest or which way it travels from the velocity equation. But how do I take that and apply it?

Do I plug the endpoints and the zeros of velocity into the position equation and add the y values? or the x values? or something else?

 

[pka]

Re: Distance traveled

How do I find the distance travelled by a particle?

The total distance is the integral of the speed over the time interval.
Speed is the absolute value of the velocity.

 

[o_O]

Re: Distance traveled

What's the exact question that you're trying to solve? I don't understand what you mean by your last line ...

\(\displaystyle d = v_{0}t + \frac{1}{2}at^{2}\)

\(\displaystyle v^{2} = v_{0}^{2} + 2ad\)

d = displacement, v[sub:13l6evcc]0[/sub:13l6evcc] = initial velocity, v = velocity at given time/distance, a = acceleration of particle, t = time

If you have enough information, just plug the into one of the equations above.

 

[pka]

Re: Distance traveled

d = displacement, v[sub:2whamd80]0[/sub:2whamd80] = initial velocity, v = velocity at given time/distance, a = acceleration of particle, t = time. If you have enough information, just plug the into one of the equations above.

o_0, do you understand this question?

 

[Cuddles]

Re: Distance traveled

I don't understand why speed would have anything to do with distance

 

[stapel]

I don't understand why speed would have anything to do with distance

Um... maybe because, as you learned back in algebra, distance equals (the uniform) rate times time...? :wink:

Eliz.

 

[Cuddles]

Ok...I'm just confused because we did it somehow...diferently in class @_@ thanks for your help though, maybe I can figure it out this way. :3

 

[pka]

Re: Distance traveled

I don't understand why speed would have anything to do with distance

If the velocity is positive we gain distance, right?
If the velocity is negative then we retrace the distance.
But the total distance is the sum of the positive and the negative distance.