Page:Elementary Text-book of Physics (Anthony, 1897).djvu/33

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§ 20]
MECHANICS OF MASSES.
19

, multiplied by , will represent the space traversed; hence

(9)

or, since , we have, in another form, {{MathForm2|(9a)| Multiplying equations (4) and (9), we obtain

(10)


Fig. 9
When the point starts from rest, ; and if we take the starting-point as the origin from which to reckon , and the time of starting as the origin of time, then , and equations (4), (9a), and (10) become , , and .

Formula (9a) may also be obtained by a geometrical construction.

At the extremities of a line (Fig. 9), equal in length to , erect perpendiculars and , proportional to the initial and final velocities of the moving point. For any interval of time , so short that the velocity during it may be considered constant, the space described is represented by the rectangle , and the space described in the whole time , by a point moving with a velocity increasing by successive equal increments, is represented by a series of rectangles, , , , etc., described on equal bases, , , , etc. If be diminished indefinitely, the sum of the areas of the rectangles can be made to approach as nearly as we please the area of the quadrilateral . This area, therefore, represents the space traversed by the point, having the initial velocity , and moving with the acceleration a during the time . But is equal to whence

(9a)

20. Angular Motion with Constant Angular Acceleration.— If a